Many consider mercy to be the same as pity and that being merciful can make one feel superior to the offender. Today’s Scripture readings, through, invite us to a more nuanced understanding of mercy that we must aspire to if our lives are to be holy.

Today’s Gospel, which is part of Luke’s sermon on the plain, is a teaching on loving one’s enemies. From a practical point of view, we are told that we should treat others as we would want to be treated. More important, from a God-centered point of view, we are told to be merciful like our heavenly Father, who is kind to everyone, even the ungrateful and the wicked. The Greek word translated here as “kind” (Lk 6:35) is chrestos, meaning “useful”  or “kindly”. Ironically, it was a common name for slaves in the ancient world.

Simon-Peter had already witnessed the healing of his mother-in-law. Now he experienced the miraculous haul of fishes. Like Isaiah, he found himself utterly confronted by divine holiness. He responds as if that were the case. Notice how, aware of his own unworthiness, Peter says, Depart from me for I am a sinner, O Lord. Like Isaiah, Peter, too, is challenged by God’s vast holiness. Like Isaiah, he too, is confronted with his own moral, psychological and spiritual reality. And like Isaiah, he too, experiences the transforming power of grace. Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. The pattern is clear. God’s call always involves three things: an encounter with holiness, the acceptance of one’s own wounded reality, and the touch of transforming grace. It is important for us to remember, as well, that God always acts divinely and we always act in a human way. Vocation draws us into the dance between two very different ways of acting. Are we ready to join the liberating dance of Spirit? Are we ready to respond to the attraction of God? Are we ready to walk in the manner of Christ, bearers of holiness and compassion in a lost world?

Last week we saw that after John the Baptist was taken Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John. They then moved to Capernaum where Jesus found a house and began his public ministry. He did this by engaging in two closely related actions. He went first to the synagogue to teach and then, while he was there, he performed a deliverance. In telling us this story Mark makes two points about Jesus’ person and mission. First, Jesus teaches and liberates in a new way with great personal authority and power. Then his fame spreads through all the country. In other words, divine revelation is a union of word and deed. The lesson is clear: Jesus’ word is a word of power, an active word that liberates the receptive human spirit. The invitation to each of us today is to open our lives more fully to Jesus’ liberating word and action. Are we ready to allow him to bring God’s work in our lives and the cosmos to glorious completion?

Last Sunday we meditated on the first part of Jesus’ startling sermon on Isaiah 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth. Today we meditate on the second part. The people are astonished and perplexed because they know Jesus and his family. Then comes the rejecting proverb, Physician heal thyself! It is found only here. In the face of such a reaction, coupled with the attempt to hurl him from the cliff that concludes the passage, is it any wonder Jesus calls attention to the miracles for Gentiles performed by Elijah and Elisha? Can you hear the living echoes of Jeremiah’s universal call? What about Luke’s insistence that Jesus was conceived, anointed, filled and sealed by the Spirit? The core of the message is simplicity itself: because of Israel’s rejection of the Messiah, the Gospel goes forth to the Gentile world. How are we to understand the consequences for an Ireland that in its turn joins that wave of rejection? Are we open to the Spirit or to the desires of the world?

This Sunday’s gospel shows our reluctance to leave the Christmas season behind. It tells of the third of the ‘manisfestations’ of Jesus associated with the Christmas season, the others being the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord.

They key to understanding the place of today’s gospel in our liturgy is the statement that ‘He let his glory be seen.’  The Gospel of John contains seven major signs by which the true identity of Jesus, his glory, is made known. The transformation of water into wine tells us that Jesus brings a new time, a time of richness and fulfillment. An enormous amount of wine is provided. Although the ‘hour’ of Jesus, the hour of his death and resurrection, has not yet come, this sign is a pointer towards the ‘glory’ of Jesus.

The role of the mother of Jesus, who is addressed by Jesus as ‘Woman’, is significant. As in the stories of Jesus’ birth, so here in John, she collaborates with God’s ways in a humble and self-giving manner.  She is the woman of the new covenant, as Eve was the woman of the old.

Luke offers us a vision of the baptism of Jesus that differs in several ways from that of Mark. Luke paints a picture of people wondering about the messiah. He depicts a Jesus who, the last to be baptised by John, is praying when the Holy Spirit descends on him in bodily form like a dove. Then the heavenly voice speaks. After he is anointed Messiah, Jesus’ public ministry, his life as God’s faithful son confronting the darkness in the world, his life as God’s faithful servant confronting the reality of suffering in the world, begins. Note that not all of John’s disciples followed Jesus. What about us? Do we forget the link Luke draws between the Spirit and prayer in today’s gospel? Do we identify Jesus as God’s Son? Are we ready to welcome Jesus into our hearts at the start of this New Year? Are we ready to accept him as Lord of the year ahead and walk with him in his ways of prayer and service?