God's life not our plans

In an age which has been beset by the revelations of child sexual abuse by clergy and other Church workers and the response of institutions, we can struggle to recognise how Christ may be present to us who occupy positions of leadership. We can come to a place where we are called to weigh up what we say with how we act. This is never easy because we are confronted with the two standards reflected on by St Ignatius in the spiritual exercises. One standard seeks riches, honour and pride while the other seeks poverty, misunderstanding and humility. Essentially we are called to recognise that people are called into positions of leadership to deepen our experience of how God is present in our lives. This is not an easy place on which to stand because it calls upon people to discern how God is truly present and to listen to the voice that brings life. We are called to be a people who recognise that we do not seek position, projects or plans at the expense of the how God is seeking us to be present. There is never an easy time to be a Christian but we are called to people who through our words and actions point to the person who calls us together as God's people. We are a pilgrim people called to walk together to deepen our understanding of how God walks by our side. This is not just at times when we seem to have all the answers but also at times when doubts arise in our hearts. It calls us to be a people who seek the truth together and also to live by questions which seek to probe the mystery of our lives. This is not just by asking questions in the hope of easy answers but rather a reflective stance in life which does not place us at the centre of our own salvation. This stance helps us to listen to the voice which echoes deep within us and which draws us to a place where our lives are formed in relationship with God and with each other.

Putting faith into action

We are all familiar with the golden rule, "Love your neighbour as yourself" This seems to be universal to not only the Judeo-Christian tradition but finds echoes in many other traditions as well. It fundamentally calls us to a radical standpoint where we consider the needs of another as equal to our own. The readings for this weekend tackle this in many different ways. When God speaks to Moses he asks him to consider those who are in greatest need and not to take advantage of their disadvantage. It calls us to consider what is most needed by the person on this day. Our listening to the person is not just a matter of hearing what they have to say but responding to their fundamental human need of food, shelter and clothing. 

St Paul then goes on to show how our lives are called to become a living witness to the Good News even at times when we might be misunderstood, marginalised or oppressed ourselves. The call is not just one of seeking to do good for another but rather that by our stance of life that we seek to be good. To be people who through our relationship with Jesus Christ seek to bring our lives into harmony with the mercy of God. Our lives bear witness to the fact that we are people called into a deep and abiding relationship with the living God.

This is why Jesus talks about two commandments, that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind and our neighbour as ourselves. This calls us to be in a relationship with God which engages our affections, our bodies and our minds. This calls for a holistic appreciation that God uses the language of the heart, the language of the body and the language of the mind to give expression to our faith. We are called to be incarnate people who engage fully as the person we are not as the person we think we should be. There is also then a recognition that our faith is deeply communal and that it calls us to be people who are united together by God. The good we seek for ourselves is not one of splendid isolation but one which unites us with the transcendent and immanent reality of God who is revealed to us each day through the life of another.

Pay unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God

The commentary about the separation of the Church and State is one in which people often say that religion has no place in the public marketplace but should solely be reserved to the private sphere in which a person can enter into a relationship with God in the quiet of their own home. This separation between public and private life can often cause us to inherit a sense of dualism whereby we sense a disconnect between what we believe and how we live. Yet the two are intimately connected we cannot live two lives but we are called to become an integrated person who seeks to give an authentic witness to how God is present at the heart of our lives. We are called to grow in holiness and wholeness.
In our prayer, we are called to a place where we can be present to God in silence. This is not removing ourselves from the world but so that we can listen more attentively to the spirit of God who is present at the heart of all life. We know how easy it is to become distracted by activity and those relationships which dissipate us from own core identity. We can be tempted to invest our lives in only what is external and seek our salvation in a particular project, possession or position. The ordering of this allows us to become focussed on things which may be transitory rather than the spirit of God which speaks to our hearts. We are called to be attentive to our own interior self where God speaks to the heart of the matter. It is from this place that we can discover how we can be truly ourselves and act in a way which reaches towards a way of being which is authentically true. This does not mean we won't struggle in this area but does mean that we can discover how God can be present with our own desires to come into communion with God. Jesus desires for us to discover how our faith in action allows us to persevere in hope.

Too busy to pray

There is a modern curse which harms our relationships with God and with each other. It is the phrase I am so busy. We know this can be many things but often it comes to our belief that there are not enough hours to attend to all the things I want to do. Also there can be a nagging belief that if I am not doing something then I am nothing! Our busyness can reflect that at least I am worthwhile because I am involved in this or that activity. We can seem to chase our tails and the faster we go the more it alludes us.
The images we have in this weeks readings is our willingness to sit down at a banquet and be fed. To take time not only to be physically nourished but also to be filled with a life we cannot receive solely by our own efforts. It calls us to become people who are willing to step aside and to be present to the one who calls us to the table. He uses this image of rising to a high mountain, to receive an invitation from a king and to come before God as we are. The prompting is that we hear the invitation and respond appropriately. This means that we need to be interested in what will be provided for us. This is not just setting a brief time for prayer so that we can move on with the rest of the day but rather that our life becomes prayerful. This anticipation for the life that God gives us is at the heart of all our activities. In fact it sees our life as having value so that we be present to God and to others in all we do.
This is why it is not possible just to squeeze prayer into those spare moments of our days but seeing it is the bedrock of who we are. It calls us to take time to become present to ourselves and to God so that we can be present to others. By being open to God at certain times of the day and making these appointments ahead of time we can find a way of discovering that everything we are engaged in takes a new freshness and purpose.This allows us to be amazed and surprised by what God helps us to see. It allows us to be transformed to discover where we are able to be present at this moment and this day. It doesn't mean that suddenly all our work will disappear but it will allows us to discover the work that we are called to take to heart. That which brings value to us and to our world. To know that our lives have eternal worth.

Easier said than done

There are a lot of armchair critics who are able to inform us how things should be done and by when. We live in a culture where we are heavily invested in reality television where we are hooked into matters which distract us from what is truly important. There numb our sensibilities to discovering a life which has substance and meaning. We seem to given a great deal but not asked to account for it. What seems to be the central message is that we are called to be numbed of what truly adds value to life by engaging in a story which is not our own.
At the heart of this weekend's gospel is the story of the vineyard in which the people who manage it think they own it! They start to be believe that they have a better understanding of its purpose than the person who established it. After all they are familiar with its daily operations and the products it produces and they start to claim ownership for themselves. They start to fall short of seeing how their story is an echo of a greater story and that the fruits they produce are a way of encountering the goodness of that story.
So to in our own lives we start to notice that it can be easier to take the initiative rather than wait for directions of what we are working for. We can start to plan our own day on what we consider important rather than what truly brings life. We need to become reflective people who seek to become good stewards of who and what is trusted to our care. This is not so that we can become possessive of it but so that we can see its true worth. We need to guard against those moments when we think we own something or someone for our good and not for the good of God. It is a delicate balance because we can start to see the work we do as our work rather than as cooperation with God who brings out true value. This is why we need to ask God to allow us to be present each day to what brings value to our lives and for what we are called to give thanks. We need to notice how we have been a good steward for that day and then move on to the next. This allows our story to become a dynamic unfolding of what brings life rather than a grasping at things that we try to possess and which can diminish us. We can give glory to God in all things by being present to the unfolding story of our life.