‘The first of seven signs’
HOMILY: With respect to texts such as John 2:1-11, it is tempting to read an account of magic – a magician’s trick – turning water into wine.
‘Wilderness and otherness’
HOMILY: “Spirits of the universe, give glory to God,” the psalmist sings. “The voice of God is heard in storms, rousing all creatures. God’s voice strikes fire from desert rocks …” It’s a fitting psalm for our celebration of the Baptism of Jesus. And it invites consideration of the fact that following his baptism by John in the Jordan, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert. Jesus is led into a wilderness we might call a storied country.
‘Another way’
HOMILY: The word magi comes from the plural of the Greek magos, which in turn comes from the Old Persian magus. The magi are lovers of wisdom from the East … non-westerners, Arabian or African philosophers, Asian priests …
‘Five gold rings’
HOMILY: “On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me … five gold rings …” Allegedly, the popular 18th-century carol was a means of teaching the faith, the five gold rings represented the five books of the Torah.
‘Heavenly folk songs’
HOMILY: “I know that I can sing, that I can write. But what I’m really good at is understanding what a lyric is about. I always ask questions about the context of the lyric, enter into it, become the lyric … [and] I became a better singer as I gained more life experience …” (Agnetha Fältskog, 2013).
‘Tell everybody that I love them’
HOMILY: Paul’s letter to the Philippians is a letter of encouragement, joy and gratitude (eucharist). True joy, the imprisoned apostle says, comes from faith in Christ. His own imprisonment, he says, has led to the proclamation of the gospel.
‘Little decisions are the kind we can make’
HOMILY: Rima, a mother of six, has been living in Jordan for 20 years after fleeing Gaza in 2004. Three of her children are disabled. Rima struggled with isolation and the burden of raising her family. But everything changed when she joined the Forsa project.
‘Call of the wild’
HOMILY: “We are all John the Baptists in our own way” (David L. Walker).
‘Look at the fig tree’
HOMILY: “Look at the fig tree, or any other tree” – the reign of God is about how we look … at trees, at one another. It has to do with how the world appears in the light of a Promised One.
‘The Most High, the Most Low’
HOMILY: Is revelation always ironic, always subversive? Our theme for today is certainly both ironic and subversive.
