23rd November, 2014 Christ the King

23rd November, 2014 Christ the King

 The gospel this weekend is very special.  I have always found that it goes to the heart of Jesus’ message and mission. How different the world would be if all people took this gospel on face value. Quite literally. “just as you did it to one of the least of these…  you did it to me”..

I think of a shocking example where this did not happen….     Such as the when an internationally acclaimed opera singer lay helpless at a bus stop for more than five hours after suffering a stroke . Delmae Barton, 66, was ignored by about 1000 people when she collapsed and became violently ill several times at a bus stop at a university campus in February 2006. Although a passer-by twice alerted security officers to her predicament, no one called an ambulance or checked on her well-being until a group of Japanese students found her and sought help.  Ms Barton was employed as an Aboriginal elder at the  same Brisbane university.  People thought that she was merely drunk…    (which even itself is odd, because people who are collapsed, are also at risk of dying). But the assumption was wrong, and she was not at all drunk, just very ill.   //  That was virtually Christ lying on the ground, stricken, ignored by 1000 people…..   For the words of Christ ring in our ears…  “just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me”

 

-      On a much milder example…  there is the possibly apocryphal story of Queen Victoria, who when on vacation once took a walk on one of her estates.  On the country walk, the Queen was dressed very discretely in walking clothes. A storm blew up and Queen Victoria retreated to a neighbours house and asked if they would kindly lend her an umbrella.  The neighbour begrudgingly lent the umbrella, but when the Queen walked off and opened it up it was full of holes and quite useless.   The next day, the Queen sent one of her attendants back to return the umbrella, with polite thanks.   When the neighbour saw the regal attendant and realised the truth, they were mortified and said. I am so sorry, if I had known it was Her Majesty, I wouldn’t have given her that umbrella.”   (well, whether that situation happened or not, the point is a good one.)  what did it matter WHO it was, why would you give someone a hole-ey umbrella that was useless irrespective of who they were or not.   “That person was virtually Christ … and this gospel calls upon us to treat everyone with the reverence and graciousness we would reserve to God…  // why are we at times tempted to make distinctions in the ordinary matters of human dignity and respect which is due to all people.

-      Closer to home, a trivial, almost funny situation.  I have been a student for priesthood in a parish south of Brisbane, and I have been trying to be more involved in the local parish school, but hadn’t much luck. I did one or two small projects there, but the year was coming to an end. I was invited to the school graduation dinner and I was looking forward to at least being part of that.    But as I walked into the place where the dinner was being held…. My glasses fell apart and the lenses rolled into a nearby garden. I was completely helpless.. I couldn’t see a darned thing!!    I was bent over with my hands over the ground feeling desperately for the lenses… and calling out politely for help from the guests who were attending the same dinner, asking or help….    And the blurry shapes just kept walking in…   no one came to my help…  eventually I went inside..  unable to see a thing.   I didn’t enjoy the night because (being unable to see made me effectively deaf as well, because I didn’t know who was speaking and if they were talking to me, and so…  I was very confused).   Being short-sighted, I couldn’t borrow anyone else’s lenses, they didn’t work.  Fortunately at the end of the night someone came out with me and helped find the lenses but I couldn’t get them back in, so they also had to drive me home in my car, as I couldn’t see to drive.  My mum had told me to keep a spare st of glasses in the car, which I do now always.   But the incident at the start of the night, was amusing but also sad…  ‘what you do to even the least of these.. you do it to me.”

If the world took this very seriously and literally, we could change the world… All humans would have the dignity and respect befitting our God. Which, I believe is the intention of Our Lord.

-      The reading from Ezekiel… is also very fitting. The Lord will be our shepherd, lead us, guide us, heal us, …seek the lost, feed us,  and he shall set up a servant (and his successors by implication) who will serve the people on  behalf of the shepherd….  (The fat sheep come in for some very negative comment here in this gospel, because in this narrative they have pushed around the others and not let them eat and have pasture. The Well-off ones have scattered the poor needy sheep and the master is very unhappy with this.).… 

In that first reading, God recognises that among the people (among every group or people)  there are some who are struggling and experiencing weakness, (all of us do in different ways)… and some who are feeling lost and disconnected and injured…    as well as strong and satisfied….   And the co-responsibility of people to support and encourage each-other is an expectation of the Kingdom.

