Exaltation of the Cross 14th September, 2014

Homily Exaltation of the Cross   14th September, 2014   

 

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A warm welcome and thank you to His Grace Archbishop Mark Coleridge DD, who presided at the Saturday night 6pm Mass at St Rita's Catholic Parish, Victoria Point, for the installation of Fr. Paul Kelly as Parish Priest. 
This is the blessing prayer for the installation:

Rite of Installation and Prayers of Intercession
	(The parish priest comes forward and stands near the Archbishop. The reader who will lead the general intercessions goes to ambo.)
Archbishop:	Brothers and sisters, with the Installation of its pastor this community of faith enters upon a new phase of its journey.  This is therefore a time of fresh hope.   Father Paul, you have been called to serve as pastor of St Rita’s Parish.  I ask you therefore:  Are you willing, through the grace of your ordination as a presbyter, to accept the call to be pastor in this community of faith?
FR PAUL:	I am.
Archbishop:	Are you willing to commit yourself wholeheartedly to the mission of Christ within this community, allowing its baptismal gifts to flourish for the building up of Christ’s Body, the Church?
FR PAUL:	I am.
Reader:	Let us pray for Father Paul, that as he begins to serve as pastor in this parish, he will grow in love of Christ and his people. (pause) We pray to the Lord.
All:	Lord hear our prayer.
Archbishop:	Fr Paul, are you willing to serve this community of faith through the ordained ministries of Word and Sacrament?
Parish Priest:	Yes, I am.  I will also work with those who serve the parish through its many ministries and works of service.  I will strive to support them in all that they do and to encourage everyone to share fully in the life of the community.
Reader:	Let us pray for all ordained ministers, especially Fr Paul and for all who serve this community in its many ministries and works of service, that they will lead the parish to grow in faith, hope and love. (pause)  We pray to the lord.
All:	Lord hear our prayer.
Archbishop:	My brothers and sisters: Are you willing to receive Fr Paul as the Parish Priest of St Rita’s and to support him in his ministry by your faith, your love and your prayer?
All:	We are.
Reader:	Let us pray for all the members of the parish community as we look forward to the ministry of Fr Paul.  May all of us be open to the working of the Holy Spirit, be ready to carry out God’s will joyfully, and to bear witness to Christ unfailingly in our daily life.    (pause) We pray to the lord.
All:	Lord hear our prayer.
Reader:	Let us pray for the Archdiocese of Brisbane under the leadership of our Archbishop, and for all who have been charged with the ministry of servant leadership.  May they be conformed more deeply each day to the likeness of Christ who came not to be served but to serve. (pause) We pray to the lord.
All:	Lord hear our prayer.
Reader:	Let us pray that the love of God will accompany us always on our pilgrimage of faith, giving us courage when we are afraid, patience when we are afflicted, happiness when we are blessed and joy in his service. (pause) We pray to the lord.
All:	Lord hear our prayer.
Prayer of Blessing	(Parish priest stands in front of Archbishop.  With hands outstretched the Archbishop sings or says:)
Archbishop:	Lord our God, in your loving kindness you sent your Son Jesus to be our shepherd, leading us into eternal life. Bless + Paul your servant, our brother, as he begins to serve here as pastor in this community of faith. Let your Holy Spirit fill his life that he may never fail to be an instrument of your peace for all who worship here. By his faith and hope and love may he show forth your word of truth. By his prayer and self-sacrifice may he grow in knowledge and love of you. By his acceptance of your call, first given in baptism and sealed in ordination, may he be strengthened in his mission of service to the Church and to the world. Through Christ our Lord.
All:	Amen.

(the homily below is From Fr. Paul for Sunday Masses of 14th September.....   

“In Christ’s suffering and death on the Cross, Our Lord underwent the very worst of human torture and had accepted it all ‘for our sake.’…….  Always we hear this phrase:  for our sake.  Jesus became human for our sake.  Jesus lived for our sake.  Jesus suffered for our sake.  Jesus died for our sake.  Jesus rose for our sake.”[i]   Not for himself…  but totally for the sake of others…  for all….   It’s a wonderful example of self sacrifice, self-forgetting, self giving…  

 

The cross of Jesus Christ is not a sign that a ‘bloodthirsty God’  has no other way of forgiving sins than by demanding that humans pay for their sins with physical punishment, by forfeiting their lives…..  by dying……   The Cross, is not really about humans paying for their collective sin by satisfying a hard-to-please God by offering up an innocent representative ….  Although that certainly is the human way of thinking…..   /  Jesus certainly was seen and described as the Passover lamb, innocent and spotless….   sacrificed to atone for the sins of others….  That is clearly so……    but what I am meaning here is….     I don’t believe GOD demanded this be so, but that humans demanded that this be so……. Humans have always demanded that be so………   and God knew that was the way we humans think and met us where we were…..   out of love… out of a desire to save us…..   // God did everything that it took to release us from the sin that we find it hard to release others from without dire sacrifice..  and which we often find to release ourselves from….  

