3rd Sunday of Easter B

Jeff Bagnall • 6 April 2024

In the first reading from Acts, ( 3:13-19 ) we have Luke’s report of what Peter preached to the early followers of the Way of Jesus. A message that looks very much like it is putting the blame for the death of Jesus on the Jews to whom it is addressed; yet it does add that they did not know what they were doing, and indeed they were fulfilling, it says, what had been foretold would happen. The idea of what sin is, in these words, reflects the common notion that it is going against what is just and right, with no consideration of the intention of those who are doing what may be seen as sinful by others or according to the law. We and Christians generally still have difficulty sometimes with understanding this distinction. The address of Peter as reported by Luke, outlines the pattern of life that we humans generally have whether we call ourselves Christian or not.
In this pattern we do things that interfere with the creative plan of God and that misinterpret the words and actions of others who are God’s creatures on earth; we do this without fully realising what we are doing though it can cause so much damage to the world and to others; however, as we more and more come to be followers of the way of Jesus, God’s personal representative among us, we should work at changing our way of life continually for the better. So Luke tells us Peter concludes, saying “Repent, change your whole way of life for the better,” so that your sins may be wiped out!”

In the second reading, ( 1 John 2:1-5 ), the writer confirms that our sins can be left behind. There is the notion that God requires some recompense for the wrong done, and that the death of Jesus was a sacrifice that has won from God forgiveness of the sins of the world. The early Christians to whom the letter was written do not think that being a Christian means being free from sin, but it does mean that we have to try to leave all sin behind by doing the will of God. God’s love is in us, but we must let it come to perfection in us by obeying the commandments of God.

The Gospel reading ( Luke 24:35-48 ), announces the resurrection: It is unbelievable! In story-form Luke tells us that God is still really one of us, but unlike us he is a human who has lived entirely for others, a life sacrificed for all; and this is all part of God’s plan from the start to the end – the End of time; the whole world should know the love of God! And Luke’s second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, illustrates the progress of this Way of life from Jerusalem to Rome, a progress that Jesus refers to at the end of this reading. We must try to become human like Him; He lived for others showing His love for the Father, so we must live for others, and hence for God! We, who know of this love that is everywhere, must express God’s love by loving others – a joyful but hard task.

" Easter in ordinary" - the presence of the risen Lord in the ordinariness of our lives.

Jeff Bagnall was a lecturer for many years at Craiglockhart College teaching RE to many future Catholic Primary teachers.

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2026 - Year A

14 January 2026
The first reading comes from a section of Isaiah which nowadays we associate with Christmas. In Advent (the 4th Sunday of Advent, cycle A) we heard a prophecy of the birth of a young lady’s first child to be called Immanuel (‘God with us’). There are two other children in this section of the book; they have equally meaningful names: Maher Shalal Hash Baz (‘disaster will come upon many’) and She’ar Yashub (‘rescue for some’). All this precedes the section we read today; and after our reading comes the source of the well-known Christmas carol, “Unto us a son is born” (Isaiah 9:6). Our reading refers to Zebulun and Naphtali, which were tribal areas in the break-away northern kingdom. It is in these areas, we read, there have been difficulties but also glorious times (perhaps in the future). Because of the editing of the book of Isaiah over many centuries, it is uncertain what the historical reference is; it could be about 733 BC when the Assyrians invaded that land, but would eventually loose power, or it could be about the 6th century BC exile in Babylon and the eventual return. But for us today, it is clearly linked with the words of the gospel: there may have been darkness but now the light begins to shine!

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2026 - Year A

by Jeff Bagnall • 8 January 2026
The Lord speaks to one of His spokesmen (such is a prophet), with a quite progressive message for the chosen people (for us); it announces that though they are chosen yet His purpose is to extend salvation to all peoples everywhere. This first reading is the second prophecy/poem about the Servant of the Lord, found in the part of the book of Isaiah put together during the Exile in Babylon. We have just a few of its verses read to us, but selected to make a very significant point: that the chosen servant is to be a light of the nations, so that salvation may reach to everyone – to the ends of the earth. We see this insight that struggled to develop throughout the history of the Jews before Christ, and still had difficulty being grasped in the early church – and perhaps in our church today. The universal love of God is now generally recognised in the teaching of various Christian denominations; but the practice of this love and of its implications is still a difficulty both for some sections of the church and for us individually. Imagine the situation of the Jews in Exile, hit by this message that God actually loves those enemies of theirs, and that they, being a light to the Gentiles, should show this love to them.
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