God is not welcome (Feast of the Holy Family Sunday Dec. 30th 2016)

God-with-us (Emmanuel) has to flee from the terror of Herod’s brutal regime. Joseph, his protector, guides this Holy Family into exile. At the beginning of the Jesus story, as with the end, God is not welcome. Millions and millions of people are today caught up in the bitter experience of exile, fleeing war and insane violence in Syria and other parts of the world. Like Joseph, Mary and Jesus, they too are running for their lives. Their fate is at the mercy of the rest of the world, which keeps saying ‘never again’, but appears to not really mean it. We welcome Jesus into our world at Christmas; we must continue to welcome Him in the refugee. 

Lord, help us to remember those who tonight will go to sleep unfed and unwelcome, strangers in foreign lands, people who have fled for their lives and are far from their homes. We lift up to you millions in our world who are escaping persecution and conflict, who have fled death, torture or exploitation. So many have suffered so much. Lord Jesus, soften our hearts to their situation, and help us follow your lead in seeking justice and mercy. We pray for an end to the wars, poverty and human rights abuses that drive desperate people to become refugees in the first place. We thank You that you are Lord of all the earth and all its people are loved by you. We pray these things in the name of your son who was himself born into the troubled life of a refugee. Amen (Tearfund). 

Christmas Day (Lk 2:1-14)

If you were to put together a guest list for the birth of the Messiah 2000 years ago one might expect political leaders like Caesar Augustus, religious leaders such as the Chief Priests and the Pharisees to be included. Yet for Luke, the shepherds are some of the first to welcome Jesus into this world and are the first ‘preachers’ of the Good News. Many would find it completely shocking that Shepherds would be included. It was a disreputable trade and shepherds were considered ‘unclean’ because of their profession. At first they were terrified, but the angels reassured them: ‘do not be afraid’. The response of the shepherds was immediate: ‘let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing which has taken place’.

The poor, the marginalised, the outcast will be the first to experience the abundance of God’s hospitality through Jesus and the shepherds come in their name. We are told that people were amazed by the shepherds and their words. Their journey didn’t end in Bethlehem, for them it was perhaps only the beginning as they returned ‘glorifying and praising God’. We are invited to Bethlehem today, to open up our hearts to the One who has come to bring hope and joy. And we return, like the shepherds ‘glorifying and praising God for all they have seen and heard’. We must allow that Love to penetrate our hearts and celebrate with our family and friends the Joy that lives amongst us. And when we have finished celebrating we remember that the real work of Christmas begins once again: 

“When the song of the angels is stilled. When the star in the sky is gone. When the kings and princes are home. When the shepherds are back with their flocks. The work of Christmas begins; to find the lost; to heal the broken; to feed the hungry; to release the prisoner; to rebuild the nations; to bring peace among people; to make music in the heart.” Howard Thurman

4th Sunday of Advent: Matthew 1:18-24

Joseph

While Luke focuses on the birth of Jesus from Mary’s point of view, Matthew’s Gospel tells the story from Joseph’s. Joseph must have been extremely confused when he learns of Mary’s pregnancy. He plans to quietly ‘dismiss’ her so as not to put her in danger.  Mary’s options were bleak without Joseph; her fate is very much in his hands. He is immediately obedient and says yes to his call. Joseph welcomes Mary and gives this child the name he is instructed: Jesus.

We hear very little about Joseph in the Gospels and he is sometimes a forgotten figure in the Jesus story, yet his decision to follow God’s call is hugely important as he fulfills his promise to protect Mary from danger. Joseph’s ‘yes’ to God sets him on a dangerous path. He must protect his family and this will mean later leaving their homeland, becoming refugees fleeing the terror of Herod.

Each time God speaks to Joseph, it is through his dreams.  The Word of God which comes to Joseph gives him a new meaning and a new mission in life. Today can you reflect on how God speaks to you? In what ways do you hear God’s word? And when you hear God’s word, what is your response? When you have said ‘yes’, where has that led you? Today we can pray for those who are faced with tough decisions and who must chose the more difficult path. It requires strength and bravery.

3rd Sunday of Advent Matthew 11:2-11

 “What did you go out to see?”

Jesus asks the crowd in today’s Gospel why they ran to see John the Baptist? Sometimes when we go to hear a famous speaker or go to someone we admire we are looking for answers. Our expectations are often not grounded in reality. Jesus asks the people what did they expect when they went to see John? Were they looking for someone nicely dressed? No, they were looking for a prophet and John was the greatest of these. Jesus’s words are almost like a eulogy for John.

John announces and makes way for Jesus, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another. John announces a new time. John names the question we so often ask when a new exciting leader comes on the scene: Is this the one? Is this the person we’ve been waiting for? And if it is, how will we know? Our expectations can often be so great because we are constantly in need of renewal. Where in your life today do you need to experience fresh hope and newness?

