Paul's Reflections ALL SAINTS DAY/ ALL SOULS DAY

1^st Nov 2008. All Saints Day.

 

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ALL SAINTS DAY  -

 

In quite a few of St Paul’s writings to different communities, he address his letters to “the saints in …”    the term referred to the living members of the Christian community … all who were reborn into Christ by Baptism and were living lives of discipleship in Christ, following his gospel.   This picks up the sense that, for all who follow Christ, eternal life begins NOW…. it is here already, although as the second reading says today, the fullness of this eternal life will not be fully revealed and experienced until the next life, with God in heaven.

 

But Saint Paul, and St John’s gospel and writings are also strong on this concept that the disciples of jesus are already saints and witnesses and already have the eternal life of Christ abiding in them…..   even if not fully revealed or realised. 

 

Nowadays, when we think of saints, we usually refer to those who have died, and we would not dream of calling ourselves ‘saints’ on this side of heaven because it is a word nowadays associated to those who lived exemplary lives which reflected the gospel… and who are now officially declared by the church to be in heaven with God, enjoying the eternal rest and reward of the Kingdom.  Nevertheless, in the broader sense of the word, we are all called to be saints and to live this reality here and now…

 

Sometimes on this Feast of All Saints, it can be tempting to focus on the famous saints….. Like Saint Peter or St Paul, etc….  and although these are very important saints and certainly premier examples of those who belong to the communion of saints… in one sense, making a big thing of them in this feast today, is like two bites at the same cherry… they have their own special feast days (some more than one) to commemorate their sainthood and heroic virtue….   whilst they are most certainly included in All Saints Day, this feast is most importantly a celebration of all the unsung saints……    who don’t have an official feast day of their own…. they may not even be officially recongnised by the church yet… some may never officially be recocognises by the church, or officially proclaimed a “SAINT”  BUT THEY are nevertheless in heaven enjoying the reward and the communion of the saints….   These are family members, friends, colleagues whom we have known and who have gone to their reward having lives exemplary lives of quiet, unassuming virtue, love and service…..    people we often are quite sure are in heaven, or strongly believe to be already enjoying the full joys of a life of goodness and kindness… this is THEIR day…….    they have found the fulfilment of their faithful living of the good news in their lives….

 

-   Picking up on the theme of sainthood now….   I was reading the commentary from the publication Magazine called “Madonna” and it picks up on the second reading where St John says “We are your children now, Father”.

I wonder why we are always putting this in the future: we will be your children; we will be happy with you; we will be saints.

We act as though the people we call saints were, all through their lives, taking out insurance to make sure that they made it, were earning their reward.

Weren’t they, rather, living all along as your children, in your presence here and now……., content to have nothing but you? They weren’t living the future…. but were living in the here and now……(didn’t someone once say that a saint is a person who can live in the present…. not looking back or forward but fully living in the present moment….?),,,,,,,,   They holy men and women we admire so much……..knew how things really are between you and us (here and now):/ they knew what living the eternal life of the gospel meant for this life and for now…….and  not just how they will be later …. in the next life…

God the Father sent his Son to show us how things are between us, right now…….what depth of relationship is available right now. Help us to grasp this today.

 

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2nd November, 2008      All Souls Day

 

 

In every gathering for Eucharist, we believe that we become deeply united / joined  (irrespective of time or location)…. to the ONE heavenly banquet feast of Heaven…. the supper of the Lamb of God…… whose once and for all sacrifice on the cross (re-presented in every eucharist) washes us clean of our sins… renews us……  and re-unites us as “children of the One God”……   

 

Today, and every day, we remember that we are unimaginably close to our dearly departed,  whenever we celebrate eucharist…..    because we remain IN COMMUNION with all people… all the faithful…. all those living…. and also those gone before us …..  This is an enormously powerful and reassuring reality……   are loved ones are always with us… and never more than when we celebrate our unity, our communion in Christ and with eachother…. a communion not broken with death…….   we are assured of that… always…

 

we believe that the prayers we make  for our loved ones and friends are heard…. and effective….. in this life…… and we also believe that the bond of love between us and God… and us and our loved ones….. endures eternally….and finds its final home on God’s heavenly kingdom.

 

we also believe that we can continue and should continue to pray for those who have completed this earthly life….. we can continue to pray for our departed loved ones, friends and colleagues…. and that these prayers are also heard and effective….. just as they would be if we were praying for a loved one who is still here amongst us….. 

 

Today’s feast day.. is ultimately about the resurrection… and God’s promises to us……    Today is about Hope and trust…..

 

We hope with firm confidence in Christ’s promise of faithfulness to us….   and we trust that Christ’s resurrection most definitively had the “final word” on all things… including our ultimate destiny……

 

We believe that because of Christ’s life, death and resurrection…. he has firmly tipped the scales in favour of our salvation…… the salvation of all……   we are right to trust in this promise……

 

Today, we also stop to think and pray for those people who lived ‘forgotten lives”,,,,  (although no one is ever forgotten by God…   all are loved and remembered in Good’s eyes….)…. but there have been some…   many… whose lives were overshadowed by so many factors…. so many tragedies…  mistakes… or hurts…. that they maye have been considered ‘lost’ to the world or society… or to their friends….    we keep in our prayers people who may have no one to pray for them…..   who lived hard, broken, tragic, loveless, flawed, self-centred, lives…. and whose death’s challenge and test our hope……    we believe that out prayers, our Christian hope,  our faith in Christ, the Good shepherd…who is never satisfied with just the 99 found sheep……    we pray for those people … that through God’s infinite… and unimaginable love and mercy…..   by Christ’s all persuasive love and compassion…..   they may be brought rejoicing and at peace into the love, the light, the peace and the rest of God’s heavenly kingdom….we are right to commend all those who have gone before us…to our God who understands, loves and knows us, better than we can even know ourselves……

 

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord….  may perpetual light shine upon them… may they rest in peace..

