Christmas Break

I am currently on holidays and will resume blogging for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B [Sunday Jan 15 2006].

I will post the reflection for that week's readings on the Wednesday prior [Wed Jan 11].

Have a peace filled and holy Christmas season.

Weekly Reflection: Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B

Reading references:

First Reading: Samuel &:1-5:8-12.14.16
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 88:2-5.27.29. R cf.v.2
Second Reading: Romans 16:25-27
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

In today’s gospel we hear that Mary is “deeply disturbed” and doesn’t understand the meaning of the greeting from the angel. She is subsequently told “do not be afraid.” And her response to all this was “let what you have said be done to me.”

A common image that is held of Mary is that she was submissive and mild and a very gentle woman. But in her lived reality was she?

As we approach Christmas each of us are receiving a greeting for the “angel” to let the birth of love come to life within us and to be open to the will of God. What is OUR response? If we examine this question carefully then we may come to realise that Mary had incredible courage, strength and fortitude and would have had to have been far from being meek and mild.

As we reflect upon our response to accept the birth of love within us and being open to God’s will, let’s look at what this might mean for us and the way in which we live our lives with the help of a little check list.

• Are there relationships in my life that are fractured and need healing and forgiveness?
• Do I hold attitudes that are harmful to others and to me such as: racism, religious and political persecution, greed, lack of concern or care for the poor and the outcasts and all those in need, apathy etc.?
• Do I refuse to speak my mind and heart about injustice, waiting and hoping someone else to do it?
• Do I constantly seek my own comfort while causing discomfort for others?
• Do I run away from my responsibilities to my family and the communities to which I belong?
• Do I seek self gratification?
  
  The list could be endless. But it is important for us to see that when we say yes to this extraordinary gift of Love the self becomes less and less important and our focus will turn to the other and their well being.
  
  If we think of the people in our lives who have truly inspired us, they are the ones who have given themselves for the good of others, they are the ones who are passionate about God and see the connectedness of everything in our world, they are the ones who have often suffered but have continued to love and give of themselves during this suffering, they are the ones who have a real and tangible relationship with God, they are the ones who often display strength and courage and determination in the face of persecution, they are the ones who challenge us to Love, they are the ones who will not let fear trample their Spirit, they are the ones who can forgive, they are the ones who long to do the will of God, they are the ones who have known failure but know themselves and everyone else to be Loved.
  
  To say yes to this extraordinary gift of love in a world that is so broken will make demands on us – please God that we are not fooled otherwise. We cannot truly Love and remain silent when we see our world groaning in pain and confusion. Just as Mary was asked to give her life to this extraordinary gift, so are we.
  
  So as we continue to prepare in this final week leading up to Christmas let us pray that we will be open in mind and heart to receive this extraordinary and mysterious gift of Love that is being offered to us. Are we really open to receiving such a gift?

Weekly Reflection: Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

Reading references:

First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-2.10-11
Responsorial Psalm: Luke 1:46-50.53-54 R. Is. 61:10
Second Reading: Thessalonians 5:16-24
Gospel: John 1:6-8.19-28

In our Gospel today John the Baptist is questioned about who he is: “Who are you?” the priests and Levites ask him. His response is that he is not the Christ or a prophet - but he says he is the one Isaiah prophesied about “a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord.”

We too are asked “Who are you?” It is a question that demands our attention if we are at all serious about this Advent journey. We are also called to be witnesses – to be voices that have the courage to cry out in the wilderness of our world, that Jesus offers us hope, love, peace and compassion. But at the same time and perhaps more importantly we need to learn to listen to all those other cries in the wilderness that have so much to teach us but sadly we often ignore them.

Let’s explore an example of this.

I am particularly reminded here of the young Australian Tuong Van Nguyen who was executed in Singapore last Friday for drug trafficking. There is no denying that the crime and its potential harm was shocking, but those last weeks of Van Nguyen’s life taught us valuable lessons if we cared to listen.

We heard of a young man who was remorseful - accepting of his immanent death - inspiring those around him - a source of courage and strength for his family and friends who had supported him through. We saw and felt with a mother and brother who were denied permission to hold her son and his brother one last time before he was executed – we watched his lawyer barely able to speak as he told of the prison inmates singing Ave Maria in Chinese as Van Nguyen was led out to be hung.

During those last days many of us looking on became acutely aware of the shockingness and barbaric nature of capital punishment that happens daily around our world. Many of our hearts were filled with compassion and sorrow and we saw something of the power of forgiveness at work. We were inspired by the faith of the gathering community who came together to support the family in prayer.

This story was a voice crying out in the wilderness and it revealed a number of important things for us to ponder. These cries from the wilderness often come from the most unexpected places, but it doesn’t matter from where they come, what is important is that we must learn to listen to them. Van Nguyen’s story challenges us to reflect upon our own beliefs about capital punishment in the light of the Gospel. It challenges those who believed this execution (or any execution) to be just and right to look at Jesus’ own execution and reflect upon his forgiveness of the criminal on the cross beside him and of those who were about to execute him. It confronts us with the centrality of forgiveness if we proclaim a belief in Jesus. This doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be punishment, but it asks the question: ‘What right do we have to take anyone’s life regardless of the crime?’ Do we make a straight way for the Lord when we behave this way?