The Gospel ends with a paradox: John is the greatest that has ever been born; yet the people who are considered the ‘lowest’ or the ‘least’ in this world are considered even greater than John by God. A statement that no doubt would have left a few people scratching their heads.

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, come forth from deep within me with Christmas luminous beauty. For my heart has become the sacred crib, the birthing place of God among us.” Edward Hays (Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim)

Feast of the Immaculate Conception December 8th 2016 Luke 1:26-38

For no word from God will ever fail

Mary must have been terrified at first. Pregnancy outside of marriage meant total exclusion from the community and possible death by stoning. Yet her trust in God is something quite remarkable. In the account of the Annunciation, Luke portrays Mary as the first disciple. As with all disciples, once they hear good news, the must proclaim it and Mary does so in her visit to Elizabeth. These two women, strong, courageous, listening to God’ s Word and proclaiming God’s Word.

The Gospel today is rich, spend some time with it. Perhaps you could focus on a time when you heard and responded to an invitation from God. Who was the messenger? Was there a tough decision involved? An authentic ‘yes’ often requires a struggle and plenty of reflection. We often, like Mary, have many questions and concerns. How did it feel to have this invitation from God? Or perhaps, you were the messenger! What was it like to affirm another and to invite another? What was the response: “I am the Lord’s servant”?

“If I, a little, stumbling faithful soul say “yes”, and others in so many other places do the same, then once again, all Heaven will stand on tiptoe, and all creation hold its breath, as in our day the way is opened up for God to come. I wonder, will God begin again with us this Christmas?” – Ruth Patterson 

Second Sunday of Advent 2016 Mt 3:1-12 'Make Straight Paths'

We hear in today’s Gospel that ‘people went out to him from all of Judea…’. John the Baptist was obviously someone who could gather a crowd. There must have been something very attractive about John and what he had to say. He was a man who lived simply; a man not clouded by the non-essentials. Who in our world today do people flock to hear? Who do we look to for guidance, for leadership, for hope? When the religious leaders arrive to the River Jordan, John does not greet them warmly. They have let the people down. He questions the fruit they have produced. It is a reminder of the responsibilities that come with positions of leadership.

This second Sunday of Advent we are called to make straight paths for the coming of our Lord. How we prepare is important. We are waiting, and yes waiting can be frustrating. But waiting can also be a time of growth, of inspiration, of dreaming big dreams and imagining the endless possibilities that might come. We should try not to let go of that hope and inspiration.

John appeals to the community who have gathered to open their eyes, to take the opportunity that is at hand and deal with the spiritual crisis which surrounds them. John is calling for a radical change of heart. The decisive moment is coming where people must take a new path. What can we do to help build communities where leaders produce good fruit? What can we do to respectfully challenge those who do not? Today we pray that God’s Spirit enlivens our heart, our work and our world. 

November 21st 2016 Matthew 24:37-44 Advent 1

You know that feeling of waiting for something or someone? It is a feeling of excitement or maybe anxiety. For most people waiting is not a very popular pastime, it can be seen as a waste of time. If we allow it to, waiting can be a creative time, a time of high alert, where we may even be more aware of ourselves. Our senses are heightened especially when we are waiting for important news or results or waiting on a loved one to call or to arrive. Waiting is not always seen as a good thing but it can be a time for growth. And so, we enter into the season of waiting: Advent. The Gospel reminds us to be alert and use this time to prepare. What will our preparations be like? God is with us in many different ways, trying to catch our attention in the midst of our busy days. As we fight our way through the queues in the coming weeks, can we use 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 20 mins… to stop, be still, to ask God to enter into our hearts and lives once more. 

November 20th 2016: Luke 23:32-43 ‘Christ the King’

This is the final Sunday of Year C and as we draw to a close our reading of Luke’s Gospel we hear the account of Jesus’ crucifixion. It is the Feast of Christ the King and this Gospel certainly gives us an opportunity to lay aside a lot of cultural baggage we may have about kings, leaders and kingdoms. Jesus’ kingdom is unlike the one that Pilate, or many other earthly leaders know. It is a kingdom built on love, service, justice, reconciliation and peace. Few ‘kings’ can measure up to this: responding to violence with forgiveness, giving those with no hope a reason to hope. Today’s Gospel gives a powerful image of Jesus as servant King, like a beacon light for society in today’s world. Who do you know in our world today who is the more living example of this type of kingship, making daily sacrifices in endless service to those around them?

 “The power of truth, of honesty, of forgiveness – with no frills! How different the world would be if it was governed by this kind of power.” Michel de Verteuil

Nov 13th - Luke 21:5-19 ‘Endurance’

At some point we have all seen and heard someone shouting on the street or on the internet about the end of the world. You’d be forgiven for thinking that today’s Gospel is trying to achieve the same thing. We are reading the final chapters of Luke’s Gospel for Year C. Jesus is in Jerusalem and the passages we hear are talking about end times. The people gathered are obviously excited having seen how magnificent the Temple is, having come ‘up from the country’ and Jesus is trying to calm them down. The time for excitement might not be just yet. Jesus reminds them, and us, that these things are short-lived and we should not be too bothered about ‘fine stonework’ and ‘votive offerings’. These things do not last.

