Paul's Reflections 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A - 27th February, 2011

8th  Sunday  in  Ordinary  Time Year  A -      27th  February, 2011

 

The readings this weekend are about God’s faithful love and companionship with us, through good times and bad. 

 

At times we may be tempted to wonder if God is with us, but God assures us that he is faithful and loving to us and will never, ever, abandon us or forget us.

 

As I return from the Holy Land Pilgrimage, I can imagine the scenes of nature that Jesus would have walked around in and preached in.

 

 The Sea of Galilee with abundant fish, the sweet water,  the rolling hills, the beautiful olive trees, the many different types of crop and flower. This really is the milk and honey, and so is our own country, even despite the terrible natural disasters that befall various communities at times. But even then, God’s grace inspires people to support and heal and strengthen each other in times of difficulty

In our daily lives, in the events and people of our daily lives, and in the beauty of creation, we know that God is with us and desiring only what is good for us.

 

May we continue to put our hope and trust in God alwys.

 

Paul's Reflections Homily. Seventh Week Ordinary time, Year A. 20th Feb, 2011

Greetings to everyone back home in Australia. I am presently in the Holy City of Jerusalem and having an amazing time on this uncredible pilgrimage. As i had expected, these familiar places from the Bible have come alive for us in new and amazing ways. Just the topography of these locations (which famous city is on a hill and which is on a dale, how close they are from eachother, how much it looks possibly the same as in Jesus' time, how much it has changed). It has all been extraordinary.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers and as we celebrated masses in the different holy places, i have keep you and your intentions in my heart and prayers.

In the light of this journey I can picture Our Lord sitting and teaching the people about his message and the landscape in which his maessage is being given.

Our Lord is continuing his teaching, encouraging us in his way which is very, very different from the thinking of this world.

We can still think that God wants a piano to fall from the skies on al who have done wrong, (except when we ourselves do wrong, and then we hope and pray for mercy) and we expect that good people will be vindicated in this life, not just the next. This sounds fair enough, and this is how it often works in the movies, the bad guys get what's coming and the good guys get rewarded. But, we know that in real life this does not always happen. Its not the pre-ordained way things work. So, Jesus offers us a different way and it gives us a deep insight into the all-inclusive love of God for all people. God unconditionally loves all people and wants them to live in God's loving ways. And so Jesus says:
'(may you truly) be children
of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those
who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do
the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly
Father is perfect''

this is challening stuff! Jesus wants his disciples to love as God loves and not respond in kind to the selfishness, self-interest and hatred of others. God means to break the cycle of revenge, or the cycle of only favouring those who can help us.

God challenges us to act from within, (tapping into God's love), and not respond from outside (with its cycle of hurt). The world would be a great place if all people's actions flowed out of how much we can give, rather than reacting to what we have gotten, or not gotten. May Jesus lead us in his radical ways.

From Fr Paul (in Galilee)

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Paul's Reflections 13th February, 2011 6th Sunday of Year - A

13th February, 2011      6th Sunday of Year - A

 

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Today’s Gospel is summed up beautifully in this quote from British writer, Michael Green: “(God’s) Law is not the limit of obedience; it is to be seen rather as the springboard for a life of devotion to Jesus and his Father. It is the curbing along the road of love.”1.

 

The law is never meant to be the end in itself, but rather an expression or distillation of the values that it seeks to promote and protect. When people focus on the letter of the law they are really losing sight of the forest for the trees, and losing the point.

 

Jesus was warning the Pharisees that this is exactly what they have ended up doing. They need to go deeper into the meaning and Spirit behind the law or become irrelevant.

 

All of the readings this weekend are really excellent and very key scripture passages.  The first reading speaks of freedom that God give us. We have true, adult freedom given to us by God. This freedom is real and extensive.  The key to understanding this freedom is that it is a freedom to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and love our neighbour as ourself.  If is a freedom to love as God loves and as God wants us to be.

 

God’s wise saying to us in the first reading is quite powerful. It is, in some ways, as if God is speaking to us, asking us to be adults, but aware that our choices and behaviours can resemble that of children who do not fully understand the responsibility that comes with freedom.  God says, ‘Of course I have given you true freedom. You are free to touch the cool water.. it will feel cool….  And you are free to touch your hand to the flame,,.. but beware… it will still burn you. So choose wisely..  choose the good… avoid the harmful. Use your freedom to choose life and God’s ways.

 

The second reading flows nicely from this. In order to exercise our freedom, we need to develop the wisdom of God. We need to see and think the way God thinks and not merely in human terms and with human wisdom.  We have to exercise our thinking and choices and freedom with the otherworldly ways of God.

 

The Scriptures say: “Train me to keep your commandments and keep it with my heart.” This is a reminder that what we are called to be is more like athletes who have it in them to perform their best, but only after training in the ways that allow them to reach the pinnacle. Not everything that we are called to do comes naturally or easily, just as a top athlete or a top musician need to train and practice in order to reach their best. We need to be open to be trained by God in God’s ways that are different from our natural ways of thinking and doing.

