Easter Week 2 . Year 1 30th March, 2008

Easter – Sunday Week 2. Year A .

The Risen Lord twice says the words “peace be with you.”   Jesus is offering us true PEACE….   and it is something we desire very deeply…..     Jesus appears to his disciples to reassure them of the reality of the forgiveness he has won for us by his death and resurrection….. we can truly be at peace and trust in Jesus’ promise that he does mean to free us from our burdens and forgive us our sins…..    this is a message of enormous hope….  

 

He implores us….  doubt no longer… but believe…. trust in my love….    trust in my forgiveness…..    believe that I do offer you the means to real and lasting peace in life….  

 

Also, the gospel today ends with the writer of John’s gospel saying….   there are more things that happened in relation to Jesus….    but they are not all written here…..    WE, these many, many years after Jesus walked the earth…..   we too are witnesses to what jesus continues to do in our world even now…..   we are called to be ministers of reconciliation, ministers of forgiveness…. and ambassadors of Christ’s peace…..  

 

The importance of the community cannot be understated either……   in the first reading we hear of an ideal community…. they pray together… they learn together… they share their resources to help and support eachother….     our faith community exists so that we might assist, build up and strength each other…. especially those most in need, most struggling……   Jesus calls us to be a community of disciples looking outward towards the world and ready to make a difference for good….

 

Our faith tradition tells us that to understand and believe in Christ, we must read the Scriptures and meditate on them.  We must also come to know other
believers and listen to each other’s  experiences.  Christianity is a religion that preaches Jesus crucified and risen, but always in the context of the community of those who believe in Him.

Today let us ask Saint Thomas to intercede for us that we can believe more deeply in the great mystery of salvation.  Let us be patient with our
doubts and keep looking for the truth of Christ's presence amidst the everyday events and people of life.  Most of all, let us rejoice in the Lord who loves us and invites us deeper into these mysteries.

 

May we continue to be build up by the risen Christ to be disciples who rejoice in being a community for the good of each other and for the common good of all……    ministers of Jesus’ graciousness and care…..Jesus brings us peace and immediately commissions us to go out and put his message into action, by acts of charity, love and support for all we meet….

Easter Homily

Easter Homily:  (Paul Kelly)  22-23/3/2008.      

 

We begin where we left off on Good Friday….

 

 “If Easter says anything to us (tonight/today), it says this: You can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets  and shut it in a tomb,…… but it WILL RISE! “ 

 

Tonight we celebrate the fact that Christ has risen…..   // He, who IS the way, the truth and the Life…..  could not possibly be held in death’s grasp…..  he broke free and promises us eternal life ….too.

 

God has the final say over the tensions and tragedies of life…..… and it is good news….    God says “yes” to the goodness of creation and “Yes” to each one of us……  it was right to remain faithful //   our hope in his promises is fulfilled…..

 

EASTER IS ABOUT FAMILY (sharing time for family, or if we are not able to be with them this easter, certainly giving thanks for the gift of them in our lives…)…..and giving thanks to God for the many ways God brings us to fullness of life…

 

We give thanks for our FAMILY, our friends….and    for so many graces and blessings we have received in life…  to nurture us and give us strength and joy……

 

Easter is the perfect time for celebrating Baptisms and welcoming people into our church communion…….    We give thanks for those who will be baptized and received into the church this season. God’s gentle grace has led them here… and their decision is a great source of renewal and thanksgiving for the whole community.

 

Easter is not only about the promise of everlasting life in heaven,..// ..  there are so many ways in which Jesus’ rising from the dead is a sign of God’s  constant work to “bring us out of the entombment” that we can experience in our lives…// // (Tonight/today)  is also about the real promise that “God can and does” want us to be “fully alive”.,… //  and renewed in spirit and mind…. and brought to life again from so many things that can sap the life out of us…. weigh us down….  and imprison us……   whether it be fear, guilt, pain, illness, doubt, grief……   or countless other equally painful struggles…. 

