Weekly Reflection: Pentecost Sunday, Year B

Reading References

First Reading: Acts 2:1-11
Psalm: Ps 103:1.24.29-31.34. r. V. 30
Second Reading: Corinthians 12:3-7.12-13
Gospel: John 20:19-23

The response to our Psalm today proclaims: “Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

If we ponder the crucifix and watch Jesus so cruelly hanging on the cross and we recall the story that brought him to that hideous execution, what do we think?

Perhaps we wonder how the people around him were so stupid not to recognize who he was.
Perhaps we wonder how people could have let this happen.
Perhaps we judge harshly the actions of the executors and those who called for the execution.
Perhaps we look at the crucifixion and just don’t understand it and walk away.
Perhaps you wonder what you would have done had you been there.
Perhaps we wonder why Jesus allowed the situation to come to this.
Perhaps we blame Jesus for putting himself in this situation.
Perhaps we wonder what it might have been like to be there watching Jesus die etc etc.

If we wonder what it might have been like to be there watching Jesus die then we only have to look at parts of our world and our own country today and watch the crucifixions that are happening all around us and ask ourselves what do we think as we see love being crucified all around us.

What do you think as one country invades another killing thousands of its civilian population all in the name of a lie that was then diverted to bringing democracy to that country?

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

What do you think as our countries immigration policy now wants to process all boat arriving asylum seekers and refugees off shore even if they land in Australia causing further potential physical and mental suffering and even possible death through suicide for those seeking refuge?

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

What do you think of our country Australia as we watch many of our Indigenous peoples so totally broken and cast out that in some areas we are seeing shocking examples of abuse of women and children, of substance abuse, of unemployment, of suicide, of high rates of incarceration, of sheer hopelessness and aimlessness?

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

What do you think as you read of the two recent mountain climbers climbing Mt. Everest – one thought to be dead and wasn’t and the other left to die as several others past him so that they could claim they had conquered the mountain – not one of them stayed with him or attempted to help him? Their own ambition took priority over the well being of another human being. [To read this story of the mountain climbers go here].

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

What do you think as so many countries spend billions of dollars on defense while millions of people die of poverty related causes?

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

What do you think of governments and corporations that put the economic well being of the country and their own pockets as a priority regardless of the impact it has upon its citizens and what do you think of those that just allow this to happen?

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

What do you think as you watch the earth being raped by us of its natural resources for economic gain – leaving a legacy of destruction for coming generations?

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

What do you think as you watch the apathy of the people around you and confront your own apathy?

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

What do you think as you give most of your time and energy to work so that you can give yourself and your family the material needs you think they want and need while spending less and less time with them?

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

What do you think as you watch suicide rates increase, as you watch substance abuse increase, as you watch crime rates increase?

“Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”

Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church. We the Church then are “sent” to “renew the face of the earth” and in the words of the Gospel Acclamation “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful; and kindle in them the fire of your love.” Anything less than this is a distortion of what it is to be Church.

We cannot renew the face of the earth by locking ourselves in church buildings once a week and shutting ourselves off from the world chasing our own selfish needs and wants and what makes us FEEL good about ourselves. To be Church demands of us to ask the hard questions – not run away from them. It demands that we stop, we look at Jesus and we love with Jesus’ heart present in us, and from there we go out and we attempt to make a difference.

The mountain climbers in the article above in many ways reflect what our world is becoming – they justify what they did through economic rationalism and self centred ambition however implicit that rationalism may have been or how it impacted on the life or lives of those around them. The shocking focus on themselves above all else has many lessons to teach us. If we are truthful with our own hearts we will see part of them in ourselves – the circumstances may be different but the parallels are very evident. We must not let ourselves be fooled otherwise.

So how do we celebrate Pentecost? We celebrate Pentecost because we know God is merciful and all forgiving. But to truly celebrate Pentecost we must ask Jesus the God of Love in our prayer to kindle in our hearts the fire of love being offered to each of us today and everyday. When we can truly pray this prayer with real and truthful desire then we can be assured that the Spirit is resting gently upon us and guiding us to renew the face of the earth. It is here where our Pentecost journey begins.

Weekly Reflection: The Ascension of the Lord, Year B

Reading References

First Reading: Acts 1:1-11
Psalm: Ps 46:2-3.6-9. R. v. 6
Second Reading: Ephesians 1:17-23
Gospel: Mark 16:15-20

In Ephesians, Paul prays that God will “give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge him….. and may he enlighten the eyes of your mind…...”

