Sunday Gospels 2019: Readings & Reflections

Sr Veronica's weekly one page reflections on the Sunday Gospel Readings have a global circulation. Each month the next four reflections are published here on our mercyworld.org website in reverse chronological order so that the most current reflection is always at the top of the list. 

Veronica Lawson is an Australian Sister of Mercy. She studied Scripture at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem and at Trinity College, Dublin. For many years, she lectured in Biblical Studies at the Australian Catholic University and its predecessor institutions before spending seven years as leader of her congregation. She regularly presents biblical workshops and lectures within Australia and throughout the world. Sr Veronica writes from an eco-feminist perspective.

You are welcome to circulate these reflections. Please acknowledge the author, Veronica Lawson rsm.

Fr Eamonn O'Connor presents the Sunday Gospel on the Irish radio show Side by Side, a Religious and Social Affairs programme with a difference. Broadcast every Sunday morning on Shannonside FM from 10.00 – 11.00, ‘Side by Side’ communicates the Christian message in the context of contemporary Irish society. It does so in a manner that is ecumenical and informative.

27 January 2019. 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

'The liturgy for today juxtaposes the introductory verses of Luke’s gospel and a passage from the beginning of Jesus’ Galilean ministry that encapsulates and sets the tone for the whole gospel. If we had no other part of Luke’s gospel than these twelve verses, we would know a great deal about the gospel and its author’s intentions. ..'

20 January 2019. 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

John 2:1-11

'Today’s liturgy invites us to take a detour into the Fourth Gospel and into a marriage scene that the evangelist John places at the beginning of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. Marriage imagery appears from time to time in Israel’s prophetic tradition, sometimes in quite confronting or alienating ways, especially in Hosea where God is imaged as male and Israel as God’s faithless female spouse...'

13 January 2019. The Baptism of Jesus Year C

Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

'Today’s celebration of the baptism of Jesus marks the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Ordinary Time. The liturgy of the Christmas season invited us to reflect on and to experience the various comings of Christ in our world. It invited us to open ourselves to the action of God’s grace at work in our encounters with the living Christ...'

6 January 2019. Feast of the Epiphany Year C

Matthew 2:1-12

'God’s presence is revealed to us in many and diverse ways: we can read the “story” of God’s creation of the universe; we can search out the meaning of our dreams; we can learn from our experience and the experience of others; and we can listen to the word of God in our sacred scriptures....'