Paul's Reflections 496 : Homily Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year B. 21st June, 2015

Homily Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year B.  21st June, 2015

Jesus Calms the storms of life. Jesus is God, whom even the Wind and the Waves obey.

“Jesus was asleep in the boat; how few souls there are that let him have his sleep out! He can't be always doing all the work, responding to all the calls made upon him; so for my own part I am content to leave him undisturbed. I dare say he won't make his presence felt till I start out on the great retreat of eternity; I don't complain of that, I want it to happen… our Lord doesn't supply me with provisions for my journey – he just gives me food unexpectedly when and as I need it. [St Thérèse (1873-1897)]

I have never had much luck with boats. One time, whilst on Lake Cootharaba, in a tin boat we were coming close to the pier and the captain yelled out, "quickly, jump out and moor the boat.' I had always been taught that the captain must be obeyed in all things, so I immediately leaped out of the boat. Sadly, the captain had meant, "when the boat gets close enough to the pier please jump out.' The boat was not near enough to the pier so I leapt out and disappeared into the lake, but not before hitting my chin. The whole thing could have been terribly disastrous (even fatal), so I was very much relieved to discover that my head must be made of concrete because I leapt up out of the water, which was thankfully only three feet deep at the pier, and emerged sheepish, but fairly well. Later, I was lying in the back of the boat, half dazed and injured, as they took me back to the other side of the lake, and I thought about how Jesus has lain in the back of a boat as it crossed another river. I was in such a dazed state, I began musing on ponderous topics…..  such as this…."I reckon Jesus would have been calm even if the storm had not quietened, and even if the boat had sunk. This is because Jesus was totally and utterly at one with his Heavenly Father and had surrendered his will and his trust totally in his Father's will. So, come what may in his life and ministry, he was content to be calm and rest in God's will."

For my part, I vowed to be very hesitant to leap into or out of a boat very soon!

Not many of us would be fast asleep in a small boat which was tossing around like a cork on a stormy sea! Jesus must have been extremely exhausted, needing rest, and fearless. We may think the disciples should have had strong faith after the miracles they had witnessed. When we are going through difficult times, we, too, often forget that Jesus is there with us.

God in Jesus calms even what seems like the most unconquerable disturbances, just like the storm at sea.  

What "storms" assail my faith? How do I look to Jesus to quiet my fears?  The disciples wonder, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?" ; How can I go beyond the "signs" of faith and grasp who Jesus is in my daily life?

Life is a challenge. Couples sometimes struggle with their relationships. Parents have to deal with their children growing up in a world that is sometimes hostile to the values we hold sacred. Kids sometimes live with parents who don't necessarily understand the distant horizons that call to a new generation. Every life has its storms that come up and threaten to sink our boats. Doesn't God care that we feel tossed about and lost? Can we believe that Jesus is with us, in our boat, snoozing on a cushion? We are confident and trusting that he will awaken to our calls and calm the storms that frighten us so?

“Why therefore be disturbed? Your heart is agitated by the tribulations of the world, as the boat in which Jesus Christ was asleep.... This boat in which Jesus Christ is sleeping is your heart in which faith is slumbering. What news do you hear, O Christian, what news do you hear?” —AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354-430)

“When he established the Heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him.” —PROVERBS 8:27-30

 

 

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"We begin to reflect on who God is for each of us. What do we think of God? How have we experienced God in our lives? Like these early followers of Jesus, if we meet someone who can stop a storm, who can still the wind and the waves, we would surely be impressed and wonder about that person. Today we can imagine Jesus sleeping in this boat. It could not have been a very large boat and the storm would have been tossing it all over the place. And Jesus sleeps!

How many times have we experienced storms in our lives and thought that the Lord was asleep, that God was not concerned, that God was simply ignoring us? The Gospel today lets us know that God is always aware of what is happening in our lives, even when He seems asleep, unconcerned and uncaring. The Gospel invites us to a deep level of trust in our God. God loves us and cares for us always and will not let us perish. We don't always understand the ways of God—and that should never surprise us. God sees all and knows all and our vision and knowledge is so restricted!

The first reading today, from the Book of Job, is part of our learning about the divine also. Job finally realizes that God is God—and Job understands so little of all reality. We also must learn that lesson. We can easily think that we know what is best in any situation. So we don't pray and we don't even ask God to give us wisdom and understanding. We also need to repent, as Job does at the end of the Book of Job. We stand in the presence of the Almighty and think that we have more wisdom and knowledge than does the Almighty! Again, we can reflect on our personal image of God and of the power of God."

