Sunday 4th November 2018 Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

Today we hear a very famous Gospel passage which we might dismiss easily because we feel we know it so well. Love God. Love your neighbour. It sounds simple, yet it can be so difficult. Loving God in our world today means being counter-cultural; often we are afraid to even admit that we are believers. Finding time for God can be impossible due to our hectic lifestyles; we are addicted to ‘busy’ and have become ‘time poor’. Yet we can learn to see God in the everyday, right before us, in each task, in nature, in our friends and family. We might ask ourselves today, what prevents me from loving God, for making time for God in my life? For nourishing my relationship with God?

The love of neighbour which Jesus speaks of is a controversial love. It involves a love of people we don’t know or like. It is a radical love of those that society wants to dismiss: love of the migrant, love of the homeless family, love of the drug addict, love of the prisoner, love of the earth, love of the climate refugee. Love God and Love Neighbour – it sounds so simple yet these are the toughest, most radical lines in the Gospel. It sounds like two commandments and yet they are one, interconnected and inseparable, for to love God we must love our neighbour. And by loving our neighbour we are loving God. Today let us all ask ourselves how we can live more fully this great commandment and be a shining example of Christ’s love in the world. 

June 17th: Gospel: Mark 4:26-34

From small seeds:

The parable of the mustard seed seems pretty straight forward at first glance, but as always there is more to it than first meets the eye. Jesus did not compare the Kingdom of God to a majestic tree. There is an ancient text which forbade planting mustard seeds in Palestinian gardens because the shrub takes over wherever it is planted. It is wild, gets out of control, and attracts unwanted birds. The Kingdom of God grows from something small to something large, but more than that, its growth is overwhelming and it will grow even where it is not wanted. Author and activist, Shane Claiborne, compares it to kudzu, a wild vine that could blanket entire mountain areas, smother trees, even crack cement buildings.

People of Jesus’ time may have preferred the image of the lofty ‘cedars of Lebanon’ to explain God’s kingdom, where the nations could build nests like the eagles do. Now that image may have gotten a few cheers from the crowd! Mustard plants however, only stand a few feet tall. Jesus is turning the ideals of power and triumph on their head again. The image we have here is of the birds who find a home in this little shrub which cannot be curtailed. It will grow even where it is not wanted. Watch out this week for glimpses of this ‘mustard seed’ Kingdom, quietly growing. 

April 29th – 5th Sunday of Easter: Gospel: John 15:1-8

Stay connected…

As with all good vine growers, God cares for His crop, nurturing it, pruning it, giving it all it needs so that it can grow and reach its full potential. We are no doubt the branches. What does it mean to be a branch? Branches must be connected to the vine or they bear no fruit. Even those branches that do bear fruit, they need pruning so that they can grow and bear even more fruit. As we are all too well aware, productivity seems to be the measure of success in the world today, in our education systems, in the workplace, in economics; we are measured by what we produce. Is Jesus really adding on the pressure in this Gospel passage by telling us that he wants to see results or else!?

Perhaps we can read this passage in terms of connectivity. Think of your most intimate friendships and relationships. You don’t measure their weight in terms of produce do you? But you do want to stay connected right? It is this closeness, this intimacy that Jesus calls us to: “abide in me”. Are you connected or disconnected? If the connection is strong, then fruit bearing comes naturally and people will see the Gospel in our lives and in the way we respond to the world. If we are connected, all manner of things are possible for us.

“People see the Gospel in our lives; let them read our lives” Pope Francis

April 22nd 2018 4th Sunday of Easter - Gospel: John 10:11-18

The Good Shepherd

In Jesus’ time, being a shepherd was not a pleasant job. Sheep became easily lost and the shepherd’s job was to guide them back to safety. There were many dangers and the sheep were totally dependent on the shepherd. Shepherds would round up their sheep in the evening and guide them into their pen. But it had no gate so the shepherd would have to lie across the space in case the sheep were attacked in the night. The shepherds literally lay down their lives for their flock. John compares the sacrifice of the shepherd to the ‘hired hand’ who is not really committed to the flock. He does what he has to but flees at the first sign of trouble.

This Good Shepherd Sunday the Gospel describes Jesus as the ‘genuine’ Shepherd who wants a personal relationship with each one of us and who would lay down his life for us. The Gospel emphasises the importance of relationship as the shepherd knows his flock and cares for them. They ‘Follow Him’ and it is not a Facebook or Twitter type of following, rather it is a genuine relationship. Everyone matters to the Good Shepherd, regardless of their situations. We are told “I know my own and my own know me”. We are called today to follow Jesus in a more personal more intimate way. Even when we stray off the path and get lost, it is then especially that the Good Shepherd comes looking for us.