Jesus tries to comfort the people regarding various crisis that will happen; the call is to take perspective, to look at the bigger picture. Endurance is the message of today’s gospel. The people of Jerusalem will witness the destruction of the Temple, the disciples will face persecution, people of faith will have tough times ahead. Whatever crisis may come, Jesus is affirming people to keep going, to stay focused and not be afraid.

“Lord, when we are young we think that we become great through our achievements. Life has taught us the truth of Jesus’ words: it is by endurance that we win our lives” Michel de Verteuil

Sunday November 6th 2016: Luke 20:27-38 ‘Children of the Resurrection’

In today’s Gospel the Sadducees are trying to trap Jesus using a slightly exaggerated and absurd case study. They have no faith in the resurrection and therefore do not grasp that in a place of peace, justice and freedom, people cannot be ‘owned’ or ‘given’. We should not be too preoccupied with questions like theirs: ‘Whose wife will she be?’ ‘Will I look old?’ ‘Will I have a body?’ Questions like these ignore the radical freshness of the Kingdom of God.

We are all ‘children of this world’ who are called to be ‘children of the resurrection’. You might recall today someone who has passed away, but who is very much alive because of their influence on people, their generosity and kindness and the difference they made to those around them. They are ‘children of the resurrection’.  They make huge sacrifices for the liberation of people around them, for those who need healing or are oppressed in any way. They ‘cannot die’ even though they, like Jesus, can be condemned by society.

“You were born a child of light’s wonderful secret— you return to the beauty you have always been.” (Aberjhani)

Feast of All Saints

On the feast of All Saints we celebrate those saints who are with us on our journey, those canonised and those saints we know personally and love. Saints have to work against the grain and be counter cultural. Saints are all around us, pointing the way for us, teaching us something about God through their lives. They persevere in all they do for their families and communities, especially those on the margins. They are the blessed ones. We read the Beatitudes for this feast and we are invited into each one. The Beatitudes may shock us, but they force us to think and to ponder the paradox in each statement. There is much human experience within each Beatitude and as you read them you may recognise your own ‘urban saint’.  Matthew’s community would have been very familiar with what it means to be persecuted because of their beliefs and the final beatitude in the Gospel today calls for perseverance. Perhaps that is the making of all saints.

 “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words” ~ St. Francis.

25th September: Luke 16:19-31 ‘Rich Man & Lazarus’.

Last Sunday’s Gospel reminded us of what economics according to God looks like – it spoke of a redistribution of wealth by a manager who realised that material wealth is only temporary; what we do with that wealth and how we distribute it is more important. Today’s parable is on a similar theme. The rich man is sorry but it is too late for him. He had not come to his senses as the manager last week had done. The rich man is unwilling to change; even in the afterlife he wants Lazarus sent, ordered, to go to his brothers to warn them. It is not proof or special signs that they need. Their vision has been blinded by wealth. They need to ‘see’ the poor who are at their gates.

God’s economics means striving for a world where the poor man Lazarus can sit down at the same table as the rich man. It is not simply enough to comfort the poor and say to them that they will be rewarded in heaven. This misses the point. Luke is pointing us to a great reversal that is so central to this Gospel, a call to turn the world as we know it upside down.

 ‘It is not God’s will for some to have everything and others to have nothing’. Oscar Romero

September 18th: Luke 16:1-13 ‘Kingdom Economics’

If you think that all the parables that Jesus told were nice stories about people of integrity then today’s parable will surely make you think again. This is a parable about a scoundrel, yet it praises him and his wisdom.

The manager has been given notice by his CEO and he decides to even up the tables, while he still can, for those who are struggling to pay their debts to the company. The manager is praised for his astuteness, he has his priorities straight, he is happy to let debt go, to redistribute the load. Of course there is self-interest on his part but Jesus is telling us that the only value the money really has is in the way it is disposed of and in doing this the manager wins the hearts and minds of the workers.

The manager won’t be the most successful man on the planet compared to the ‘children of the light’ who are more concerned with accounts than with real people. The manager is free-spirited and can be trusted to value what is really important. He knows that none of this material wealth is permanent and uses the authority that he has to relieve the suffering of those who are indebted to his company. Yes he is a bit of a scoundrel, but Jesus liked scoundrels, once their efforts were put to good use.

“God’s dream for creation is different from Pharaoh’s dream or Rome’s dream or Wall Street’s dream. And at the centre of God’s economy is the idea of redistribution…It is an invitation to holy mischief!” (Shane Claiborne)

September 11th: Luke 15:1-32 ‘The Lost Parables’

The three parables of things lost and found emphasise the unending forgiveness of God and God’s rejoicing for those who return. In each of the situations there is a frantic search for that which is lost and a huge celebration when the lost is found.