Too often we are tempted to explain this most profound mystery (and many other mysteries) called the Ascension. A belief in Jesus is born out of faith and sometimes we are tempted to give factual language to this faith and it simply cannot be done. The language may give us some revealed insight but it cannot give us a complete picture otherwise it would not be faith. Language is always extremely limited when it comes to faith.

This example may help you understand the dangers when we attempt to explain areas of faith. A couple of years ago a priest gave a homily on the Ascension. He said Jesus physically ascended upwards into the sky (implying the apostles could see it with their physical eye) just like a rocket ship goes to outer space from the earth. This attempt to explain the Ascension was an absolute insult to an intelligent mind and to our faith.

When we try to explain such an EVENT we get ourselves into all sorts of strife. What we need to do is to look for the revealed truth that lies underneath the so called EVENT. The revealed truth is that we know through faith that Jesus overcame death and his divinity was revealed – we know through faith that the life of Jesus lives within us today – we know through faith that Jesus reveals to us the God of Love, the God whom death has no power over.

The one thing in this life we can all be sure of is the certainty of our physical death. But our faith assures us that our life with Jesus will ultimately conquer death. So what we are being asked to believe – to see through the eyes of faith today, is that nothing in this life not even crucifixion can stop us from having life to its fullest with Jesus the God of Love if that is what we truly desire. It is this desire for life eternal that will drive us into the world “proclaiming the Good News to all creation.” It is this driving desire to be in communion with Love which will overcome our physical death.

Our gospel today says there are “signs that will be associated with believers”. What are these signs? The first one named in our Gospel is that in Jesus’ name “they will cast out devils.” This means that they will reject evil in their own lives and they will confront evil around them. These believers will hunger for the heart of Jesus to live within them and within others.

This does not mean that these “believers” are not capable of evil – every human being is. But it means that they are continually making the choice to Love. Just as Jesus confronted the evil around him so will those who truly believe in Jesus.

Another “sign” of a “believer” is that they will have the “gift of tongues.” At Pentecost which will be celebrated next week, we will hear that people of every nation were gathered and they heard and understood the apostles in their own language. I am not going to bye into the charismatic speaking in tongues phenomena other that to say that if what is being spoken is not understood by everyone then we must surely see its disconnection to the above experience of the apostles and the nations at Pentecost. What was at the heart of this mysterious Pentecost experience was that everyone understood.

This language that is universally understood is the language of Love and Truth. When we see Love lived it touches into the depths of our hearts and we stand before it in awe knowing it resonates deep within us – knowing there is a great mystery before us. This language of Love is the “gift of tongues.”

Another sign of a “believer” is that “they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison.” A “believer” – one who is consumed with Love and Truth, will confront their fears, and knowing Jesus is with them will be able to overcome their fears. It is not that fear and suffering will not be part of their lives, but the longing to be eternally with Jesus will drive them beyond their fears. Jesus experienced fear and sorrow and grief and anger but it never stopped him from Loving – it never stopped him wanting to be with his Father – it never stopped him living the truth in love. A “believer” will go beyond the fear even if it may mean death because in faith they know God will not desert them even if it feels as though God has.

The final sign of a “believer” in our Gospel today is “they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.” The greatest human sickness is our total reliance on our own ego – we can let it rule our lives. We become self absorbed and self obsessed. We become the centre of the universe and what I want is just about all that matters. We might have a few pangs of guilt here and there but our ego finds ways to justify our actions.

Just as Jesus’ life of truth and love touched deeply into the hearts of so many people so will the life of the one who believes in Jesus. People will be moved by their authenticity and their humility. There is nothing more powerful than to see the vision of Jesus lived and it can mirror for us what is in our hearts but often never knew it existed until we saw it lived in someone else. These “believers” will draw our attraction to Jesus and Jesus will then lead us beyond our ego centered lives.

Let us pray for the courage, the wisdom and perception to ask God to wound our hearts with the fire of Jesus’ Love so that our longing for Love will be revealed by the way in which we choose to live our lives so that others may come to know and see the Good News.

