Lord Jesus Christ, Have mercy on me a sinner

There can be times when we can treat our prayer as though it was a frequent flyers card. We can see it as clocking up prayer miles rather than strengthening of a relationship with God. This is evident about this weekend’s gospel which compares the Pharisee with the publican. The Pharisee basically lists out a whole list of activities he has undertaken to live a faithful life but he misses out on one essential element, being receptive to the merciful heart of God. The Publican, on the other hand, puts no claims on God but simply presents himself as a person in deep need of God’s mercy. In many ways, he is no different to all of us. None of us can make claims on God to love us more or less. God simply reaches out to embrace and love us. On our part, we just need to be present to that love, which can engage us far more than we imagine or think that we deserve. This is not about making ourselves right in the sight of God but echoing the words of what has been commonly known as the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner”. 

Be persistent and consistent!

Do we find God or does God find us? This is often the dilemma which can confront us when we seek to live our faith in the world, do we reach out to God or does God reach out to us? Living a faithful life is not beyond our reach. It does call us, however, to be consistent and persistent in being open to the promptings of God. Ultimately, this is about becoming a person who is present to the promptings of God. It calls us to become the message we seek to proclaim. We become a living word formed by God. Our lives are called to be sacramental in the way we encounter Jesus Christ in each other. The same reverence we show to Jesus in the reception of the sacraments is called to also be present in the way we receive and listen to others. It also calls us to recognise the importance of scripture as the Living Word. This is not just an add-on to our sacramental encounter with the person of Jesus Christ. When we listen to scripture we learn how to be guided in our lives to become holy and to avoid what diminishes us. This is why we should be as hungry to listen to the Word as we are to receive Eucharist. At the heart of the prayer of the people gathered is the need to listen to that Word and to allow it to be received and proclaimed by our lives.

Open our hearts to gratitude

God listens to our prayers not as a disinterested observer but as an active participant in our lives. He seeks what is for our good and what is within our reach. The lepers who approach Jesus are given a simple instruction to go and present themselves to the priest. In this turning around of their lives, they discover healing. However, healing is never just for the person concerned but for the community of which they are a part. Often the healing is twofold it is not only a physical healing but also a social healing, The people who were held at arm's length and excluded from the community were brought back into communion. The same is true of us we are called to be people who are able to welcome back those who have experienced exclusion. There is also a sense of gratitude in the person for this healing which is not an artificial response but a heartfelt liberation of the person to give praise to God. In this way, we do not treat God like a slot machine or an atm. God calls us into a living relationship which liberates us to praise him with our lives.

All called to the table in faith

Often we have a belief that our faith is always dependent on what we do rather than on how we respond. There can be a tendency in which we put God to the test by believing that if we only had something more or were given a deeper insight that everything would fall our way. We can live as though God was not already present to us and our needs. If only we were able to discover the magic formula, the right words or the right actions we would be able to bend God to our every whim and desire. Yet the call is already placed on our hearts inviting us to serve at the table. This is not as the Gospel seems to imply that our lives are simply hard work and that God is a hard task master. It is rather a faithful listening to the voice of God which invites us to be present to what we can do and not what we can’t. The invitation is to see God in our everyday lives inviting us to the table of thanksgiving. By offering what we have rather than what we don’t, we allow God to bless the work we do perform with a sense of thanksgiving and generosity. God gives us the ability to respond in faith with our lives

God calls us out of our cocoons!

There are times when it is possible to cocoon ourselves away from the problems of the world. Our daily exposure can numb our sensitivity to others in great need. Even when they are on our doorstep we can pretend to ignore them or dismiss them as someone else's concern. We can tend to shrink our world to what interests us or offends us. Even worse we can try to move the offence from our sight by isolating the poor and people not like us from our consciousness. We can seek their removal from our communities just so that we can have a quiet life. There is a sense of the diabolic which sense the demons at war in our world but not within ourselves. Yet Jesus uses the story of the rich man and Lazarus to challenge us to a sense of solidarity with every person and especially with those living in poverty. He calls us to recognize our common humanity and that our Christian spirituality is deeply incarnate. Our call to justice is not just about doing good for others but seeking to live in a way which makes room for others to be at home with us so that we can be at home with them. 