 

-      In the epistle today….   From the Ephesians..    I had not noticed before, but the wording of it indicates that St Paul has probably not directly visited the people he is writing to..//  He has “heard good reports and is filled with thanksgiving to God for the good news that he has received about them.”  It is inspiring,  even to us these two thousand and more years later. God is truly great. The gift God has given us is beyond full comprehension. It makes us want to strive to be the best person one could be.. and the church is spurred on to put its best foot forward…    The church is called to be a beacon of goodwill, compassion and justice for the inspiration of the world.  This is no small responsibility, and we pray to God for forgiveness and strength for the times we have failed to be that shining beacon. With God’s help, we persevere and ask for renewal and guidance.

Do you want to know what the face of God looks like????…..

 

(artists, painters, sculptors, movie makers, writers….   throughout the generations have tried to capture what Jesus face is like……   what his physical form might have looked like…..   There have been some very inspiring movies which tried to portray Jesus…. and what he might have looked like…  and acted like….. //  some have been great….//  most fall a bit flat.,.. // because they often make Jesus look like an actor with a bad hair day…. or a really awful wig… that just doesn’t look real…..//  most fail to capture that Jesus would have had Palestinian looks and complexion…. and not light brown hair and blue eyes…… )…

 

but in any case….  this weekend’s gospel takes another angle on this question……  Do you want to know what Jesus’ face really looks like??…….  

 

Well, this weekend’s gospel gives us the answer…. but it is a surprising and unexpected answer……. ……    Jesus instructs us that……every time you look into the face of one who is hungry, the face of a person who thirsts….  The face of a stranger…..   the face of someone in need, or someone who is ill…..   or a prisoner….   any time you look at anyone, even those who might be regarded as ‘the least’ (by some)………There…  you are looking and seeing the face of the Lord... //And how we respond to these people is how we are taken to be responding to the Lord himself.

 

Jesus tells us this parable because he wants us to take this message quite literally….     and act upon it……   

 

In the parable…. everyone gets a surprise about this news…..  the ‘sheep’  and the ‘goats’ alike…..  neither realised that when they fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick, visited the prisoner…. welcomed the stranger… that they were helping Christ himself…..    the wicked certainly didn’t know this…..    but in this parable… even the righteous….  (they helped these people)…but even THEY didn’t realise that by acting in this way, they were serving Christ himself, in these needy people…..

 

As we come to the end of the church’s calendar year, and prepare to enter into the season of Advent, from next weekend, these readings this week speak of “judgement”…..    but interestingly….  “Scriptural ‘judgment’ seems to be really about …two types of judgments – about WHO  we are and how we have ACTED…how we have LIVED…. 

 

in this modern day and age, we can be tempted to separate our sense of self from our actions….  but Jesus reminds us….  our actions cannot be separated from who we are…. they are often the better sign of who we are and what our values really are….. because in the end, where our actions are… there our heart is too… 

 

The Gospel from Saint Matthew reminds us that we will be judged on how well we loved.It is the way that we love one another that reveals whether we love God or not.  It is this love for one another that will confirm whether we are truly close to God or far from God…

 

In that sense… God’s judgement is no more than confirming the truth of our who we are and who we have become…..   rather than creating a new reality or changing our status or standing with God….

 

This Gospel passage is reportedly the passage of Scripture that really captured Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. as pope John Paul wrote about Mother Teresa:  “ This Gospel passage, so crucial in understanding Mother Teresa’s service to the poor, was the basis of her faith-filled conviction that in touching the broken bodies of the poor, she was touching the body of Christ….. Mother Teresa highlights the deepest meaning of service – ‘an act of love done to the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, prisoners….. is done to Jesus himself.’” ….. 