Weekly Reflection: Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B

Reading References:

First Reading: Acts 10:25-26.34-35.44-48
Psalm: Ps 97:1-4. R. v. 2
Second Reading: 1 John 4:7-10
Gospel: John 15: 9-17

Today’s readings powerfully affirm what is at the heart of Catholicism:

“God does not have favourites”
“Jewish believers ……were all astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit should be poured out on the pagans too….”
“All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
“Love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God”
“You did not choose me, no, I chose you and I commissioned you to go out….”
“What I command you is to love one another.”

I recently heard a wise catholic priest say to a number of people that his second favourite people were atheists. You could sense the somewhat confusing silence as people waited for an explanation. He went on to say that atheists have rejected, and rightfully rejected the image of God that has been presented to them. A false image that made no sense to them and so naturally they rejected it.

Let’s take a look at a few of the false images of God that we see operating around us and within us and some images that we may have grown up with, and while we listen to these images keep the phrases from our readings today that are listed above in your minds.

Growing up we were taught in our catholic schools that Catholics possessed the whole truth – if you weren’t Catholic you wouldn’t go to heaven. This was also common teaching in our parishes. “God does not have favourites”

Many of us grew up believing that priests and religious were “special” in God’s eyes – they were set apart – they were God’s “favourites”. They were called to be holy and the faithful were merely the onlookers. “God does not have favourites”

We go to war and proclaim God is on our side. We fight wars in God’s name. We kill in God’s name. We torture in God’s name. “What I command you is to love one another.”

We can treat other religions and faiths with suspicion and often consider that we have nothing to learn from their wisdom. We close our hearts and minds to the wisdom present all around us and we often do this in God’s name. “Love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God”

We can limit God to the ritual of liturgical practice and think that if we abide by these laws and practices that we are somehow right with God. We choose for our children to have the sacraments of initiation “done” and in the majority of cases we have no or little sense of our responsibility for the ongoing faith journey of our children and those around us. “You did not choose me, no, I chose you and I commissioned you to go out….”

We can exclude particular people from our faith communities in God’s name – we talk about welcoming, being inclusive, all being sinners, and yet we say to the homosexual person you cannot be a full member of this community. “Love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God”

We say to the married Anglican Priest who wishes to become a Catholic Priest – welcome. But we say to a Catholic Priest who wishes to marry you can no longer practice your ordained priesthood. “You did not choose me, no, I chose you and I commissioned you to go out….”

We say to the woman who feels deeply called to the priesthood – No. In God’s name the woman is told her call is not part of God’s will. But a man with the same deep call is received with open arms. “You did not choose me, no, I chose you and I commissioned you to go out….”

We go to Mass on Sunday to hear God’s word but we can resent it when the homily challenges us in some area of social justice that might conflict with the ideologies of my particular political party etc – for example the Australian governments shameful treatment and continued shameful treatment of refugees and asylum seekers coming into our country. Or we can just switch off thinking this has nothing to do with me. “What I command you is to love one another.”

The list could go on and on. But all of the above say something about our image of God. So what does that say about our own personal image of God? So often we tragically distort the image of God and of course it is not attractive and of course people turn away.

But Catholicism when it is lived is profoundly beautiful and awe inspiring – it is centered on Jesus and on Love. Some people think that those who are working for any number of these great humanitarian causes or are passionate and active in the social justice area that they are living their Catholicism even if they don’t go to Mass or have any connection with the Eucharistic community. Other people think that if they go to Mass each week and are faithful to all the rituals and practices required of them and believing that their faith is a private matter between them and God and having little to do with the wider community that they are living their Catholicism.

There is partial truth in both these attitudes but both are incomplete and somewhat distorted on their own. It’s a bit like living in a marriage where you never see or hear from your partner from one year to the next. It’s an absurd image and it will never be an example to anyone of what a good marriage might look like – it makes no sense and is not the least bit attractive.

Well like wise when we distort Catholicism and our image of God - if we only know or live half the truth and we have no interest in the other half it will be an image that makes little or no sense and it certainly won’t reveal the attractiveness of Catholicism.

Catholicism when it is lived hungers for the Eucharist and hungers for Love and hungers for the whole of creation to share this experience. For Catholicism to be attractive its fullness must be lived (however imperfectly), not just half of it.

In the coming week let’s ask Jesus for the grace to be open to the fullness of Catholicism and all its extraordinary beauty so that the belief we proclaim will become attractive and real for those around us. May we take deeply into our hearts those words of Jesus that Catholicism is built on “What I command you is to love one another.”

