Paul's Reflections 27th June, 2010 Thirteenth Sunday of the Year - C

27th June, 2010      Thirteenth Sunday of the Year - C

 

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The gospel this weekend shows various people coming up to Jesus and giving reasons why they can’t follow him immediately, but why they say they intend to follow him as soon as possible.

 

I think the key to this gospel is the first words of the passage….  “as the time grew near for Jesus to be taken up to heaven.”   In other words…  there was no time left…. There was an absolute urgency and immediacy to Jesus’ last days. There was no time but the present and there wasn’t time for hesitations and excuses and delays…. It was now or never……  so…  the reasons given by people may have been good.. they may have been weak, but they must not be allowed to stop the mission of Christ from being accomplished… one needs to get their priorities right…

 

It is a reminder that, when it comes to thinking of reasons to put off the urgent demands of the gospel of Jesus…  the requirements that go along with calling ourselves ‘followers of Jesus,’  there are weak excuses and also fairly good excuses for not putting Jesus’ message first…. But that irrespective of the reasons… Jesus’ gospel has an urgency that demands first priority…….    And we must not let the many reasons frustrate that plan… because there will always be good reasons to put off until tomorrow (or later) what really needs to be done today….  And of course.. tomorrow may never come….

 

We are also reminded not to spend out time looking back to the past…..  There is an example of a person who sold their property….  Their home was so nicely kept…  esp the gardens…   after this person sold their property… they made the mistake of continuing to drive past their old property to see how it was going.. and it was going badly… the new owners were trashing the property… it looked terrible……   it must have been heartbreaking….  It would have been better to move on.. look forward keep going… not look back…..

 

Similarly… there is the true story of a Russian Olympian who was given all sorts of special privileges.. such as a Mercedes and the likes, for being an Olympic champion… but they wanted to defect to the west….   When they finally decided to do so… it was only by literally turning their back on their car and their priveleges and moving forward with the only possessions they had in the world being the small suitcase they carried….  If they had tried to take anything more it would have alerted the authorities and the plan would have failed and ended tragically… 

 

The gospel today also raises the really important question of the extent to which we are capable of fooling ourselves…  and self-deceiving ourselves…   it can be a very subtle but effective thing….  Jesus wants us to be honest and clearsighted about our lives and our motives and priorities… it can be so easy to be self-indulgent but gloss over this by making up all sorts of noble excuses and reasons…. Which really are not authentic… 

 

Let us never underestimate the power of self deception…  it is in opposition to the light and openness and generosity of the gospel of Jesus…

 

Connected to this..  I have been reading on the subject of self-deception.. because it is such a powerful dynamic in the lives of so many…  one book, entitled “don’t believe everything you think… the six basic mistakes we make in thinking….   ‘ says that , on the whole.. people prefer stories over statistics…..   people often seek to confirm their own ideas as opposed to question their ideas…..   we rarely appreciate the role of coincidence in shaping our lives….  We sometimes misperceive the world around us…  we often tend to oversimplify our thinking and even if we think we have a good memory…  we often have faulty or selective memories…… 

 

The more we can accept that we have a tendency to self-deceive and self-justify., the more we will be open to Jesus’ call to follow him and place our priorities at his service… and be wary of the trap of self-serving justifications…

 

 

 

 

 

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·          FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·          MISSION 2000  – PRAYING SCRIPTURE IN A CONTEMPORARY WAY. YEAR c. BY MARK LINK S.J.

·          2010 – A BOOK OF GRACE-FILLED DAYS. BY ALICE CAMILLE.

·          SHARING THE WORD THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR. GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ.

 

 

 

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Fr. Paul W. Kelly

Parish Priest of Saint Mary's Catholic Parish, Maryborough.

269 Adelaide Street

Maryborough Queensland

Australia. 4650

 

Office:  (07) 4121 3701

Fax: (07) 4121 2829

 

Fr Paul's Mobile Phone:  041 778 6456

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Paul's Reflections 12th Sunday Ordinary Time C. 20th June, 2010 .

