Paul's Reflections 434 : 29th September, 2013. Twenty - sixth Sunday of the Year C

Homily . Twenty - sixth Sunday of the Year C . 29th September, 2013

 

The Parable in this weekend’s Gospel is often called The Story of Lazarus and “Divés”.

 These are supposedly the names of the poor man, who certainly is Lazarus, and the rich man, who I think is deliberately not given a name. .

 The word “Dives” is a Latin word that is a description, not a name, and it translates as “Rich”.

 In many Biblical stories the importance of the person is often shown by the fact that they are given a “name”.

 It is an error, then when commentators attempt to give a name to the rich man when it is clearly not the intention. The important person in this story is Lazarus. The whole point of the story is to turn on its head the usual expectation of status and importance. Even in torment, the rich man still doesn’t “get it.”

He ignorantly requests that God would command Lazarus to cross over to Hades to serve him. However, his request is rightly denied. Lazarus is poor no longer!

As St. Basil said in one of his homilies on this parable, “Tell us the reason why you have received your possessions. Is it so that God may be unjust, God who unequally distributes those goods necessary to life? Why are you rich and another poor? To the hungry belongs the bread that you keep; to the naked, the cloak you keep tucked away… You commit as many injustices as there are people to whom you could give.”

One of the great failings of the rich man in this parable is that he is ignorant and apathetic to the poverty and need of people around him… People who turn out to be his brother, his sister… and thus, co-heirs to the Kingdom of which he will never actually become an heir….  

 Consequently, this parable is inviting us to change our ways of seeing things. The gospel tells us in countless ways that the last will be first. Jesus calls upon us to truly build up a world based upon true gospel values….. and made up of many people like Lazarus, who are despised now by those who, according to the parable, do not deserve to have a name.

The parable leaves no room for doubt. To the unnamed rich man's attempt to allege the ignorance of his peers as the reason for the indifference to the plight of poor Lazarus, "Father Abraham" categorically answers that they have the word of God to listen to. The words and teachings of the Scriptures are more than enough to guide us in how we should live…….   (for those who are truly open to its powerful challenges). In spite of the clarity of the gospel message, today we admit that we too can also look for subterfuges or ask for miracles in order to avoid the gospel demands; that are really plain enough without any further embellishment….

 Those who ignore the poor are rejected by the Lord. Saint Paul gives us the reason for such a behaviour: "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Greed leads us to place our trust in money, when this trust and all true power comes only from God. This is why Paul calls it idolatry. And the poor are victims of this distorted worship.  This conduct — and its consequences — separates people by a great chasm which is unable to be crossed over to the Kingdom…..

But all is not lost… this parable continues on from the earlier parables….   Although we are told that the rich man faced a great chasm between himself in hades, and Abraham and Lazarus in Paradise….   Jesus has already given his attentive listeners a hint… and a key…   there is actually a way that the rich man can be saved…..   but he is so ignorant he cannot even comprehend it and may never access this reprieve…   he must act just as the foolish younger son did in the parable of the prodigal son….   He must say to his heavenly Father….  “father, I have sinned against heaven and against earth…  I no longer deserve to be called your son….    “…..   because we KNOW, from Jesus’ own lips what the father’s response will be to those who realise their error…  awake from their apathy…  repent… and turn back…….    

 

Finally…   there is a true story told:

One day a person received an appeal from a reputable foreign mission, asking for an aid donation. The person wrote a little cheque out to support the mission appeal and felt good about it. Then they went out to the local shopping centre and promptly spent twice as much on inconsequential things. In the midst of all this, something about this struck the person deeply,  and they were overcome with a sense of shame. This person quickly returned home and wrote five more cheques,  “to catch a few more lazaruses, at the door”….or even further afield…….

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REFERENCES:

FR. PAUL W. KELLY

A BOOK OF GRACE-FILLED DAYS. BY ALICE CAMILLE. (2010)

SHARING THE WORD THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR. GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ.

Fr. John Fuellenbach, SVD, Sabbatical Lectures 2007. Rome. (notes of PWK)

 

Paul's Reflections 406 : Pope Francis and saint Francis

With the election of our new Pope Francis, my mind has gone back to my sabbatical where I had a wonderful and spiritually moving retreat in St Francis’ hometown of Assisi.

 

The recent events of the election  our new Pope Francis, and his impressive priorities of simplicity and focus, have been inspiring.

 

It reminds me of a theory that I have long held, that God surely answers our prayers, but there is often a time lag…  for God’s own reasons…  sometimes even five or six years later….    Many of my prayers and the prayers of many others, have been answered in pope Francis…   I recall something I wrote in my Sabbatical back in November 2007 while in Assisi, which the election of Pope Francis has in many ways answered….

 

Assisi Experience

Assisi, is a town now recognised throughout the world as a symbol of peace: a place where a different world is possible - where harmony, forgiveness and love are a real possibility. Assisi, as well as being the scene where Francis and Clare opened up there their lives and hearts to God's action in their lives and amazing graces flowed to all the earth.

