In today’s reflection from the Daily Mass readings, Fr Dean asks how great is God to us—really.
You can discover the readings for Monday in the 28th Week of the Year, here:
Earlier this year, there was great excitement around the world amongst music fans when the band, Oasis, performed the first of their reunion concerts at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
People travelled from all over the world to see them. Oasis had come to define what became known as the BritPop movement of the 1990s, with guitar driven songs and lyrics focussed on British culture, identity and society. At the time, there was great public rivalry between Oasis and another band called Blur. There were many debates in the media and in the pubs about who was the greatest, Oasis or Blur.
In the gospel reading today, Jesus provides an interesting and harsh judgement on society. “This is a wicked generation,” he says. You’d think that was hardly a way to win friends and influence people. Why are they so wicked? They keep asking for a sign. Yes, as Jesus reminds them, there have been many signs, and he mentions both Solomon and Jonah. In fact, Solomon was so great that the Queen of the South came from the ends of the earth just to hear his wisdom. She was willing to travel all that way, and yet Jesus’ audience can’t even see what is right in front of them: something greater than Solomon and Jonah. God has already provided a sign.
Sometimes, in our busy lives, with our minds focussed on so many things (some important, others frivolous) we can overlook the presence of Jesus in our midst and what he means for the world today. We know that for so many people, God is an irrelevance, a make-believe construct and they may regard us as foolish for leading such a life. But even as Christians, we can treat God as a kind of disruption to our daily routine, or as an “add-on”. However, with so many options to fill our day, it is important to prioritise what is of greatest importance: that Sunday morning shop or going to Mass? Finding time to flick through reels online or having a few minutes of prayer or bible study? Reaching out to someone in need, or indulging in a TV Boxset? None of those options are bad, and all of them can be good for us. But which is the greatest? Where does God fit into our lives or, like St Paul in his greeting to the Romans, can we ever say that our whole lives are “set apart for the gospel of God?”
Mass today is at Ss Dyfrig and Samson, Grangetown at 630pm
South Cardiff Ministry Area 