Working for God!

 One of the common observations in my life as a priest is that people see it through the prism of the work I do rather than the person I seek to become. We notice this in our daily conversations where we seek to know what a person's job is. There is a sense in which the value of a person can be discovered in what consumes their waking hours. However, our work is more than just putting bread on the table but rather what seeks to bring meaning to our lives. This is more a question of vocation which helps us to provide leaven to our daily activities. 

This is at the heart of the Gospel this weekend where people pursue Jesus for what he can provide rather than who he is. We know how easy it is to know a person through what they produce rather than who they are. We can even notice this as we watch the Olympics where a person's value can be measured in whether they win Gold, Silver, or Bronze. But after the dust is settled will we become more deeply connected to the person and their story? I think this is the deeper hunger for us to make connections that are life-giving and life-sustaining. Otherwise, our attention is transitory and ephemeral awaiting the next morsel which will fill our emptiness.  

I believe that as we enter into the extended effects of the pandemic we can start to notice how our attention becomes focused on the spread of the virus rather than on what can bring hope to our own situation. It not only physically isolates us from each other but it can narrow our life to be lived vicariously through others. Many have pangs of hunger for the Eucharist especially in Sydney where for the third time many of our Churches are closed. Yet in these times it is looking at how we can satisfy that hunger by being Eucharist for each other. We find our daily activities inviting us to offer, bless, break and give our lives for the good of another. We can discover opportunities to build a community that sustains us and becomes people of thanksgiving in our daily life.

What do we hunger for?

 There have been many analogies to "The Hunger Games" which appears to be a lawless place where people grab what they need with little regard for the needs of others. We saw some of this in the panic buying which descended upon our cities when people besieged supermarkets. There was a sense of scarcity and fear which saw people desiring to stock up to outlast the storm. Even when there were assurances that there was enough for everyone this did not alleviate the heartfelt concern that we would go without. 

Yet in the Gospel, we see a very different scene where people hunger for the living word which will sustain them. They venture out into deserted places to listen to a voice that will give them hope. They sought healing and renewal of their spirits. What they had become used to no longer filled them and they desired a great depth of life to fill their hunger. This story was not about filling our physical hunger but our deeper need to find a life that will sustain us.

This is wherein the midst of what is considered essential to life we seek to find not just a way to occupy our time or earn a living wage important as these both are. Nor is it just appearing useful or worthy when many of the things that occupy us can appear wasteful. I believe it is at the heart of discovering our vocation that our life takes on a deeper meaning. I believe we seek to be drawn deeper into a relationship with God and each other which sustains our community. By discovering where God's spirit enables us to live for the good of others not just ourselves we discover the spirit which draws our lives together. We are called into a communion that is shared in the breaking of bread and the filling of our deeper hunger. 

Guidance rather than opinions

 We can feel like sheep with too many shepherds at times. Many peoples give us their opinions about the pandemic and the best way to respond. We seem to be scattered and isolated from each other in seeking to find good pastures. In Greater Sydney as in other parts of Australia, we are finding it difficult to make sense of a way out of this crisis. People seek to be vaccinated, get tested, and stay at home. We are called to do the "right thing" and I feel that the majority respond positively to the health restrictions and seek to safeguard each other. Yet it is at times like this when we seem to be in a valley of darkness that we are called to find the right path.

Like many, there is a limit to how many sitcoms you can watch before becoming dulled to a medium that seems banal. We can notice how our routines become affected by the daily bulletins which bring up fresh exposure sites and seem to further restrict our movements. We can become overwhelmed by facts and by seeking to comply with the daily updates. Our nerves can start to become frayed at the edges and we long for a time when the restrictions may end. We notice the many different opinions of people who stand on the sidelines shouting doom and gloom rather than providing hope and encouragement.