 

The Cross, then, is really a sign of God’s faithfulness and closeness to us through the most difficult times of life….   through the best and worst of what the world offers…..  //   If I take your sins upon my own shoulders…  if my son gives his very life with you..  will you quit with killing, with hatred, with selfishess…  and return to me with all your heart????/…    if I do this…  will it be enough to end the cycle of hatred and sin….??? (and indeed – yes it is!!).

 

We are told by the Gospel….   Jesus came into the world and died on the cross not to condemn….  but that we might all be saved…….  

 

God looked deep into the human heart….  and sees in us humans a seemingly constant need that we pay for our mistakes with retribution……  (often violent retribution)……   that one person wins….  by others losing……   

 

God, in Jesus, became the scapegoat for the worst of what humanity can throw at each other……     Jesus became a thing of horror on the cross….  so that everyone and anyone can throw… can project all that is wrong and bad about the world…  or about the complexities of their lives and circumstances….  and project it all at this figure on the cross…..  who will disempower it….   defeat it….. nuetralise it……    thus putting an end to violence as a solution to everything….

 

The triumph of the Cross of Christ is God’s ultimate word to humans -   NOW, and end to harm towards each-other…..      as the price for wrongs suffered…. //    let me bear this in myself….    let me bear the world’s insane need for retribution for everything wrong done…..   so that you won’t keep doing this to yourselves…  to each other…..       so you won’t keep thinking that God is demanding blood for sins committed……  

 

 

We should never underestimate the human ability to withhold forgiveness…..  to demand incredible price for wrongdoing……  and even then leave people no hope for moving beyond the hurt… the wrong……    the cross can be a powerful sign that there is an infinitely stronger solution to the wrongs in the world than mere eye-for-an-eye….. which leads to an endless cycle of retribution and counter-retribution…..    

 

This weekend’s feast of the Triumph of the cross…  is also a wonderful statement that unmasks many false concepts of what true POWER is really like….. 

 

the cross says that power is NOT really any of the following things..

 

• true power is not about domination…  but about love… about freedom and persuasion…
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• true power is being able to forgive… rather than becoming a slave to the necessity of striking back…..   
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• true power is not about controlling… or standing over others…….  but about walking together as one… 
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• true power, in the cross, is revealed in love willing to suffer to others…  to serve to put others first….

  

Jesus believed so completely in the needs and protection of everyone… even those most on the margins…. and put his whole life on the line to ensure it…..      this power is stronger than all others….   and we celebrate the love and care of God revealed in this most contradictory sign …   

of victory and love….    Through the Cross..!

 

 

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·                      FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·                      MONASTERY OF CHRIST IN THE DESERT. ABBOT’S HOMILY.

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[i] Abbots Homily, Christ in the Desert - The Monastery of Christ in the Desert Homily posted on September 10 2014.  The Exaltation of the Holy Cross 2014.  Cycle A. 2014

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Paul's Reflections 453 : 2nd Sunday Ordinary time year A

Homily 2nd Sunday Ordinary time year A  19th January, 2014     

 

There is a line in today's gospel that John the Baptist keeps repeating… and it is an intriguing one….  Twice John the Baptist says "I did not know him….but…."….    What is the meaning of this line……   

It is mysterious…

 

John the Baptist is the cousin of Jesus….   He certainly would have known who he THOUGHT Jesus was, but now he was seeing a new side of him….  Someone much more significant….  The one who would carry the sins of the world on his back and through whom the world would be saved…….   It is almost too enormous for comprehension……    John the Baptist has very clear and strong ideas about what the Messiah would be like… and although it was his role to proclaim his coming, the really ironic thing is that John the Baptist really got it wrong……  his concept of what the messiah would be like…. Was not anything like what Jesus turned out to be….   Jesus turned on its head the concept of what a messiah was like….  Instead of judgement… he brought a time of God's favour….. instead of retribution…  he brought freedom from prison, and cancellation of indebtedness………    absolutely amazing…..  John the Baptist had to really swallow his pride and do a back flip in order to understand what Jesus was showing him and what Jesus was trying to show all people  who had the eyes of faith……

 

John the Baptist keeps repeating… I did not know him, but he is the one I was preparing the way for,,,,,,,,

 

There is something reassuring about this for you us… who live two thousand years later…  we believe in Jesus as the Lamb of God… and the messiah….. each of us here is committed to following Jesus. However, we are in good company if we do not fully comprehend the significance of who Jesus is for us ……   if we do not yet fully appreciate the radical call that Jesus is asking of us……    the world-changing values Jesus has come to bring us…..