“We think we are feeling from God, but in fact we are running into his arms”. (Meister Eckhart)

Second Sunday of Lent: Transfiguration

Can you recall a time when you had an ‘aha moment’? One of those moments when something suddenly makes perfect sense to you. It may have been a long time coming, a combination of various pieces of a jigsaw fitting together or it may be an insight you receive from prayer or spiritual practice. These are really special moments. We are never quite the same afterwards, something changes, even a small thing, but something in us changes. These ‘aha’ moments even move us outside of ourselves or beyond ourselves in some way. They are moments of transfiguration. This is what is happening to the disciples in today’s Gospel: a very deep and significant ‘aha moment’. Peter is desperate to stay on the mountain in that blissful moment with Jesus, so much so that he offers to build tents. One can understand Peter’s request, after such an occurrence of course he would want to stay there. 

What moments of encounter in your own life do you recall? An encounter that you simply did not want to end? It may be something very deep and meaningful which gave you a glimpse of God or a moment of complete contentment? As with all blissful moments, the disciples must come down from the mountaintop. Jesus’ way involves walking a very different path, a path that will not be so easy. Jesus’ way is different to what Peter may have had in mind. No doubt these moments of Transfiguration strengthen us all for walking the more difficult paths.

Sunday February 4th - Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

Jesus the Healer

In today’s Gospel we read about Jesus’ first healing in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus hears of the illness of the mother of Simon’s wife and goes to her. Due to the purity laws of his time this scene would have been considered controversial. His first healing is of a woman and we are told that he touches her, raises her up; he completely restores her to health. Many of his actions here would be considered taboo.

The ‘whole city’ was crowded around the door as people wanted to also be healed. What a commotion! Jesus, very early on in his ministry is clearly a very popular, attractive figure.  Jesus is The Healer. We might ask ourselves today: who do we know who is in need of healing of any kind? This week, how can we reach out to them?

Another important aspect of this story is that Jesus does not remain comfortable in this house. He keeps moving, keeps going outward. This requires so much energy and an outpouring of love for those in need. Jesus shows us in today’s Gospel what it takes to stay connected, to re-energise ourselves for our various tasks: quiet time and space for real encounter with God. Even then, the people hunted for him. ‘Everyone is searching for you’, and still today, everyone is searching. It is up to all of us to help those on this journey, the seekers, the lost and those in need of healing. We cannot break new ground unless we are inwardly free and connected to that Divine Presence within us and in our world.

Christmas Day (Vigil) Luke 2:1-14

“Glory to God in the highest heaven!”

Tonight we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord. This account of his birth from Luke shows Jesus being born into a situation of total oppression. Luke reminds us of the political regime which controls the land and the effect this has on the people. Mary must still travel to Bethlehem even though she is about to give birth. The shepherds, only found in Luke’s account, are social outcasts due to their profession. It is not a romantic or tranquil setting as the shepherds would have suffered all kinds of deprivations and dangers. Everything about this story is provocative and uneasy. Into this ‘mess’ God is born; this saviour, the Lord, a homeless child, is one who will turn the situations of people upside down, who promises release to captives and sight to the blind. The angels rejoice with the Shepherds, the ‘highest’ and the ‘lowest’. The poor and marginalised will be the first to experience the abundance of God’s hospitality and the shepherds come in their name.

We are invited to Bethlehem today, to open up our hearts to the One who has come. We return, like the shepherds ‘glorifying and praising God for all they have seen and heard’. All are welcome to the manger. May we welcome all as God does, with compassion and love. Shalom.

“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)

Fourth Sunday of Advent 2017

The situation into which Jesus was born was one of huge stigma with dangerous consequences. God’s physical birth into this world was condemned socially; Jesus was marginalised from the moment of his conception. Imagine God choosing to be involved so intimately in this world and in such a shocking way. Even the town of Galilee is problematic for this news as Galileans were considered by the religious leaders of the time to be ‘second-class Jews’. So the fact that God would send his messenger there with the good news of all time is controversial in itself. Galilean Jews were considered to be less faithful than others, so it is ironic that in this particular situation Mary’s response is the exact opposite of that, a most faithful ‘Yes’. God surprises. God stands with the marginalised. 
God is present in the most hidden places at times. On the first Sunday of Advent we were invited to ‘Keep Awake’. As we approach the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, what have you noticed this advent? What has your waiting been like? How have you prepared?  Where have you seen God present this Advent? Where have you seen God being born around you? In the most unexpected places? In the most marginalised? Is your heart more open to receive a new birth of God again? Like Mary, we too are told that 'nothing is impossible with God'. What impossible situation do you want God to be born into this Christmas? 

