Ordinary Time Reading Reflections: For Individuals or Small Groups

By Armand Brunelle III

Ordinary Time Reading Reflections is geared to small groups or individuals looking to prepare for the Sunday Masses during Ordinary Time Liturgical season. Each week's readings within all three Liturgical Years A,B,C are identified. A short reflection is also provided to stimulate conversation within the group or for the individual's own contemplation.

I envision that you could use this book on your own to prepare for Mass but I think it would be better if you can gather with even just a couple of friends. "wherever two or more are gathered in my name there I shall be!" – Matthew 18:20

I would suggest that Jesus is with you too even when you are alone with your Bible but always nice to share our faith with others!

The groups that I facilitate, typically have an hour time limit which usually is enough time. Sometimes we go over, but I really tried to keep it within an hour to respect everyone's time.

We open the meeting with prayer and then begin reading the scriptures listed for the day you are studying. You will see them just under the title of the section for that weekend. I list the first reading from the Old Testament, the Psalm, the second reading from the New Testament and the Gospel for that particular Sunday.

If you are in a group, pick a person to read the scripture aloud. Ideally, you would have a different person read aloud for the other readings.

What follows is my thoughts on what the readings were saying to me when I wrote them. You may agree or disagree with what I have and that is more than okay! The idea is to get YOU thinking about what they are saying to you and your group.

I have included a blank page after my reflections for you to write your own ideas. You could write it in paragraph form as I did or simply put in some bullets or key points that you'd like to remember.

What is nice about doing that is the next time the Liturgical year comes along in three years you can see what you thought back then and see if you still feel the same or hopefully maybe you have grown and have a new direction for the readings and your life!

Either way I hope you find this book useful, and you come to know God, His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit a little more intimately. That is what it's all about! God bless you and your small group!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798350947922

Armand Brunelle III

I am a computer scientist and entrepreneur. I am a lifelong Catholic Christian and have been involved in Youth and Men's Ministry for the last 37 years. Our Men's group would often meet and review the readings for Mass and discuss them prior to Mass. This book is geared to help small groups and individuals identify the readings for Mass and discuss them together. I have provided a reflection of my own to hopefully help get the conversation going and I also provide a blank page after each so that the individual or small group member can record their own thoughts too. This volume is for the Liturgical Season of Lent for all three liturgical years - A, B, C. Please watch for additional volumes coming soon for Easter, Advent/Christmas and Ordinary Time. Visit my website at www.armandbrunelle.com for more information on myself the books and their availability. I hope you find this book useful, and you come to know God and develop a relationship with God, his son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. God bless you and your small group!

Book preview

Preface

I have had the good fortune to be involved in youth ministry for 35 years and Men’s ministry for about 20 years. When we first started doing Men’s Group, we would meet during Lent and Advent for 6 weeks and simply read the scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday Mass and discuss them amongst ourselves. Usually in group’s of 6 to 12 men.

We would ask questions such as what are the readings saying to you? What is the message here? How can we apply this to our life, our world today.

I never had prepared reflections of my own for those meetings; everything was just spontaneous for us and off the cuff. I never took notes either, but the conversations were always great! When I went to Mass that weekend, I was very prepared and even curious to see what Father was going to say to the parish about the readings and how would his remarks align or not align with our thoughts.

During the pandemic when we were unable to go to Mass, I was reading the scriptures for Mass prior to watching the Mass on the computer. Like previously with the Men’s Group reflections, I started to think I wonder what Father will say about these readings? One day I just decided to write down in a note on my iPhone what I was thinking and that’s how this came to be.

Each Sunday morning after morning prayer with my coffee and my dogs I would read the readings and then jot down my thoughts. I have done this for every Sunday and some Holy Days for Years A, B and C. This booklet is just for the Lenten Sundays for all three years. I have indicated some of the upcoming years so you can align with the current Liturgical Year that we are in as you use this booklet.

So By what authority do you…? (Mark 11:28) I have no authority. I have not been trained in theology, these are simply my thoughts. If you care to know more about me and my background you can go to the back of the book.