 

we have the most wonderful role model in Jesus….  God made flesh…….. He is a King…..yes…..  and the greatest leader ever…. true….. but (at the same time)…..such a wonderful, compassionate, loving, and totally involved person too……   / the first reading gives a superb image of the good shepherd…… This image of God as the shepherd is truly beautiful…….    God, the good shepherd,  is very much involved in the lives of his sheep……    God is “IN there” and “at work”,,,,   right in the middle of his sheep……    God is keeping everyone in his sights……    rescuingthem, allowing them rest….  feeding them……   searching for strays……   bandaging the injured…….   strengthening the weak……..    watching over the fat andf the healthy…….    NOW THAT is a TRUE shepherd……..  //  and finally….. one who is able to tell the difference between the sheep and the goats….

 

We are all brothers and sisters in Christ…..   and we ask for God’s guidance and grace as we look out for others..  especially the most vulnerable…….   We move forward, joyfully remembering always that the Lord is Good…  his mercy and faithfulness endures from age to age!!”

 

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REFERENCES:

·                     FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·                     New Jerome Bible Handbook. Geoffrey Chapman Publishers. 1992.

·         [Read more:  http://www.news.com.au/national/opera-singer-ignored-after-collapse/story-e6frfkvr-1225942042995#ixzz1dp32vlLF]

 (Sources:  Paul Kelly;/  also “2008 – a Book of Grace-filled Days,” by Lavonne Neff;  “Monastery of Christ in the Desert,” Abbott’s Homily, http://christdesert.org ; “Vision – Praying Scripture in a Contemporary Way. Year A” )

 

 

 

 

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Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. Year A 9th November, 2014

Homily Dedication of the Lateran Basilica.  Year A  9th November, 2014     




 

 

I remember one of the unexpected highlights to a pilgrimage to Rome that I did in 2007  was a guided tour to the “first of all churches in Catholic Church: John Lateran Cathedral.”

 

On the front of the door was inscribed the Latin: Sacrosancta Lateranensis ecclesia omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput ("Most Holy Lateran Church, of all the churches in the city and the world, the mother and head."

 

WOW.  A very profound claim…    (Many may be forgiven for thinking that Saint Peter’s Basilica was the mother church..  but it is definitely not….  It’s the Church we celebrate in a special feast..  a feast so important that when it lands on a Sunday it overrides the usual Sunday readings..  which does not happen for most feast days… only really important ones such as last weeks feast of All Souls and this weeks feast.

 

This Church, now known as John Lateran (actually it has two co-patrons because it has been dedicated to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at different times in its history) actually has as its official name and head patron, Christ himself. The official title of this church is the “Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour.”
So, we start to see why this feast is so important.. it is regarded as a Feastday of Christ our Saviour…

Emperor Constantine gave this land to the church as residence of the Pope and for a church in around 312 AD and it was officially dedicated in 324. It has undergone many changes but is regarded as the seat of the Bishop of Rome, thus symbolising the seat of the Bishop and the mother church of the universal church. It ranks in importance over all other churches, even St Peter's Basilica. 

This was the very first Christian church built in the West and the first church built when Christianity was not outlawed and underground. So, this first church presented a new challenge to the newly legalised early Christian church. What kind of building should a public church be?  They did not want to build something that was like the Roman temples, which were beautiful outside and designed to be looked at by people from outside, and fairly empty on the inside (with usually a statue to some Roman or Greek god or goddess). The early Christian church wanted to distance itself from comparisons with temples of the pagans. Also, Christianity needed large public space for people to gather and also room for different spaces where people at different stages of initiation could come, somewhat apart from others. Thus, the early Christians looked around for similar buildings and decided that the closest in practical style to what they were looking for were the Roman public buildings of the time, the Basilicas, which were enormous spaces for public civic gatherings which could allow for different sub-spaces within for people to gather as well. The church deliberately went the opposite way to the pagan temples: the Christian churches were plain and ordinary looking on the outside and beautiful and inspiring within.  This church of John lateran was orginally built as a temple to the God who enabled victory for the Roman Emperor Constantine, and there has always been a sense of victory about this church. This is why it was dedicated to Christ the Saviour. This church symbolises Christianity coming out of the shadows and now standing openly as a publicly accepted and victorious presence in the community. 