Weekly Reflection: Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B

Reading References:

First Reading: Acts 9:26-31
Psalm: Ps 21:26-28.30-32. R. v. 26
Second Reading: John 3:18-24
Gospel: John 15: 1-8

Yet another wonderfully challenging Gospel we are confronted with today. How we need to listen to this Gospel.

In our second reading John makes it very clear that love and truth go hand in hand. He also helps us understand that the love we are called to live is “real and active”. And he continues to tell us:

“His commandments are these: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another as he told us to.”

In our Gospel John makes it clear that only through Jesus (through Love) can we bear much fruit. Jesus tells us that he has already made his home in us and invites us to make our home in him. When we live this invitation then we will bear much fruit (Love will blossom in our world). But failing to live this invitation we will wither and die.

So how does this speak to us today?

One of the greatest problems facing our Church today is the absence of youth and young families. Why are we not attracting them? The answer to this question is complex.

I hear so many people ask the question “Why aren’t young people and families coming to Mass now when it is the heart of our faith?” Perhaps this is the wrong question to be asking. Perhaps we should be asking “Why are we no longer attractive to the next generations?”

The celebration of the Eucharist that means so much to the older generation simply does not have the same meaning for most of the younger generation. Why is this so? What have we lost?

Let’s explore a couple of possibilities. The early church grew and spread. It found ways to keep the story of Jesus alive and it found ways to live out Jesus’ vision (certainly not perfectly but it kept trying). This conscious attempt to live out the vision was so deeply attractive that people wanted to be part of it. The truth of it touched their hearts deeply and they wanted to belong. The fruit of the vine was plentiful.

But through this, the hierarchical structure developed. In many ways the faithful were left behind. The Church became the hierarchy. Rules and laws developed which somehow became the central focus of Catholicism for the majority of the faithful. Vatican 11 attempted to shatter this and named the Church as the whole people of God. But many of the faithful struggled with this and were left with the scars that are still with us in many ways.

The sacramental life of the Church has suffered greatly. In lots of ways we have privatized our religion. We celebrate baptism in private little family and friends groups – they should be celebrated with the whole community into which this child is being initiated. We largely celebrate Confirmation and First Eucharist through our school systems. We have separate celebrations away from the whole community to celebrate these sacraments of initiation because if we celebrate them during the Sunday Eucharist many in the parish communities won’t like it and there will be too many people. By far the majority of parents see these sacraments of initiation as something that needs to be “done” with little or no concept of what they are being initiated into. Many parishioners also fall into this category. The parish community is often absent from these initiation ceremonies. We must ask ourselves what sort of sense this makes – no sense at all.

Many in the parish communities foster this highly corrupted attitude. We don’t have baptisms during Sunday Eucharist because the community don’t like being kept for another five or ten minutes. We want a forty five minute Mass and anything above this is begrudged. Then if a parish is courageous enough to hold these sacraments of initiation within Sunday Eucharist many “regular parishioners” choose to go to another mass. What does this say about our understanding of who we are?

When we begrudge celebrating with the newly initiated there is something radically wrong.

If the fully initiated are not understanding who they are and what they are being invited into then how can we expect the newly initiated to understand? Is it any wonder people walk away? Is it any wonder we are not attractive? Is it any wonder people walk in and then walk out saying the Church is not relevant to me.

We have lost so much of our story – the story of Jesus – our story, and we need to reclaim it with vision, enthusiasm and Love. The beautiful proverb that says: “A people without a vision will surely perish” is something that we must listen to today. The most powerful attraction to Christianity is to see it lived and this is the responsibility of all of us. When we live it we will bear much fruit.

Our parish leadership needs to be courageous and re engage our story so that we become visible signs of God’s love in our world – so that we can become “the heart of God on earth”. We need to allow our attitudes to be challenged and we need to challenge each other so that we can “do the truth in love”. We must cease practices that make a mockery of the truth such as our practices and attitudes to our sacraments of initiation. We must learn to constantly question our practices through the eyes of truth and love.

I am reminded here of a recent experience. I was in our National Gallery and saw this abstract painting which I couldn’t make sense of and I was ready to walk away when one of the employees of the Gallery came to me and asked if I would like to know about the painting. He was obviously passionate about the painting and its story. I listened and his passion was contagious. I was simply astounded by the clarity of the painting once I knew the story of the artist and the meaning behind his painting. It was a profound experience. It not only gave me insight into something that seemed irrelevant initially, it also spoke very loudly to my own life experience and it spoke loudly to me of the world in which we live. It spoke to me even more loudly about the Church to which we belong. I shall never forget the experience.