 

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

 amen.

 

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This was sent to you by Fr Paul Kelly from St Mary's Catholic Parish, Maryborough, QLD. My apologies if you did not want to recieve this, please contact me and I will delete the email if you do not want to continue receiving news. Back copies of previous logs can be found by visiting the parish website. www.marycatholic.com

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Paul's Reflections 30th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

26th  October, 2008      30th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

 

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(Welcome to Fr Gerard Mulholland who is celebrating our 8am Sunday mass this morning. Fr Gerard, known to so many in the parish, is a local, who now words as a Divine Word Missionary Priest in Papua New Guinea).

 

“There are many examples of how, even after the busiest of days, Jesus would go up into the hills, to a lonely place, and spend the night in prayer to His heavenly Father.  So, it is fair to say, Jesus whole life was to worship and praise the Father.  There are also many examples of how Jesus spent himself in complete service of others. His whole life was an act of service and love to his neighbour… all in need around him…..  

 

These two complete realities are not in contradiction, but really two sides of the same coin….

 

in fact the great saint John Chrysostom once said:  “I cannot believe in the salvation of those people who do not work for the salvation of their neighbours.” 

 

Another great monk was once heard to say to his brothers….  (when they focused too much on rules and not the heart of the gospel message….) he says to them in exasperation….   “ My friends, you have torn the gospel of Christ in two….//.  there are two great commandments, not one. Love God, by how you love the neighbour as you would love and care for yourself.

 

Splitting up these two commands seriously distorts the gospel……  there are those who would emphasise worship of God to the point where doing anything practical for those in practical need becomes optional…. this is not the gospel of Jesus Christ……///  the other extreme is not right either…. there are people who are so caught up in social justice and practical action that they lose sight of the fact that this flows out of our relationship to God and that we are all God’s children… and that it is not only our human actions… but God’s will that is important….  so they neglect prayer, worship and a sense of faith in God who is the author and sustainer of us all……..   as essential as practical care for those in need is, it would lose its focus if we were to ever disconnect it to worship and prayer….. (it would become something merely humanistic….  At worst… it would reflect a sense that humans are their own saviours and can do all things themselves without reference to God…..) Jesus shows us that both are possible and that both are necessary…..   Again… I must say, that is why I always feel that the catholic group of lay people known as St Vincent de Paul society…  is a wonderful expression of both these aspects… they focus on practical action….   helping those in need, hungry, seeking shelter, clothing, and also visit those in need….  and also, integral to this, they meet and pray and reflect on Christ’s gospel…  this is absolutely vital – connection to the person of christ makes sense of and empowers their care for their neighbour….    there are many other groups and individuals who model this,..//

 

In Jesus great commandment – which is truly a “masterpiece of summing up thousands of biblical rules and regulations and observances into a few amazing words………the very heart of its meaning……”.   Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength… and love your neighbour as yourself……..It becomes clear that every other person is truly our neighbour and especially when the person is in need.  We must be loving neighbours to all people who come into our lives.  No one can be excluded from being our neighbour.

 

Love of neighbour is at the heart of serving God /and being faithful to what God is asking of us.//  Love of neighbour is not simply an optional part of our Christianity.

 

Saint Paul, in the first reading says it very well…..   We must take Christ as our model……… We must imitate Christ.  In that imitation of Christ, we can find a whole way of living:  gentleness yet strength in our dealings with others, understanding and acceptance of others with a clear vision of what is right and what is wrong.

 

Jesus did not just accept everything as good.  He clearly pointed out what was not good. However, Jesus managed to do this without ever putting down the person who had done wrong. Whilst still loving the other. That is a difficult model to imitate.  This is another example of the cross of Jesus, the suffering that comes from living and speaking what is right and true whilst always striving to treat all others with love, reverence and compassion. “

 

 

(References:

 

·          Abbot’s Homily, The Monastery of Christ in the Desert Homily for October 22 2008.

·          Flor McCarthy. Sundays and Holy Day Liturgies. Year A.

·          Gutierrez, Sharing the Word through the Liturgical Year.

 

 

 

 

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please reply emails to

holyjoe@ozemail.com.au

This was sent to you by Fr Paul Kelly from St Mary's Catholic Parish, Maryborough, QLD. My apologies if you did not want to recieve this, please contact me and I will delete the email if you do not want to continue receiving news. Back copies of previous logs can be found by visiting the parish website. www.marycatholic.com

and also please visit my photo pages by clicking this link:

www.mysteriousthree.com

or the direct link by pasting the following into your web browser

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/554239563oXJIdn

(some of the recent photos appear at the start of the page of photos, other new ones may be right at the last page)
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