Do you Love Me!

 The three questions that Jesus asks Peter illustrate the distinction between conditional and unconditional love. They help us understand the mission of God, which is to love each of us unconditionally and to respond to that call. This availability to engage in conversation daily lies at the heart of our prayer. It echoes the words that Jesus says, when he says that we need to love with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. This golden rule is called the core of the Easter journey. This is where we encounter the risen Christ in our daily lives and act accordingly, guided by our beliefs.

This is poignant as we gather to consider who will be our next Pope and reflect on the legacy of Pope Francis. We are called to be people of faith, hope and love. This is about entering into a dialogue that witnesses to how our prayer overflows into our daily activities. The prayer touches the heart of Jesus as we sit down and gaze upon him. The ability to take a long, loving look at the real world emboldens us to be people who are not passive recipients of grace, but fellow travellers. We are all pilgrims on the journey who seek to embody the life of God for others in all that we do.

Over the last nine days of mourning for Pope Francis we are challenged by many of the Saints that we have celebrated over the previous week: Saint Peter Chanel who carried the Word of God to Oceania; St Catherine of Siena who sought to depth the wells of salvation and challenged the Popes of her time to be faithful to their office; Pope Pius V who sought to bring unity in the Church, St Joseph the Worker who sought people to find their dignity in their work and St Athanasius who sought people to be united in the expression of their beliefs. As we pray for the Cardinals who enter the Conclave next Wednesday, 7th May, we hold them before God that they may be inspired to choose a person who, like Peter, listens to the Unconditional Love of Christ to serve and look after the flock.

My Lord and My God!

 As we enter the season of Easter, it is good to reflect on how we are present to the risen Christ. Lent prepares us for this time by helping us recognise what impedes our progress on the journey and where we become aware of our attachments. This is a time when we are called to surrender our lives to the leading of the Holy Spirit. There can be a sense in which we can feel depleted during this time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. This process of drying out is necessary in a similar way that green wood needs to be dried if it is to catch fire more easily.

This is where we find ourselves, especially as we ponder with the disciples what it means to meet the risen Christ. He appears in their midst and wishes peace upon them. He even gives them the power to forgive or retain sins. This is important as we celebrate the Feast of the Divine Mercy. This is not just about trusting that God can forgive sins, but also about allowing ourselves to be transformed into ambassadors of God's forgiving love. This is not just about saying sorry but seeking mercy, not sacrifice. We touch the wounded heart of Christ so that we can touch the wounds in others.

As we grieve the passing of Pope Francis, we are called to reflect on his legacy, but also on how we are called to be people of faith who reach out to the margins. This is where Thomas could be the apostle of our age. He seeks to see the wounds of Christ for himself and to touch them. We are part of a wounded Church and a wounded world. When we feel those wounds in faith, our eyes and our hearts are opened to an incarnate love that does not leave us orphaned. We are people who seek to discover the truth of the resurrection, not as something that we read about, but as an encounter with the Risen Christ. As we enter these nine days of mourning and prepare for the Conclave that will choose the next Pope, we are called to discover how we touch the wounds of Christ in our own lives. May they heal us that we too may say My Lord and My God!

God makes an election for us!

 During an election campaign, it is easy to miss the wood for the trees. We can be caught up with the various promises and policies that cascade upon us. We can become deaf to the voices we hear or at least tuned in only to what already reaffirms our beliefs. Yet amid all these different points of view, we need to be people who discern what God is saying to our hearts and minds. This is not just about deciding who to vote for, but who we seek to embody our voice in making decisions on our behalf. It calls us to know who the person is and not just what they can do for us. 

When we consider this in the light of Easter, we start to see that God makes an election for us. This is not just about winning us over to God's point of view but rather recognising what it is to give your life for another. On Holy Thursday, we witness a person who seeks to provide us with food for the journey. We are nourished by the person who breaks bread for us and seeks to share His whole self. In the Garden of Gethsemane, we start to see how the human and divine are united in the person of Jesus. He weeps blood for us as he seeks to passionately open up to all that needs to be reconciled within us. On Good Friday, we notice the depth of Jesus' love for us, where the focus is on the person willing to suffer for us and allow us to be healed by His wounds. These threefold elements of nourishment, forgiveness and healing are at the heart of our sacramental life. They embody our encounter with the person of Jesus, who is at the heart of the Paschal mystery.

As we ponder this in the silence of Holy Saturday, we anticipate a new way of living. We seek to discover how to be people who encounter the risen Christ. We no longer seek to live past glories but a present incarnation of Jesus Christ who seeks to accompany us along the way. This is the story of Easter, where Jesus meets us as we seek to live the mission of proclaiming his life to the world. This new reality guides our minds and hearts, where we discover that God makes an election for us!

Whose voice do we listen out for?

As we enter into Holy Week we accompany Jesus through his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, his arrest and condemnation, and his death on Calvary. What particularly strikes me about the way of the story unfolds how he is faithful to His relationship with God the Father and the mission to proclaim reconciliation, nourishment and healing. This touches into the mystery of the Paschal Mystery where we witness the depth of God's love for us that seeks to show that we have eternal worth.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus pray that all he has sought to teach and witness of the Father's love be united in the person he is. This wrestling of the human and the divine love is at the heart of the witness of every Christian. We want to undertake good works for the good of humanity but we also want to fall more deeply in love with God who recreates us each day. The scene that unfolds in the Garden is how Jesus unites the human and divine in the person he is called to be.

This is witnessed by how he seeks to nourish us through the Eucharist, where he heals us through his wounds and he seeks to reconcile us through his suffering. This constant witness of being nourished, healed and forgiven lies deep within His heart and unfolds in the midst of His Passion. We are privaleged to accompany Him on his journey where he bears witness to who we are and whose we are. In this unfolding drama we are called on mission to be people who nourish, heal and forgive others. 

What draws our attention

 Our attention can easily be swayed by memories of what has happened to us in the past, events that seem to be unfolding before our eyes, or the future that we hope for and pursue. What can elude us is how to be present in the moment without becoming trapped in a particular way of being. This can be so easy when we feel pressured by outside influences that seem to be beyond our control. There is the illusion that the urgent takes priority over the important, and we find ourselves overwhelmed. As we see Lent drawing to a close, this allows us to reevaluate what, or rather who, gives direction and purpose to our lives.

This means that we need to examine the past not to relive it but rather learn from how it has formed us into the person we are today. There can often be the temptation to wonder what would have happened if we had made different choices and how our lives may have unfolded. This pondering can produce a whole mixture of emotions, thoughts and memories. Yet, as Isaiah notes, learning to discover what sustains us and brings us life is important. This allows us to notice how we see the maps we have travelled and how we have arrived at who we are today.

At the moment, we can become aware of our own shortcomings. This can cause us to feel exposed and vulnerable when people notice our weaknesses and behaviour. This fear of being exposed to the opinion of others can cause us to withdraw from public view. The guilt and shame that can often hang over us like a dark cloud need to be viewed with the eyes of Jesus. He sees to the heart of our lives and our need for healing. He sees that each person needs to encounter the person of Jesus, who does not condemn us. In the sacrament of penance, we discover a God who can walk with us even when we feel heavily burdened.

This victory over sin and death helps us discover that Jesus does not abandon us to our own devices. He encourages us to keep pursuing the prize of eternal life. This is about looking towards a distant future and running with Jesus. We are called to discover God's pleasure when we notice the wind blowing through our hair. God encounters us daily in ways that nourish us and sustain us with hope.