 

Anyone who has ever gone through a “dark night of the soul” in their life, (and that is each of us at one time or another)…….and has come through the other end and now finds themselves in a renewed place, raised up again,  (never imagining that they would be in this new space) but here they are!!!….with the help of God’s grace, (shown by the helping hands of family, friends, colleagues, ….and so many other ways…)….   anyone who has gone through this can testify…   Christ really IS at work brining us to new life (in so many ways)……    and (Tonight/today)  we give thanks for this…. and pray for those who continue to hope and trust in God’s faithfulness….  // God’s love and care for us will never fail….. God effects resurrection IN our lives, in ways beyond our expectations….. beyond our presumptions or in ways different from the literal limits of our requests …..   Often, we only recognize a ‘resurrection moment in our lives’ with a kind of ‘dawning realization’  - like Mary Magdalene:  thinking that someone had hidden the body of our Lord….. searching and praying that she might find where they had hidden his body….…   and not at first realizing that her prayers had been answered in this man she initially mistakes for a gardener, (but no, it is the Lord himself)….. 

 

I would like to conclude with an ode… a short poem written to express the truth of the Lord’s Rising in our life journey….Anyone who can sing the words of this ode (or their own unique variation for their own life situation) knows that the resurrection is a reality ….. here and now…. in the lives of each of us:    

 

“Lord, only you know

the path of fire

I’ve been through

these past years.

But I made it

a miracle of grace,

Not by MY own strength,

But only ‘cos I clung to you

 

Today I arise,

though I still bear the wounds

Today it begins,

One step after another;

Some days backwards,

Mostly forward.

No longer in darkness

for That's in the past

 

Today I arise, //

today we begin…..

This “new day” dawns…

Lord, this -- new day dawns…!!”  

(words by P.W. Kelly).^[1]

 

May the Lord of the resurrection bless you and renew you with fullness of life – here and now (and forever)….

 

 

 

 

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^[1] Title inspired by an ode attributed to St Patrick: “I arise today”
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s wisdom to uphold me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak to me,
God’s hand to guide me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s angels to save me.

attributed to Saint Patrick (c. 390-c. 461)

Good Friday Message, from Fr Paul Kelly

Good Friday and Easter Message . 21^st March, 2008. From Fr Paul Kelly. St Mary’s Catholic Parish, Maryborough.

 

At a quarter past two on Good Friday morning…..  when the power in the presbytery suddenly goes off…. (by no mere technical fault, I am sure), and two suspicious men keep lurking the presbytery and hanging around the Ford store next door (looking furtive), (not the usual type of revellers who wander happily but harmlessly through the church grounds on their way to a tax)… but with obviously nothing good on their minds….. one would be forgiven for becoming really cynical about today’s world and human nature…..  it would be understandable, if we became really down about those who go on a rampage of vandalism and fear…   cracking college windows and scaring elderly people in their homes, and retirement villages… or the endless stories in the news of people taking advantage of others for their own pragmatic gain….  not treating others as if they were their brother or sister……    with eyes looking on all these things… and all the wars and suffering and poverty an injustice….   the logic of the world would say…..   the world is going to the dogs……    (certainly, there are very serious social, economic human issues facing our world and our society…..  we are right to be very concerned…..  the challenge, though, is to realistically face these real obstacles with Christian hope… and with a commitment to respecting the humanity of all people and hoping in the kind of world Jesus died to usher in…..

 

By the standards of the world…..  today is Bad Friday… (and the world couldn’t be worse) and Jesus’ death was a disastrous failure of a “worthwhile dream”……   to the eyes of faith… this is Good Friday… where Christ shows us that God ultimately has the last word – and it is a word of Hope, a word of dignity.. and of LOVE (despite the cynical, but very real things that get thrown up at people as they walk through life in this day and age).

 

Today is not so much about “see how awful us humans have been to God”…. but rather “see how faithful, how loving, how merciful our Lord is to his beloved people……”   we fall at his feet in amazement and thanksgiving. We praise Jesus for his goodness and faithfulness to us (which excel all we ever knew).”  God has given us more than we could ever have hoped for or imagined. 

