Given more than enough

 

Would we set out to do our shopping without money in our pockets or at least our cards. There are almost daily reports of a cost-of-living crisis where people seek to make ends meet. The demands on the household budget where people seek to meet their immediate needs while also living a fulfilled life. This is where the readings for this weekend look at how meeting these pressures can leave us in a lonely place seeking to find a deeper purpose for our lives.

What do we seek when we come to Mass? The Gospel for this weekend points to coming to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. In our daily lives we can be crowded with people and events. Jesus gathers us so that we can be healed, forgiven and nourished. Spending time to be present to God and to each other can sustain us for the following week. Mass is the source and summit of our lives. We often come with what appears to not enough to feed us, we come with “five loaves and two fish”. This is the title of a book by Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen van Thuan who spent 13 years in prison, 9 of those in solitary confinement. It was in that lonely place that we celebrated Mass on his own and was found to convert the guards who were placed to keep an eye on him. Do we allow Jesus to meet us even in the empty space within us that only God can fill?

This is where the prophet Isaiah can help us to seek God even when we seem to be running on empty. He is asking to look to what can nourish our hunger and satisfy our thirst. He says, “listen, listen to me and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy.” What he says to us today are very simple but profound moments that help us to satisfy our deepest need.

He says pay attention. This is more than just pricking our ears up, but it is a way of being present to what motivates us in life. We need to leave aside some things that are undone so that we can attend to God. This means that we need to reorientate our lives and come to God even amid lives that can be occupied with many things. We need to find space in our lives where we can be alone with God. This may be in Church, in our homes or out on a daily walk praying the rosary. We need this time where we can listen to God meeting us in our daily lives. This is what will enliven our souls and enrich our days.

This encouragement comes from St Paul’s letter to the Romans, where he says, “Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ” Nothing can come between us even though the worries and practical circumstances of our lives seem to close in around us. He adds, by emphasis that there is no power or situation that come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, as we come to the Eucharist today sometimes, we can be focused on what has brought us here or what we need to do next. Yet here in this place Jesus meets us and sustains us. When the gifts of bread and wine are brought to the altar maybe add your own silent prayer. Jesus has brought us together to feed and nourish us. What seems so little feeds many in super abundance. The Eucharistic miracle that we are present to each Sunday is not just to feed ourselves but to feed our world. This may seem incredible, but God calls us together to receive the gift of our lives, to bless us, to break open our hearts and to share what we receive for the good of the world. Where does God entrust us with this simple mission of praising his name forever?

 

How do we discern between good and evil?

 

How do we discern between good and evil? This was the request of Solomon when he was entrusted with the leadership of the people.

As we look back over the last three weeks we can start to notice three things.

That God still seeks to scatter the Word of God among us. This scattering is not just a random gesture but a genuine desire that this Word will bear fruit within us. We are told that three things prevent it from taking root. The first is that we only hear the word pass us by. It is just one word among many words, and we find that it can quickly vanish. The second is that we have an experiential response where we become excited by what we hear but then we move on to another experience and then another. Nothing can seem to satisfy us. The third is that we can have this long list of things that we have to attend to that we have no time to sit with the word.
It takes time and patience to provide us with the opportunity to be touched by the word of God. We need to make appointments with God and ourselves to be present and to turn up.

Last week we heard how easy it is for us when we have taken the time to pray and start to live the Gospel that we find that we live in an age that does not want to listen and reflect. We become moved by opinions and ways of living that seem to be at odds with what we hear. This can be distressing because it is easier to be caught up with the mob than discover our own calling to live the Gospel. The temptation is always to notice what is fashionable, powerful and relevant so that we can fit in.

This week we start to notice how the parables that Jesus teaches look to our own foundations. He talks about a pearl of great price and field with a precious treasure. What he is drawing us to consider is what is our own worth in the eyes of God. This is where we can discover how we are created in the image and likeness of God. Where we can become people who discern what is the next good thing that we must do.

The practice of meditating upon scripture allows us not just to hear the Word of God but to listen to it penetrating our own hearts. This encounter with God is not just words written on a page but on our lives. By chewing over the Word not just during our prayer but we discover that it can touch the context and environment in which we live. By allowing it to add savour to our day we can start to notice what we need to attend to and what we can let go. The Word of God is alive and active and as we have heard before it does not return to God without achieving its purpose.

St Paul stresses this in his letter to the Romans where he says, “we know that turning everything to good God cooperates with all those that he has called according to his purpose.”

As Christians we are called not only to encounter the person of Jesus but to notice how he accompanies us to become people who seek God. This is through our celebration of the Word of God and Sacraments. In meeting him we are drawn to a deeper communion. To find a God who sustains us and encourages us to find what truly brings life. We discover a wisdom that is ever ancient and ever new. Where will we find time over this week to listen to God’s Word and allow it to sustain us during the day?

In our own age where do we go seeking to find life?