The question is how can we be a Christian community when we cannot  be in Churches to pray, support, and provide outreach to others. There is a limit to the watching of Mass over zoom which turns us into spectators rather than participants. I believe that this a time when we do need to find a creative response that does see how the Eucharist is at the centre of our life. There is a call placed on our hearts to engage in the prayer which deeply engages with the Word of Life. In many ways, I believe it is through engaging with the Liturgy of the Word on a daily basis and seek to find the word we are called to live each day. Undertaking Lectio Divina allows us to become soaked in the word spoken to us. To allow it to speak to our minds, our hearts and our bodies. It may be this way of prayer that can hold us together either as households or in personal sharing groups. I believe that such a practice will immerse more deeply in the Word and enrich our participation in the Mass. It will feed our souls and help us to be at home with God.

Out of these moments, we may also find the word that we are called to live for the day. Our attention is focused on words that bring life and guide us to a living of the good news even in times of darkness. It opens our hearts to new possibilities where we listen to what God is seeking in our own time.

On what do we rely?

 Each day seems to pose a fresh challenge in the time of the pandemic. We seek answers and certainty about our future while living in the stress of the moment. We listen to the current reality of a virus that seems to have taken on a life of its own and is highly infectious. We pay attention to health advice and seek to abide by the restrictions which it places upon us. There is a recognition that what confronts us directly impacts our care and concern for each other. What seems commonplace is being challenged as our hearts seek to reach out to comfort and support while our heads urge a natural caution which seeks to prevent further transmission. Yet what we seek to avoid is the fear which builds up social isolation and mutual distrust that raises barriers of support that squanders our commonwealth.

There can be an attitude that seeks to isolate us from the pain and suffering of others. We can start to value our own security and safety as being greater than our social responsibility for the welfare of others. There can be a sense of xenophobia born on the place of residence which can build not just physical barriers but also cultural and social barriers where none existed before. It seems that much of the understanding, cooperation, and mutual support seems to have been broken down over a very short period of time. Thus we are called to retreat into our own private castles rather than engage in the stream of life. We become more self-centred and parochial in our outlook where the world own exists in our own backyard.

The dangers become self-evident in those who foster this mutual distrust as it seeks to find a scapegoat who can bear the sins of another. We can start to fall for false prophecies of doom and death rather than a gospel that preaches compassion and love. I believe this is where Christian communities need to be aware of how we prepare ourselves to engage in a new reality that is good news to others and which is not just self-reliant. This calls for communities that seek to engage with the reality of preaching the Gospel among those who are being affected by the fallout of the pandemic. We need to address issues of mistrust, guilt and suspicion of others. There is a sense where we need to facilitate an inner strength that recognises both the reality of daily living but also a practical response. It calls us to be people who daily seek to be people of prayer and action, who reach out with what is needed for today. This may not be possible through physical contact but through the delivery of messages of hope which keep us connected. We are all in this together!

Struck with amazement or pondered with love

 There is a difference in our spiritual life between being amazed at the good actions of another and pondering how those actions may be absorbed into our own life. Often we can live our spiritual life vicariously through the life of another. We can notice how what they say affects what they do and what they do affects what they say. There is a sense of authenticity and depth to the person which deeply engages us. However, if we view their life as if we were a spectator in the stands we never into the field of play ourselves. We delegate the spiritual life to someone who appears holier or more authentic than ourselves.

Yet we see in the life of Paul a person who struggled with his own weakness but also engaged with the transforming power of Christ. There is a need to notice that God meets us even in our greatest sin. This is the reason why in our prayer we need to honesty and willing to surrender our whole life to God especially the areas in which we struggle. It would be so much easier to appear good rather than be good by allowing our life to be directed by the opinion of others. Yet our daily wisdom calls us to be open to God's grace which transforms our life.

In this way, we are called to be people who ponder the life of Christ on a daily basis. This is not just in the major events of life but in how we can be present to God's presence which is revealed to us. This is not just for us to be amazed by God's goodness and creative love but actually to be touched by God's heart. In this way, we notice a compassionate and merciful God who helps us to recognize the truth of who we are and what we are called to be. It allows us to be participants in a life of grace that keeps us faithful to the proclamation of the Gospel even through our own frailty. It bears witness to the reality that we are called to be loved into being.