LUKE 3

SCRIPTURE
In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod tetrarch
of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the lands of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrach of Abilene,
during the pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas the word of God came to John son of Zechariah, in the
wilderness. He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice cries in the wilderness:
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley will be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low,
winding ways will be straightened
and rough roads made smooth.
And all mankind shall see the salvation of God.
Luke 3:1-6

REFLECTION
In this chapter, John the Baptist introduce the son of God Jesus, the he will change the relationship
of God and men and the way he dress differently. In baptism they robe the child in the Baptismal
garment, with of something different and new and that it’s the gift of God.
The center of our life is God in our different ways of belief, in marriage, friendship, or any
relation. Sharing love and apply it with real love to the people we care of. And of the church. The
time has come for a humble leadership in a community based church where all, particularly
women, have a much greater say. The gift of Advent is both a comfort and a challenge to our lives
and communities of faith.
When people give gifts to others it love to share and a challenge to do so. A gift is like something
new just arrived in our life and that person who gave it matters. And we are gifted in love by God.
He wants us to take the gift of his Son – and not feel obliged forever. But gifts do change our lives!
LUKE 4

SCRIPTURE
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness,
being tempted there by the devil for forty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he
was hungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a
loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone.’
Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the
world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has
been committed to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be
yours.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God, and serve
him alone.’
Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the
Son of God,’ he said to him ‘throw yourself down from here, for scripture says: “He will put his
angels in charge of you to guard you,” and again, “They will hold you up on their hands in case you
hurt your foot against a stone.’”
But Jesus answered him, ‘It has been said: You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to return at the appointed
time.
Luke 4:1-13
Reflection
Jesus was brought out of the ordinary into a place where he was tempted off course. Three
temptations to comfort, power, wealth. These are most things that take over us form God.
Word of God
He goes back to the word of God to find strength and insight to fight off evil. Words he learned at
home, school.
A big source of energy for us is the word of God. On Ash Wednesday the invitation was to believe
the good news. That is where we may find life and strength.
We remain in the church not because of bishops or even improvements in structures, but because
of Jesus Christ. The word of God in his gospel remains life-giving and strong. Today’ scripture
shows us that temptations happen often to take us off the path. So does the unexpected and the
scandals of the institution has happens in many of the national institutions. At a time when church
life leaves us a bit down and weak, it is the spirit who led Jesus into the desert keeps him strong
there, will do the same for us.
DAILY READING
Something for Lent: to read a bit of the gospel every day. Maybe look up sacred space on the web,
pray from that. Pray your own favorite gospels. Read the gospel to the children. We look to the
word of God to build us up as God’s children and community and find strength to use all in the
service of God and others in love.
LUKE 5

SCRIPTURE
Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening
to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone
out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats-it was Simon’s-and asked
him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets
for a catch’. ‘Master,’ Simon replied ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you
say so, I will pay out the nets for a catch.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge
number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat
to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful
man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so
also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon,
‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch’. Then, bringing their boats back to land,
they left everything and followed him.
Luke 5: 1-11
Reflection
Sort of doom and gloom readings at first. In many of our institutions and personal life, there can
be the sense of failure and of doom. Peter had a poor night’s fishing – never such a bad catch.
Money was lost, salaries had to be paid to James’ and John’s workers, the laughter at him. Doom
so bad that he cannot believe Jesus saying to go and fish again.
“SELF KNOWS THAT SELF IS NOT ENOUGH”
This story is about working together. From the first we are loved and called together. We don’t
make it on your own. We follow together. We cannot be Christians on our own. We cannot go it
alone. As in Brendan Kennelly’s poem: Self knows that self is not enough.
This is a call and a challenge today, and a joy. Living in a world very impersonal at timer, we need
zones and places of community. Much of our communication now can be lonely – Facebook, texts
and all are impersonal. We can get used to that.
Gospel challenges the loneliness of going it alone. And the feeling of doom. God is always near
promising an abundance. We are never alone and never failures. But we can be failures on our
own.
DEPENDENT
In illness we are totally dependent and in addiction we cannot make it on our own. We could not
have got through without the concerned parents group. Marriage needs the support of other
couples at its best like Marriage Encounter and Teams of our Lady. Any ministry the same. And
all life, married and single, needs friendship. And we are caught together in the big net of God. He
enjoys floundering around in the net with us.
High Season for Typhoons
There are fairly distinct hurricane seasons in the Atlantic (from June through the end
of November) and the Northeast Pacific (late May to early November). Hurricanes can
occur outside these time ranges, but they're quite rare.

But in the Northwest Pacific, where a tropical cyclone is called a typhoon, these
storms can take place year-round. Because of this there's no set "typhoon season,"
although most typhoons occur between July and November, with the storms at their
rarest in February and early March.

Why Typhoons Are Dangerous

Strong winds that can topple trees and buildings are just one part of what makes a
typhoon so dangerous. Other hazards from any typhoon or hurricane include heavy
rainfall, storm surge and storm tides, rip currents, flooding both along the coast and
inland, landslides and flash flooding caused by oversaturated ground, and tornadoes
spawned by thunderstorms within or near the cyclone, usually on the outer edges of
the typhoon or near its eyewall. Even if you don't live on the coast, the effects of a
typhoon can reach more than 100 miles inland.

The Worst Tropical Cyclones on Record

In 2015, Hurricane Patricia became the strongest tropical cyclone on record, with
sustained winds of 200 mph. Until then, Super Typhoon Haiyan held that record.
Although Patricia was technically stronger, it struck a relatively unpopulated area in
Mexico, and its winds, though very strong, were confined to a relatively small area. So
Haiyan was much more destructive, killing more than 6,000 people, injuring almost
30,000, and causing more than 2 billion American dollars of damage in the Philippines
alone.

The Life Cycle of a Typhoon

One of the most interesting typhoon/hurricane facts is how they form. They only take
place near the equator, where water temperatures are at least 80 degrees F, down to
at least 165 feet below the surface. A tropical disturbance – the weakest stage of a
tropical cyclone, usually occurring when the storm begins to coalesce – forms when
wind passes over the warm ocean water. Vapor from the ocean condenses and rises
as clouds with the wind circulating around them. Together, the vapor and circulating
wind form a cluster of cumulonimbus or "thunderstorm" clouds, which is known as a
tropical disturbance.

As the thunderstorms grow larger and higher, the combination of cooler, unstable air
at their tops and warm, moist air rising from the ocean acts sort of like fuel for a rocket
engine, setting up a cycle where the winds in the storm clouds spin even faster. Once
the winds measure 25 to 38 mph of sustained speed, the storm becomes a tropical
depression. If sustained wind speed measure between 39 to 73 mph, the pattern is
labeled a tropical storm, with a deceptively calm center or "eye" at the axis of the
rotating winds, and it receives an official name.