Being faithful in small things

There can be times when our lives are driven by how much we earn and the bills we have to pay. This can cause anxiety for people especially when there seems to be more money going out than coming in. In an age of easy credit and the ability to respond instantly to purchase something off the television, the internet or even tap and go it is possible to quickly find ourselves trapped into patterns of behaviour which we would prefer to be free from. We do not simply work to pay bills. We are called to discover something which brings substance and meaning to our lives. When our lives become driven by something beyond our grasp or our decisions are based solely on what they cost we lose sight of the treasure that lives deep within and what truly brings value. The gospel calls us to reflect on this, we are called to be people who discern what God is calling us to and then see what is necessary to reach that end. When we allow money to be the sole determiner of what is good and worthwhile we lose a sense of ourselves and our calling to be formed into the image and likeness of God. We are called to use money not money using us!

God never abandons searching us out!

What consumes our time and energy shape our lives. When we lose something we tend to spend our time thinking about it and seeking it out. It can become all consuming and exclude every other activity. Accompanying this search are our feelings of guilt and loss. How could we have lost it in the first place? Where have I been where I might have lost it? Will my life ever be the same without it? Often these feelings accompany our ownership to material things but probably, more importantly, how we use these things to relate to others.
The search for the lost sheep and the lost coin, however, translates this into our search for God or rather God's search for us. There can be  times when we can feel lost or abandoned by God. There can be a sense that we want God to find us but we cannot stop running or be being concerned about many things. God can become squeezed out little by little that we do not notice the absence until we encounter a deep emptiness inside which no material thing, no activity or project can fill. We can no longer be distracted from becoming present to the God who dwells within. The Good News is that God never abandons searching us out and leading us back to the place where we can celebrate our lives with joy!

What do we actually possess?

Every spring is an opportunity to review what is important in our lives and to empty out our closets. It may be that the lengthening of the days or the change in the way that the light is present to us that we are called to see things differently. This taking stock allows us to discover what truly brings us joy and what burdens we carry. This is not just about material things which can clutter up our lives but also those attitudes which hold us back. Fundamentally it calls us to reflect on what draws us to the light and what drives us away from that light? How are we called to live in the light of the Gospel and the dream that God has for us? This is not by making us in our own image and likeness but allowing God to mould us into what we are truly called to be. This is not solely our own work but our cooperation with God who seeks to create through us more than we can ask or imagine. It calls all of us to discover what truly brings life to us and our communities. 

Playing games with God

The Eucharist is at the centre of our lives who seek to enter into a relationship with Jesus. This is not just simply a matter of receiving him in communion but by becoming what we receive. This is not just a reward for the good but a way in which we are called to come alive in Jesus. His flesh and blood is called to course through our veins. This is where we can struggle to be ourselves. We often think that either we have to be someone else or that we are not worthy of such a gift. We can start to play games with God. We can try to hide from this gift, we can walk away from what is on offer or we can pretend that we do not need this gift. Even when we are present to God in the Eucharist we can tend to distance ourselves from what is offered to us. We tend to sit at the back of churches for fear that the relationship may become too real or too demanding. We arrive just in time and leave as soon as we can. Yet if our Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives it calls all people to a deepening relationship with God and each other. It calls us to see Jesus not only in ourselves but also those who seem to be far away from Christ. Eucharist changes the way we see life and how we are called to live. No longer is it centred solely on what we want but on what God desires for us: to be in communion with God and with each other.

What is God's dream for us?

How do we open our hearts to Jesus? One of the questions that I often wrestle with is how do I help Jesus to know me? There can be a tendency to work hard at doing the things that Jesus did but without a personal relationship with the person who is at the heart of the work. It is why our faith is sacramental, it engages both our bodies and our spirits. There is an importance in recognising that our work as Christians flows from this living relationship with Jesus. Too often we think that it is by working harder that we draw closer to Jesus. The truth is that it is when that we draw close to Jesus that our work has purpose and thinking.

This relationship is called to be intentional where we set aside regular times to be present to Jesus in prayer. This calls us to establish a routine where we join with each other at Mass but also discovering where we can present to Jesus in our own prayer time. There is also a call to act in a way which lives out of that prayer in way we are present to others and how our actions cooperate with the charism entrusted to us for the whole of the community. By discovering how God is present to us in our prayer and in our reflective action we discover where we find life. By living our lives to the full we discover a God who sustains us and works with us. The place where we are known by God and can cooperate with God’s dream for us.

God will wake you up not put you to sleep!