How to use this booklet

I envision that you could use this book on your own to prepare for Mass but I think it would be better if you can gather with even just a couple of friends. wherever two or more are gathered in my name there I shall be! – Matthew 18:20

I would suggest that Jesus is with you too even when you are alone with your Bible.

Our group’s would typically have an hour time limit which usually was enough time. Sometimes we went over but I really tried to keep it within an hour to respect everyone’s time.

Start by reading the scriptures listed for the day you are studying. You will see them just under the title of the section for that weekend. Hopefully you can decipher my abbreviations for the books of the Bible. I list the first reading from the Old Testament, the Psalm, the second reading from the New Testament and the Gospel for that particular Sunday.

If you are in a group, pick a person to read the scripture aloud. Ideally, you would have a different person read aloud for the other readings.

What follows is my thoughts on what the readings were saying to me when I wrote them. You may agree or disagree with what I have and that is more than okay! The idea is to get YOU thinking about what they are saying to you and your group.

I have included a blank page after my reflections for you to write your own ideas. You could write it in paragraph form as I did or simply put in some bullets or key points that you’d like to remember.

What is nice about doing that is the next time the Liturgical year comes along in three years you can see what you thought back then and see if you still feel the same or hopefully maybe you have grown and have a new direction for the readings and your life!

Either way I hope you find this booklet useful and you come to know God, his son Jesus Christ and their Holy Spirit a little more intimately. That is what its all about! God bless you and your small group!

Breaking Open the Word

It is currently Advent of Year B, December of 2023. I am using a daily devotional booklet by Father Richard Rohr and just came across this essay for December 18th entitled Breaking Open the Word. The readings for December 18th are from Jeremiah 23:5-8 and Matthew 1:18-25. I am hoping that Fr. Richard and the cac.org won’t mind me sharing this with you. I have properly footnoted the text and have not changed anything in his essay. Enjoy!

We have a lot to learn from people like Quakers and Mennonites. They are well practiced in being a minority. They don’t need to have crowds around them to believe that it is the truth. They gather in little group’s and share the Word of God. And that, thank God, is what is also happening again in the Catholic church. We call them base communities of Latin America or the Bible study group’s of America and Europe. Breaking open the Word of God cannot depend on people like me, theologians or people who have studied professionally. If that would be true, then 99 percent of humanity will never have access to God’s Word.

These faith-sharing group’s are directed not by a professional teacher or an expert, but rather what we call a facilitator or animator – one who holds the group together and knows what questions to ask to keep people searching and praying. The group’s read a Gospel text, sometimes three times and then they ask questions: What threatens them in the text? What makes them excited about the text? What is really challenging in that text? What do they think Jesus was really talking about? What was the world situation when Jesus told that particular story? Are there any comparable situations today to which this text might apply? Or perhaps in today’s Gospel, Do you really think Joseph understood what was happening? Was his trust in Mary, his dreams and the visions of angels really total certitude? Or was it actually faith? Such questions are allowed and encouraged.

Whatever gave us the idea that one little select group of similarly educated people would best understand what God was to all people? The Word of God is being given back to the poor. The Word of God is being given back to the uneducated and the imprisoned. The Word of God is being given back to women. The Word of God is being given back to non-celibates (for us in the Catholic church). The Word of God is being given back to someone other than those who are employees of the religious system. What we are finding is the Word of God is being read with a vitality, a truth and often a freedom that is exciting, much more challenging and often making us wonder if we have ever understood it before. Just try it. This will not lessen the authority of the church or the Scriptures, but only increase it because we will have spiritual adults in our midst. Spiritual adults do not overreact or think dualistically, but the listen and learn and grow.¹

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1 Preparing for Christmas with Richard Rohr – Daily Meditations for Advent pg 52-54 – 2008 St Anthony Messenger Press Cincinnati, Ohio. Visit cac.org to order your own copy!

Ordinary Time is far from Ordinary!

Ordinary Time, meaning ordered or numbered time, is celebrated in two segments: from the Monday following the Baptism of Our Lord up to Ash Wednesday; and from Pentecost Monday to the First Sunday of Advent. This makes it the largest season of the Liturgical Year.

