 Where does authority come from? Why is one man regarded as a prophet, and another as a lunatic, and a third as a hypocrite? Jesus startles the crowds with a ‘new teaching’ today, but what amazes them so much is not the message but the authority behind it: they are convinced because what he does somehow adds credibility to what he says. It’s the old situation that we are all familiar with - we look through words to see the actions, which show us the real message. The scribes did not heal or work miracles, but simply talked about God. Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, but also shows the people what it is - a Kingdom where all that damages human happiness is abolished. The other side to this is that we must listen to a prophet or teacher when they are backed by such authority; we may not “harden our hearts” and ignore the message when we have recognised that the messenger is sent by God. This is the hard part, because it demands that we too show, by our actions, that we have heard. THE LITURGY 0900 Morning Prayer 1000 PARISH MASS
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 Where does Jesus begin his ministry? Where John the Baptist left off - preaching a message of repentance, of change, to welcome the new Kingdom of God. There is a simplicity about this message, which is not compromised by anything – today’s Gospel has these simple words from Jesus, and then the story of his calling more disciples to follow him and share in the work of spreading this message. Repentance has had something of a bad press - we tend to think of it as an old-fashioned concept. But every age needs to hear this call: to look at what we do and say and assume, and realise that there are such things as right and wrong, and that sometimes we follow the wrong path. To follow Jesus, and to accept the Kingdom of God, demands that we make a radical choice, which might well change our lives. THE LITURGY 0900 Morning Prayer 1000 PARISH MASS
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 There is no break between Christmas and Ordinary Time – one flows almost seamlessly into the other through the Baptism of Jesus. We ended our Christmas Season thinking about the “revelation” of the Son of God – people realising who this “Jesus of Nazareth” actually was – and this continues today, as we interject a passage from Saint John before we begin our weekly reading through Saint Matthew’s Gospel. New Year is about beginnings, and as we return to the beginning of Our Lord’s public ministry there is a sense of something exciting about to happen – even though we know the story, we dive into it once more, like returning to a favourite novel or film. So it is with joy that we stand in the country of the river Jordan, and recognise Jesus of Nazareth as the Chosen One of God, who offers himself to do God’s work. THE LITURGY 0900 Morning Prayer 1000 PARISH MASS
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The glorious band of apostles, the noble company of prophets, the white-robed army who shed their blood for Christ, all sing your praises.