4th Sunday of Advent B

Jeff Bagnall • 22 December 2023

The first and second Books of Samuel have some of the early history of the chosen people. It is an instructive interpretation of past events from which the reader is expected to learn something of the ways of God with people and how people should respond to Him. In our reading (from 2 Samuel chapter 7), King David is presented as a good king who will become an hoped-for ideal ruler when the people reach their zenith of power. The king has subdued all his enemies (with the help of God) and is now settled in his own house (actually a palace) and is at last safe from surrounding enemies; in this successful situation he wants to build a house (in fact a temple) for God, close to the palace in Jerusalem.

Up to this point the ‘house’ of God has been the ark of the covenant kept in a sacred tent and transported to different areas to be close to the people in general. The prophet Nathan thinks it is a good idea to have a temple, but later he gets to understand that this is not what God wants, at least for the time being. Rather, what God wants is for the house (the dynasty) of David and all the people to dwell safely and well in the land that He has given them for themselves; and in the future God will raise up an heir of David’s who will reign over an ideal kingdom. But who, reading this history can grasp how this will in fact turn out? We apply it to the Kingdom of God announced by Jesus nearly a millennium after David, but its completion still needs our co-operation.

The second reading is the last three verses from Paul’s letter to the Romans. We don’t have the original of any of the New Testament books, but only manuscripts of a later date. Some of these put these three verses a chapter or so earlier and some have them in both places and I think one omits them altogether. It may be that these verses were not originally by Paul but were added later. But that is by the way; since these verses still have a lot to say. This one sentence tells us that the core message of the Christian teaching is that we are elevated to a higher potential because this is the climax of what was prepared for in the Old Testament (the scriptures). It is God Who enables us to live well as we should, and in accord with the Good News as preached by Paul. Previously, what the Good News was and what God wanted was a mystery, but now it is clear in Jesus Christ. And this is Good News that should spread to all people, including those we think unlikely. You can read more about this here.

In the gospel reading we hear of the annunciation to Mary by the angel Gabriel. He tells Mary of her role in God’s plan; it is a great favour for her for she is to have a child who will fulfil the longings of God’s people and His promise through the dynasty of David. As David mistook God’s plan for him, so Mary cannot see how this will come about and how God’s plan will come to reality. But the message the angel adds, is that God’s power can achieve what seems impossible to us and is impossible without His help. The Spirit which played such an important part in creation and in the history of the people, will come upon Mary. This power of God is shown in the pregnancy of Mary’s much older cousin Elizabeth with John the Baptist. Mary verbally accepts the word of God and co-operates in His plans for the rest of her life, beginning with caring for her cousin. The thread through these readings applies also to us who read and hear them. How we expect and want things to be, may not be what God has in mind for His overall plan. What God wants of us may surprise us, but He is with us and enables us to fulfill our role and progress the coming of His kingdom, we should respond as Mary did as we prepare to celebrate the gospel events at Christmas.

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

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2026 - Year A

by Jeff Bagnall • 19 August 2026

During the time of the prophet Isaiah, the kingdom of Judah was threatened by the Assyrian empire from the east. Isaiah had recommended trusting in God to save the people and God would be with them. But the king and leaders didn’t see it this way, they felt they would loose, and forfeit their privileged positions, if not their lives. They made some sort of a pact with the emperor of Assyria so that Jerusalem was spared, although the rest of the country was invaded. So Isaiah, as we read today , reprimand Shebna the royal steward, and announced a replacement, who will be the leader to make decisions in the future; he will have the symbols of office, the sash, the robe, the key to the ordering of the country’s affairs, and will keep them safe like the peg for a tent. This passage seems to be in the mind of Matthew when he writes of Peter receiving the leadership office in our gospel reading. But the historical events behind it challenge us severely in our relationship with our world and with God, just as the sermon on the mount in the New Testament does: if anyone wants your shirt give them your coat as well, if anyone strikes you turn the other cheek, love you enemies… (see Matthew 5:38-48).

Feast of the Assumption - Year A

14 August 2026

There was much apocalyptic literature in the centuries before and after Christ – among the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Persian and even Indian literature. This literature which is about the development in the world of disasters and troubles expressed in dramatic stories, included those of evil ‘influences’ seeking to destroy the next ruler born to a chosen woman to be mother of the future ruler. Some form of these apocalyptic stories were part of Jewish literature – as also the book of Revelation in the N.T. which used to be called the Apocalypse in Catholic bibles, because of its similarity to such literature. Our first reading (from Revelations 12:1-6 ) for the Catholic feast of the Assumption includes an adaptation of this mythic scenario to the situation of Christianity under Roman persecution in the 1st century to encourage believers in Jesus and his resurrection – a faith that secures them safety in heaven, but how the rest of us, still living in our world, are still threatened by evil. The story could bring to mind the Assumption of Mary into heaven – waiting with Christ for the rest of us after our struggles against the evil forces in our world. There are ‘secular’ stories of old about such sort of events.