20th June, 2010      12th Sunday Ordinary Time C

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There is a really beautiful line in the first reading….  It is striking and wonderful……….   “I shall pour out (upon the people)  a spirit of kindness and prayer…..”    (or…..  as another translation says…  “compassion and supplication.”      Or as yet another version says,….  “I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer”…..   and repentance…. “  It is a reminder that God always takes the initiative…   and has created within us a new “interior attitude” of attentiveness to God, of graciousness.. pleasant-ness…. And forgiveness …….  Which others can sense and to which they are inspired to respond positively.

Continuing on from what I was saying last week….  Our prayer must include contemplation upon the person and message of Jesus…. And this shows in the Gospel today…..   Jesus is in deep, solitude and prayer….  And from within this space of prayer comes his question to his disciples….   Who do people say I am….  Who do you say I am….   Who am I…..  you must know who I am and what I am doing…… 

Once he has made that point… he goes on… who I am.. what I am doing necessarily means the way of the Cross….  Who I am is the one who must walk the way of Calvary… and so must anyone who follows me……

And, as the first reading says…  prayer and compassion and forgiveness must go together… or else its distorted….  Prayer shows us the one who suffers because of the values God has and because of the opposing values of the world that others can have…

The power of Christ’s Cross is a constant challenge to our thinking and understanding….  How can the way of the CROSS be the way to fullness of truth and life……  it seems such a difficult concept to grasp and handle…..

But we believe the path of the Cross is the power and wisdom of God……  

We know by bitter experience… that for some reason God does not remove the crosses that we carry in life…. (God the loving father could not even remove the cross from his own beloved son’s shoulders…..   because it was necessary that he walked this path…………// God does not remove these crosses ,,, but its not because God wants us to suffer… not that suffering can’t be something that threatens to destroy us and destroy our hope…..   /  but what God always does in answer to our crosses… is to pour out his grace and love upon us….   To transform what we are experiencing ..  (by God’s faithfulnes and love)… to assure us that God is there with us .. especially in times of suffering and trial….   

Jesus’  message of the Cross reminds us that “God has a vivid memory for the least and most forgotten people.” – the people at their lowest…  those who are bowed down…..

God is wanting to affirm life and  be faithful to us especially when poverty, violence or tragedy are sowing death.”  

IF God does not appear to stop some of the tragedies and suffering and crosses in life, God certainly takes away the final meaning of these events and changes them into opportunity for grace, compassion and abiding love……… [Jesus said,]

Someone once wrote that

"God uses broken things….//

It takes broken soil to produce a crop,

broken clouds to give rain,

broken grain to give bread,

broken bread to give strength.

It is a broken alabaster jar

that gives forth perfume....

It is Peter weeping bitterly,

who returns to greater power."

True spiritual strength

lies not in holding on to things

but in letting go of them. (Writer: Vance Havner)

Only by "letting go and letting God"

can we open ourselves

to a greater power than our own.

The paradox of Christianity is, indeed,

we are strongest when we are weakest. Even if this is so challenging to know and understand.

May the Lord give us the courage to let go and give GOD total control of my life.  This does not mean we lose responsibility of our lives and actions and choices….  We still need to cooperate, but we become a willing sailing boat… open to the direction the Spirit leads us to …filling our sails and guiding us where God wants….  

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REFERENCES:

FR. PAUL W. KELLY

MISSION 2000  – PRAYING SCRIPTURE IN A CONTEMPORARY WAY. YEAR C. BY MARK LINK S.J.

SHARING THE WORD THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR. GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ.

Paul's Reflections 13th June, 2010 11th Sunday Ordinary time C

13th June, 2010      11th Sunday Ordinary time C

 

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The beautiful image in today’s Gospel of the woman anointing Jesus with her tears, and with perfumed oil……   it must have been an extraordinary sight…  It is such a powerful incident that it is one of the very few events that are recounted, (in one form or another), in every one of the Gospels.  