In the third parable of the Lost Son there is much to reflect on. We hear that the younger brother eventually ‘came to his senses’. We might pray today that God shows us the aspects of our lives in which we also need to ‘come to our senses’.

As with all parables, we are left thinking and wondering, disturbed even. A sheep and a coin we can rejoice over, but when it is a person who has done us harm, hurt us in some way, it is a much deeper and more painful process. The elder brother in the third parable feels hard done by, is deeply hurt, full of anger and resentment. Luke, being the excellent storyteller that he is, does not tell us the outcome of the story; it is for us to finish for ourselves. The elder brother has two options: he can walk away full of resentment or he can try to let go of the anger he feels towards his brother. The latter is a more difficult path but it is the only one that leads to life, no matter how painful the journey may be. The Father stands there pleading for the elder brother to come in.

“Forgiveness isn’t about releasing someone from accountability for his actions. It is about us letting go of our anger and resentment.” 

September 4th Luke 14:25-33 ‘Counting The Cost’

Today’s Gospel is troubling. Does Jesus really expect us to hate our families, friends and even ourselves in order to be his followers? Jesus is making a point here about how we attach ourselves to things and to people, even to images of ourselves. Attachment can cause all sorts of suffering in our lives. If we are to grow, we move on from the comfortable, we let go of the familiar and that can often be painful. Today we can ask ourselves: ‘What is it that I need to let go of?’

The two parables in this story remind us to think things through and weigh up the cost involved. This Kingdom of God journey involves sacrifice and sometimes it feels like ‘20,000 against 10,000’. A disciple of Jesus must be ready to carry the burden not only of tensions with one’s family but even the burden of legal consequences. This was the experience of Luke’s community and it is still the experience of many Christians in the world today. So this passage is a call to conversion and we read it from the various forms of discipleship that we are in: parenting, advocacy, political life, social work, friendships, community building...

Jesus ‘turned to them’, he is speaking from experience. Jesus’ words are harsh, but spend time with this text today, his words can be interpreted as passionate, urgent, focused and can even offer us a great freedom and encouragement in whatever journey of discipleship we are on. 

June 26th 2016 Gospel: Luke 9:51-62 ‘Not a straight path’

The Gospel text today begins a new section of Luke’s Gospel, one where there are many ups and downs for Jesus and the disciples as he ‘set his face towards Jerusalem’. This journey to Jerusalem will not be a straight path for them. It will be filled with many banquets and opportunities for teaching but also filled with moments of rejection and struggle; and so it is for the Christian journey, it is not a straight path.

Why do the Samaritans reject him? There was no love lost between Jews and Samaritans and the disciples want to punish them. But perhaps the Samaritans were fearful of the consequences of associating with ‘heretics’ who were on their way to Jerusalem to challenge a particular system that held power over them. It is interesting how Jesus deals with the disciples who want to rain down fire on the Samaritans, he rebukes them and not long after this he will tell the parable of the Good Samaritan in which the Samaritan becomes the hero of the story. This has much to say to Christians today about the right kind of attitude towards those we consider to be ‘heretics’ or who differ in opinion from ourselves. Jesus respects their position and moves on to the next village.

The second part of the Gospel is harsh but reminds us that His call is one that radically uproots people and it is a difficult walk that should deeply challenge us if we are really living the message of the Gospel. 

Sunday 19th June @ Luke 9:18-24 ‘What kind of Messiah?’

To declare Jesus the Messiah was not only a challenge to the religious authorities of the time but it was also a political statement. As Messiah, Jesus is the Anointed One, The King of Israel, and immediately becomes a threat to Herod and the Roman Empire. It is no wonder Jesus ordered the disciples to keep quiet for fear of early opposition from the authorities.

A deeper reflection of may conclude that Jesus did not want the wrong sort of success. He gives the disciples a new title in today’s Gospel: ‘Son of Man’ and a new definition of Messiahship. Jesus does not want to be a leader of a violent revolt against an establishment. He has rejected that sort of power earlier in the Gospel. Jesus leads in a different way, the least are the greatest and the poor own the Kingdom. The message of His way is of a great reversal and this forces his followers to re-examine what ‘Messiah’ (and disciple) actually mean. There can be no violence, no hunger for power, yet it is also not a passive way. Jesus still opposes suffering and evil. His leadership is one of solidarity with those who suffer and who are oppressed and that way is not an easy journey.

“Jesus did the ultimate violence to violence: he laid it bare, and still did not succumb to it…. People like Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, by having violence turn against them, they unmask it and thereby begin to undo it. It is to this costly alternative that Jesus is inviting his disciples both in ancient times and today.” (Justo Gonzalez)

June 12th 2016 ~ Luke 7:36-8:3 “Celebrate Mercy”

In today’s Gospel Jesus is invited to Simon the Pharisee’s house for dinner when an ‘unwanted’ guest arrives. This woman has a bad reputation in the town; we are told nothing of her past except that she was a sinner and that she is carrying something that she wants to be free from. There are many things to say about the text but perhaps today we can focus on her celebration. The woman is able to receive God’s grace in contrast to the Pharisee who is unable to grasp what has happened. Those present find it difficult to comprehend a God who accepts sinners and they are also finding it difficult to accept someone who celebrates forgiveness so joyfully and extravagantly as this woman does.