 

Every year…. without fail….. the account of the Passion of Our Lord,  inspires and renews……  it fills us with a sense of awe…..

 

The Power of Christ’s death on the cross, is humbling ….. as we silently contemplate how much God loves us….. and gave up everything for our sakes…..

 

Jesus betrayal and arrest the previous evening…… his unjust trial, (in which he is really found to be innocent in the process but sentenced to a criminal’s death anyway! because of the insistence of the hysterical crowd..)……The cruel journey to calvary and his unimaginable execution………………only the eyes of Faith could describe this Friday as a “Good Friday”……    but it truly is……   because nothing can destroy God’s faithfulness to his beloved people…..   nothing can defeat the power of God’s love……  Even when we can’t imagine that some actions could ever be forgiven… it is Jesus himself who pleads to the Father that we will embrace the forgiveness that is really offered to us……/  ….   God keeps telling us that we are loved (no matter what may come). And we know that even when everything bad was thrown at Jesus; he continued to respond in love and faithfulness to the Father,….. crucifying all that was negative and death-dealing, on the cross…..  robbing it of its power….

 

I stop to ponder the power of a MOB…….     when Jesus entered Jerusalem.. the crowds worked themselves up into an amazing excitement… they threw down palm fronds and cloaks and hailed Jesus as the King of the people…. the Messiah…….  many people joined in the excitement of the crowd…..   presumably a lot of people joined in the praise of Jesus because they loved what he stood for…. some probably went along because everyone else was doing it……  maybe some hated him and joined in because they followed the crowd….. 

 

only a very short time later… members of that same crowd, (surely many of the same people), were stirred up by a few ……  now saying…  (not hosanna to our King! – but the opposite!!)… get rid of him,….   crucify him … he’s not our king….   kill him…….!!!!    

 

Some people hated Jesus…  but probably most didn’t…. they just went along with the crowd.. they let the mob rule them……..  

 

a group of people can be such a powerful thing… groups can support and nurture all that is good in their shared values…. a group can become a “family”… sharing common support, care and visions……  but groups can also turn nasty… violent… hateful… they can be stirred up by “mob mentalities” / fear and bigotry //….    how many people at Jesus trial really wanted him exectuted????…   and how many just went along with the emotion of the crowd????… and the wave of hatred and jealousy…that had erupted……  

 

the Cross of Christ stands as a reminder that, although we are all members of various communities and groups… each one of us stands before the cross and is asked to make our own personal YES to Jesus…..   and our own personal NO to the peer pressure and unthinking trends..../   shifting values…..that can assail us.

 

in a short while… we will each come before the wood of the cross… where Christ revels his unconditional love for us…..  and asks us to say yes… to the life he gives to us….   our personal acts of veneration….    is our own individual way of saying… “yes”  to the values of one person.. who withstood the enormous pressures of huge numbers .. to be faithful to his vision….   God’s vision.. for a world of forgiveness and justice… and above all….. LOVE.. // which does not stop to count the cost….  which gives without hope of return….

 

The cross of Jesus is to be found reflected in all who mourn…. all who suffer rejection and injustice….   the cross is patterned in the hearts of all who endure illness or pain…. //  Christ’s cross is a silent “YES” to  all who long to be forgiven for past mistakes but don’t dare believe that they can be freed from their guilt and shame………    It is found in the experiences of people persecuted or experiencing fear or unrest throughout the world… whether it be in Tibet or in the house next door to us…..

 

This is a good Friday….  and in the cross is revealed the wisdom and power of God……    most of all….   it reveals God’s constant LOVE.

 

 

“If Easter says anything to us today, it says this: You can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets  and shut it in a tomb, but it will rise! “   (Clarence W. Hall).

 

Passion Sunday

16th March, 2008      Passion Sunday

 

The Passion account of Our Lord, is so powerful that it really speaks for itself….    SO much can be said of its power and significance that it could take a lifetime to ponder…..   and yet…  in many ways… it also speaks for itself….  extra words seem to pale in comparison…. 