If we don’t know the story of why we gather for Eucharist and we don’t understand what it really is inviting us into, then of course it will be irrelevant for those around us. It is like looking at the painting and walking away saying it makes no sense to me. We need people in our lives that will give life and meaning to the story of Jesus to the story of our faith – we cannot do it on our own. The Eucharist is a ritual that sends us out to love God and to love one another – Jesus is the food for our journey.

Let us pray in the coming week that we will allow our hearts to be nourished by Jesus and that we will become visible signs of Love for those around us so that the Eucharist will become a profound and life giving experience for us and the vine will bear much fruit. Let us pray for the courage to reclaim our story.

Weekly Reflection: Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B

Reading References:

First Reading: Acts 4:8-12
Psalm: Ps117:1.8-9.21-23.26.28-29. R. v. 22
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-2
Gospel: John 10:11-18

Our gospel today is profoundly beautiful and challenging for us.

Jesus tells us he is the “good shepherd” – the one who will “lay down his life” for us. Some may think the image of “shepherd” is some what outdated these days, and yet it captures so clearly and powerfully the great love, compassion and concern Jesus has for us.

Jesus talks about having to lead others who are not of this flock and that “they too will listen to my voice and there will only be one flock and one shepherd.” What an extraordinary Catholic statement this is. Too often we as Catholics are exclusive in our attitudes and thinking. We forget the universality of our Catholicism. We can narrow it down to the point that our universality becomes lost – we then become lost also.

Jesus’ vision was for the whole of humanity – we must not forget this. We can be fearful and often suspicious of other faiths. And yet we have so much to learn from each other that will enrich our understanding of who God is for all of us. Why would we be afraid of this?

Each of us is called to let the heart of Jesus live within us. Just as Jesus is shepherd for us and through our communion with him we are called to be shepherd for each other. Every time we celebrate Eucharist we are “sent out”. This sending out is at the heart of the Eucharist. It is the nourishment of the Eucharist that clothes us in Love that then drives us more deeply into our world.

Perhaps we need to explore this image of “shepherd” a little more closely. Many parents of teenage children will know the experience of rebellion and the pain and often sleepless nights this can bring. As parents we try to “shepherd” our children during these years of turmoil. But for some, how ever hard we try and what ever strategies we might put in place we seem to have no effect. We can experience a feeling of helplessness and deep sorrow as we watch our teenage children behave in ways that leave our hearts breaking.

By far the majority of parents who have found themselves in this situation will develop very beautiful relationships with their children as they become adults. But the parents have had to endure large storms in their lives to get there. The majority of these parents would tell us that they kept loving their children through these most difficult years – they didn’t like their children through this period, but they loved them. They didn’t hold back from speaking the truth in love but the key was that they kept loving.

We have a lot to learn from this. When people are bullied or rejected, more often than not they will walk away from a relationship and it will be very difficult to restore it. How many times have we heard stories where a parent has kicked their child out of home and refuses to speak to them because the child has done something that the parent/s did not approve of? What a tragedy it is when parents or their children go through their whole lives having nothing to do with each other. The fact is that this reactionary behaviour is often done in retaliation – you hurt me so I am going to hurt you. No doubt there are some occasions where this separation is necessary for any number of reasons. But too often we can just go around in circles and keep this retaliation alive – it takes courage and forgiveness to break the cycle.

But for those who can love through the pain then something very beautiful has a chance of developing. All of us have heard stories where parents agonized over their teenage children and were treated so badly. But now their children have grown up and often have children of their own and all the relationships have been restored.

This should give us great hope. How often do we break the heart of Jesus by our actions or non actions? We all do it. Often we do it blindly, but none the less we do it. It is our actions that cut us off from this relationship with our God – we can behave like rebellious young teenagers and cause all sorts of pain and suffering around us. But the extraordinary thing is that our God keeps loving us through our blindness. God keeps gracing us and seeking us out. God never stops pursuing us, just as the Shepherd will keep looking for that one lost sheep.

As we reflect upon how Jesus is shepherd for us we also need to reflect upon where we are shepherd for others. As we examine our relationships with family and friends we need to look at where we are loving and where we have failed in love, and ask God to grace us with the courage and desire to seek out forgiveness and to accept forgiveness. When we can begin to do this then we can be assured that the heart of Jesus is living within us.