 

On the second day of my Assisi retreat we had mass at the basilica of St Clare. This church houses the tomb of St Clare, whose body is preserved in an underground vault. 

 

In a large side chapel, bigger than a lot of churches, is the chapel which houses the "talking Cross" also known as the "san Damiano Cross". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Damiano_cross 
This , cross was originally housed at the little church of San Damiano, a few kilometres down the hill. St Francis went down to this dilapidated church of San Damiano to pray and was kneeling before this Icon Cross which colourfully depicts Christ Crucified and Risen and now glorified and risen, surrounded by Mary and The disciples and other faithful. While praying, Francis heard a voice coming from thw cross which said: "francis, rebuild my church, for it has fallen into disrepair!"  Francis set about rebuilding San Damiano's but soon realised that the voice of God from this cross was meaning MORE than physical rebuilding. God was calling upon Francis to be his servant in renewing the whole universal church to be more like the church Jesus wanted it to be - a place of practical concern for the poorest, a place of true worship, of simplicity, of obedience to Jesus' good news, of poverty of spirit, of humility. 

 

The cross in which Francis heard Jesus wanted voice is now housed in the church of Santa Chiara (st Clare). We had a beautiful mass there and the sacristan who set up for us at this place was a Franciscan Monk who lived there. He will be ordained a priest in about a year and a half and he asked us to keep his community and him in our prayers. His names is brother Alessandro from Rome.

 

Naturally, we heard no voices coming from this cross today, but I went away thinking "the cross today is still saying the same message - repair my church of San Damiano, for it has fallen into disrepair. Each of us is called to serve Christ in the constant renewal needed in his church, to purge us of anything opposite to the clarity of Jesus' good news - such as being pride, ambition, double-standards, wanting to be served instead of being servants, attachment to possessions, status, lack of empathy or compassion for others, favouritism, etc. These things are a constant source of mischief even today in the midst of the church and in the hearts of us Christ's people. The message of Francis is relevant to us today.

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We then went on a walking tour of this stunningly beautiful town.

 

We visited San Rufino (the cathedral) and saw two beautiful statues of St francis and of St Clare. The foundations of the older church were revealed by glass panels on the floor of this church.

 

We then went to the church called Chiesa Nuovo (New Church) which is where Francis was born and lived with his family. This is where he was locked up by his father (a merchant) when Francis started giving away possessions to the poor. There was a nice picture of Mary and the baby Jesus here. I got a photo of it.

 

We then went by the old cathedral, called Mary Major. This is where Francis was brought before the bishop by his father to answer charges of giving away his Father's goods to the poor. Here, in the square outside this cathedral and in front of the bishop's residence, Francis renounced his inheritance, gave his father back the money, and gave back all his clothes too. He declared thatt he had nothing but what God gave him and that his Father was God the Father. Ironically, as soon as he gave away everything the bishop immediately cloaked him with the bishop's own cloak to cover him. It is a reminder of how graciously God gives everything to those who release their grip on possessiveness.

 

A statue of Francis, in the courtyard of the bishops residence is a copy of the beautiful statue inside St Rufino. This statue bears signs of the dreadful earthquake that his this town in late 1997 doing extensive damage. The statue, although undamaged is standing in an uneven position because the horizontal and vertical shaking from the earthquake picked up the statue and dropped it back unevenly on the base - this would normally have taken a heavy crane to shift it in such a way!

 

We finished our walking tour at st peters church.

 

As well as having this nice tour, we had several talks from our retreat director and homilies by him in the masses at different locations.  I hope to share the content of these talks soon.

 

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In the Tuesday afternoon of our Assisi visit, we took the bus down the hill to the flat part of the city where theChurch of Mary and the Angels is located. This is a very special centre of Francis' life and work. In this area Francis had realised that his love for Jesus was useless unless it flowed out to the least of his brothers and sisters and so when he came across a colony of lepers even though his initial reaction was revulsion, he recognised in them a beloved child of God and so he went up to one of the lepers and kissed his hand.

 

At the site of St Mary and the angels church St francis was given a 'little portion" of land on which he built up a tiny little church. This ancient church still stands as a tiny church within the larger church in the sanctuary. It is quite a site to behold. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Santa_Maria_degli_Angeli

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portiuncula 

This is a place of silence, reverence and prayer. As if to confirm this, my camer which I had zipped in my coat pocket became stuck when the zipper tab pulled away. So, even if I wanted to take a photo I couldn't. So, it was a wonderful opportunity to just BE and pray and look around. This place is where Francis founded his order of Friars. Here is where he loved to come and pray. It was here wherever, tempted to sin, he threw himself into a bush of thorns to ward off the temptaion and the bush became a bush of thornless roses which one can still see today. This is also the place where Francis died.