 

so I won’t say much today….  

 

except to say, that every time I hear the passion, it stirs something deep inside me….  it renews me, overwhelms me….   reminds me……..    challenges me, condemns me, forgives me……….     It shows just how wonderful Jesus is……  how much he loved us…… that he was prepared to give up everything….  

 

He won’t speak up in his own defence…. he does the unthinkable… even though innocent… he remains silent….  not uttering a word….  even a word  that has in so many previous encounters has gotten him out of a dangerous situation…..   I always admired how Jesus, when faced with malicious antagonism from others.. was often able to pull the carpet from under them with some well chosen words… or a question… the answer of which they cannot give…..    I love his clever and insightful replies,.,,,, but none now….   not that he couldn’t…. he would not….  he remains silent…..

 

It is a reminder… there are times we feel the need to justify and explain ourselves…  sometimes we might be unjustly judged by others…. and we want to speak out in our defence….  sometimes the judgement may be correct… but pride can make us want to explain, excuse, mitigate…..  but not Jesus…..   he will not speak up to defend himself…. he is utterly sure of his own worth in the Father…  he is not puffed up with pride… he knows the truth and has no need of the acceptance of arbitrary judges……. 

 

It would be great (some quiet time during this holy week) to take the whole longer account of the passion and read it slowly.. prayerfully….   mattehws account from today is different from the one in John’s Gospel which we hear every Good Friday…..

 

contemplate Judas…….   what in the world is going on?... jesus insists on calling him Friend… even when he betrays him….. I used to think he was just being ironic… what if he wasn’t …. what if Jesus continued to trust in and hope for his friend Judas, and that Judas would not accept the offer of friendship Jesus was giving him……..    Judas does repent (of sorts) and throws the blood money away….    but was Jesus asking him to trust in the mercy and forgiveness that he was offering on  the cross for all people…..    ?  can we trust that jesus is truly calling us friend….  would give anything for us… and is inviting us to trust in the new life and forgiveness that he does offer to each of us, who hope in his unconditional love…  revealed on the tree of calvary?

 

 

 

Lent Week 5 . 9th March, 2008.

Lent Week 5 .  9^th March, 2008.

“Unbind him, set him free !”

Sunday:

There are some words and phrases, that are so powerful that they actually convey and express the feelings and realities to which they point….. 

they are words or sentences that have a power of their own because they are intimately connected to reality they describe….

For example…..   a couple of pastoral council meetings ago a few of us were saying how the word “serenity”   actually conveys the sense of calm, peacefulness and tranquility that we so desire in life….   to be serene.. in the face of the storms and disruptions in life…..   this is a greatly sought-after quality.

many organizations know the power of words to capture the reality of who they are and what they are seeking to do….   they are called Mission statements….   or vision statements…..  

When these statements touch on the core values they represent, it is as if they resonate with truth and power…..  

 

Last Friday, I was at the Saint Mary’s college official opening and blessing of the new Christian Brothers Innovation and technology Centre”   and David Hutton, the head of Catholic education in this Archdiocese  quoted the St Mary’s college Mission statement… and I felt deeply moved by its introductory words… I felt that they had a real immediate impact that surely reflects the fact that they have evolved after a lot of thought, prayer and reflection …..   the words that moved me are simple….    it starts by saying: God’s spirit inspires the Saint Mary’s College to love, learn and live as Christian people of faith. 

I could not help but be quite convinced that this Spirit gives power to the words and their meaning….  

 

This weekend the parish has been delighted to be host for the Saint Vincent de Paul training conference…   and I know it has been a wonderful time of coming together and sharing and reflecting on their ministry and gaining support and encouragement….   the Vinnies mission, also resonates with energy and powr….:

the words include:  ‘to heighten the awareness of Jesus Christ”….by sharing ourselves - who we are and what we have - with the poor on a person to person basis.

We seek to co-operate in shaping a more just and compassionate Australian community, ……

and Our preferred option in this mission of service is to work with the poor in development, by respecting their dignity, sharing our hope, and encouraging them to take control of their destiny.