 

So much is happening in this incident….  But not in words……    but in actions and gestures……  

 

The woman, who is apparently known as a sinful person, does this wonderful act of love and repentance and gratefulness…   with no words….   But it is clear that she knows that God loves her, she knows that she has been forgiven, and also that Jesus, who shows the love and forgiveness and welcome of God, will not turn her away….  But accepts this moving and humble act of reverence……….   She ‘gets it’  when others who are expert in the law, miss the point….   

 

In the silence…  her actions speak so much louder than words……   the lady Knows and understands Jesus message better than she can explain it in words……..   because Jesus’ message has inspired her to action.

 

Jesus, seems perfectly comfortable with this stillness and relative silence… broken only by the sobs of the woman….  Others watching it were clearly very uncomfortable and wondering what would happen and what Jesus’ reaction would be… but Jesus calmly, silently accepts this act of devotion in the spirit it was intended…. 

 

Jesus also invites the Pharisee to think about what he was doing…  why did he invite Jesus to this meal….  Why was he hosting a meal at all…  was it just a meaningless activity?   Was it just another excuse for a party?....  or was the meal what it always should be and what other things always could be…   a chance to engage with our fellow brothers and sisters and show real love and kindness and graciousness in practical hospitality and sharing of a meal…..  To Jesus, meals represented inclusion, love, kindness, reconciliation and forgiveness and so much more….

 

Our faith calls us to create times and places of stillness and silence…..  We live in a world…. In a society that is filled with noise and busyness……   there is hardly a time or a place when people stop and have silence and stillness….  And yet it is something we need more than ever….   You don’t have to look far (or listen far off) to hear a continuous stream of noise and music…  hustle and bustle…..  constant movement….   Mobile phones, internet…  // The party never seems to stop….   And I say that not as a party pooper…  not wanting to rain on anyone’s parade… but just to say… it’s always good for us all to just weigh up what is going on and what is being created……..    and whether the balance is being struck……//…. In a way, our world is at risk of being overstimulated….  And of course.. there would be some people whose lives are continually filled up with background music… and noise….   But there is a risk that God’s voice… found in the ‘sounds of silence’ and the ‘still small breeze’  could be effectively drowned out…. //….I can’t help but think of King David…  in today’s first reading…   He went off the rails….   He let his own personal desires and ‘wants’  to get the better of him…..   he pursued pleasure and self interest in such a horrible way that he deliberately put one of his soldiers in the thick of a battle (whilst staying home when he should have been out there with his troops)….  And the solider was killed, just so David could marry his wife…   it’s an horrific incident…   totally self-centred…  and God is shown as absolutely disgusted by this act of complete malice and selfishness….   But David repents.. and God forgives him.. not because David deserves it, not because he could ever make amends….   And not because David has earned his forgiveness… but simply by the nature of GOD’S love..  David must continue to face the consequences of his actions… but God chooses not to abandon him…  because of God’s goodness, not David’s.    David will spend the rest of his life facing the inner sinfulness that he can see in his heart…..   the huge gaps in his soul that have led to his terrible actions and lapses of judgement.

 

It is so important that our church and our faith provides us, and the wider community, with an oasis of stillness, prayer and silence…..   In fact, I wonder if it could be said… that our prayer life must also include regular (integral) space for silent and still meditation, lest we fail to leave room for the action and voice and surprising re-directions that God can be creating in our lives……   the precondition and essential element of a holistic prayer life must be not only classic prayers and words but silence and deep contemplation on the nature and person of God… and God’s values and priorities.