 

I always have a soft spot for the poor disciple of Jesus… they followed Jesus wherever he went…. They saw themselves as his disciples….his faithful……. They knew their master, Jesus, had the words of everlasting life…. But time and time again.. they 'did not get it' they missed the point of what Jesus was trying to tell them.  Jesus was often quite exasperated with his disciples, saying…  'you have been with me all this time and still you do not KNOW me?" they often did not have a clue….. but still the kept following.. and slowly….   Little by little… they began to understand who he was…. And what the meaning of his message was…. 

 

In the Gospel, St John  the Baptist declares…  "look! There is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."    It's a timely reminder. We need Jesus. We need saving..  Sadly, we humans are not the final authority on everything. We are not the masters of all that we survey (and that can be extremely frightening and unsettling, because we would like to have a large measure of control over our lives, it is a natural instinct for security and peace-of-mind and self-preservation).  But, the events of recent years.. where various communities throughout Australia and in the world…have witnessed natural disasters or suffering or war….   remind us that although we are not meant to be entirely helpless, nor ought we ever just allow ourselves to be tossed helplessly through the events of life, it also can be very comforting and a source of a kind of serene peace for us to acknowledge that we are not all powerful,  and that we surrender ourselves into the care of God's grace…..  and that we truly and really NEED God and we need to be saved by God. In a real sense we would be utterly helpless without God's saving guidance and help.  

 I am reminded of a painting that someone once did… it was entitled "perfect peace"  but it was a painting of a storm-tossed mountainside.  What is 'peaceful about this… it looks anything but peaceful'   (people would naturally say!).  But a close look shows a small bird nestling in a little cave….   Sheltered from the storms that rage uncontrolled around us.    It is a challenging and beautiful image…  peace comes not from stilling the things outside us, that we really have no control over…. But from taking shelter and receiving inner peace of heart no matter what storms rage around us….  It is not easy….. but at times it's the only thing that gets people through…  It is not a promise that everything will go right… because sometimes everything doesn't… it seems to all go wrong….  But our God walks with us, and we are instruments of God's compassion and care….   And that can make all the difference…

There are some other lines from this weekend's readings that really strike me…… 

 

It is from the psalm: 'he put a new song in my heart…  a song of praise to our God"…..   and also  "I have told the glad news of our deliverance in the great congregation, see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O, Lord."

 

It reminds me….  there are so many things we can focus on in life….   ….   The words of scripture encourage and remind us that…  it is so important to notice and give voice to all the positive and life-giving things that are going on. There are so many things we give thanks for….  That can still fill us with a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving…   fill us with a new song….

 

A commentator once said  that there are different types of prayer… prayer of petition, where we ask for what we need…  prayer of penance..where we ask for forgiveness…  ; prayer of lament.. where we cry out for what is hurting us.. or worrying us……..and also….prayer of worship and thanksgiving…where we give voice to all the gifts and wonders that surround us… that we can be tempted to take for granted…  our presenter said…  70 percent of our prayer should be prayer of thanksgiving.. that still give us 30 percent for asking for things.. or voicing grievances and hurts….. this is not suggesting that we go on talking about everything being rosy when it may not be…. But even when we take the "rose coloured glasses off… even when we are brutally honest… there is still so much to be positive about… so much to be profoundly grateful for….  So many opportunities to see Jesus vision for the world which is so radically different from the logic of this world**… and yet…   we still struggle to understand the meaning of it….  But we never stop trying…..

 

The second reading has St Paul writing with affection to the community of believers in the church in Corinth. It is a reminder that we are all united with each other, and not even distance or time or culture separates us from our brothers and sisters everywhere in the world..  Like St Paul, we are united in prayer and in the Spirit with people everywhere and with the Heavenly community.  The grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ stays with us and binds us together in good times and in hard times.

Daily, we keep following Jesus, even though we (even now) do not fully understand his ways…..  but we believe in them….  We follow him into the unknown…..…..   trusting in his guidance along the path he leads us…….because he promises to be with us always….. in with a new song on our lips…  a song of praise…. And thanksgiving…

 

May God bless and protect us all, with his kind of peace – a peace the world alone cannot give…  .)