 

words…  that fill one with energy..  make one want to join in this work…..I pray with confidence that the work of Groups such as Saint Vincent de Paul society, will continue the powerful work of Christ meeting Christ in their ministry of service… of meeting ‘person-to-person’.

and of course, I truly believe there is one single WORD who gives power to all other words and phrases.. and it is the person and message of Jesus, who is THE WORD of God……  Jesus is a DOING word, so the word of God, is a verb……. 

some other very special words have a powerful effect because they are so intimately connected with Jesus’ values//  his message and qualities about himself that they convey the qualities they describe….

these words are powerful, as though the Spirit hovering over them fills them with resonance…..  words such as

“Your sins are forgiven”

“Your debt is cancelled”

“Be Freed”  /  “Be released”

“Be Opened”

“BE upLIFTED FROM YOUR BURDENS”

“lazarus – COME-OUT…… //   now unbind him…. set him free!”

“This is my body broken for you…..   this is my blood poured out for you as a new covenant”

 

I love these words….  I know you do too……    they fill us with hope… but more than that… they immediately begin to  achieving what they say…….   

even our own parish newsletter, at the top…  I love that little line….   “Building our lives on the gospel…”    I don’t know where it originated, but it is wonderful, it is true……   that is what we strive to do, always and everywhere….

SO, Jesus said a lot of words to people in his ministry…  sometimes the things he said really challenged the faith of those who were with him……   In the gospel today, jesus talks to them about God having the final say on suffering and death……   / Jesus is powwrfully SHOWING that HE DOES CARE…. HE DOES LOVE US…..  HE DOES CARE WHEN PEOPLE SUFFER, DIE…   GRIEVE….  OR FEEL TRAPPED BY THEIR PAST SINS AND MISTAKES….. HE CRIES WITH US…..  HE SIGHS FROM THE HEART FOR US……..    AND HE SPEAKS WORDS OF CHANGE…..  

 

BE HEALED

BE FORGIVEN

BE FREED….

I GIVE YOU ETERNAL LIFE….

 

AND THEN TURNS TO US AND ASKS……

 

 

do you believe this…   DO you believe?????”  

 

We reply, like Martha: “yes, lord, I believe... You are the Christ, the one who is to come into the world…..

 

If we believe this, THEN  we will trust that if Jesus says “your sins are forgiven”.. (and he does say this to each of us)…. then who are we to stay in the darkness of shame….//   who are we to remain still imprisoned by these sins if Jesus cancels our debt…….

 

Right….  then, untie them…   ….. this is what I desire for you…// 

 

This is what makes Christ become moved so deeply he sheds tears….//    but they are certainly tears of hope….

 

what love jesus has or each one of us….  

 

surely it is only Divine love that fill us with life again….……  freed, healed, forgiven….  LOVED.

 

 

 

 

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Saturday Night:

 

I have a friend I have known for many years, A fascinating and eccentric person, (who won’t mind me mentioning him in a homily I am sure)….and his preferred means of communication to me (of recent years) is via e-mail and sms. He sends me an email message and I reply, but I never get a reply to my reply. It is the strangest thing.  It has become the most unusual one-sided conversation of all time…….    He will write to me from 100 kilometers down the road one time..  about some amazing thing that has happened to him… and I will reply in amazement at his exploits…. and ask a further question…  but nothing……  no reply….  it doesn’t really bother me…  its just odd……    another time..  he will send me an email from Spain…(or somewhere equally exotic)…..  he will write about having just walked the way of ST James….(the Santiago de Compostela pilgrim walk)     … and again….I will write back immediately…… in amazement… /,,,,,, again …  no reply…… !     I got another message the other day….    he is home…..   back in Australia…   I welcomed him back…and said…  ‘wow… your journey must have been wonderful… how are you, are you settling in?’….. but at the same time I thought to myself….   ‘I bet you a million dollars I will never get a reply to this message until the next time I get an email from some new location….….’…. but then I thought…   ah, to heck with it….  who cares if he doesn’t reply… if that is the way he is … then good……    let him send me messages… I will always reply.. always ask…  always keep answering….   and maybe one day…   a reply to my reply…..……..     (don’t worry..  eventually I will ring up and find out whether his email is faulty… - knowing the way these things go, he is probably sitting there saying..  Paul never replies…  but I will keep sending…  ha ha-- …..but not yet… not yet….)……..but anyways…   I tell this story.. because it made me think of something…..  

