Third Sunday of the Year C

The following are prayerful resources rather than a liturgy.

  • Responsorial Psalm
  • The gospel for the day
    (a useful commentary on the reading          here)
  • Some optional questions for reflection
  • Prayers of Intercession
  • Cluster Prayer
  • The gospel of the week ahead with questions

Psalm 18

Your words are spirit Lord

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life. 

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life. 

 

The law of the Lord is perfect, it revives the soul

The rule of the Lord is to be trusted, it gives wisdom to the simple.

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life. 

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life.

 

The precepts of the Lord are right, they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear, it gives light to the eyes.

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life. 

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life.

 

The fear of the Lord is holy, abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth and all of them just.

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life. 

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life.

 

May the spoken words of my mouth. The thoughts of my heart.

Win favour in your sight, O Lord my rescuer, my rock!

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life. 

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life.

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life. 

Your words are spirit Lord and they are life.


Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21   "This text is being fulfilled today"


Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts

of the events that have taken place among us,

exactly as these were handed down to us

by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,

I, in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning,

have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus,

so that your Excellency may learn

how well founded the teaching is that you have received.


Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee;

and his reputation spread throughout the countryside.

He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.
He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up,

and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did.

He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,
for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives
and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free,
to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down.

And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him.

Then he began to speak to them,

‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’
This the gospel of the Lord


Copyright © 1996-2021 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.

Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). All rights reserved.

Having watched our online liturgy, you might want simply to reflect yourself on what you have seen and heard and how that might flow into your coming week. Some people have found it very helpful to meet with others and share their thoughts.
If you are interested  in joining a small group to share your thoughts and feelings about God's Word from any of the resources you have watched please email us.         cluster.alpha@outlook.com

Questions for reflection (framed for a group discussion)

For this liturgical year the gospel readings each week will mostly be from Luke's Gospel.

The reading today starts with the beginning of that gospel and for a year we'll follow the Jesus story

according to how Luke tells it. What's distinctive about his account I wonder?

(You could find out more by zooming in on Thursday 27th January - see the Cluster News)

  1. What tiny bit of "good news to the poor" could you bring about this week?
  2. What do you believe that the anointing you received at baptism requires you to do?

Prayers of Intercession


In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus proclaiming the saving rule of God, “to bring good news to the poor, liberty to captives, and sight to the blind”  Let us pray for eyes to see and ears to hear the will of God each day in order to play our part in bringing about God’s kingdom.  

Lord in your mercy… Hear our prayer

 

In this the week of prayer for Christian Unity we pray as members of the one body of Christ, to seek greater unity with our fellow Christians so the prayer of Jesus “that we may all be one” will be answered.

Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

 

For leaders and those who govern, that they seek the common good, and act with integrity when taking decisive steps to address global warming. May we also by our actions  inspire others to care for God’s creation.

Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer



For health workers and for all who feel overwhelmed by the on-going effects of the pandemic, that they will preserve the dignity of those in their care. Grant that their inner strength and community support will see them through.

Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

 

For peoples suffering severe and prolonged drought, especially in Eastern Africa, that the world community will provide the food supplies they desperately need. May those of us blessed with enough to share also be generous to those in need.

Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer


For those in need of prayer, those who are unwell at home or in hospital may they  be comforted by the knowledge of our love and care for them.

Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer


For those who have died and those who mourn their loss.

We pray especially for David Dowie, Pauline McLaughlin nee O’Donnell, John Waugh Snr. and Angela Jensen. May they rest in the peace of Christ.

Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

Prayer to be Missionary Disciples

Picture of Jesus at door

Lord continue to bless our community
in this time of transition.
Help us on our journey
to grow from a maintenance church
to a missionary church.
Give us the courage
to be missionary disciples.
Make our doors wide enough
to receive all who need
human love and fellowship;
narrow enough to shut out
all envy, pride and prejudice.
Kindle in us the fire of your love
that all who come here
will find joy, peace and love.
Make this a house of prayer
and a gateway to your kingdom.
AMEN

Preparing for next week

Luke 4:21-30   No prophet is ever accepted in his own country
Jesus began to speak in the synagogue:

‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

And he won the approval of all,

and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.

They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son, surely?’
But he replied, ‘No doubt you will quote me the saying,

“Physician, heal yourself” and tell me,

“We have heard all that happened in Capernaum,

do the same here in your own countryside.”’


And he went on,

‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.
‘There were many widows in Israel,

I can assure you, in Elijah’s day,

when heaven remained shut for three years and six months

and a great famine raged throughout the land,

but Elijah was not sent to any one of these:

he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town.

And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel,

but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.’


When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged.

They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town;

and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on,

intending to throw him down the cliff,

but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.


This the gospel of the Lord


Copyright © 1996-2021 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.

Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). All rights reserved


Questions for reflection (framed for a group discussion)

Modern prophets such as Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, Oscar Romero or Mother Teresa knew they were going to be opposed, threatened or even killed.

What drives them and Pope Francis and Greta Thunberg on is their rock-solid belief/faith

in their need to speak and act - despite any opposition from those around them.


  1. What would you like to say or do in your faith journey but are afraid of rejection? (Share)
  2.  What do you do when a message you are trying to deliver "falls on deaf ears"?