 

We celebrated the Feast of St James on 25^th July. This is the person who was the first apostle to be martyred for the faith. He was taken by legend by two of his disciples and buried in a field in Northern Spain. In 823 a peaceful hermit, known as Pelayo, lived in his house in the Forest of Libredón. In the evenings, mysterious lights, coming from the forest, began to capture his attention. Surprised at the strange radiances, Pelayo decided to share his restlessness with Teodomiro, the Bishop of Iria Flavia, at that time. Both men came to the place where the flashes came from and discovered the Marmárea Ark, which was buried. So, the lights were interpreted as divine signs.

Inside it, rested three bodies. They were quickly attributed to Santiago the Apostle and the two disciples, Anastasio and Teodoro who guarded his remains until their death. The bishop immediately informed the King in those years, Alfonso II, of the surprising discovery. It was this discovery that initiated this place of St James Tomb as a pilgrimage place that is now known as Santiago de Compostella, or literally St James in the field of stars.

So why do millions of pilgrimages journey to Santiago in our day. This has become popular since Pope Pius XI and later Pope Pius XII saw it as an important place of pilgrimage for our modern age as it sought to reunite Europe after the ravages of war. Many movements that were birthed at that time took up the challenge to provide leadership to the Christian World including Cursillo, Opus Dei and the Neo Catechumenal way. But it recognised how the Christian faith was born at a time where destructive conflict had been ever present in people’s lives. There was a call to find a new way that sought to look deeply within their own hearts for a rule of life that could sustain them in a world that sought to rebuild hope. This includes such movements as Taizé, Focolare and Young Christian Workers among many others.

There was a desire to find life that allowed people to build on solid foundations.

In the gospel today we hear the same movement arising in people’s hearts the seeker, the finding, the joy and the seeking to invest everything in this treasure. In our own age this goes against the smorgasbord approach to life that seeks to find a little bit of goodness in everything.

We are called to develop a discerning spirit as we have heard over the last week that seeks to find good seed in our lives. It is where we are called to listen to the voice of God in scripture, in our sacramental celebrations and in our daily lives. Father Brendan Byrne SJ notes that in The First Reading, 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12, “comes in here in the sense that what Solomon prayed for – and received – was a discerning heart, a heart that, amid all the wealth and opportunity with which he was surrounded, could tell what was of true and lasting value.”

As Father Brendan Byrne SJ comments: “The two brief parables encapsulate the essence of Christian spirituality. Christian life requires a measure of detachment. It requires freedom from being completely absorbed and immersed in the attractions, pleasures and concerns of this world – not because these are bad in themselves but because we have been 'captured' by a sense of God’s love and God’s future for us that relativises all these things and puts them in their place. We do not yet possess the treasure but the prospect of it, unseen but grasped in faith, is already working transformation.”

So, in our own age where do we go seeking to find life? What will sustain us in on journey of faith? Who do we discover that will help us discover the kingdom of God that is ever ancient and ever new?

We stand against violence and hatred, but we should not become violence and hatred

 Over the last week it has been possible to witness the things that can divide us.  It has also drawn much commentary which seeks to understand what is happening and the potential fallout for the rest of the world. During the week I have been revisiting my reflection on Jacques Philippe’s book on the Beatitudes, The Eight Doors. In it, he talks about when choosing a response between force and love we should always choose love. This is not because we are doormats but because we seek to recognise the dignity of each person and it is only by loving what we consider unlovable that we can restore and reconcile the other. As we know hate breeds hate and violence breeds violence. As Odette Churchill noted after her incarceration at Ravensbrook it is easy to see how the parasite of evil can transfer between hosts to infect the whole world. While we are called to stand against violence and hatred, we should not become violence and hatred.

The three parables for this weekend start with the words the Kingdom of God is like. This continues to draw on the image of the Sower that we heard from last week but also shows the reality of how an enemy will sow darnel in the field. This is often the contradiction that we see in our world today where people are quick to sow the words of hatred, suspicion, and division. Words that seek peace, hope and charity are often lost in the crowd. This is where we need to have a discerning heart because the voice of Jesus and the voice of the enemy can seem similar but are distinct.

The word of Jesus will show itself in the fruits it produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control whereas the fruits of the evil one lead hatred, despair, conflict, impatience, cruelty, malice, betrayal, lack of self-restraint and harshness. When we become aware of these conflicting voices in our lives there is a tendency to try and root them out. Yet it is through faithful listening that God is present and helps us to recognise the different voices. We are called to follow the voice of Jesus who will bring us to life and live it to the full.

As St Paul says to the Romans the Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. Our prayer is not about finding the right words but a heartfelt desire to encounter the mind and heart of God. We see this in the Gospel that even the smallest act of kindness can provide shelter and comfort to others and can provide the leaven that produce a way of being present for the good of others.

How then can we live Christian lives in times of uncertainty and fear? It is easy to see how we can be caught up in a polemic which only increases tensions and divides people one against another. It can be seen too easily in racism, nationalism or sexism. The ability to take sides seems to be somehow too easy. Rather than seek to build bridges it is easier to build walls. These shuts people out not just in manmade structures but also in the barbed wire we wind around our hearts which stop others from coming too close.

