Peace Circle

Ordinary Time - Winter

These Sundays in Ordinary Time launch Jesus' public ministry, which begins with his baptism by John and leads to an extended meditation on the Sermon on the Mount. The cycle of readings for this liturgical year is based on the Gospel of Matthew.

His Gospel portrait paints Jesus as a rabbi--a teacher of the new law--and the fulfillment of the Hebrew Testament law and prophets. The original audience for whom Matthew wrote consisted of Jewish Christians who were well grounded in the Jewish Scriptures.

So we are not surprised to learn that Matthew's Gospel quotes from the Hebrew Testament forty-one times. (For comparison, we might note that Mark's Gospel, from which Matthew borrows, quotes that same source only about half as many times.)


Neighborly picket fence, with peaceful blue sky above, and friendly green grass below.

Ordinary Time - Sundays 2 to 8 - Scripture Soundings

Ordinary Time - Scripture Soundings - Sundays 2 to 8

The Jewish Christians' young faith in Jesus as the Messiah and promised one of God was also an inquiring faith. What were the connections between God's promise and its fulfillment in Jesus?

This was the question of a faithful people seeking understanding, not of doubtful people setting traps. This latter approach was often the method used by those who baited the Jewish Christians--the same ones who baited Jesus himself--which we shall see as Matthew's Gospel unfolds.

The meditation that we embark on for this part of the liturgical year begins with one of the infrequent exceptions to the use of Matthew's Gospel for this year--a reading from John's Gospel. This Gospel is called into service to help us set the stage: Jesus is called "rabbi," and the disciples seek to know where he is coming from, so to speak. Jesus' reply to these first apostles is also his reply to us: "Come and see."

On the following Sunday we return to Matthew's Gospel: the first apostles are chosen and the great Sermon on the Mount is set before us. Matthew's community could not have helped but notice the familiar setting, yet the message has changed as the mountain-top words echo forth: "Blessed are you ..." Clearly, a new Moses is here; a new commandment is proclaimed, a new people gathered, a new work begun.

We are invited to pay close attention as we begin this new year. We are among the new people gathered. We are invited to take it all in and live it all out. This is our new beginning, too.

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Ordinary Time - Scripture Soundings - Cycle A

Second Sunday
Sent By God

Third Sunday
The Good News

Fourth Sunday
The Beatitudes

Fifth Sunday
Salt of the Earth

Sixth Sunday
To Fulfill the Law

Seventh Sunday
To Be Like God

Eighth Sunday
The Child of Her Womb

Updated: October 23, 2010