The church has been rebuilt and extended many times, the most significant change was the interior in which large columns were built and in-between the columns were placed huge statues of the twelve Apostles, as if to say that just as these statues form part of the support beams of this church, so too the Apostles are the support pillars on which Jesus has built his church. The main altar is built above relics of the original wooden altar which Saint Peter and Paul are believed to have celebrated Mass, and above the altar is an ornate covered canopy…   called a “baldachino” with golden statues of Peter and Paul which are actually reliquaries containing fragments of the skulls of Sts Peter and Paul, so Mass on this altar occurs in the midst of the these symbols of the church's history. 

The Bishop's chair, The seat of the Bishop of Rome….    Which is the chair of the Pope, is in the Apse directly behind the altar.  This chair is a symbol of the Bishop’s pastoral care and oversight of the diocese of Rome and his role as universal pastor to the churches throughout the world. 

When I visited, we got to celebrate Mass in the chapel of the Baptistry at St John Lateran. This was a special blessing for us and was very meaningful. WE started mass with a renewal of our Baptismal vows, in this Baptistry (at the Catholic Church's mother church) representing Baptisms all over the world. 

I prayed then as we continue to pray now, for  parishioners, family and friends and for the universal church,   Christ’s church, to which we all belong….

 

It is wonderful to belong to something much bigger than what we can see….    Its excellent that all the local Catholic church communities spread throughout the world are also at the same time “in communion’  with the universal church, represented by the unity we share with the Bishop of Rome, the pope. It reminds us that we are truly part of a bigger picture and we act in union with the church.  Because we belong to a wider communion, we act in the knowledge that we are both local and universal in our membership….   And this is why we are careful to ensure that the necessary local flavour of our community here also synchronises with what we share in common with the wider universal church and its actions…   It is so moving to be part of a communion that grounds us in the here and now, and at the same time calls us to look outward and upward into the worldwide mission of Christ’s church…..  

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This feast we share, of course is not really about a building..  bricks and stones… although that is a focal point for prayer and presence…  but we know from the Gospel that Jesus is the true temple and we are all bricks in the fabric of Christ… we are part of the body of christ, the church.  Saint Paul tells us too that the "temple" is the church, the gathered body of Christians, the body of Christ. Each of us is a living stone building up the church on the foundation of Jesus. Today's feast is as much a celebration of a magnificent physical structure as it is our unity as Christians in the church. We also celebrate our vocation to stay focused on the church's mission, which is the building up of the kingdom of God.

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·          FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St._John_Lateran

·          Prepare the Word (internet service)

 

 

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Homily Thirtieth Sunday of the Year A . 26th October , 2014

Homily Thirtieth Sunday of the Year A .   26th October , 2014     
 

“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 must be two sides of the same coin…. And are not in any way in contradiction.

 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.  (or perhaps it is more accurate to say there really is only one commandment to love.. which has two facets to it….)

In any case……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 seems to become an optional extra……. 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 Christian justice, (Christian charity) always flows out of our relationship with 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 if someone emphasises social response and neglects 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….  And it could reflect a faulty sense that humans are their own saviours and can do all things themselves without reference to God…..)

Jesus shows us that both prayer and action are possible and that both are necessary…..   Again… I must say, that is why I always feel that the catholic groups of lay people such as St Vincent de Paul society, or Care and Concern or Knights of the Southern Cross,  …..   To name but a few and not to exclude the countless other groups that do the great work…  but these are wonderful examples and expressions of both these aspects: Prayer/worship and Practical action.

They focus on practical action….   helping those in need, thos who are hungry, seeking shelter, needing clothing, and also they visit those in need….  and also, integral to this, they meet regularly to 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,..// and we give thanks for them all.  

 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………to enshrine 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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Homily Twenty - seventh Sunday of the Year A 5th October, 2014

Homily Twenty - seventh Sunday of the Year A   5th October, 2014     

This weekend we welcome our Catholic Mission appeal speakers.   We welcome Sister Anne Quinn and Mission director David McGovern.