 

you know what…  I reckon that is like the way we often treat God….. 

 

we talk and talk and talk at God…..  and God hears us alright.. and more than that, God replies… God asks….  God inquires….  God…  speaks…. God cares about us, loves us and is utterly involved in our lives and cares…….. but we don’t hear………  

 

how often do we ask something of God….    pour out our hearts to God……    implore God…    reprove God…..    express frustration with God……    and then go on our way….   back into the intense busy-ness of life…..   leaving God’s replies, God’s certain response floating in thin air……..  

 

I think that may happen a lot more than we think….   what if God is like the faithful email friend…..    always interested… always responding…  always answering…  but we have spam-guard set on such a high level and his message gets junked with all the rubbish too…..

 

This was certainly happening to Jesus in the gospel today……    he was telling  them so much…. but they were unable to hear…. unable to comprehend….. 

 

Jesus had such affection, such love for Lazarus, Mary and Martha….  they must have been his home away from home whenever he visited Jerusalem….    he DID care very much about them…. and what was happening to them……… but people couldn’t understand his behaviour….. 

 

Jesus says that Lazarus is sleeping..    but they misunderstand that he means that he is actually dead, but that “like a sleeper,” he lies ready to be called forth to new life, by God’s word…..

 

But more than this… Martha and Mary and everyone else….   are asking Jesus…  “do something”…..Help us?   On other people’s lips is surely also the question. “Does he CARE about his friends?  How can he stand by and watch people suffer…..   why doesn’t he take away their pain… is it because he does not care?  Is it that he does not love?”      

 

We don’t pretend to understand all this, but it is quite clear that the answer to these questions is./…   Yes… he does care… and more deeply than words can express……   Jesus is profoundly moved by their pain… He becomes distressed and deeply grieved………  Even though he knows that God has the final word in relation to suffering and pain and death…   his love and compassion burst out… he feels for his beloved people… and weeps with them……   he does not want anyone to suffer…..  he is the God of love… of goodness….. life…… and of freedom…. 

 

Back to my idea that God is like the faithful computer pen pal….  but even more than that, clearly. God always responds with unconditional love….    no matter what……. 

 

but we don’t begin to comprehend….

 

The most powerful words Jesus utters, are deeply moving…  can we imaging how he said it?….  only divine love is powerful enough to bring us out of our tombs… (whatever they may be)…….  to call us out of our hurtful ways….   to release us from so many “prisons” of so many “un-freedoms”……    

 

Jesus cried out in a loud voice…..…  (We can still feel his love in the words):   “Lazarus--- COME -----OUT !!!!”  

 

“Now unbind him….   set him free”…// let him live… let him be fully alive.. this is what I desire for everyone.. to be free.. to be alive…   to have joy.. and joy to the full…….   

 

So, when we come to the Lord and say to him… Lord…  I am aware that there are things in my life that are sinful…. I know that I am bowed down by my mistakes and hurtful ways….. by weakness and a sense of unworthiness….//    We pour out our hearts to God…  we tell God our fears and hopes……….And, you know what, ……. this gospel helps us to “recover” what the “missing email back to us” would certainly be….    “friend….  I DO want you to be free….  I DO want you to be released from the burden of your sins…  I do want you to come alive.,…..    I want you to come out of all that holds you back…… I do not want you to be bowed down… to be trapped….  by your past….  by your fears….  by your mistakes….by your doubts…..     BE FORGIVEN……  BE RELEASED…..    BE FREED……   BE HEALED…….   BE LIFTED FROM YOUR BURDENS……..!!!!   do you believe this…   DO you believe?????”  

