SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
January 20, 2019

SCRIPTURE
Is 62: 1-5/1 Cor 12:4-11/John 2:1-11

Sr. Francina Martha Alken, OPPREACHING
Mary knew what she was doing when she pointed out a need to be taken care of by Jesus. Mothers often see our calling before we ourselves even acknowledge it or respond to it. That was certainly the case for my mother. When I asked her if I could go to Regina High School in Minneapolis, MN, which our Sisters had just opened in 1959, her response was, “No. If you go there, you’ll be one of them!” I later asked my father, who had not been at the previous discussion, and he said, “OK.” So, I went to Regina . . . and became “one of them!” Like Mary, my mother could see that this immediate action would have long-term consequences. Mothers know stuff!

Whatever our calling, if we respond with our whole heart and soul, we will be God’s “delight!” God has called each and every one of us to engage in different forms of service and thus also manifest the same Spirit. We are given a variety of gifts and the call to use them well for the benefit of others and for the glory of God.

Acknowledgement of our gifts is not pride. It is appreciation. Use of our gifts is a positive response to God’s call and a way God works through us to benefit those in need. Use of our gifts helps us care for Earth and enhance the status of our world.

I invite us to reflect on the gifts God has given us and the challenges life has put before us. Have the responses we have made enriched our families? Communities? The world?

by Francina Martha Alken, OP