 

Meanwhile, here is a reflection upon this weekend’s scriptures..  

The readings this weekend carry a very consistent image in each of them:  the ancient and powerful image of the Vineyard planted and left to people to look after and the landowner returning to claim his rights, only to be rebuffed and all his messengers mistreated and killed, and even his beloved son is rejected and killed. It is very chilling!

It is clearly speaking of the people of Israel as the tenants of God's vineyard, and the messengers are the prophets of God, and the son is clearly Jesus.

 Jesus is warning the listeners, particularly the chief priests and scribes, that they think they are holy and righteous, but they are in a long line of people who killed God's prophets and have set themselves against God's will.   IT would be shocking to them to hear that. They certainly saw themselves as righteous and doing God's will. It must be everyone else who is doing wrong, not me. Isn't that a familiar cry from so many people…

“I am right, it's all these other people who are in the wrong!”  

 When I think of the image of the vineyard, I also can't help but think that God has given us this beautiful world to live in and care for its natural resources. In return, in many ways, we wreck the things given into our care. God would not be impressed by a lack of care for our environment and for the people and creatures that live in it.   We are called to responsible care and management and respect of the resources that God has entrusted to us;  to avoid waste or destruction and pollution and excess and exploitation.

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This gospel also calls upon each of us to consider the gifts God has entrusted to us to nurture and to bear fruit…

The Gospel parable reminds us that God is very patient with us and very generous…  But God is also just and won't give us endless time to produce the fruits God wants….   So..  are there areas in our lives where God has been exceedingly patient?   Are we perhaps taking that patience for granted in any way?.....

Are we producing the fruit?…   what kind of fruit is it?   And is it for the purposes of the Kingdom;   and are the fruits we are producing intended for the King from whom we received these gifts and resources? 

 What kind of fruit are we producing.. And if it's not up to the mark, what can we do about it?

Is it overripe?...  are we not producing at the pace we could…

Are we producing sour grapes... too often criticising? , finding fault??  Complaining?  Gossiping instead of assisting to build up and encourage and foster the values that God so wants for his people.  Or are we Afraid at times to show love, kindness and joy…

Are we producing colourless grapes..hesitant or sparing in showing and sharing our talents

Are we producing wild grapes.. going it alone, not working with the faith community…    not supporting or being challenged by the wider community…. A law unto myself..

Are we producing tasteless grapes….absorbed by our own needs and wants….   ?

May the Son inspire and strengthen us to produce the fruits of the Kingdom…  justice, mercy, peace, and righteousness

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REFERENCES:

 ·          FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·          Revd James M McPherson, Maryborough, 2011

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

·          Celebrating the Gospels, 1981-2003.

 

Our special speaker at Masses this weekend.   For Catholic Missions:
As far as experience is concerned, Australian Marist Missionary Sister Anne Quinn’s is hard to beat.

Born, raised and educated in Melbourne, Anne Christine Quinn was brought up in a Catholic family. Shortly before her twentieth birthday, Anne became a registered primary teacher and soon joined the Council of Public Education Victoria.

In 1961, Anne Quinn became Sister Anne when she was professed a Missionary Sister of the Society of Mary. It was an achievement that opened the door to a lifetime of further education, mission and devotion to the Lord which would take her to countries around the world including Italy, Israel, Jamaica, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands.

The newly-professed Sr Anne started her career at the Deer Park Primary School in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs, where she taught for five years. Despite her youth, Sr Anne’s experience and talent for teaching was noticed and she was offered a role as a teaching principal in Buma on the Solomon Island of Malaita. Later, after a short spell in the nation’s capital of Honiara, Sr Anne returned to Deer Park as a teaching principal at the young age of thirty-one. She would spend three years in the role, but the lure of overseas mission was too enticing and she left once again for the Solomon Islands.

Sr Anne has always desired to continually improve her education. In 1982, she added to her teaching qualifications a Bachelor of Arts, with a double major in Psychology and Religious Studies, from the University of Queensland. Her religious education is also exceptional; having attended the Queensland Institute of Clinical Pastoral Education in 1979, Sr Anne left for the Holy Land and the Tantur Ecumenical Institute of Jerusalem, Israel. It is this unquenchable thirst for knowledge that has led to her appointment to more senior job postings around the world.

