Seeking what is good from our own storerooms

 The sudden changes that can happen over a week shift our focus dramatically from our own domestic concerns to the international stage. There is an urgency that can shift our attention from what is important in life. This does not neglect the impact of international events on our daily life but they can shift our attention from what is central to who we are called to become.

There is a need to notice how the fruit we produce is based on building up a store of goodness in the choices we make. The daily news cycle can focus on the evil intent of people's hearts and their consequent behavior. We notice too easily the sinful behavior of others rather than on the work that God entrusts to us each day.

What I believe is necessary is a renewed appreciation of how God works with us in our shortcomings and ways that we can build the resilience of the heart. This is not by burying our heads in the sand and ignoring the events around us but rather by seeking a reconciling spirit. The essence of which is to labor for the good of the whole community rather than stoking tensions that can threaten to tear us apart. It calls us to display the virtues of patience, honesty, and courage rather than hostility, anger, and vengeance.

The central question is that we need to decide what will help us to grow in virtue rather than stoking the inner critic which seeks to destroy us and the rest of humanity. We need to focus on the truth with a spirit of compassion and hope. Our prayer seeks to become a way of opening our hearts to others in a way that establishes a world that is not at war with itself. As Pope John Paul II said in Novo Millenio Ineunte 52 at the dawn of the Millenium to build a spirituality of communion rather than a spirit of individual success at the expense of the welfare of all. We seek to discover what unites and restores the dignity of the whole earth not just what claims the pieces that we claim as our own.

Be compassionate!

 At the heart of the Gospel, this weekend is the call to move deeper into the heart of God. This is to allow our vision to be adjusted to be in harmony with God's. Yet too often our living of the Christian life can be formed by comparison. There can be a temptation to divide the "good" from the "bad". Our religion and our spiritual life can become centered on what I need and what I have to give. The centre of the universe is based on myself and the temptation to draw others into an orbit around me. We do good to those who are good to others and there is an expectation that I should be loved on my own terms.

Yet the Gospel reorientates us and reminds us that the centre of gravity lies outside of us. We discover that God has already discovered us as lovable from the first moment of our creation. God notices fundamental goodness about us which needs to be valued and respected. Yet so often we can see this distorted by attitudes that judge, condemn, and do not forgive others for the wrongs or injustices we have experienced. This can be a daily reality when we focus solely on ourselves rather than on the context in which we are called to live. I find it too easy myself to narrow my vision onto what I see rather than adjust my heart to broaden my horizon.

This is not just about blindly rushing into activity but allowing God to direct our hearts for our good and the good of the other. A person's dignity is that they are created in the image and likeness of God. When this becomes foundational in our life we start to hear the Word become part of who we are; "Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge and you not be judged yourselves; do not condemn and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give and there will be gifts for you; a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back." Luke 6.36-38

Sinking our roots deep into the earth

 We seek to discover how God is at the heart of our lives. This means that God is not to be considered an abstract concept or a person far removed from our daily lives. This is the reality of the incarnation that God is creatively intertwined with how our lives unfold. We can see this in the reading from Jeremiah where we are encouraged to be people who sink our roots deep into the earth to find life-giving water. In such dry land as Australia, we have known both droughts and flooding rains. Yet we can be called to not be people who are blown around by every gust of wind but discover what truly brings us life.

Being present to each other in the person of Christ who seeks life, not death. In a world that is swayed by rumours of war, which has been ravaged by the effects of pandemics, shortages, and fear we can naturally become insulated and isolated from the needs of others. There can be a sense of self-preservation and even suspicion of others. We see this when people seek to distrust the very society of which they are part. Wild conspiracy ideas flood the internet and find too easy fertile ground in those who have been disadvantaged over the last few years. There can be a feeling that they have been abandoned and they wonder who they can trust.

Yet it is from this poverty, hunger, and sorrow that we turn to God with heart-filled hope. It is too easy to notice how we have placed our success in life on possessions, experiences, and on satisfaction. We are also aware of how much our opinions are swayed by opinion polls of what is acceptable rather than what is just. Each day we are called to sink our roots deep into the ground which provides life-giving water. Neither to be ravaged by our fears or by our anger. We are called to rest into God who helps us to bear good fruit in our current day. 

Who will be my messenger

 Each morning, noon, and evening we have become familiar with the daily news being broadcast at set times. I often awake to the music of the news on the radio which alerts me to pay attention to what is to follow. Yet we too often become familiar with bad news and its implications for our daily lives. I must admit I am a bit of a news junky! It is almost as though I thirst for this daily input and strive to be filled with something that does not quite seem to satisfy. There seems to be an almost continuous pursuit to seek something substantial and life-giving.

We become that as the news washing over us it tells a story of people who seem to be powerless to turn back the sands of time. We are all too aware of the issues of the world which can overwhelm us and can drag us down into the mire. It can create a climate within us in and within our community where we are too fearful to step outside our front door lest we confront the evils that overtake us. In our daily tasks, it seems as though we shrink the world into bite-size pieces which we can handle and can consume. Even when they seem stale and unappetizing. 

In the midst of these daily events we are not called to retreat behind the barricades but discover how we are called to witness to the life that God has prepared us for. The central belief is that even in those times when we feel that we might not be up to the task God can make us messengers of Good News. The constant challenge is to be people who are prayerfully aware that we can reflect on and change the environment in which we live. Our lives do make a difference because they encounter life as a graced meeting with God who transforms the ways we can be present. We seek what proclaims the truth of God's loving attention with a belief that we are not in this journey on our own. We encounter Christ as pilgrims along the way.