Advent 2018: Planting seeds of hope and happiness
The Advent Sunday readings will be presented on four Wednesdays @ 11.15 in the Pro-Cathedral (Dublin).  The dates are Nov 28, Dec 5, 12, 19. For details and more resources, click on this link. 

From Dan to Beersheba (30 Apr to 11 May, 2019)

For detailed information on this unique visit to the Holy Land, click here.   

The notes for Sunday 18 November

Complete notes (pdf)
Gospel notes (audio)
Gospel notes (portable)

The Sunday readings

These days, we tend to be fearful about the environment, the future of the planet and, consequently, about our own future as a species. The underlying anxiety permeates a good deal of our public and private discourse. An acute example is the pollution of the oceans, which already affects fish stocks and the food chain.

Perhaps right now we need to hear the message of Mark 13:24-32. Like every other passage of Scripture, the "Little Apocalypse" of Mark 13 requires interpretation. Given that the meaning is not literal, what is being affirmed? That creation, evolution and history are not random, despite our predisposition to the contrary. Dennis O'Driscoll's intuition in  "Missing God" captures it vividly:

Miss Him when the TV scientist
explains the cosmos through equations,
leaving our planet to revolve on its axis
aimlessly, a wheel skidding in snow.

According to Mark 13, we are not skidding on the spot or spinning aimlessly, thanks be to God. This faith affirmation applies equally to the grand scheme of things and to our individual lives, even though we do not always feel it to be so. In the words of the Bard, 

There's a divinity that shapes our ends
Rough hew them how he will.

Some inspiration

Musical meditation for November
Here's the Pie Jesu from the Duruflé Requiem, sung beautifully by Sarah Connolly. 

Mission Manifesto (Thesis 4 of 10)
We wish to address all people in our countries, without making distinctions — just as Jesus did. We want to approach Christians and non-Christians, people of other faiths as well as ex-Christians. There is not a single human being in the world for whom Jesus hasn't died or who isn't supposed to get to know Jesus. "God is love" (1 John 4:16), and He "wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). We want the same.  

Note
For the next while, the material under "Some Inspiration" will be given over to an initiative from German-speaking Europe to revive the Christian project. Full details can be found on Mission Manifest. The writers offer ten proposals ("theses"), forming a framework for evangelisation today. The site is mostly in German, but the Ten Theses can be found in English also. The Preamble to the theses is brief and valuable.

Kieran O'Mahony,

OSA Biblical Resources