From 1994 to 2000, Sr Anne was the Congregational Treasurer for the Missionary Sisters in Rome. The financial nous she gained there, coupled with her experience in establishing community programs from time spent in the Philippines, made her an ideal candidate to head to Jamaica to take on one of her toughest assignments yet: reaching out to a community living in constant fear of gang violence, shootings and murder.

Sr Anne has worked in Jamaica for thirteen years, the first eleven of those as an administrator at the Holy Family Self Help Centre in Mount Salem, Montego Bay. Although she thoroughly enjoyed teaching the life-changing vocational training courses the Centre offers, it wasn’t long before primary education—her great love—called her once again. The irrepressible Sr Anne has assumed a number of important school board positions in recent years.

Since 2012 she has been working at St Anne’s Primary School in Hannah Town, a suburb of the capital Kingston. Her goal in educating very young Jamaican children is to provide them with the means to create a brighter future for themselves, away from the violence and crime that is ever-present in current day Jamaica.

 

 

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Paul's Reflections 453 : 2nd Sunday Ordinary time year A

Homily 2nd Sunday Ordinary time year A  19th January, 2014     

 

There is a line in today's gospel that John the Baptist keeps repeating… and it is an intriguing one….  Twice John the Baptist says "I did not know him….but…."….    What is the meaning of this line……   

It is mysterious…

 

John the Baptist is the cousin of Jesus….   He certainly would have known who he THOUGHT Jesus was, but now he was seeing a new side of him….  Someone much more significant….  The one who would carry the sins of the world on his back and through whom the world would be saved…….   It is almost too enormous for comprehension……    John the Baptist has very clear and strong ideas about what the Messiah would be like… and although it was his role to proclaim his coming, the really ironic thing is that John the Baptist really got it wrong……  his concept of what the messiah would be like…. Was not anything like what Jesus turned out to be….   Jesus turned on its head the concept of what a messiah was like….  Instead of judgement… he brought a time of God's favour….. instead of retribution…  he brought freedom from prison, and cancellation of indebtedness………    absolutely amazing…..  John the Baptist had to really swallow his pride and do a back flip in order to understand what Jesus was showing him and what Jesus was trying to show all people  who had the eyes of faith……

 

John the Baptist keeps repeating… I did not know him, but he is the one I was preparing the way for,,,,,,,,

 

There is something reassuring about this for you us… who live two thousand years later…  we believe in Jesus as the Lamb of God… and the messiah….. each of us here is committed to following Jesus. However, we are in good company if we do not fully comprehend the significance of who Jesus is for us ……   if we do not yet fully appreciate the radical call that Jesus is asking of us……    the world-changing values Jesus has come to bring us…..

 

I always have a soft spot for the poor disciple of Jesus… they followed Jesus wherever he went…. They saw themselves as his disciples….his faithful……. They knew their master, Jesus, had the words of everlasting life…. But time and time again.. they 'did not get it' they missed the point of what Jesus was trying to tell them.  Jesus was often quite exasperated with his disciples, saying…  'you have been with me all this time and still you do not KNOW me?" they often did not have a clue….. but still the kept following.. and slowly….   Little by little… they began to understand who he was…. And what the meaning of his message was…. 

 

In the Gospel, St John  the Baptist declares…  "look! There is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."    It's a timely reminder. We need Jesus. We need saving..  Sadly, we humans are not the final authority on everything. We are not the masters of all that we survey (and that can be extremely frightening and unsettling, because we would like to have a large measure of control over our lives, it is a natural instinct for security and peace-of-mind and self-preservation).  But, the events of recent years.. where various communities throughout Australia and in the world…have witnessed natural disasters or suffering or war….   remind us that although we are not meant to be entirely helpless, nor ought we ever just allow ourselves to be tossed helplessly through the events of life, it also can be very comforting and a source of a kind of serene peace for us to acknowledge that we are not all powerful,  and that we surrender ourselves into the care of God's grace…..  and that we truly and really NEED God and we need to be saved by God. In a real sense we would be utterly helpless without God's saving guidance and help.  

