Even in the darkest night God's light will shine

 Our prayer at times of trial can be particularly problematic as we can feel that God has abandoned us. A reaction can grow in the pit of our stomach, engulfing us with fear and trepidation that we must have done something wrong. This anxious sense can flood us with stories that can overflow into our minds and our hearts. We become nervous and flighty jumping at ghosts and becoming overwhelmed by the circumstances we are in. This is more than just a reaction to an external threat but rather our vulnerability to the picture that we paint.

Often this emerges in those restless nights when we toss and turn worried about how we will chart a safe course. Even when sleep seems to come we become besieged by strange dreams and phantoms that break like waves upon us. They capture us in bizarre movies and scripts that try to make sense out of nonsense. Sometimes they are so vivid that they wake us in fright and bathe us in sweat. They seem to be more real than reality itself.

Yet amid these stormy thoughts, we can become awakened to a God who calms the seas around us. There is an acknowledgment that this is where faith is born. The realization that God is with us even in our darkest night. By abandoning ourselves in trust to God's embrace we discover a God who as Theresa or Avila says writes straight with crooked lines!

The smallest seed!

 Often we are impressed by grand visions and measurable results. The Olympics usually carry this motto: faster, higher, stronger. We wonder if there is no limit to human endeavor and achievement. Yet for many of us, we sit back and marvel at the accomplishments of others so that we can speculate what impact we have on the world. The daily task of investing our time and talents in a particular project seems to be less noteworthy and remarkable. They don't grab the headlines and often seem to be taken for granted. Yet we are called to be present to God in planting seeds that can grow in ways that are not directly within our control but can be life-changing for others.

The parable of the mustard seed that Jesus tells seeks us to notice how we are called to be constantly planting seeds. Modern agriculture has discovered many ways to provide the best environment for a seed to grow and for it to achieve the best yield. The consequence of this persistent resolve of farmers and scientists is to act for the greater good of others and for the best care of the environment. We all benefit from their diligent work and for their faithfulness especially when we work with the vagaries of changes in the climate. They help us to see how the simple task of turning up each day makes a difference for a whole community.

I believe that our own persistence is similar to that of our Olympians in training and for those who work on the land. We are called to be faithful to our own talents entrusted to us by God. We are called to invest our gifts in good soil so that they can benefit the whole community. Each day the planting of these seeds bears a crop that benefits others not just ourselves. 

Why do I do what I do?

 Reflecting on the Gospel last weekend we can often feel that we have to justify what we do according to other people's perceptions. The passage from last Sunday brings this into sharp relief. Some believe that Jesus performs his miracles because he is in league with the devil and his own family who believe he is out of his mind! Mark does not hold back this sharp relief as they seek to portray who Jesus is based on their own perceptions rather than a personal encounter.  This is often contained in the metaphor that you can tell a book by its cover but in an age of marketing, we know this is not true. Often people seek to draw on our vulnerabilities by selling us on how our own inner struggles can be fixed by adopting a particular stance on life.

Yet Jesus challenges us to some deep inner work that seeks out what brings life and what holds our attention. This means that we need to avoid hiding our inner life away from God. We need to become accustomed to hearing God's voice when he walks through our garden. God seeks us out but we often fear our own nakedness and what to put on our best clothes that hide who we really are. We seek as Paul says to the Corinthians for those things that appear invisible. This internal search is not just to remove ourselves from the world but to seek how even when we are troubled, afraid or ashamed a person regards us as brother, sister and mother.

This is at the heart of the incarnational love of Jesus we do not need to wait to have our life in perfect order. In fact, Jesus meets us even when can be perceived as too busy to eat or care for ourselves because we seek to bring healing and relief to others. This is where we need to be transparent with God and ourselves about who we are and whose we are. This allows us time to focus on what is important so that we discover the will of God that wells up inside us. The sacred space where God is at the heart of all things.

Invited to the table

 Having just completed the Walk with Christ event in Sydney yesterday it gave me time to ponder how we are all called to become pilgrims. What stood out for me is how reverently people participated in this event and how it became a time of prayer where we stood in communion with each other. Archbishop Anthony Fisher spoke the following words that witness to how the Eucharist is central to our Catholic Faith.

"Communion with God and each other is not achieved by force of arms, by walking the corridors of power or wealth, by utilising spinners and influencers, by synods, negotiations or other human efforts. To unite us as His company or communion, Jesus gives us His substance in “Holy Communion”.

In 2022 the Plenary Council of Australia reaffirmed “the pre-eminent role of liturgical worship in the life of the Church” and pointed out that “our communal worship witnesses to unity and hope in a fractured world increasingly hostile to public acknowledgement of God”. Today you have very publicly acknowledged God. Today you have witnessed to unity and hope. The Plenary Council thought the time was ripe for “renewal in catechesis, formation and devotion to this Sacrament”. To that end, it reverberated our request and that of the Bishops Conference to the Holy Father “that the 2028 International Eucharistic Congress take place in Australia.”

This would allow for “a time of prayerful preparation for the People of God”. But how are we to prepare? The Plenary Council called on dioceses to “commit to planning and promoting communal public events that focus on the Eucharist, in service of forming Catholic belief, culture and identity. These might include feast day celebrations, Eucharistic processions and adoration, and the development and performance of music well-suited to worship.” Today, my dear friends, you have done as the Council asked and helped prepare this city and country for that event we devoutly hope Pope Francis will grant us in 2028.

My dear people, you have just proclaimed to our city the gift of redemption in Christ Jesus. Not through robust argument, clever rhetoric or special effects, but simply by Walking With Christ whom you love. You have formed a chavurah, a minyan, a communion, not of ten but more like ten thousand! Like a priest calling down the Spirit upon the elements of bread and wine to change them into Christ’s Body and Blood, you have exercised your priestly power as the baptised to call the Spirit down upon this city to change it into God’s kingdom. That His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as in heaven, you brought Sydney our daily Bread, the Bread of Life. You proclaimed that Christ lives in our city, our communities, our hearts. He has given us His all, His very Body and Blood, all His substance and reality, all His spirit and grace, so no one would be left behind. Give Him your all in return!"(https://www.sydneycatholic.org/addresses-and-statements/2024/ferverino-for-benediction-after-walk-with-christ-3/)