This story is just one small voice crying out to us to wake up and to stay awake. How many other cries do we hear every day but we ignore them or we don’t see their relevance to us and our lives. We see violent acts of all kinds exercised through the abuse and manipulation of power. We hear the voices of poverty and struggle and brokenness all around us. We are confronted with injustice every day of our lives. But do we see it?

Advent invites us to prepare for the birth of Love, a birth that will reveal to us that we are intimately connected to each other and with our God, and this intimacy is called communion. When one part of this communion is hurt or broken for whatever reason it affects the whole communion in some way. When we act with violence on any level then violence is perpetuated. When we act with Love then Love is perpetuated. What do we believe God asks of us?

One of the greatest challenges for all of us is to Love or to keep loving when we have been badly hurt or betrayed and we feel angry. We simply cannot do this on our own as it can be a most difficult thing for us to do. We need support from each other and most importantly we need to cry out to our God to show us how to love when it feels almost impossible to do so.

When we can do this the cycle of violence will be weakened. This takes enormous faith and courage but it will break the cycle of violence and revenge that have become so much part of our way of being in our world. We cannot wait for someone else to break this shocking cycle of violence, the responsibility is ours.

So as we enter into this third week of Advent we ask our God to help us hear the many voices crying in the wilderness and to awaken our hearts to the birth of Love. In our reflections this week hear the question being asked of you: “Who are you?” and pray for the courage to examine your week with a heart that is prepared to listen and a desire to make a straight way for the Lord.

Weekly Reflection: Second Sunday of Advent, Year B

Reading references:

First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5.9-11
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 84:9-14 R vs 8
Second Reading: Peter 3:8-14
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8

In this second week of Advent we are called to prepare a way for the Lord. Advent really is a time that beckons for us to grow up and mature in our faith. The Psalmist talks today about justice and peace embracing and cries out “let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.” So where do we see the Lord’s kindness? Where do we see justice and peace meet?

Most children that are weaned from the breast don’t like it. It is quite common for them to cry and protest at what they have lost. They don’t realize that there is a greater choice of food and nourishment awaiting them and that this is one step toward their human development. When toddlers take their first steps it is their first real step of independence but it brings with it falls and tumbles and often tears. When children begin school there are often many tears from parents and children who find this separation just so painful. But this really is just another step in a journey to help them grow and mature as individuals. When teenagers leave school they have had a series of experiences in their short lives that have brought them to a greater sense of independence, a greater sense of responsibility for themselves and for others and often with that comes a greater sense of maturity. These are really important stages in our human development.

Our faith journey also has these similarities. But we seem to run a greater risk of staying in that infancy stage in the faith journey. We don’t want to leave the mothers breast and we certainly are reluctant to take our first steps. Like very young children we can become consumed with our own selves and we are not aware of the world around us and we can see ourselves as the centre of the universe and our faith can be very individualistic and self focused. We can hold false images of God that help keep us in this place where little or no grown occurs.

It is often painful for us to move on in our faith journey. It calls us to let go and this can be scary and uncomfortable and sometimes painful. It is our faith that will enable us to make this vital and life giving move because we know that our God walks with us. But if we stay in this infancy stage of our faith we will not see God’s kindness and we will never see justice and peace embrace. Justice is at the heart of our Christian faith. Just as a small child has little concept of justice and a fair go for others because they are so self absorbed, if we refuse to move out of this infancy stage in our faith then we will have no or little concept of justice either.

We see God’s kindness when justice prevails. If we don’t have an understanding of justice and peace then we don’t have an understanding of God. Justice is not necessarily about giving money to the poor etc (these are important things but they often help us feel good about ourselves and have little to do with justice) – justice is about seeing the structures and the policies and the corruption that maintains poverty and all other sorts of injustice. We see God’s kindness when we see these structures etc torn down and recognised for the evil that they are.

When justice is our priority and our lives reveal a desire for justice, it is then that we prepare a way for the Lord and it is equivalent to letting every valley be filled in and every mountain and hill be laid low, and every cliff becoming a plain and the ridges a valley and then our Psalmist says “then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…” This journey of Justice and Peace requires a response from us – it requires our commitment and our dedication. Our God tells us that it is not sacrifice that God requires but mercy. If we have mercy then we will know justice.

Why is it then that we find it so hard to see the connection between justice and seeing the kindness of God? That is a question that we all must take time to answer for ourselves during this Advent. We might be tempted to blame aspects of the Church leadership for this ignorance and there might be some truth in that. However, Advent calls us to a maturity and a responsibility to know that what ever has gone before us and whoever else may be blamed, that we are responsible for ourselves and for each other. This Advent we are called to mature in our faith journey, we are called to prepare a way for our God, we are called to act justly, and we are called to pray that we will see God’s kindness. Then we will see justice and peace embrace in our troubled and broken world – but it is up to each one of us to let go of our infancy and take those first steps.