Often when we receive forgiveness from others we are unable to forgive ourselves, unable to free ourselves from our own mistakes. We can take a good example from the woman in today’s Gospel who celebrates abundantly when she is freed from whatever it was that she was carrying. 

The last lines of the Gospel remind us of the prominent role of ‘many’ women who covered the expenses of Jesus and the twelve and journeyed with them.

“God's mercy can make even the driest land become a garden, can restore life to dry bones... Let us be renewed by God's mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth.” (Pope Francis)

June 5th 2016 ~ Luke 7:11-17 “Restoration”

In this section of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus speaks through his actions and today we hear about a miracle of resurrection. This widow has nothing left, her security and her loved ones are gone. Jesus reaches out to her, crossing cultural boundaries, as to come in contact with a dead body according to the laws of the time would make one ‘unclean’. The crowd must have been shocked as Jesus moved towards the bier. No one approached Jesus or asked him to intervene in this situation. He acts out of deep sympathy and compassion for the woman who has lost her only son.

Often we can give up on people, those who suffer addiction, refugees, prisoners, people who endure one tragedy after another. In today’s Gospel we see an example of Jesus restoring someone to life. He reaches through the social, moral and cultural stigmas of the time and performs the ultimate miracle. We can ask ‘did he really do this?’; ‘is this possible?’ but one clear  interpretation of the passage for us today is that Jesus restores people; He restores life to the man; He restores the son to his mother; He restores the crowd’s faith through his deep compassion. Through Jesus the crowd experience God’s presence among them in a time of total despair. Today we might recall moments where God reached into our desperate situations and restored life.

“Our task is not to protest the world into a certain moral conformity, but to attract the world to the saving beauty of Christ.” Brian Zahnd

April 24th 2016 John 13:31-35

In today’s Gospel Jesus gives the disciples a new commandment – to love one another. When we truly love one another, we are experiencing something of the divine as love comes from God, love is God and God is love.  Surely Jesus’s command to love one another was nothing new for the disciples and those of their time; the commandment is well known in the Old Testament. But the love Jesus asks of the disciples here (and of us) is to love as he has loved, and that is a controversial love for some.  It is controversial because Jesus’s love is without restrictions and without exclusion. It is a  love of those we may not like, a love of those it is hard to love. This love was too radical for some of the religious leaders of Jesus’s time and ultimately led to his death. This radically inclusive love is sometimes too much for Christians today also, to love the sinner, to love those on the extreme margins of our society, to love those who have hurt us, to welcome back those who have done wrong, to include all at the table. Let us hear those words of the Gospel more clearly today: “love one another, just as I have loved you, you must also love one another.” We can dream and work towards a world where this is a reality.

“Let the Church always be a place of mercy and hope, where everyone is welcome, loved and forgiven” (Pope Francis)

April 17th 2016: Fourth Sunday of Easter ~ John 10:27-30

“I know them and they follow me”

During this Easter season we are celebrating the presence of the Risen Jesus in our lives and in our world. Jesus tells us that he knows his flock and because of this ‘knowing’, they follow him.

As Christians, we are called towards ‘knowing’ God more intimately and more deeply. Each of us, on our own journeys and paths, vocations and ministries, are part of this ‘flock’ because of the deep desire to ‘know’ God more deeply. It is a very special thing. No matter what our role is in our community, parish, church and so on, it is important to remember what it is that brings us together  – the desire to know God, to know God’s love and to share that love and ‘knowledge’ with others, especially those who are lost and at the margins.

Very often, those most ‘lost’ in our communities do not experience the presence of the Christian community as they should; they can be cast aside and excluded. Jesus tells us here, no one can snatch them out of His hand.  

This week can you try to recognise that deep desire within you to know God more fully? What does that mean for you? What does that mean for those you meet in your day to day life?

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound with mine, then let us go together” (Aboriginal Woman, anonymous). 

"Come and have breakfast" ~ Reflection for Sunday 10th April 2016

During these Easter weeks we read from St. John’s Gospel. The passages are very deep and in today’s text (Jn 21:1-19) there are many things going on. Perhaps we might focus on Peter and the journey he has made:

We all have experience of friendships and relationships that break down. When that happens it feels like a death - we grieve, we get angry, we have regrets, we wonder ‘what if..?’ Three times Peter denied Jesus and today we hear Peter express his love for Jesus three times. Jesus welcomes Peter back into community with him. Peter experiences resurrection; he is given new life. There is no situation, no matter how terrible, that Jesus cannot transform, forgive, welcome back, restore. Peter says to Jesus – ‘Lord you know everything’ and we too must remember that Jesus knows our hearts, He knew Peter’s heart. The questioning here is perhaps so that Peter can hear it for himself. The relationship is restored and we, like Peter, are once more invited in to “Follow me!”