The Gospel is a living word which is called to wake us up not put us to sleep! We live in such a literate age that often reading can become solely a way of receiving information or opinions. The words become shifted and reshaped until they suit us rather than what the author intended. However, the living Word of Jesus is called to strike our hearts, wake us up and set us on fire with God’s dream for us rather than our dream for God. This can often be deeply disturbing because it stirs up old certainties on which we have relied to give us meaning. God does not want to limit our vision but expands it beyond ourselves. If our God is there solely to make us comfortable, peaceful and relaxed we will cocoon ourselves in our own private world. Yet God calls us persistently and insistently into a relationship which is great than our own needs to discover a deeper longing which cannot be bought and sold.

In our own world, we can often rely on things that substitute for this living relationship with God. We can start to manufacture our own idols which we worship but leave us feeling empty and alone. God does not want us to experience this destitution or poverty of heart but to discover what truly brings life to our world. We have never been abandoned by God but he does want us to wake up from our own dreams and to live his dream for us.

Like a thief in the night

At times we can become fearful of people breaking into our homes. Initially, we put locks on the doors, then alarms and finally maybe even video cameras. We want to ensure that what we own is not taken from us and that we want to make sure that our life is secure. However, we are aware that in many cases these are only deterrents. If a person is determined enough they will find a way in. This sense of invasion can bring with it a sense not only of intrusion but also that the place we call home has been violated by the presence of another.

Yet this is the image that the Gospel presents to us. That God will come like a thief in the night and break in at a time not of our own planning. This sense of intrusion into the normal events of daily life can deeply disturb and unsettle us. It may be something that we had not planned to happen and at times we feel incredibly vulnerable. Yet the Gospel calls us to stay awake and alert to these times when God may break through our hard built defences. This is an intrusion which is not called to rob us of something but rather to show how much we are loved and known by God. The preparation for these times is not difficult. We need to be people of prayer who listen for his voice. In our prayers, in scripture and in our daily life. By sitting and waiting on the Lord we become more awake and aware of how God may already be present. The places where God has taken residence in the home of our hearts.

Where our treasure is our heart will be also.

I am a bit of a bibliophile. I love books. Part of the desire is to look for what makes sense of the world and to make connections. In looking for patterns and what fits I find myself in an ongoing search for what is real and lasting. However, at times I also need to remember that books are a way of engaging with the thinking of others and to have conversations with them but they are not an end in themselves. They are a way of assisting us to learn about life but they are not a replacement for engaging with what sustains life.

It is the same with many things which can become a security for us, whether it is money, possessions, the work we engage with, relationships or our favourite hobby. These are all important ways of seeking to find meaning in life but they do not substitute for what lies at the heart of life. We are called to seek a relationship which lies at the heart of all relationships. We are called to be people of prayer who prayerfully engage with our world. This is a call to be attentive and present. To listen for what is important for this day and this moment. It calls us to be real and in tune with the heart of God who seeks us out. In discovering what is real we find what is the treasure which sustains us.

God love us as much as we love our worst enemy.

The most challenging of prayers is the one that we say each day. The Our Father calls us to come together with a common desire to discover a relationship which lies at the heart of all relationships. It seeks to draw us into a life which gives meaning to our own. It is a way of being present to the world as God recreates it and not as we would have it. The desire is not to possess others but to be open to the creative spirit which always seeks life, not death.
In our own hearts, we can become so fearful of what may happen in the future that we are no longer present to this moment and this day. It calls us also to remember how our lives can be drawn into past hurts which we can carry with us. The heart of this prayer is not that we force ourselves to forgive but that we experience the love of God in the places where we most struggle to forgive. This allows us to be open to a graced life which is not of our own making or achieved through our own efforts. When we experience those hurtful memories or feelings it is good to ask God to transform us with life-giving words.  We are called to live life differently from a place where God meets us at our deepest need so that we can reach out to others with compassion and grace.

We are more than what we do

There is a saying that if you want something done ask a busy person. However, this can be a double-edged sword because a person who is busy may find it difficult to reflect on what occupies their time and whether it gives full expression to who they are called to be. Unrelenting activity is not healthy for any person and at times can actually lead them away from the very person they want to be. They start to identify more with what they do rather than who they are called to be. An unreflective life calls us to be caught up in the winds beyond our control rather than harnessing those winds to give direction and purpose to our lives.