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·        FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·        **Fr. John Fuellenbach, SVD,  personal notes from Fr Paul based on a talk given by Fr Fuellenbach in 2007).  Save a tree. Do not print this e-mail unless it's really necessary

 

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Paul's Reflections 452 : Baptism of Our Lord - A 12th January, 2014

Homily Baptism of Our Lord - A  12th January, 2014     

As the preface of the Eucharistic prayer for this weekend’s Mass says: … “in the waters of the Jordan (The Father) revealed with signs and wonders, a new Baptism,

And, so ‘Jesus’ own baptism in the waters of the River Jordan was the introduction to a new path….    Baptism now becomes for all of us the means by which we are joined (in a special way) to Jesus’ life and, therefore, joined to God’s family.. // sharing life in God’s own love…..

As we celebrate the wonderful event of Jesus’ Baptism, it is always a time for us to renew the promises made at our baptism, and to celebrate the gift of baptism for others too.

Initially, it seems strange that Jesus needed to be baptized at all. John was offering a baptism of repentance…   for the forgiveness of sin…. Jesus did not need that, and John the Baptist realized this, and so did Jesus…  but it was really important, nevertheless that Jesus did this….. 

It is not easy to understand why Jesus accepted baptism. For you and for me, baptism is our initiation into Christ. We “put on Christ” at baptism like we put on a new set of clothes. We become Christ-like at baptism. We are made one with God through our baptism and our sins are taken away (not only personal sin, but also the overall experience of alienation and “not-at-oneness” that we humans experience in this world….). Jesus was already God and Christ and perfectly “one with the Father.” Jesus had not sinned. So why is He baptized?? 

For some of the early Christian writers, the baptism of Jesus is best seen as Christ the flipside of what we receive in Baptism….  Just as we are made holy in the waters of baptism….    It is Jesus, who MAKES the waters holy and thus it is Jesus who transforms US WHO RECEIVE IT…  Jesus makes g holy the waters of baptism. We can understand that Christ going into the Jordan brings holiness to all that He touches. ( JESUS, by undergoing Baptism, was bringing to this beautiful action of repentance and forgiveness  a new, deeper and divine meaning and divine POWER… Jesus was, (so to speak)..  “electrifying the waters” with God’s transforming power to makes us God’s children and make us truly into  brothers and sisters in Jesus…and to wash clean our sins and re-create us in God’s image anew…)

At another level, Christ being baptized is showing us that He takes very seriously his desire to share in our human nature, to be in solidarity and in perfect union with his people…..    God takes on ALL of our humanity and shows us the way to live our lives. Baptism, the Scriptures tell us, is a baptism into Christ’s life and his way of living…  his self-emptying way of loving….   a love that gives everything… even unto death, (on a cross). Jesus invites us, by going into these water, to follow him into the waters that are the daily living of his good news…. the daily living of the sometimes difficult challenges of loving as Christ loves..

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Jesus the suffering servant, subjects himself to his human condition out of love and service…….so that he is "a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." (Abbot’s Homily, Monastery of Christ in the desert).

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It has also been said that, at his Baptism, Jesus definitively begins to SHOW AND TO ACT according to what he always was and always would be…..….  Jesus’ baptism is the official manifestation of him living this reality in his public ministry….being anointed by the Spirit with the oil of gladness to bring us light and hope and forgiveness…. (notes from 366 Days with the Lord)

Jesus shows us that discipleship is not merely a personal thing…  not just a private thing……   Being part of Christ’s good news is a participation in a very public ministry of Christ himself……..

Christ’s Baptism – signals the Commencement of his PUBLIC ministry. He has come from quiet and humble obscurity – from 30 or so years of everyday living, and now is dramatically appearing on the public scene…  revealed at last as the messiah, the chosen one……   the suffering servant of the Father…. and the son of God……with whom the Father is well pleased.

Jesus’ baptism is an invitation for us to reflect on the public and communal dimensions of our baptismal call…………. it is a good time to ask ourselves “in what ways do I step forward publicly as Jesus did, as a way of announcing and living practically the new reality represented in Baptism; 2. what can I do to live out my baptismal commitment more openly, more publicly, more consistent with the fact that Christianity is a distinctly communal religion never solely a private devotion……., what will I do?...…..

one thing we can do.. is to encourage someone whom we notice has intentionally changed his/ her way of life for the better, // (Notes also taken from: Prayer Time, Cycle A. Robert J. Heyer, ed. 2007)

 some ways we can put this into action…… ……. we can pray and give thanks for people involved in our regular baptisms that are undertaken in this parish..  whose names are regularly printed in the newsletter…….   We can pray for and be supportive and encouraging of our liturgy leaders, our ministers, our teachers, and catechist….  our visitors to the sick and housebound… and so many more…  … and of course…  …. Just as importantly….  …..everyone who conducts their daily lives, their family life, their jobs and any other daily activities in the intentional spirit of Jesus’ good news – is living out their Baptismal calling in a very practical way…..