(excerpt from Abbot's Homily, Monastery of Christ in the Desert).

 

References:

 

* Fr Paul W. Kelly

* Abbot's Homily, Monastery of Christ in the Desert

* Some questions from Prepare the Word

 

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Life to the Full (13th Sunday ordinary Time, year B)

13^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

Jesus is called to the house of Jairus and is told that the little girl has died…. but he shocks everyone by saying… “ she is not dead… but only sleeping.” Now, in fact, Jesus knew that she was actually dead, and so did everyone in the room, hence their shocked, unbelieving laughter… But Jesus was making a very profound point here……. To God, to those with faith, death is, (without trying to take away the permanence of the separation and the grief of the event in THIS LIFE… nevertheless… to the Lord of Life.. death is a sleeping…… a waiting until the time God will raise up our mortal bodies into resurrected life……. and the raising of this child in this Gospel is a foretaste of what Jesus promises to all who have faith….. not a raising from the dead in this life… but a raising from the dead at the end of time.. at the resurrection……

So, when Christians use the term ….. “may your servant sleep here in peace until you awaken them to glory” referring to the committal of human remains to its resting place…. it is not meant to be a euphemism for death… it is not meant to be a denial of the reality of the irrevocable and emotional wrench that comes with losing a loved one… but it is a reminder that we have commended our loved ones.. and we even entrust our lives…. to jesus who is the Lord of life and who will raise us us….. at the resurrection with the same certaintly that Jesus awakened the child with the the command… “..I tell you to get up.” (Faith is stronger than even death, Jesus shows us… in fact.. faith is now.. and in the next life….. a victory over death) (from Gustavo Gutierrez: Sharing the word through the Liturgical year).

In this weekend’s gospel, both the two people who approach Jesus are taking risks. But the situation they are in is worth it, they have nothing really to lose they have obviously tried everything else. They reach out to Jesus trusting that he can help them. Jairus, is a synagogue official who is risking his position by approaching Jesus to solve a problem that his tradition would have pointed him in a very different position. The lady who touches Jesus cloak is taking an enormous risk. It is probable that her condition would have rendered her, in the eyes of the relgious law of the day, ritually unclean and as such she would not have been permitted to touch anyone. Here she is believing that even touching his cloak would be enough, and it was. the scene that ensues could have led to great troubles, but the lady speaks up in faith and trust. ( This paragraph is adapted from “A Year of Sundays” Gospel reflections 2006. Little Rock Scripture Study, p47-48).

But this scene with the woman touching Jesus cloak is even more special….. the lady is marginalized…. she is poor… having spent everything she had to be healed…… she has no voice.. not place in society…. no right to speak up… no right to approach Jesus… so we see here quietly… without any rights trying to make contact with Jesus without causing any kind of stir… but… jesus immediately senses what has happened…… he turns to the lady to make it clear….. Jesus is not just like a lucky charm…. there must be a personal interaction with Jesus…although the touching of the garment did what the lady hoped… Jesus makes it clear that it is in relating to him that the truth belongs….. no true relationshiop with Jesus can be there unless we encounter the person of Jesus and not merely secondary aspects of him…… and further… jesus gives this anonymous woman an opportunity to step out of anonymity and be acknowledged… and related to…… she does deserve help and Jesus shows here that by speaking with her and affirming her faith and her actions.. this is truly amazing….. and wonderful… a second miracle…… (faith overcomes fear and gives you the dignity to stand with your head held high.. for all have dignity and a place in God’s eyes). (from Gustavo Gutierrez: Sharing the word through the Liturgical year).

I would also just like to point out the wonderful first reading…. the words are worth repeating.. it says

God did not make death,

nor does God rejoice in the destruction of the living.

For God fashioned all things that they might have being;

and the creatures of the world are wholesome,

………..For God formed (intended) humanity to be imperishable; (Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24).

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine

If there was any doubt…this is a statement that Jesus, God, is pro-life. God does not ‘send’ illness and death to people… we know that these things are very much present in our world… but if we are to ask where is God in all this, God always stands on the side of life and dignity. God is at work willing life and vitality…not sowing seeds of destruction and pain…… at times we may be tempted to attribute something else to God.. when things go really wrong… but the truth is in the words of the first reading…

Finally… in the second reading.. Saint Paul is being wonderfully advisory. he will not tell the people of Corinth how to live, but he is happy to suggest a few ideas… namely….as a gesture.. as a concrete sign of their love…. share your excess… even the balance… correct anomalies and injustices of wealth and veen things up again….