So, when we look at the readings for this weekend there is a sense of a search that distinguishes power and authority. Wisdom helps us to witness how God’s Holy Spirit guides us to make good choices not just for ourselves but for the common good. A virtuous person seeks to discover an equanimity that seeks to grow in a healthy and lifegiving relationship with another person. What we see is not an attitude of retribution that seeks to judge or harshness on the other person. Rather it seeks to face the truth with faith, hope and love. In this way we do not allow one evil to breed new evils.

The Word does not return empty without achieving its purpose.

 

God seems to be a carefree gardener some might even verge on saying he is careless where the seed is thrown or even wasteful. This is not how we are taught to approach projects in our own gardens or in farming some land. The focus is on producing something that is useful or beautiful. We start to plant with the hope that we give the best opportunity for something to benefit others and ourselves.

Jesus uses parables that help us to notice where God speaks to us in our daily lives. The parable of the Sower of the seed is no different. The Word of God is called to take root in our lives. Lectio Divina helps us to notice how the Word needs to take root in our lives. This way of prayer allows for a gentle repetition where we are called to first notice what calls us to raise questions about where that Word touches our lives. When we repeat it for the second time, we can start to notice how the Word touches our hearts and helps us to listen with our hearts. When we repeat for the third time, we start to notice what nourishes us and feels like real food, by taking the Word into our daily lives we can start to have something that can sustain us through the day. By gentle repetition we become aware of what allows to provide good soil in which the Word can take root.

Yet in Isaiah we hear that the word from my mouth does not return to me empty without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do. This can change our perspective from looking solely at ourselves towards what the Word of God seeks to achieve. If it falls on the path birds are fed, if it lands in little soil it can hold tenaciously before final wilting for lack of nutrients, if it falls in the brambles it seeks to compete for the attention it deserves and if it lands in good soil, it can flourish and grow.

This echoes of the words of St Paul to the Romans. “It was not any fault on the part of creation that it was made unable to attain its purpose, it was made so by God; but creation still remains the hope of being freed, like us from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same freedom and glory as the children of God.”  There is a tension in listening to the Word that it seeks to bring about what it is sent to achieve.

So, in the heart of the teaching that the disciples are contained in the following phrases.

·      You will listen and listen again, but not understand

·      See and see again but not perceive

·      For the heart of this nation has grown course,

·      Their ears are dull of hearing

·      And they have shut their eyes, for fear they should see with their eyes

·      Hear with their ears

·      Understood with their hearts

·      And be converted and healed by me

This is where we seek to allow the Word of God to be heard and lived in our lives. We need to notice where the Word of God can flow off us like Teflon. The Word can be carried away by another stray thought of something that seems more urgent. There are times when the Word gives us temporary consolation but then drifts away like the mist. Then there can be many things that can keep us busy during the day that rob us of our freedom. Yet the practice of Lectio Divina can stay with us throughout the day. When we notice those moments that rob us of peace we can gently focus back on the Word or phrase that we have received for the day. And at the end of the day give thanks for the fruits it has produced in our lives. The Word of God does not return empty without achieving its purpose.

Sharing our stories

 

A little child is always open to the other person they encounter, especially their parents who have loved them into life. For the Parents, their lives are filled with joy and hope with their little child. We witness this in the dedication that are placed on the child who can for the first few years becomes the focus of the parents’ life. Children often teach their parents how to be good parents. This can be assisted by the teaching of others, but it is the day-to-day contact with each other that bonds them together. We pray that the yoke is easy and the burden is light!

As we celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday, we can learn how to be a still presence in this land. In his address to First Nations People in Alice Springs in 1986, Saint Pope John Paul II said “The silence of the bush taught you a quietness of soul that put you in touch with another world, the world of God’s spirit. Your careful attention to the details of kinship spoke of your reverence for birth, life and human generation. You knew that children needed to be loved, to be full of joy. They need a time to grow in laughter and to play, secure in the knowledge that they belong to their people”. We become part of the story as we see our lives interwoven with their own.  

Pope John Paul went on to say, “The Church herself in Australia will not be fully the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others. Christian people seek to be people of hope and joy. Remember always the simple joy of the little child, remember Jesus Christ bears the same yoke guiding us to opening our hearts rejoicing in the gift of the ancient cultures and traditions that have shaped our land and country for more than 60,000 years. Our country will become a nation of hope and light in the world that is in desperate need of peace. This is a peace that is not just an absence of conflict but an abiding presence of God that dwell deep within.

Echoing the words of Zechariah in Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo says in section 222, “The people of the world desire peace, and to their leaders I appeal with all my heart: Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate! War is never inevitable, Weapons can and must be silenced, for they do not resolve problems but only increase them. Those who make history are the peacemakers, not those who sow seeds of suffering.” In St Matthews Gospel, we notice this call for peace and humility is taken up by Jesus in revealing the truths of resolving conflict are often found in the youngest members of our community. To learn to trust another is to know them by knowing ourselves. This way of knowing is deeply intuitive and helps us to be at one with each other.

This is where we need to learn peace rather than live at a pace that is often driven by the circumstances of life. To discover a humility that reaches out with a gentleness that does not overburden us but gives us rest.  By learning to nurture our spiritual self we discover how we can be of service to our sisters and brothers. To be able to sit down and share our stories.