May the lord who calls us to follow him into the waters of Baptism, raise us to newness of life, so that, united with Jesus, we may serve Christ by living our discipleship in everything we do and say…..   giving public witness by our love and service to all…

 

Paul's Reflections 434 : 29th September, 2013. Twenty - sixth Sunday of the Year C

Homily . Twenty - sixth Sunday of the Year C . 29th September, 2013

 

The Parable in this weekend’s Gospel is often called The Story of Lazarus and “Divés”.

 These are supposedly the names of the poor man, who certainly is Lazarus, and the rich man, who I think is deliberately not given a name. .

 The word “Dives” is a Latin word that is a description, not a name, and it translates as “Rich”.

 In many Biblical stories the importance of the person is often shown by the fact that they are given a “name”.

 It is an error, then when commentators attempt to give a name to the rich man when it is clearly not the intention. The important person in this story is Lazarus. The whole point of the story is to turn on its head the usual expectation of status and importance. Even in torment, the rich man still doesn’t “get it.”

He ignorantly requests that God would command Lazarus to cross over to Hades to serve him. However, his request is rightly denied. Lazarus is poor no longer!

As St. Basil said in one of his homilies on this parable, “Tell us the reason why you have received your possessions. Is it so that God may be unjust, God who unequally distributes those goods necessary to life? Why are you rich and another poor? To the hungry belongs the bread that you keep; to the naked, the cloak you keep tucked away… You commit as many injustices as there are people to whom you could give.”

One of the great failings of the rich man in this parable is that he is ignorant and apathetic to the poverty and need of people around him… People who turn out to be his brother, his sister… and thus, co-heirs to the Kingdom of which he will never actually become an heir….  

 Consequently, this parable is inviting us to change our ways of seeing things. The gospel tells us in countless ways that the last will be first. Jesus calls upon us to truly build up a world based upon true gospel values….. and made up of many people like Lazarus, who are despised now by those who, according to the parable, do not deserve to have a name.

The parable leaves no room for doubt. To the unnamed rich man's attempt to allege the ignorance of his peers as the reason for the indifference to the plight of poor Lazarus, "Father Abraham" categorically answers that they have the word of God to listen to. The words and teachings of the Scriptures are more than enough to guide us in how we should live…….   (for those who are truly open to its powerful challenges). In spite of the clarity of the gospel message, today we admit that we too can also look for subterfuges or ask for miracles in order to avoid the gospel demands; that are really plain enough without any further embellishment….

 Those who ignore the poor are rejected by the Lord. Saint Paul gives us the reason for such a behaviour: "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Greed leads us to place our trust in money, when this trust and all true power comes only from God. This is why Paul calls it idolatry. And the poor are victims of this distorted worship.  This conduct — and its consequences — separates people by a great chasm which is unable to be crossed over to the Kingdom…..

But all is not lost… this parable continues on from the earlier parables….   Although we are told that the rich man faced a great chasm between himself in hades, and Abraham and Lazarus in Paradise….   Jesus has already given his attentive listeners a hint… and a key…   there is actually a way that the rich man can be saved…..   but he is so ignorant he cannot even comprehend it and may never access this reprieve…   he must act just as the foolish younger son did in the parable of the prodigal son….   He must say to his heavenly Father….  “father, I have sinned against heaven and against earth…  I no longer deserve to be called your son….    “…..   because we KNOW, from Jesus’ own lips what the father’s response will be to those who realise their error…  awake from their apathy…  repent… and turn back…….    

 

Finally…   there is a true story told:

One day a person received an appeal from a reputable foreign mission, asking for an aid donation. The person wrote a little cheque out to support the mission appeal and felt good about it. Then they went out to the local shopping centre and promptly spent twice as much on inconsequential things. In the midst of all this, something about this struck the person deeply,  and they were overcome with a sense of shame. This person quickly returned home and wrote five more cheques,  “to catch a few more lazaruses, at the door”….or even further afield…….

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REFERENCES:

FR. PAUL W. KELLY

A BOOK OF GRACE-FILLED DAYS. BY ALICE CAMILLE. (2010)

SHARING THE WORD THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR. GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ.

Fr. John Fuellenbach, SVD, Sabbatical Lectures 2007. Rome. (notes of PWK)