 

We reply, like Martha: “yes, lord, I believe... You are the Christ, the one who is to come into the world…..

 

If we believe this, then we will begin to live this….   we will trust that when Jesus means to forgive us of our failings he really means this…..   if he says your sins are forgiven.. (and he does say this to each of us)…. then who are we to stay in the darkness…. who are we to remain still imprisoned by these sins….

 

Right….  then, untie them…   ….. this is what I desire for you…//  This is what makes Christ become moved so deeply he sheds tears….//    but they are certainly tears of hope….

 

LAZARUS ----   COME -------  OUT !!!!!!!!!!!

 

…..NOW UNBIND HIM…… set him free……

 

HERVEY BAY - LITURGY OF RECONCILIATION (Monday 3rd March, 2008). 7pm.

HERVEY BAY  - LITURGY OF RECONCILIATION (Monday 3^rd March, 2008). 7pm.

 

The readings and prayers tonight speak of Light and darkness……

 

Jesus is the light of the world……   shining the light of his good news into every aspect of ourselves and our lives…… 

 

we are invited to walk as children of the light……      

 

the image of the light of Christ is a very good one. Christ’s light calls to mind…..  

 

Our Lord, who came into this world, and lived, died and rose, out of love for us all….

 

Jesus was open to all people and ready to understand and to forgive….

 

Jesus’ life was about building up and including… and giving thanks for the world around… and responsible shared use of our resources…..

 

Jesus’ life was about thanksgiving and encouragement…..  

 

it was also always about prayer, and silence….  

 

Jesus life brought joy and hope to people… he drew people to him… as a light draws people who are lost in darkness….

++++++++

When we were baptized…//  we were given a baptismal candle…  lit. from the Easter candle…….   

 

We became ‘little lights of Christ to all we met’…..     ‘bearers of Christ’s Light to everyone’ --    

 

that  light stays in us always… for eternity…  it is God’s light……     whatever happens, that light remains alive in is……

we know that we can do negative or unloving things in life that make the light of Christ burn rather dimly…….. so that Christ’s light is hard to see.,…….   

 

(Although I firmly believe that Christ’s light always stays in us, no matter what, even if it may seem like an ever so small glow at times….)

 

also, there are positive, loving, and life-giving things we can do in our lives that make the light of Christ burn even brighter…  shining for all to see…….  

 

as to the things of darkness… the things that dim the light in us….   there is a saying… ‘we are as sick as our secrets’   and this has a deep truth to it……    that which is brought into the light of Christ’s love and truth, is lifegiving and healing….    we ask the Lord to help shine his healing light on us…

 

+++++++++

as we reflect on how much we are allowing the Light of Christ shine in our lives and in our actions….   it is good for us to keep in mind this question:

 

To whom do I need to listen with understanding or to forgive?

 

 

How much waste is there in my life?

 

Do I see the positive or the negative first in people and situations…

 

do I have the daily habit of encouraging someone and thanking everyone?

 

Is prayer, silence and service a part of the natural rhythym of my life?

 

am I recognized by my smile or by my frown?

 

 

 

 

Lent Four. Year A. 2nd March, 2008

Coming to new sight in Christ.   Lent Four. Year A. 2^nd March, 2008.

 

I love this weekend’s first reading.   it is such a visually descriptive passage……  I remember a few years back (in another parish)… I was invited to come along and be part of a session in a school retreat camp and then celebrate mass with the students.   The session before the mass, was a creative exploration of the scriptures…. and one little vignette was this reading of Samuel searching for the suitable leader -  many apparently suitable candidates come foreward…  who look and seem like they would be suitable…  but God passes by them all until God insists on them going out and getting the forgotten son still working as a shepherd in the fields… and this is David… the one who is chosen by God to be King of Isreal……..

 

In the retreat session, we devised a rather fun role play where the prophet Samuel would stand there like a talent show judge…… and as each of the sons of eli would come forward, (each of them full of confidence, or money, or bravado……..)……….as if it was like a fashion show catwalk or something…..… but one by one….they would all get “gonged” offstage…..    the point of this little vignette… is that humans look at appearances…..  but God sees into the heart…..  and knows where true substance lies…..

