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)