 

There is a time for everything, says the bible…..  so there is a time for busyness…   laughter…  light-heartedness and celebration……… it’s the spice of life……but we have to be careful not to ‘over-season’….. //  And  at times, one wonders if we as a society are stuck in hyper-drive….//    rolling from one good time to the next with almost a desperation…  like people who are playing musical chairs..  frantic not to miss out if the music stops………   rambling in an aimless kind of fashion…. With parties for little or no reason but just to fill the gap…….  Disconnected from the integrated pattern of life and discipleship that we are presented with by Jesus….    Unaware of our absolute need for God, and for forgiveness and for God’s love…….. and replacing it with self-actualisation…. Jesus reminds us that there are parts of his message and God’s will for us that are not all “good times”…..  and none of us have it all together.. so there is a need to, (with God’s loving/ guiding hand to reassure us, heal us, encourage and forgive us)….face the wounded areas, the gaps and the unpleasant parts of our lives…. with courage….

 

As parts of our modern society roll from one party to the next, one busy thing to the next, never daring to pause, lest it sense a gap, something missing….  A void…….. Jesus invites his disciples to be present in life, anchored to the values and actions that are substantial… and can stand up in the still, quiet, calm light of day.

 

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REFERENCES:

·       FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·       Phil Fox Rose

 

Paul's Reflections The Feast of the Body and Blood of CHrist

6th June, 2010      Corpus Christi - C

 

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This is such a beautiful feast day, the Body and Blood of Christ…. Or Corpus Christi, as it is also known…..

 

The Eucharist is so central to our church and to our faith…..

 

A priest I knew once described regular Eucharist as like the piers on a bridge….  With the bridge length our weekly lives….   We need that support to keep the whole thing standing…  on our journey….   We need regular supports along the whole length of our journey or it all caves in….

 

It’s so fitting to be celebrating this feast the weekend after our first communion and confirmation students have been fully initiated into the life of the church…  and the SIGN of their full initiation is that they receive communion…  and by receiving communion are ONE with Jesus … united with God… and united with us all .. ‘in communion” of heart and mind and soul with God and eachother….. 

 

I love to tell the First communion candidates that

“ There is only one thing better than first holy communion, and that is second holy communion, and there is only one thing better than second holy communion and that is third….. this sacrament does not make sense if this is the first and last time you ever come to communion… this is starting a pattern that calls you to participate in the community of the church regularly, to experience the fullness of your membership as a disciple of Jesus.”

 

God comes to us in a tangible… ‘touchable’ form and that is a gift of priceless value that we need to cherish by participating in regularly….

 

I remember when I was only about five or six….  In church at Canberra…  even then, though I got a little confused about things….  I KNEW that Jesus came to us in the Mass..  and made his home in our hearts….   I may have mentioned before that I somewhat confusedly   thought that Jesus was released into our hearts when they went to open the tabernacle…  that Jesus was in there captive and at communion time they would go and unlock the tabernacle and Jesus would fly out and fill our hearts…  Well.. I didn’t connect that the host given and the cup handed to people was Jesus coming into our hearts..  in a real way..  as real nourishment…  it’s wonderful that God knows that we are physical beings who need tangible ways of connecting to God who is bigger than we can see or touch…. 

 

The other thing I remember as a little child was the words of the priest…  “the lord be with you…  and also with you…. Lift up your hearts…”  and I, as a five year old would strain to lift up my chest as high as I could…  I wanted to lift up my heart to the lord SOOO  high……   

 

Even as adults…  we want to lift up our hearts and lives to the Lord…  we have so much to be grateful for…  inlcuding our parents and grandparents and other influential family members and friends who by their lives and their example have done what saint Paul has done in the second reading…   We hand on what we in turn have had handed on to us … the message of Jesus.. the gift of Holy Communion….  And membership as God’s sons and daughters…..    May the blessings of the sacrament fill our hearts and lives… so that what we profess with our lips will be proclaimed by the loving ways we live our lives…..   We become what we eat…  as we take in the Body and Blood of Christ, we become more and more the body of Christ ….  A real sacrament and sign of God’s constant care and presence amongst us….always…

 

 

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·          FR. PAUL W. KELLY