“Lord, we thank you for people who have forgiven us, not a mean, calculating forgiveness, not harping on the ways in which we wronged them, but forgiving with the forgiveness of Jesus, so that it was like coming back from a hard night’s work, and seeing some bread there and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it and the very person we had hurt saying, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ And we not having to ask any questions because we knew that everything was forgiven.” (Michel de Verteuil)

Shalom ~ Reflection for April 3rd 2016

In today’s Gospel we hear that the disciples are locked away, afraid, closed off from the world. It is a dark situation to be in and they are most likely quite frightened. When Jesus is present with them, their hearts are opened again, they rejoice. “Peace” (Shalom) is more than a wish for a good evening or peaceful day. It expresses the desire that the person receiving the blessing might be whole in body, mind and spirit. The Risen Jesus brings a peace that is life-giving. 

They must have been so excited to tell Thomas this news: “We have seen the Lord”. Sometimes, when we try to share something of our faith experience with others, we can meet similar responses – doubting, cynicism - we can even be made fun of. In today’s world, none of this is easy. Then why do it? The risen Jesus in today’s Gospel moves the disciples from total fear and despair to ‘rejoicing’. The same risen Jesus is active in all our lives and in the world around us, but we must be careful not to close ourselves off or let fear take over.

John tells us that he writes these things so that we may come to believe and have life; reminding us of the importance of the Word of God for our lives. Through the Word we come to know Jesus more deeply. Even in the darkest of times and the most hopeless of situations, this Risen Jesus can bring peace and wholeness if we unlock the doors of our hearts. 

Fifth Sunday of Lent 2016: John 8:1-11

Jesus never condemns sinners. In today’s Gospel he refuses to condemn the woman, caught in adultery, to the death penalty as was demanded by Old Testament law (the man would have been subject to the same law by the way!). Once again the Pharisees are trying to trick Jesus. We may wonder what Jesus was writing on the ground as they continued to question him, but he delivers the winning statement in this debate and the condemners are forced to leave one by one.

We live in a stone-throwing society which cares little for the circumstances that cause people to make wrong choices. We want someone to blame, and the sooner the better. Those who accuse others often do so from a lack of self-knowledge and laziness, because it is very easy to be negative. We have all had a part to play in creating climate injustice, but the blame game won’t solve the issue. We need to be proactive and challenge complacency on this issue wherever we see it. We make mistakes but we can always start again. When we relate compassionately to those who are in difficulty we can rediscover our common humanity.

"Yet all is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start, despite their mental and social conditioning … No system can completely suppress our openness to what is good, true and beautiful, or our God-given ability to respond to his grace at work deep in our hearts. I appeal to everyone throughout the world not to forget this dignity which is ours. No one has the right to take it from us. Laudato Si’, 205

Fourth Sunday of Lent: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

 Sometimes we can be so familiar with a particular Gospel passage we tend to switch off after the first few sentences. That would be a shame, especially when this is one of the great blockbuster parables. The Pharisees were a group obsessed with ritual purity and Jesus’ parables of things lost and found is his response to these barriers which excluded people from community and from God. The real challenge in this parable is what happens after the lost son returns. The elder brother has ‘worked like a slave’ all those years and is understandably upset. But the point the Father makes is that his outreach to the younger brother will not change his inheritance. It will cost him nothing to reach out. He has nothing to lose by welcoming home the lost. The Father’s behaviour towards the younger son would have been considered extremely foolish by those around him. But the message is clear: no matter how far we wander from home, God is still a loving God. The elder brother has a choice, to come to the party or to sulk in the corner. Luke, being the excellent storyteller that he is, leaves the reader to decide the outcome.

Today, we can try to place ourselves somewhere in this parable. Where do you stand? We might even think of the thousands of refugees who are displaced around the world. Can we open our hearts and our communities to them? Today’s parables shows us that God returns the lost to the community, regardless of the boundaries that we have put in place, and teaches a lesson in radical hospitality.

"God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth, for not one of them is forgotten in your sight. Enlighten those who possess power and money that they may avoid the sin of indifference, that they may love the common good, advance the weak, and care for this world in which we live". Laudato Si’, 246

Third Sunday of Lent 2016 ~ Luke 13:1-9 “Bear Fruit”

The people in the Gospel today are wondering if the Galileans who were killed by Pilate had died because they deserved to. We can empathise with them as we know too well of accidents and tragedies of all kinds where we might ask the same question. Jesus insists that they have not done anything wrong. Their sudden death challenges those still alive to live to the full and to bear much fruit because life can end suddenly, life is fragile, no one is indestructible. 

