Reflections of Caritas

5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

GOSPEL: MT 5:13-14

Dear friends,

Jesus uses the metaphors of salt and light in the gospel to describe the life of discipleship. We take salt and light for granted in our society, but these commodities were more precious in ancient cultures. Just as now, salt was used in Jesus’ time for flavoring, as a preservative, and as a healing agent. Similarly, the widespread use of electricity in the modern world makes us less aware of the value and importance of light in our lives but Jesus reminds us that; You are the light of the world. Jesus shares two aspects of this mission, which He has given to us. The first is being of godly character (salt) and the second is manifesting good works (light).

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PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE

GOSPEL: LK 2:22–40 (OR 2:22–32)

Dear friends,

Forty days after Christmas, we celebrate the Lord who enters the Temple and comes to encounter his people. This Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is also known as the Feast of the Encounter. It is the encounter between God, who became a child to bring newness to our world, and an expectant humanity, represented by the elderly man and woman in the Temple.

In the Temple, there is also an encounter between two couples: the young Mary and Joseph, and the elderly Simeon and Anna. The old receive from the young, while the young draw upon the old. God’s promise does not come to fulfillment merely in individuals, once for all, but within a community.

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THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

GOSPEL: MATTHEW 4:12-23 

Dear friends,

As Jesus began his public ministry his first act was to gather some disciples who would share his work and his mission. They are not the Pharisees or Scribes, not scholars or influential members of the community, but fishermen who may have been quite illiterate. It is significant that the call takes place right in their working place and the initiative for the call comes from Jesus. Jesus had obviously been watching them at work. Jesus begins by calling the two set of fishermen brothers — Simon (later renamed Peter) & Andrew and James & James. Jesus tells them they will be fishers of men. Their ordinary work, drawing sustenance from the darkness of the sea, becomes a sign of a deeper reality, drawing men and women from the darkness of sin and death.

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GOSPEL: Matthew 11:2-11

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