Third Sunday of the Year

Nehemiah 8:2-10
On the first day of the seventh month, therefore, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand.

Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate, he read out of the book from daybreak till midday, in the presence of the men, the women, and those children old enough to understand; and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.

Ezra opened the scroll so that all the people might see it (for he was standing higher up than any of the people); and, as he opened it, all the people rose.

Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, "Amen, amen!" Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the LORD, their faces to the ground.

Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read.

Then (Nehemiah, that is, His Excellency, and) Ezra the priest-scribe (and the Levites who were instructing the people) said to all the people: "Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep"-for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.

He said further: "Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!"

Psalm 19:7-14
From one end of the heavens it comes forth; its course runs through to the other; nothing escapes its heat.
The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye.
But from wilful sins keep your servant; let them never control me. Then shall I be blameless, innocent of grave sin.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27
As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Now the body is not a single part, but many.
Now you are Christ's body, and individually parts of it.

Luke 1:1-4,4:14-21
Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

For our human happiness we need teaching by God’s revelation to supplement what we learn by our own powers of reasoning.

God is so good that it would be out of character to keep his knowledge of himself to himself and never to give himself intimately, for goodness of itself is generous

Why have scripture?

Without it

What we would know would be full of mistakes!

Very few people would know about God because we are lazy, don’t like study and in any event have to earn a living!

Only old people would know about God because it would take so long.

The historical and literal sense, the bodily union of a man and woman.	The allegorical sense: the union of Christ with his church.
Holy Scripture speaks of four marriages
The moral sense: the union of God with the soul.	The eschatological sense: the union of God with the Church Triumphant

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Let's think for a couple of minutes about the past week. Lets say sorry for the things that didn’t go so well. Lets thank God for the things that went well.

This week’s readings are really long. So we’re going to look at the Old Testament reading and the Gospel.

Read them.

So, what is the topic of these readings?

Why do you think we have these readings about readings?

Why do we have the bible?

Why do we need it?

How do you find out what it means?

[Work through one of the other readings looking for the four ways of looking at the text. Don’t forget to point out that not all the meanings are in all the passages every time!]

Second Sunday of the Year

Isaiah 62: 1-5
About Zion I will not be silent,
about Jerusalem I will not grow weary,
until her integrity shines out like the dawn
and her salvation flames like a torch.

The nations will then see your integrity,
all the kings your glory,
and you will be called by a new name,
one which the mouth of the Lord will confer.
You are to be a crown of splendour in the hand of the Lord,
a princely diadem in the hand of your God;
no longer are you to be named “Forsaken,”
nor your land “Abandoned,”
but you shall be called “My Delight,”
and your land “The Wedded”;
for the Lord takes delight in you
and your land will have its wedding.

Like a young man marrying a virgin,
so will the one who built you wed you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride,
so will your God rejoice in you.

Psalm 95: 1-3, 7-10, r3
O síng a new sóng to the Lórd,
síng to the Lórd all the éarth.
O síng to the Lórd, bless his náme.

Procláim his hélp day by dáy,
téll among the nátions his glóry
and his wónders amóng all the péoples.

Give the Lórd, you fámilies of péoples,
give the Lórd glóry and pówer;
give the Lórd the glóry of his náme.

Bring an óffering and énter his cóurts,
wórship the Lórd in his témple.
O éarth, trémble befóre him.

Procláim to the nátions: “God is kíng.”
The wórld he made fírm in its pláce;
he will júdge the péople in fáirness.

1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose. One may have the gift of preaching with wisdom given him by the Spirit; another may have the gift of preaching instruction given him by the same Spirit; another the gift of faith given by the same Spirit; another again the gift of healing, through this one Spirit; one, the power of miracles; another, prophecy; another the gift of recognising spirits; another the gift of tongues and another the ability to interpret them. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who distributes different gifts to different people just as he chooses.

John 2: 1-12
Three days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said, “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. “Draw some out now”, he told them, “and take it to the steward”. They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the servants who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom and said, “People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine till now.”

This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and the brothers, but they stayed there only a few days.

In the first reading we are given a poetic description of the relationship between God and the people of Israel: like that of a married couple.

The psalm is about singing a new song to the lord.

The second reading is not quite linked with the others, and is about the gifts that God gives to each of us.

The gospel is right at the beginning of John's gospel and shows Jesus immediately giving a real example of the new relationship between God and his people.

• In the gospel, Jesus has just called his disciples. Can you think of anything significant about this being on the third day?
• Can you think of a reason why the fact that there are 6 stone jars might be significant?
• Do you think there is a reason that the water used for washing instead of drinking water is turned into wine?
• What do you think this gospel tells us about the relationship between God and mankind? How does Jesus make this different from before?