Liturgical Years

The Catholic church organizes its liturgies into three distinct Liturgical Years – Year A, Year B and Year C. When Year C completes, the Church goes back to Year A and then on to Year B after the completion of A and so on. For more information on Liturgical Years please visit the US Catholic Bishop’s website: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year

The Liturgical Year starts with the Season of Advent which begins in November of a given year. Below you will find the Liturgical Year Designations for the calendar years through 2031.

Year A

2022 (Advent) – 2023

2025 – 2026

2028 - 2029

Year B

2023 (Advent) – 2024

2026 – 2027

2029 - 2030

Year C

2024 (Advent) – 2025

2027 – 2028

2030 - 2031

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

Is 49:3, 5-6; Ps 40; 1Cor 1:1-3; John 1:29-34

The gospel today from John has John the Baptist describing him baptizing Jesus and what followed after he had the Lord in the Jordan and poured water over his head. God had told John that whom ever you see the Spirit come down and remain he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. John tells the crowd now I have seen and testified the he, Jesus, is the Son of God.

In the first reading from Isaiah 49 we hear that the Messiah will not just unite the tribes of Israel and Jacob but will be a light to the nations!

Paul also in the second reading from the beginning of his first letter to the Corinthians proclaims to those baptized in the name of Jesus, that he is truly our Lord and it is through him that we receive grace and peace.

Isaiah the prophet of God, predicts what the Messiah would do. John the Baptist is told by the same God how to recognize the Messiah. And finally Paul who had his own conversion experience is telling everyone he meets about Jesus and that he is the only way to peace.

We have heard this message today. Are we listening? Do we believe these people of the Bible that have gone before us? Do we believe our own people our own family who for generations have passed on the faith to us after hearing this same message?

I am guessing yes you do believe. Not that you don’t have moments of doubt, for sure we all have those moments. The key is to keep coming to Mass and receiving the sacraments and hearing the word. It is where we get our grace and peace, our strength to persevere in the faith as we live amongst the difficulties of this world.

Let us thank God for the gift of faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and for the gifts of grace, mercy and peace that are the fruits of that faith. May we share that faith and echo the Psalm response "Here am I lord; I come to do your will. For we must be like Paul and proclaim Jesus to all we encounter!

This space is for you to record your comments or your group’s comments.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

Is 8:23-9:3; Ps 27; 1Cor 1:10-13,17; Mt 4:12-23

From the Bush in South Africa at Lion Sands Game Reserve in Manyeleti, ZA

Unfortunately not able to get to Mass today in the Bush. Hope to watch a stream later but will be spending time with the readings and providing my comments below.

We hear the phrase today The people in darkness have seen a great light in both the first reading from Isaiah and the gospel from Matthew who is actually quoting the Isaiah passage. Matthew is pointing to Christ as the great light who is shining a light on poverty and calling for repentance which is to say a change of mind, to think differently about the poor and upon hearing the gospel that should change how we act and live in community.

Matthew also describes the calling of the Apostles by the Sea of Galilee. These men would walk with Jesus as he taught in the synagogues proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and curing disease and illness among the people, the people in darkness.

Paul in our second reading from first Corinthians urges them to heal the divisions that have started to occur in the Church, in the community. Rather than all of them saying they all belong to Christ, some say they belong to Paul or Apollos or Cephas. He said those Apostles including himself were not the one that was crucified.

He is basically telling them they are wasting time bickering. They need to refocus on Christ!

For the Apostles are pointing to Christ as the light of the world. We must be united in Christ, not the apostles, not our denomination or church but in Christ. For it is the cross and resurrection of Christ, that along with the gospel is what calls us to repentance and makes us bring the light to those that are still living in darkness.

And there are many still living in darkness. On the way to Cape Town airport I passed by very large shanty towns with houses made out of materials that people can find like sheet metal, wood. They are all stacked on top of each other. There is no running water instead there are portable toilets. These people are just existing,