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

Figs Anyone ~ Third Sunday of Lent 2013

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. The Galileans died because of Pilate, but the greater ‘sin’ here becomes inactivity. Jesus is calling us to action.


The image of the fruitless tree is a call to take a look at our lives and allow our comfortable lives be disturbed by the Gospel message. When the man comes looking for fruit on the fig tree what will he find? The call to follow Jesus is not an easy one. We need to look at ways to bring peace, hope, love, and justice into our communities every day. We use the gift of Lent as an opportunity to identify areas where we can produce more fruit. How are we living? What can we do to make the changes during this Lenten season and beyond?

January 6th ~ The Epiphany

A new born baby usually tends to attract visitors and gifts. The Magi are described as wise men from the east. They may have been astronomers or philosophers but most definitely they were people who had their eyes, ears and minds open to the events going on around them, to the signs of their times. We see in today’s Gospel, how God is working through the people that we least expect. The wise men were not considered to be ‘religious’, or ‘the people of God’. Yet, God is working through them in lots of different ways. They may not have been considered ‘righteous’ in their time, but they are certainly people who have come to bow down and worship God. This story has a clear message: that Jesus has come for all people, not just a select few. Today, perhaps we can think about times when we found God in unexpected places. How did we react? What star, what guidance had brought us there? What gifts did we leave there? What gifts were we given there?

“Whenever the Christ in one of us meets the Christ in another, there will be an exchange of gifts. Let this thought protect us from the patronising attitude that we must ‘convert’ the other to our own way of living the Christ-life” Margaret Silf. Jane Mellett Intercom 2013.