 

but, For us humans….    aren’t many things in life more like an audition for Australian idol or big brother… where people vote on how you come across… and use often very dodgy, very arbitrary standards to assess a person’s worth… and it has all too much with outer appearances…. and surface qualities…..   speaking of that… I once watched an episode of Australian idol and there was a rather good singer auditioning on it……    but they hit a couple of poor notes…  having to sing it unaccompanied…..  anyway, the judge came on and said…  ‘your singing was awful… you are terrible.’ That made me very annoyed… I though to myself…. ‘now come on, that judge should know better… that singing was not terrible at all…. they hit a couple of bad notes… that does not mean they can’t sing….  what singer hasn’t hit a wrong note in their time…..’   ridiculous…  but it made good television……     your whole “worth” judged by a few measly pieces of cobbled-together information…… and voted on by the whim of the masses…….      how far from the way God thinks and acts…….  (thank goodness)…..   if we were to do a phone vote of suitable leaders to be chosen by God……  then King David would never have been voted in…..    John the Baptist would have been voted off the show in the first episode…..    St Peter would have been considered too weak, too unsuitable. …. Saint Paul … well, he would never have made the short-list…. he had a history of persecuting people and can he really be trusted???   …  is he really on our side now??.,……   the list goes on and on….    God does not judge by appearances but looks into the heart and sees us as we really are…. and loves us…..

 

The first reading is really good for another reason….  When david is chosen by God, God commands the prophet Samuel to break open a container of oil and pour it over his head…..   ANOINTING him ….as King of the people….  this symbolism of anointing is powerful… ((in the play, when God chooses David, we then wanted to show the power of the symbol of anointing with oil…. so we thought about having the stage so we could actually pour a whole bottle over someone’s head… but we decided that was a bad idea and may not be a nice experience… (although I would have been happy to have the oil poured over me,.. the effect would be very visually dramatic and powerfull..  it would SHOW… the effect of God’s spirit of generosity and power being poured down onto us……)… so (instead) ….we had a bottle that had sparkly dry tinsel in it and the actor playing Samuel poured this thing representing oil and it glistened as it flowed down onto the head of the newly appointed DAVID………and it was quite effective……   and dramatic)…….…

 

We use this symbol of anointing in our rituals even today…..    anointing with oil… is a symbol of appointing, consecrating, commissioning and sending a person into mission.   This anointing oil is a symbol of royalty and leadership……   Even the name Christ, derives from the name “the anointed one”     and we are all united and commissioned to be joined to Jesus who is THE anointed one.. the Messiah and God the son….

 

In baptism we use oil of chrism to join the baptized to Jesus who is THE priest, prophet and King……   in confirmation, we confirm the gifts of the spirit in bapatism… and commission, send and appoint the newly confirmed to be witnesses of Christ in their daily lives and vocations…..   to be united with Christ in living the good news….. 

 

  In the Gospel, the man born blind is shown coming not only to physical sight, but also coming to a clearer and clearer vision of faith… the man first thinks that Jesus is just a wonderful man who helped him… but as he goes along, he thinks of him as the messiah.. and finally as God’s son….     He suffers taunts and questions but stands firm….    this man stands as a wonderful example of discipleship….  of endurance and trusting in what God is doing.. the legalists around him become more and more disappointing… they are clearly blind and their hearts and minds are not only closed, they are antagonistic… their own responses bring them into disrepute….  

 

A sobering lesson is here for everyone…  this man whom people judged to be a sinner, had understood the truth and meaning of Jesus better than the experts in the law. They could not get past their prejudices and pre-formed judgements of this man as a sinner and a lowly nobody… so they would not listen to his experience.. they would not give him the time of day…..   but he had the enlightenment of Christ in him…..    May the Lord help us to see beyond appearances, avoid jumping to conclusions based on outward things….  and help us to be open to everyone around us….    open to hear the good news in the most surprising places.. and people…