 

In recent history, this is the place in 1988 where Pope John Paul II met with the religious leaders of the world as a sign of peace, respect and dialogue.

 

At this "little portion" (portiuncula) Francis had a vision and he was asked what he wanted. Francis answered "lord, I want the sins of the world forgiven." This request was granted and  given, with the Pope of the time's consent, for a special grace obtained by all those who come to this place, on behalf of others too, and pray accordingly.

 

This was a very special place.

 

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Paul's Reflections 396 : 10th February, 2013. 5th Sunday of the Year C

Homily 5th Sunday of the Year C  10th February, 2013     

Isaiah looks at himself and says, "I am not worthy"…….and so, in response….."God … sends, an angel to touches Isaiah's lips with a smoking-hot ember and tells him that his sins are purged."  It is not the place of (even) the great prophet Isaiah to tell God what he is or is not worthy of………. 

The same happens with St Peter..

Thank goodness the early disciples… the ones we look up to so much…. are also revealed to be people with weaknesses, foibles…. sinfulness……   failure…….    And at times lack or trust and faith…..  fear, and sometimes even cowardice…….    Because of this list of flawed leaders…   it reveals how good God is, and how wise God is….  And how utterly dependent we all are on God's grace…….  God makes use of what we have to offer and God transforms it……. Jesus is not ever saying to us that we should wallow in our sin or use it as an excuse to stay stuck in old ways….….   And we should never say.. 'this is as good as I can be….'   But God also wants to remind us that our worthiness is not the issue…  because (actually- as many great saints throughout history would remind us….) none of us is worthy of ourselves….   None of us is worthy without God…    It is God who makes us worthy.. it is God who calls us… and it is God alone who knows what we are capable of, and calls us to fulfil it…  The difference between the saint and the sinner is not their worthiness before God, but their determination NOT to use their weakness or their own wilfulness to stay stuck in a rut, but to put their trust and all their efforts in God's hands…  and to be changed by this…   and given direction…    to be transformed into instruments of God's love and grace… 

St Peter, Saint Paul, Isaiah, Jeremiah……   King David… Saul…. Moses…….  the list goes on and on…. of great people… people who did God's will….. but also who were terribly weak….. who sinned….. sometimes even betrayed their calling…. but nevertheless it was God who called them… and knew them and what they truly could… and held them to that….   if they trusted in God's wisdom, mercy and guidance… and of course, relied on God's grace. .. 
Again we can reflect on our own experiences of forgiveness, both by the Lord and by others. Being forgiven is a humbling experience, but one that allows us, like Isaiah, to volunteer for the Lord's work. 

All of us are invited to reflect on our own refusals to accept God and His power and His presence. God is not there to frighten us nor to condemn us but to love us. Once we begin to believe and to accept forgiveness for our weaknesses and failings…, then we are able to be given over to the work of the Lord. As with Saint Peter, we can doubt many times and we can deny but eventually, when we begin to believe, our lives can be transformed into a reflection of God's mercy, compassion and forgiveness. 

But there is more……  did Jesus learn something from his previous rejection…. he preached alone and he met with utter rejection.. the crowd almost killed him ….   he narrowly escaped being thrown off a cliff….   now… he goes and calls followers to join him, support him and be company on the journey, and what a hard journey it is………   he calls a community around him……  

Simon Peter experiences a great miracle.. in the least expected situation… not on a mountain top somewhere… but in the ordinariness of his workplace…..   and he experiences this amazing event by listening to someone telling him to do the job he knew so well… in a new and dramatic and trusting and  different way… and the results are huge…….. 

This is a timely reminder to us…..   of a couple of important matters:

We must connect the good news to the ordinary, everyday events of life and work, or else it will not bear fruit… it will not make sense……  Secondly…. We ….  Just like the disciples, need to work together… in unity… community.

Like the disciples who were all needed to haul in the enormous catch of fish… and finally……   we must take our cues, as best we can discern them, from Christ… If it is only about our own individual efforts and priorities….our toil may be misdirected.. …..it may be fruitless… like the fisherman who laboured all night and caught nothing….. but, then Jesus asks them to trust him and follow his ways and do the same activity but under his direction……  and they catch more than they can hold…….    Jesus ways are not the most ordinary…..not the most logical…. but they are the way of the gospel… and only by following jesus way, which is almost always the road less travelled… can we hope to bear fruit for Jesus good news……

Today let us ask the Lord to deepen our faith and give us the courage to proclaim his marvellous deeds. Let us be able to say: Here I am, Lord. Send me!"

 

·         (this reflection seems as fresh and relevant as the first time I delivered it, so I have tidied it up a bit and re-present it this weekend….  From FR. PAUL W. KELLY and also, the Abbot, Monastery of Christ in the Desert, http://www.christdesert.org/  ; also thoughts from Gustavo Gutierrez, Sharing the Word through the liturgical year/ also reflection from Madonna Magazine, Jan-Feb 2007).

 

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