Jesus did this his whole life.. and is seen to be doing this in todays wonderful gospel..

Fr Paul

(with ideas from Gustavo Gutierrez: Sharing the word through the Liturgical year).

Homily 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 8th February, 2015

Homily 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B  8th February, 2015     

 

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Jesus responded to need. Jesus had the most indescribable compassion for everyone he met; but his vision, the vitality of his message and the urgency of his preaching dictated his priorities and responses……..  and sometimes led to surprising results…. As we see in the Gospel today.     

 

Jesus, in the gospel this weekend, is fascinating.  Jesus travels the countryside preaching his message of the Kingdom of God, and enormous crowds of people gather. He teaches them, he heals them, he releases their burdens….  one gets a sense of a sea of need…. a vast, continuous, endless line of people seeking help, searching for hope, reaching out for a helping hand.  Jesus responds to this…. what is to be done…….so much.

 

Then, we hear that he rises very, very early, and goes off to a lonely place to pray…..to connect…. To re-focus….. to re-energise.

 

The crowds continue to search for him,  his disciples search for him and inform him that everyone is looking for him…..The needs of these crowds are most certainly real… and they are urgent….   and immediate…..   Yet, Jesus informs them that the message of his gospel is absolutely vital…..   of the highest importance……. and so, he tells his disciples that they must move on, they must continue his preaching in other places too……//   Jesus, aware of the many urgent demands of the crowds…   chooses to move one… to keep going on his journey….   because “vital” overrides “urgent”…. “important”  overrides “pressing”.

 

He leaves behind crowds of people still looking for healing, peace and hope….but he does not abandon them….his message… his presence for a short time has already brought the seeds of that hope taking root there…. in each of those crowds in the places Jesus visited…….  so many of them will take this message and run with it…….   as Jesus message spreads to other communities… those people pick up his message and consolidate it…..   nurture it………the Spirit builds on it (in and through the people who hear and respond to this)…..   //  and meanwhile…..Jesus must spread that message wider….   but it must have been heartbreaking that he couldn’t alone have touched and transformed each and every person Jesus met individually… but there was no time.. and his mission was urgent, vital, time was short// and his mission was on-going……

 

Thank goodness for this message…..    There is still so much to be done….// so much need….// so much to do, so little time to do it, the harvest is plentiful, the labourers are few……..//   there is no time but the present……   // there are crowds with similar needs in the next town Jesus will visit… and the town after that….. 

 

[Saint Paul can be inspiring, but his text today…(the second reading)…… : - “I shall be all things to all people…”. “(which has been the mantra of so many priests and so many who work in public ministry)…..   sadly, it is also a recipe for a nervous breakdown……… as we try to respond to every request, every need….  To be “one thing for one person”…. And quite “another thing for the other”………//      caution here is needed………….   and our Master, the Lord Jesus, managed to show us great example in this…. He didn’t fall for this trap…….]

 

This gospel shows the importance of action…. Of….“don’t just stand there do something….”

 

But this gospel also shows us the importance of prayer…… connectedness to our relationship with God…… that we take time out…. take a step back…. and see the big picture……   to connect to the source and the power and the reason behind all our efforts and actions…..    This part of Jesus message… is the counter-point to the first…. it is saying:  “don’t just do something…. STAND THERE”……   

 

Its reassuring to us….  There is still so much to be done… so much we can do…. so little time to do it…..   never enough hours in the day, //…days in the year…..  // we do what we can…// and keep our eyes on the big picture…. and draw strength, inspiration and vision from our time-out with God…. to focus our energy… direct our resources and ….   lead us through the “busy-ness” of our days with its many possibilities and needs…..   we can’t do everything… we are all too aware of our limitations….   so we ask the Lord to help us do some things well.

 

Lord, (in this), help us to know what is urgent…   help us to know what is vital…..  give us the strength to leave behind even the urgent, when the vital calls us……..    help us to know the difference…….

 

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·                    FR. PAUL W. KELLY

 

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Homily Baptism of Our Lord - B 11th January, 2015

Homily Baptism of Our Lord - B  11th January, 2015     

 

WATER: This is the main symbol of baptism. Water represents washing clean and re-birth and renewal. Water is a perfect symbol, it contains so many meanings: It is an absolutely essential element for life……    

 

It contains so many meanings within itself………  Health and life, danger and threat…  renewal and Destruction….  (the sheer force and danger of flood waters…. the power and unexpected force of frozen glaciers – many communities over the years have seen the effects of the power of water…  )….. water represents both enormous power and also soothing, renewing, gentleness, …..a washing and restoring.