 

And finally, the gospel then has Jesus saying to us… “GO DEEPER!!”  Don’t just stay on the surface.  Jesus is calling adult, free loving people to be his disciples.  He is therefore calling us to act as adult disciples and go deeper into the core of his message and values. He wants us to learn the meaning of God’s law and not merely its outward expression or its legalistic strictures.

 

Again, the analogy of child and adult could be helpful here:   When young children are learning about what they should do and not do, parents often teach them that they should “do some things and not do others.” If a child asks “why”, they are sometimes (understandably) told, ‘because I told you.” They may not always be old enough to understand the subtleties of why some things are good and some things are dangerous… and so, simple answers and explanations suffice… until they grow older to understand the principles and values behind these things.

 

But as we grow older, we don’t just stay in the child-like understanding of what we should do and not do….; (with a list of do’s and don’ts and rules and regulations). We begin developing the wisdom to discern the inner values behind the rules and regulations and applying ourselves to that.  At times it allows us to keep the rules to the letter… and at other times it gives us the wisdom to disregard the letter of a law so as to actually respect the principle behind it!. But this is something we do very carefully and after a lot of discernment and caution.

Jesus is inviting his disciples and the Pharisees and all who listen, to an adult relationship with God, which doesn’t just settle for the outward shell of observance, but rather dives deeply into the full meaning of being a loving disciple who lives out the reality of their true membership as a son or a daughter of God.  

 

So, it is not good enough merely to keep the commandments by ‘not killing anyone’ because we also must strive not to have anger and hatred against our brother or sister too. It is not sufficient to say “I have never actually been unfaithful” when it is possible to break the spirit of this command by living a life of disrespect in the way one looks at or de-personalises, or  to speaks or treats others.  It is not good enough to do everything in the ‘name of Jesus’ if our ordinary everyday ‘yes’ is not reliable, or our ‘no’  does not mean what it says.

 

And, even more challenging; the readings today remind us that we should never blame God for our own failings:  “Do not say it is the Lord’s doing that I fell away.”  These are merely excuses and failure to take adult, free, Christian responsibility. We are reminded quite sharply by this weekend’s scriptures: The Lord never gave people permission to sin or to ignore his laws. Yes, God has given us true freedom, but this is a freedom to live God’s law and to act responsibly.

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·        FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·        1. My Daily Visitor, Feb 13, 2011. (Our Sunday Visitor).

·        Break Open the Word. 2011.

 

 

Paul's Reflections 5th Sunday of the Year - A. 6th February, 2011

6th February, 2011      5th Sunday of the Year - A

 

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The image of ‘salt of the earth’ is a very good. In Jesus’ day, salt was a very previous commodity. It was valuable and useful. It was considered the purest thing you could get, because it was a product of only Sea and Sun. It was considered worthy to offer with sacrifices because of its purity and value. What seems to be suggested here is ‘purity’ in the broadest sense of people who don’t let their standards drop in relation to their high standard of work, their standard of honesty, speech,, behaviour and morality.(*)

 

Salt was also considered one of the best preservatives; it would keep things from going bad.(*)

 

And of course, salt adds flavour to food, which would otherwise be bland and tasteless…(*)

 

So, the Christian, by the life and their attitudes and actions is to be someone who doesn’t lower their standards, who preserves all that is best in the community, and who adds flavour to life and to the community.   This is very beautiful.  

 

So, this weekend’s readings remind us that we are called to be a positive example and a good influence in the world.

 

The first reading is really quite wonderful. It is an excellent answer to the constant question of the Christian disciple:  “Lord, what must we do?”

The answer is very practical: “Your light will shine when you give food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, clothe the naked, support our family, unburden the oppressed, act justly and speak lovingly.” Christ’s light will shine whenever we act with mercy, kindness, compassion, and with justice and practical charity.”

 

This is how we are to let our light shine….

This is how we can “love tenderly, act justly and walk humbly with our God” – in these very practical ways!

 

And, in the second reading we again see the instruction that it is essential that we put our hope and dependence on God and not merely our own human willpower and strength.

 

The last part of the Gospel gives us a refreshing reference point for our behaviour.  It can help us re-focus on what motivates our actions and words:   We ARE called to be an example and an influence in society. We should not feel shy about this, but we should also be aware that it’s not from our own worthiness or ability, but completely from God’s graciousness and love. We are called upon to do good works and not hide our talents and abilities,  but always with this condition: We are called to do good works in order that God will receive the glory and the praise.  So, if the good that we do, does not lead to a greater appreciation, praise and worship of God, and if the good we do leads to us gaining more and more credit and praise and attention, then we haven’t got it quite right. Everything we do is directed to turning our minds and hearts and those around us towards Jesus Christ the Lord:  The true source of love, grace and compassion: 

 

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·        FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·        (*) THE DAILY STUDY BIBLE. GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. (REVISED EDITION). BY WILLIAM BARCLAY.