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.

+++

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

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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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