The Gospel of Martha and Mary is often presented as a contrast between the contemplative and active life. However, what seems to be stressed is the importance of the one thing that gives our lives direction and meaning. Mary in listening to Jesus is not finding a way out of work but rather a way of being present to the work she may be called upon to perform. Her life discovers meaning in listening to and becoming familiar with the voice of Jesus. So too for us, our lives are not necessarily solely about what we do but how we are present to what we are doing. By listening to the voice of Jesus we find what brings us life so that we can bring life to all that we do.

Living from a compassionate heart

Our lives can at times be so focused and busy that the rest of the world can fade into the background. The priorities we set ourselves can be moved by what we consider the most urgent and worthy of our time. We become preoccupied with what is happening next that we forget to live in the present. Our lives become controlled by things that have not yet happened that we do not see the people we encounter along the way. The story of the good Samaritan touches into the heart of living of the present moment and encountering God in the life of another. This recognizes that our faith is not just about getting things right and living according to the law but discovering the creative power of God which reaches out to all people in all situations. In fact, the story of the Good Samaritan shows us it is the heart which moves us to make the right move at the right time. It is mercy, that produces good law and good action. It unites us in concern for those in greatest need. In living from the compassionate heart of Jesus we live those powerful words, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself." A fountain welling up to eternity.

God makes an election for us

When we reflect on where God is present to us in lives we often look at whether people make us welcome or unwelcome by the way they treat us and choose to be present to us. The Gospel is not simply about being nice to others but considering what is fundamentally important to us. This will probably play out in our hearts and minds as we examine the results of votes taken both in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Spain. Each seems to deliver more uncertainty and answer a particular question but not the fundamental question of how we are called to be present to others. They can reframe reality but they do not change who we are called to be.

What is considered important is to remember that God makes an election for us. “Peace to this house” and if a person of peace lives there it will be accepted and if not then the peace will come back to you This changes in how we are called to become aware of God’s spirit at work in us and within our communities. What brings us consolation rather than desolation. This view strongly echoed in the Gospel is that we take hospitality both in what we have to offer and in what we have to receive. We can be a leaven within our community which seeks to become aware of how in working for peace and in offering hospitality to all, we encounter that God’s kingdom is very close to us.

Do we seek the common good or our own interest?

Do we seek the common good or our own interest? We are often called to consider what is our next step in life and we have to consider this central question. What seems to be of immediate benefit to me and what is the best way of living my life. It is the difference between the urgent and the important. We know that there can be many things that press in upon us and demand our attention. These can at times seem to overwhelm us and consume our energy.

However what acts as the foundation of our lives can be the touchstone of who were are called to be. As Pedro Arrupe SJ reflects in Finding God in All Things: A Marquette Prayer Book published in 2009 by Marquette University Press:

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”

Who do you say I am?

We do not enter into a relationship with Jesus as a theoretical concept or as an idealised person. The encounter with Jesus draws out what is best in us. It calls us to ask questions of who we believe him to be. He encounters each person as they are, not as they think we should be for him. This encounter can be life changing because it starts to recognise that we do not have to measure up to an arbitrary standard of behaviour before he will love us. He loves us so that we can discover what will bring hope and life to our hearts so that we can share it with others. This often means allowing him to struggle with us against believing the world revolves around me to discovering that our lives are called to be centred on God. This loving surrender to his guidance can often feel like losing the things we hold on too tightly to a discovery of what we can truly value. Our way of life is one of constant surrender to a life which is held lightly and not grasped as our own possession. In discovering this freedom we enter into a deeper communion with God and with each other. This is not done by comparison with each other but a willingness to companion each other on the road.

Jesus makes us uncomfortable so that we can discover a living relationship with God

There is a story of an alcoholic who was well known in town. People would make fun of him and talk behind his back. Occasionally he would try to go dry but this would make people uncomfortable because he would no longer be the butt of their jokes. Then he would fall back into old ways and people would be happy to talk about him again. We know that the 12 steps program helps people to find ways of living with their own weakness and vulnerability. But an important part of the program is a friend and mentor who walks with them. This person can be like Jesus to them as they do not put on airs and graces but love the person as they are not as we would have them be.

This is precisely the situation that we read in the gospel for this weekend. We can become comfortable with another person’s sin because it stops us from reflecting on our own. We can start to become proportional in our approach to God when we start to say that at least we are not as bad as another person. Yet Jesus does not look at our sins but how he has the greater gift of inviting us into a living relationship with God. This is about responding in faith to God’s love which is abundant. By discovering that we are loved by God our hearts are enlarged so that we can love others and walk with them.