 

Water and baptism….. is a wonderful way of showing that by following Jesus we want to ‘immerse” or “plunge” ourselves into Jesus’ way of life. Baptism is a word that literally means “Plunge” and we believe that Baptism is not just a sign of following Jesus, Baptism connects us to Jesus and makes us one with his life and with the life of all other believers in Jesus.

 

In baptism, we become a beloved and cherished child of God…….   children of the same Father in heaven… who is so generous, so lavish in love and praise.,… that the gospel today tells us, that the Father, upon Jesus rising from the waters of John’s baptism….   literally tears the heavens apart and pours down the most wonderful praise and confidence and blessing upon his beloved son…

 As one commentator says….

We are told that God rends the heavens to lavish praise on his son— a son who, up to that point, had yet to accomplish much of anything.  It must have been indescribably affirming and motivating for Jesus as he was about to begin his most challenging and self-emptying ministry. Although Jesus is God made human, he was also fully human…. and in need of encouragement and affirmation and strength from his beloved father… who was in heaven… and who happened to be the father of all things…..   Jesus was now absolutely assured and commissioned in the loved and confidence of his heavenly father….that God the father was completely pleased with him. (Patrice J. Tuohy)

 

It is a timely reminder, that it is so important, so human and so affirming to praise one another…….  we live in a culture where it seems easier to voice criticisms…. and it seems that for some, if they are not unhappy with anything it is not so much praise that follows…. but silence…….  so we live in a world where there is either criticism or begrudging silence…….  or else… then we get the other extreme where people compliment others with empty and insincere words…….. that don’t connect with the reality of what is happenind… and so do very little good…..       others feel that they shouldn’t praise others for fear that it might give the other a ‘big head’ …….  or that the praise may be taken as mere flattery……….  having said that….. there is no substitute for sincere, heartful and constructive affirmation, encouragement and praise…… which is a form of gratefulness in words…. naming that which we are grateful for,…..,,, 

 

Praise is so important……..  Good managers know this as do teachers, coaches, counsellors, volunteer coordinators, and fundraisers—anyone who is trying to get someone to take the next step, stretch themselves, and constantly strive to reach a higher level of commitment or performance.

 

For people who live without affirmation and who live with constant criticism…. they get the crippling message that everything they do is not good enough….. nothing they do will really satisfy or meet with approval……   for a person who gets false praise…. they either feel that the words are meaningless….. or else rely on compliments that don’t really give them a good indicator of who they are and what they are doing and how it is affecting others for the better……..    and then there are those who get good, positive feedback and affirmation…..   even when setbacks and the occasional mistake or failure come their way, they are not defeated, because they believe in their value and the strength of their own worth…..  and persevere through the struggles and beyond….

 

I just want to mention the curious second reading from the first letter of St John. He mentions the rather obscure reference to Jesus being shown to be the Messiah not only by the water, but also by the blood. This is a little strange… but what it seems to mean is….  St John was writing this letter at the time when a heresy was taking hold in the church communities… some were saying that Jesus was really just an ordinary human and at his baptism he was adopted by the Father and the spirit fell upon him… he lived as God’s son and then on the cross… the divine spirit left and the mere human remained…. so God did not really suffer or die…. it was just the human who carried the divine spirit in him for a time….  but no… this is a heresy.. and is not the fullness of our Christian faith…St John reminds us that Jesus suffered and died… and shed real blood upon the cross… so that the true sign that Jesus was the real messiah and the beloved son of God…. Jesus was both truly God and truly human was that he gave his last drop of blood for us… and truly suffered and even gave his life for us…  so not only his baptism in the waters of the river Jordan… shows us his identity… but also his suffering and death….   Baptism and the cross are essential and un-divided elements of the perfect messiah… the two cannot be separated….. 

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REFERENCES:

 

·          FR. PAUL W. KELLY. Reflection on Baptism from Parish website,(http://www.parishes.bne.catholic.net.au/maryborough/baptism.htm).

·          2009 – A BOOK OF GRACE-FILLED DAYS. BY Alice Camille

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

·          PATRICE J. TUOHY, PrepareTheWord.com, 2008, TrueQuest Communications, LLC.

 

 

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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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