“Quiet me within, clothe my body in peacefulness, that your Word once again may take flesh – this time, within me – as once it did in holy Mary; long Advent days ago.” (Edward Hays)

Third Sunday of Advent - JOY

Last week we were introduced to John the Baptist as part of our Advent journey. We hear his story again today and in this account, from the fourth Gospel, we hear John’s voice and his testimony about Jesus. Light and darkness is a key theme of the fourth Gospel and in its opening verses proclaims that this light has always shone in the dark; the darkness cannot overpower it. The evangelist goes on to tell us that John the Baptist’s mission is that he has been sent by God to ‘speak for the light’. John is a light bearer, he is not the light, but he points to the light. He is a witness to the light of God in our world, a light that cannot be put out.

We celebrate this light today on Gaudete Sunday, Gaudete which means ‘rejoice’, we light the pink candle and we celebrate with joy. It might be a good opportunity to ask today ‘who have been the light bearers on your own faith journey’? Who testified to the Light of God and passed the torch on to you? We thank God for them.

“Lord there is much darkness in society and in our church… We become cynical and settle for mediocrity. We thank you that someone always comes on the scene, sent by you as a witness to speak for the light….teachers, community leaders, grandparents, children, a friend….they bear witness to the rest of us that somewhere in the dark a light shines that darkness cannot overcome.”(Michel de Verteuil)

First Sunday of Advent ~ 2nd Dec 2017

"Keep Awake"

We are surrounded these days by the commercial ‘circus’ of Christmas shopping and ‘getting ready’? It might seem far removed from the story that we are celebrating; the story of a poor refugee family 2,000 years ago who had a very special delivery. The story of God choosing to intervene in human history in such an intimate and shocking way; God choosing to be born into a situation of poverty and danger. It is good to ask ourselves at this time of year, what are we getting ready for? Advent is a wonderful season which invites us to use our waiting to grow spiritually. We are invited to make space for ourselves and for God in the midst of the rushing. Can we stop and be still and ask ourselves: ‘Where do I see God being born around me today?’ In those I meet? In kind words and gestures, in my community, in my own heart? 

Have a more ‘aware’ advent. Be mindful in all you do. Be aware in your rushing, be aware as you stand in that queue, be aware as you eat, be aware of your feelings, be aware of your thoughts. By watching all of this we become more awake, more able to recognise our true selves and more able to see God being born continuously each day within us and around us. Our awe and wonder grows and we can be prepared for the coming of the Gift himself. How we prepare determines what will be. 

Sunday 25th June 2017 ~ Matthew 10:26-33

Even The Hairs of Your Head Are Counted!

Today’s Gospel is an affirmation for all those who feel persecuted in anyway because of their beliefs or because people are speaking badly about them, or those who feel alienated from their community, their family or even from God. During such times it can be extremely lonely to the point where one can lose their sense of purpose in this world. While we might not want to shout from the rooftops, as Jesus suggests, there is a message here to speak out, to talk it out. Today, spend time on the beautiful words of Jesus in this Gospel – “Even the hairs of your head are all counted, so do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows!” The sparrow, one of the smallest of birds, is cared for and loved by God. This is a reminder that no matter how insignificant we might feel or how challenging the circumstances get, God is with us, each of us. Once again, we are being told how sacred each and every person is and how much we are loved by God. In His eyes, each of us are precious. Today, recall the times or places where you felt God’s supporting presence.

“When we travel through those wilderness places of our lives where we feel lost, insecure, lonely, frustrated, discouraged, or overcome by busyness: Help us to trust in You, God of the journey. When we catch glimpses of the tremendous love you have for us and experience a deep, loving connection with others: Help us to trust in You, God of the journey.” – Joyce Rupp

Jesus the Bread of Life ~ June 18th 2017

John 6:51-58

Jesus gives His whole self to us and invites us to a deep union with Him. We often imagine God up in the clouds in heaven looking down at us, maybe distant, maybe disconnected. The Eucharist shows us that God is involved in the messiness of human life, present to us in Jesus’s body and blood. Bread is nourishing, bread is for life, bread is food for the journey. Jesus is all of these things for us. His blood is a reminder of his death, of the brokenness of this world, of the struggles of people’s lives. Christ invites people to connect their own sufferings with His.

Jesus, present with us in all of life, invites us into a deep union with Himself. Flesh and blood means the whole person; ‘the living bread’ invites us to an even deeper intimacy. It can be a difficult passage to understand, but perhaps today you might reflect on times you felt sustained by God, strengthened by God through joyful times and sorrowful times. You might also reflect on who has been Jesus for you? Where have you seen Christ in this world, in flesh and blood?

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 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?

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

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

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.”