26th Feb 2017: Matthew 6:24-34 “Don’t worry, Be Happy”.

We all have moments of worry and anxiety. Many people are anxious about the future, planning their lives and stretching forward months and sometimes years. We can worry about finance, about relationships, about the world, our communities. In today’s Gospel Jesus urges us not to worry about material things. We should not be enslaved by possessions. We are asked ‘what really rules our lives?’ If it is money and objects then that leads nowhere; they do not lead to fulfillment. Worry is unproductive. We all know this but that’s not very helpful when we are actually anxious about something. Jesus is urging us in today’s Gospel to free ourselves of worry. Worry is a symptom of a lack of faith. Jesus is not calling us to apathy or a life of carelessness but to realise that nothing was ever achieved by worrying.

How do we respond to worry or anxiety. Do we pray? Do we talk to God and hand these things over to God? Our thoughts can bring us to imagining endless outcomes of a situation, but none of those thoughts are real. Jesus is calling us today to a deeper awareness, to a letting go, to being more present to this moment, to ‘today’.

“Consider the lilies in the field, how they grow…” These words of Jesus about the providence of God are powerful and encourage us to put trust in God at the centre of our lives. God knows our deep desires and needs. The challenge of the Christian life is to place our trust in God, not material things, to stay focused on what God is doing in our lives right at this moment. 

Sunday 19th Feb 2017: Matthew 5:38-48 ‘Turn the other cheek’

Today we hear and read one of the most famous passages in the Gospels: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. It is a radical text and not so easy. How can we be expected to love those who have hurt us or done harm to us? Anthony de Mello, an Indian Jesuit, who wrote many books on spirituality, spoke often about the concept of ‘loving enemies’. When someone hurts us, when someone triggers emotional pain in us, de Mello suggests that we try to come to the realisation that we are ‘standing before our benefactor’. The situation is a reminder that we are still to grow and we are hurt because someone has not met our expectations. It is these expectations that we must let go of. We can learn from the other who has wronged us: how has this affected me? What do I need to let go of?

The teachings in this passage are radical and go against what we hear around us in our world like calls for retribution and revenge. However Jesus has high expectations of his followers, to go against the grain. Jesus is not encouraging passiveness. He is inviting people to a ‘third way’: to make a non-violent stand when faced with persecution. By ‘offering the other cheek’ we allow for the potential of conversion of the other to a realisation of what they have done. The easy option is to retaliate, to not see our brother or sister standing before us. We can offer them an opportunity to see our own sacred humanity. ‘Loving our enemies’ is a call to constantly move towards restoring relationships, offering mercy and peace.  

‘An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind’. Gandhi. 

Sunday 12th Feb 2017 Matthew 5:17-37 “Going Deeper”

This Sunday we have a third extract from the Sermon on the Mount. It can appear at first glance to be a series of moral statements and rules from Jesus. On closer reflection we can see Jesus’s message here is the call for each of us to ‘go deeper’. The Scribes and the Pharisees followed the letter of the law but without depth. Jesus is clear that he has not come to demolish the law rather, this whole passage is a call to a more profound reflection on our lives; not ticking boxes but moving towards a deeper change of heart in dealings with others. Jesus gives many examples of how people might do this: warning against the hypocrisy of offering gifts and rituals at the altar, when we may have huge anger and resentment towards another. Is the real sacrament not in reconciling that relationship first? Which offering is more life-giving? It is not enough to ‘not murder’, but we must watch our anger which can lead to violence. Jesus is calling on people to watch their thoughts which can lead to serious actions like murder and adultery.

When we encounter Christ, the grace that that experience brings can make us aware of what is not ok in our lives. We are called to a radical conversion, a change of heart. And so we read today’s passage with our hearts, not our heads. It may help to recall a time when you felt God’s grace bringing you to a deeper realisation about your life. 

Sunday 5th Feb 2017: Salt of the Earth ~ Light of the World (Mt 5:13-16)

In today’s Gospel we hear of two scenarios where salt is concerned: one is that we are called to be ‘salt of the earth’. What salt does for food, Christians are called to do for the world – to give life ‘taste’. You might recall someone who brought ‘taste’ to your own life, encouraging you on your journey, offering hope, a new insight or project, someone you followed and learned from. What gifts did they bring?

The other scenario in the Gospel today is where salt has lost its taste – how can it be restored? You might recall someone you placed great hope in, whether it be a family member, a public figure, a church leader or politician; someone who had vision and inspired others. Yet the ‘salt’ or the ‘taste’ was lost. We see this all around us in our world, when someone’s potential is lost.

There are many situations in our world today where people’s light is not allowed to shine. It is controlled, hidden, prevented from being used for the benefit of all because of jealousy or perhaps others are afraid of the consequences. Jesus tells us that these lights must shine, for all, and then we can give glory to God in heaven for the fruits it may produce. To help lights shine and to give flavour to the world is our task today. Another way of putting it might be: how are the effects of our encounter with Jesus Christ evident in our lives?