Climate Change affects us all. Climate injustice occurs when people who have done little or nothing to cause climate change are suffering the most from its effects. It is the greatest injustice of our time as it is the world’s poorest countries who suffer the most from the changes in our weather systems. In Ireland we recall the devastating storms of 2013 which caused so much destruction along our West Coast. We have the resources to cope, for now. In countries like Kenya and Malawi, these resources are simply not there and the effects of storms and droughts are catastrophic. Let us pray today that we hear the call of the Gospel to bear fruit, not to be inactive, not to be complacent when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint. The Galileans died because of Pilate, but the greater ‘sin’ here becomes inactivity.

“Common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning… Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace”. (Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, 207). 

Second Sunday of Lent 2016: Luke 9:28-36, (37-43) “Called to transformation”

Jesus takes the disciples up to the mountain top in today’s Gospel. In that space, they have a profound experience and are invited to see Jesus for who He really is. One can empathise with the disciples in this story as they do not want to leave that space. We all have had experiences that we want to last forever and are hugely disappointed when they are over. However, commitment to any cause very often involves a long and painful journey. Like the disciples in the Gospel today, there is a ‘hook’ moment, when Jesus or any leader shows us something different, a vision, a dream, something that is so wonderful and hope-filled that we commit there and then to making it happen. Then we realise that there is much work to be done and the path will not be so easy. Obstacles will arise, people will fall away, enthusiasm will waver, there will be set backs and disappointments. We are being called to commitment today, to the more difficult path. We are being called to open our ears and eyes to the Gospel message of transfiguration, of transformation.

Per capita, Ireland is one of the highest polluters in Europe. This is not a statistic to be proud of. We know we can do better. Coming down from the mountain, like the disciples, means making changes in our lifestyles that lower each of our carbon footprints. We start with ourselves.

 “We require a new and universal solidarity… All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own cultures, experience, involvements and talents.’ (Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, 14)

First Sunday of Lent 2016

14^th February 2016 ~ Luke 4:1-13 “Trust the wilderness”

The temptations are not just an embarrassing episode in the life of Jesus but are an integral part of his mission. Jesus is tempted to eat when he is not supposed to eat, to take the easy route of power through exploitation, when that is not His way. Ultimately, God is in control here; this wilderness is ‘Spirit’ led. And so it is for us. When it comes down to it, each of the temptations are about the same thing, our ability to trust in God. This should not direct us towards complacency but to listening.

We listen to God’s Word and this year’s Trocaire campaign is urging us to listen to what God is saying through the Book of Creation; to trust in those signals and signs. Listening to the story of Teresina this year, we hear of an effect of climate change that is often overlooked: a family forced apart because of dry land. This past year we have seen large movements of refugees around the world. We know that the next generation of refugees will be climate refugees. It does not have to be this way. As we enter the ‘wilderness’ of Lent, let us spend time with the temptations in the Gospel today and hear the call to ‘trust’. Trust what God is trying to tell us through the Book of Creation. It is in the wasteland that we find the signs of God’s renewal.

‘I urgently appeal for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all’. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, 1, 14

February 7th Reflection 2016

7^th February Luke 5:1-11 “Put out into the deep”

Jesus is preaching at Lake Gennesaret (the Sea of Galilee) in today’s Gospel. This is Luke’s account of the calling of the First Disciples which takes place in the context of a miraculous catch of fish. Jesus is using Simon’s boat as a sort of platform from which to address the crowds who had gathered around him. Already Jesus is gaining popularity and the crowds are ‘pressing’ near to him. Clearly they see something in Jesus that is attractive and fulfilling.

Simon is most likely being polite when he agrees to try again for a catch, possibly thinking that Jesus should leave the fishing to the professionals. Simon obeys, takes the risk, lets go of his pride, and the result is an overwhelming catch of fish. It can be hard to trust others at times; it can be difficult to let go of what is familiar to us. We are constantly being challenged to do this. The big challenge is to trust that God knows what God is doing and is constantly urging us to pull away from the shore.

“A boat is safe in the harbour; but this is not the purpose of a boat” ~ Paulo Coelho

Sunday 24th January '16 ~ Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21

The prologue to Luke’s Gospel is almost like the opening credits of a major blockbuster movie, there’s something exciting about it. We don’t really know who Theophplis was, possibly a patron of Luke’s, but his name also means ‘Lover of God’ and in that sense this Gospel is addressed to all ‘lovers of God’.

In the synagogue, Jesus is handed the scroll from Isaiah. It is one of the most powerful passages in the New Testament as Jesus sets out his mission, his manifesto. The uncomfortable truths contained within the passage cause the crowd to reject him. We know that in our world today good news has still to reach the afflicted, captives still await liberation, the oppressed are not free. So this is not a passage read in the past, it is very much alive, very much a vision for all to have and to work towards. Just as the scriptures are fulfilled in Jesus, they are also fulfilled in each of our lives. There are many causes we can be involved in, the refugee crisis, climate justice, homelessness, neighbourliness, community involvement. Wherever we are, in our own small ways, we can strive to make this dream a reality.