 I am reminded of a painting that someone once did… it was entitled "perfect peace"  but it was a painting of a storm-tossed mountainside.  What is 'peaceful about this… it looks anything but peaceful'   (people would naturally say!).  But a close look shows a small bird nestling in a little cave….   Sheltered from the storms that rage uncontrolled around us.    It is a challenging and beautiful image…  peace comes not from stilling the things outside us, that we really have no control over…. But from taking shelter and receiving inner peace of heart no matter what storms rage around us….  It is not easy….. but at times it's the only thing that gets people through…  It is not a promise that everything will go right… because sometimes everything doesn't… it seems to all go wrong….  But our God walks with us, and we are instruments of God's compassion and care….   And that can make all the difference…

There are some other lines from this weekend's readings that really strike me…… 

 

It is from the psalm: 'he put a new song in my heart…  a song of praise to our God"…..   and also  "I have told the glad news of our deliverance in the great congregation, see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O, Lord."

 

It reminds me….  there are so many things we can focus on in life….   ….   The words of scripture encourage and remind us that…  it is so important to notice and give voice to all the positive and life-giving things that are going on. There are so many things we give thanks for….  That can still fill us with a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving…   fill us with a new song….

 

A commentator once said  that there are different types of prayer… prayer of petition, where we ask for what we need…  prayer of penance..where we ask for forgiveness…  ; prayer of lament.. where we cry out for what is hurting us.. or worrying us……..and also….prayer of worship and thanksgiving…where we give voice to all the gifts and wonders that surround us… that we can be tempted to take for granted…  our presenter said…  70 percent of our prayer should be prayer of thanksgiving.. that still give us 30 percent for asking for things.. or voicing grievances and hurts….. this is not suggesting that we go on talking about everything being rosy when it may not be…. But even when we take the "rose coloured glasses off… even when we are brutally honest… there is still so much to be positive about… so much to be profoundly grateful for….  So many opportunities to see Jesus vision for the world which is so radically different from the logic of this world**… and yet…   we still struggle to understand the meaning of it….  But we never stop trying…..

 

The second reading has St Paul writing with affection to the community of believers in the church in Corinth. It is a reminder that we are all united with each other, and not even distance or time or culture separates us from our brothers and sisters everywhere in the world..  Like St Paul, we are united in prayer and in the Spirit with people everywhere and with the Heavenly community.  The grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ stays with us and binds us together in good times and in hard times.

Daily, we keep following Jesus, even though we (even now) do not fully understand his ways…..  but we believe in them….  We follow him into the unknown…..…..   trusting in his guidance along the path he leads us…….because he promises to be with us always….. in with a new song on our lips…  a song of praise…. And thanksgiving…

 

May God bless and protect us all, with his kind of peace – a peace the world alone cannot give…  .)

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·        FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·        **Fr. John Fuellenbach, SVD,  personal notes from Fr Paul based on a talk given by Fr Fuellenbach in 2007).  Save a tree. Do not print this e-mail unless it's really necessary

 

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Paul's Reflections 452 : Baptism of Our Lord - A 12th January, 2014

Homily Baptism of Our Lord - A  12th January, 2014     

As the preface of the Eucharistic prayer for this weekend’s Mass says: … “in the waters of the Jordan (The Father) revealed with signs and wonders, a new Baptism,

And, so ‘Jesus’ own baptism in the waters of the River Jordan was the introduction to a new path….    Baptism now becomes for all of us the means by which we are joined (in a special way) to Jesus’ life and, therefore, joined to God’s family.. // sharing life in God’s own love…..

As we celebrate the wonderful event of Jesus’ Baptism, it is always a time for us to renew the promises made at our baptism, and to celebrate the gift of baptism for others too.

Initially, it seems strange that Jesus needed to be baptized at all. John was offering a baptism of repentance…   for the forgiveness of sin…. Jesus did not need that, and John the Baptist realized this, and so did Jesus…  but it was really important, nevertheless that Jesus did this….. 

