John the Baptist

BIRTH OF THE BAPTIST: 24TH JUNE 2007

Something becoming known that has been planned since the foundation of time…… a secret…. taking shape ….. a mystery, coming to resolution……….

This is what this weekend’s special feast is about this weekend…………

This is a concrete expression of the later words of Jesus….. what you hear in whispers… will be shouted from the rooftops……..

God knows each one of us….. calls us by name…… forms us in secret….. and intends and plans to bring one or more different facets of God’s own plan to fruition in each one of us…… for us… it may not be the profound and unrepeatable role of John the Baptist……. (God’s warm up man, if you like)….. the herald…… whose role was TO PREPARE the way for the Messiah…. call us all to open our hearts, repent of our sins, turn back to God and clear any obstacles to the coming of Christ and his good news….

John the Baptist,…. who mixed with Kings and everyday citizens….but was uncompromising and equal in relating to all…. he was not overawed or blinded by the respect of famous and rich, but called them too, to the repentace of sin that he noted…

If a painting were to be done representing John the Baptist… it would capture his simplicity, his asceticism, and also, I reckon, it should show him pointing….. for he (in a gracious way) pointed to what was wrong and pointed to how to set it right…. and even more importantly…whenever anyone looked at him, so to speak, he pointed them back to Jesus…. saying… “I am not the one you seek….. he is the one who is to come….’

The gospel passage is an extraordinary moment…. when John’s name is revealed….. the parents of John needed to trust in what God was doing in their lives…. and they also had to be prepared to break with tradition when it was God’s will to do otherwise…… tradition is good…. but the principles on which tradition is based, are even more important ….. so… the tradition of the time said that a son should be named after either his father or a relative in the family….. but God asked this child to be named John and breaking with tradition… to achieve God’s will….. Zaccheriah spoke his first words in months and said….. his name is JOHN.

We too, have a part to play in God’s plan for the world…… each one of us is called to be a herald of Christ in our lives and act in a way that keeps pointing back to jesus and his life-giving message……..

we too, when necessary, need to put aside the letter of tradition and go with what is needed in the circumstances of a specific issue…. especially if to do so is in furtherance of Jesus mission in the world…..

Eleventh Week in ordinary Time year C

ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

(17^TH JUNE 2007)

This is a very special gospel….. this incident, of the woman washing Jesus' feet and drying them with her hair…. is featured in every one of the four gospels….albeit in slightly different forms…….. whilst the gospels are strikingly similar in many places…… there are not that many incidents that are featured in each of the four gospels incuding Johns gospel, which is distinctly different from the gospels of Mark, luke and Matthew…….    what is also interesting is this…… it has been noted by one commentator…. that although this incident is featured in every one of the gospels, the writer of each gospel uses and adapts the incident differently to make different points………

in Luke’s gospel…..( Lk 7:36ff)   woman who has sinned greatly, and knows just how important it is to be forgiven ….shows enormous gratitude and devotion to jesus……

In Matthew….(Mt 26:6 ff)  the woman is not a sinner at all…. rather she is doing a deeply symbolic and prophetic action…. anointing him…  in preparation of his burial…. for this woman recognizes the significance of jesus and what he has come here to do…

In Mark (14: 1 ff) similarly, the woman’s actions are like that of a prophetess ! 

finally, John’s gospel (John 12:1 ff) names the woman…. it is Mary of Bethany…. along with  Martha and the raised-from-the dead Lazarus…….  in this version Mary appears to be unaware of the full significance of what she is doing… as an act of service, devotion and foreshadowing of what must come to Jesus: his suffering and death on the cross….

It has also been noted, that the only version of these incidents that is ever featured on the weekend cycle of readings… is today’s version… lukes… which portrays the woman as a sinner……..  // 

it is a shame that these other versions of the gospel incident are not also given voice regularly in the Sunday cycle of readings…….  , to remind us of the different roles that women played in Jesus group of followers….. and that many of the women who followed jesus were more attuned to his message than some of his apostles…….. disciples and followers of Jesus too…. and not all of them were notorious public sinners….any more than the men….

In any case…..This particular gospel of Luke (today/tonight) does reflect on sinfulness and forgiveness… and the sense of enormous gratitude it brings……. 

the reaction of the Pharisee who was hosting the dinner is interesting….. ‘if he knew what kind of a woman was touching him he should know that she is a sinner.’

It raises a really challenging thought in my mind……….how easy it is to be distracted……..   to look in the wrong direction…….   Jesus didn’t want the Pharisee to be spending his time trying to work out just how much of a sinner this person was who was anointing him….. rather…… this beautiful scene….    hopefully was an opportunity for those present… and ourselves here today….  to look inside ourselves and become aware of our sinfulness….. and… in a spiritual sense… fall at the feel of jesus…..    wash him with our tears of repentance……   anointing him the oil of gladness that he himself provides………… 

there are so many opportunities in this life for us to look inside ourselves….. but at times it can feel as if we would all be better off if we spent less time defending our righteousness and justification for who we are and what we do or don’t do…. or worse…..    pointing out the weaknesses and faults of others…. whilst of course failing to see the culpability in myself……… //  to “more profitably” spend the time looking at our own weaknesses and flaws……(not with the eyes of condemnation or rejection…..…but with the eyes of love that Jesus sees us with… so that we might be healed and strengthened and given the grace to grow in love and compassion….. and go beyond our faults and weaknesses….. growing more and more into the image of Christ that Jesus invites us to become….

Body and Blood of Christ - year c

THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD – YEAR C. JUNE 10^TH 2007

 

There is a saying:  “You are what you eat.” 

 

In the Eucharist, we believe that “we become what we receive…”    In Eucharist…we receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ….. and in so doing….we trust in // and engage directly // with the grace of God that it contains ……   that it might transform us to become more and more like Jesus with every passing day………..in our values, in our union with Jesus …..  in our being……….     this is what we are celebrating today, and each time we receive holy communion…….

 

It was wonderful last weekend to celebrate with our young ones who received their confirmation and first holy communion ….  and to have bishop Finnigan with us…….    it is a strong sign of our communion with eachother and with the nwider universal church which derives its source from our communion in jesus…..  

 

I truly believe.. that as exciting as first holy communion is… there is only one thing better than one’s first holy communion… and that is one’s second holy communion….. and there is only one thing better than second holy communion and that is third…. and so on……   it sets up a pattern of communion with the body and blood of Christ in our daily life……

 

I also think it is particularly beautiful…..  we believe in the God of the incarnation…. God made flesh…….  and so, God, who was made flesh and dwelt among us, understands intimately that we human beings are both spirit AND flesh… and as such…. we need tangible….touchable…..   sacraments so that we may engage with the realities of God’s love and Jesus’ presence …not only intellectually….but also physically……    and materially…….    God gives us sacraments so that we can not only think about God’s care for us, God’s healing, forgiving and uniting plan for us… but we can actually engage with it… and feel it and touch it…. and taste it…..

 

this is a gift of inexplicable value…… 

 

and we celebrate today… Jesus Christ, who comes to us and makes his home in us, through the sacrament of his body and blood….