What can make us whole?

A sudden and unexpected loss can devastate the life of a family and a community. We see this not only in the history of our own families and communities but also in the life of many people around the world. This loss come about through the effects of nature, through the actions of people or simply through our own mortality. This trauma and ruction in the fabric of what appears normal can cause as to ask questions of ourselves and our society. How do we stand by those in great need? How do we find life in the midst of what seeks to bring about destruction and death? What can we do differently to address those forces which we know can wreak such havoc?

Jesus is not immune to such events in his own life and in the life of the communities in which he walked. He did not seek to add moral judgement to these circumstances but sought to respond to the immediate need of the person. By seeking compassion and mercy as the touchstone of our Christian lives we can start to see our own response to such events. We are called to see the person first and respond to them with concern for what will make them whole.

Taken, blessed, broken and shared

When a person receives the Body and Blood of Christ in communion this is more than just mere food. There is a profound link with the person of Jesus. His life and memories start to be blended with our own. The importance of this communion is not just a spiritual reality but a physical one. We are linked into the heart of the Trinity and into the midst of his living Body, the Church. This communion recognises that our humanity and the sharing of life with each other is the visible sign of an invisible reality. We become one with each other in the person of Christ.

As Christians this becomes a reality in the way our lives are taken, blessed, broken and shared. Our life is never just our own and our mission is never just to be in a solitary relationship with God. The communion recognises that we are bound to each other to live the Good News of Jesus Christ through our faithful pilgrimage with each other. This is truly food for the journey. A food which nourishes both body and soul. We are that living memory that Jesus walks with us and shares his life with us.

Encountering God in the divine dance of creation

In a time of scientific enquiry, we become use to the advances which are made by understanding the data we can collect about the environment in which we live and the way we can influence it for the good of all. This dynamic flow of discovery and application allow us to grow both as individuals and communities. Trinity Sunday allows us to discover that this dynamic flow of creation is at the heart of all creation. Our understanding of God as Trinity can often cause some confusion. But I think that the idea of God as the dance, the dancer and the dancing engages with the dynamic and creative power we witness in the universe. God can never be analysed at just one moment of time or in one movement over time. There is a deeply engage life of God which seeks to engage us in a divine relationship which captures all three aspects of God which acknowledge a trinity of persons, as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This seeks to understand a God who is ever new and ever creative; a God who seeks to draw us into relationship, and who gives gifts which make it possible to experience God’s life giving potential in our own time and place. We celebrate that our lives are caught up in this divine economy of love and life in which nothing is lost and which seeks all for the good of all.

The transforming power of God

We are called and gifted to understand how God entrusts us with charisms for the good of the whole community. At Pentecost, we recognize both the affective and effective ways of being a disciple. The gifts of the Holy Spirit entrusted to us at Pentecost allow us the opportunity to grow in a personal relationship with God through wisdom, understanding, counsel, internal resilience, knowledge, piety, and reverence. This would be seen as the personal desire of God to know us from the inside out. However, as disciples of Jesus, we are also entrusted with gifts for the good of the whole community which are not solely for our own good but which help to build people up in faith. They help us to acknowledge that each of us is part of a community for its good and never just our own. The signs of a charism are that it has a timeless quality which feels like prayer when we are living it out, it has an ability to respond to the deep seated need of another and it produces grace-filled fruits which are never just the result of hard work. By allowing God to work through us we experience a prayer which draws us into action and an action which becomes our prayer. 

Transformed from the inside out

Our lives will always witness to what we consider of true value. What are we prepared to let go of to discover our own mission? This is not meant to alienate us from our community or from ourselves but to ask, how does my life become a catalyst for change? This is not a change which diminishes our humanity, but it is a journey of discovery which allows us to be most ourselves. This is not a call to just observe life but rather a call to participate in the heart of life. It calls us to discover how our lives witness what we truly value and consider of greatest worth. What brings the greatest glory to God in the way we live and act? Our lives are never just our own. They have an ability not only to inform others or to form them in ways of being present to God. Ultimately, they call for a deep intuitive sense that we are transformed from the inside out. That we become truly ourselves when our interior lives match our exterior actions. Each person is called to be a witness of faith to others by the life they live. Listen to how God calls you to bring the good news of his life and forgiveness to others.