It is not easy to understand why Jesus accepted baptism. For you and for me, baptism is our initiation into Christ. We “put on Christ” at baptism like we put on a new set of clothes. We become Christ-like at baptism. We are made one with God through our baptism and our sins are taken away (not only personal sin, but also the overall experience of alienation and “not-at-oneness” that we humans experience in this world….). Jesus was already God and Christ and perfectly “one with the Father.” Jesus had not sinned. So why is He baptized?? 

For some of the early Christian writers, the baptism of Jesus is best seen as Christ the flipside of what we receive in Baptism….  Just as we are made holy in the waters of baptism….    It is Jesus, who MAKES the waters holy and thus it is Jesus who transforms US WHO RECEIVE IT…  Jesus makes g holy the waters of baptism. We can understand that Christ going into the Jordan brings holiness to all that He touches. ( JESUS, by undergoing Baptism, was bringing to this beautiful action of repentance and forgiveness  a new, deeper and divine meaning and divine POWER… Jesus was, (so to speak)..  “electrifying the waters” with God’s transforming power to makes us God’s children and make us truly into  brothers and sisters in Jesus…and to wash clean our sins and re-create us in God’s image anew…)

At another level, Christ being baptized is showing us that He takes very seriously his desire to share in our human nature, to be in solidarity and in perfect union with his people…..    God takes on ALL of our humanity and shows us the way to live our lives. Baptism, the Scriptures tell us, is a baptism into Christ’s life and his way of living…  his self-emptying way of loving….   a love that gives everything… even unto death, (on a cross). Jesus invites us, by going into these water, to follow him into the waters that are the daily living of his good news…. the daily living of the sometimes difficult challenges of loving as Christ loves..

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Jesus the suffering servant, subjects himself to his human condition out of love and service…….so that he is "a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." (Abbot’s Homily, Monastery of Christ in the desert).

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It has also been said that, at his Baptism, Jesus definitively begins to SHOW AND TO ACT according to what he always was and always would be…..….  Jesus’ baptism is the official manifestation of him living this reality in his public ministry….being anointed by the Spirit with the oil of gladness to bring us light and hope and forgiveness…. (notes from 366 Days with the Lord)

Jesus shows us that discipleship is not merely a personal thing…  not just a private thing……   Being part of Christ’s good news is a participation in a very public ministry of Christ himself……..

Christ’s Baptism – signals the Commencement of his PUBLIC ministry. He has come from quiet and humble obscurity – from 30 or so years of everyday living, and now is dramatically appearing on the public scene…  revealed at last as the messiah, the chosen one……   the suffering servant of the Father…. and the son of God……with whom the Father is well pleased.

Jesus’ baptism is an invitation for us to reflect on the public and communal dimensions of our baptismal call…………. it is a good time to ask ourselves “in what ways do I step forward publicly as Jesus did, as a way of announcing and living practically the new reality represented in Baptism; 2. what can I do to live out my baptismal commitment more openly, more publicly, more consistent with the fact that Christianity is a distinctly communal religion never solely a private devotion……., what will I do?...…..

one thing we can do.. is to encourage someone whom we notice has intentionally changed his/ her way of life for the better, // (Notes also taken from: Prayer Time, Cycle A. Robert J. Heyer, ed. 2007)

 some ways we can put this into action…… ……. we can pray and give thanks for people involved in our regular baptisms that are undertaken in this parish..  whose names are regularly printed in the newsletter…….   We can pray for and be supportive and encouraging of our liturgy leaders, our ministers, our teachers, and catechist….  our visitors to the sick and housebound… and so many more…  … and of course…  …. Just as importantly….  …..everyone who conducts their daily lives, their family life, their jobs and any other daily activities in the intentional spirit of Jesus’ good news – is living out their Baptismal calling in a very practical way…..

May the lord who calls us to follow him into the waters of Baptism, raise us to newness of life, so that, united with Jesus, we may serve Christ by living our discipleship in everything we do and say…..   giving public witness by our love and service to all…