“Lord of the universe, look in love upon your people. Pour the healing oil of your compassion on a world that is wounded and dying. Send us out in search of the lost, to comfort the afflicted, to bind up the broken, and to free those trapped under the rubble of their fallen dream.” (Sheila Cassidy)

World Day of Migrants & Refugees ~ Sunday 17th January 2016

During this past year we have watched, in almost disbelief, as hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes in Syria and other parts of the world.  The image of three year old Aylan Kurdi, washed up on a beach last August, as his family attempted to reach safety, caused complete outrage around the world. For a while we reacted and acted and called for an immediate response from our governments. Not since WWII have so many people been forced from their homes. So much can be said today about this crisis and we must continue to ask ourselves: how can we respond?

We must always be ready to welcome the refugee and migrant. Our faith is one of hospitality, compassion and mercy. In the Gospel today, Mary urges the disciples to ‘do whatever He tells you’ and we see Jesus perform a sign that shows he has come for the transformation of that which causes barriers to God’s Kingdom. 

The refugee crisis may challenge us but as people of the Gospel of Mercy, we must respond: “Mercy nourishes and strengthens solidarity towards others as a necessary response to God’s gracious love…Each of us is responsible for his or her neighbour: we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they live.  Concern for fostering good relationships with others and the ability to overcome prejudice and fear are essential ingredients for promoting the culture of encounter, in which we are not only prepared to give, but also to receive from others.  Hospitality, in fact, grows from both giving and receiving.” (Pope Francis)

 

Hundreds gather on Sandymount strand, Dublin last year to spell out 'Refugees Welcome' #solidarity

Sunday 10th January ~ Baptism of our Lord

In Luke’s account of the baptism of Jesus we hear that Jesus was at prayer after his baptism, when the heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove. This is main focus of Luke’s account of this story, he is the only Gospel who says that Jesus was at prayer before ‘heaven opened’ and God’s voice was heard. A call to do God’s work can often be preceeeded by a deep prayerful experience of God. Luke’s focus is on the experience of Jesus in this account but we are also called to see the revelation of God in ourselves and in others. Perhaps you can recall when you suddenly saw a divine spark in someone you know or noticed a change in yourself because of a deep experience.

We can recall moments in our own lives when we experienced God tenderly and lovlingly saying to us, ‘you are my son/daughter’; ‘you are my beloved’; ‘my favour rests on you’. Very often experiences such as these are simple events. They can also call us to a greater commitment to our faith and our relationship with God.

“The descent into the waters of our spirit, is a journey into the presence of divinity…all human beings are children of God but not all live in the awareness that there is ‘that of God’ within them” (W.L. Wallace)

January 6th ~ The Feast of the Epiphany

Whether they were philosophers or astrologers, the Wise Men were certainly ‘seekers’. Looking to the skies for signs and guidance, with their hearts and minds set on finding God, the Wise Men embark on an amazing journey, determined. The thought of some new religious insight, a change or even a threat, forces Herod to call together all those considered to have authority on religious matters.  All are concerned with their own power and afraid of how the new could affect their traditions and structures; the possibility of a new King is too much for them. In contrast to this, the Wise Men are humbled before the leaders and genuinely seek to learn from them. We are told that the sight of the star ‘filled them with delight’.

This story has so much to say to us today, we are all on a similar journey, striving for the same goal: ‘going into the house the saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage’. This scene describes a moment of great joy, of grace and is in total contrast to the scene of Herod frantically calling the religious leaders together: God is found in the simple spaces. The Wise Men represent all peoples, all cultures, a clear message that God is for all regardless of nationality, culture and even faith. Today we might think about our own journeys to moments of epiphany. What ‘star’ had brought us there? What gifts did we leave there? What gifts were we given there?

Sunday 3rd January ~ In the beginning was the Word...

There is a very deep teaching in today’s reading, taken from the opening of St. John’s Gospel. There is so much depth here and much to reflect on. God is described as the Word and as Light. The Word is that divine energy, Creator of the universe, Being, God, Father and Mother of all things.  John tells us that no one has ever seen God, but through Jesus, God has been made known. There are wonderful lines in the passage, written for all of us, to convey the message that God lives among us yet even though God created the world, the world still does not know him. God is involved in humanity; God is not somewhere out in the universe watching; God is involved with us. Today can you spend some time reflecting on the deep words of this passage? Perhaps reflect on where have you seen God in the world around you? Where is God present for you? Invite God more deeply into your life.

‘Lord, humanity today wants to live independently of you, and even Christian speak as if you created the world and then left it to its own devices. We thank you for the teaching of St. John reminding us that all things come to be only because you speak a Word, and that every single thing that exists today has its being because that Word continues to be spoken in it, and the only way that anything which has come to be has life today is because your Word lives within it.’ (Michel de Verteuil)