Marriage Equality and Relational Justice

The decision to legalize same sex marriage in Ireland has started to resound around the world and has reignited the discussion of marriage equality in Australia. Currently in the Marriage Act of 1961 marriage is defined as, “means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life”. What seems to be most at question is whether we are discussing marriage equality or relational justice? Equality of its essence means having similar status, rights opportunities as other citizens, justice on the other hand has elements of respect that each person should be treated the same. There is an equivalence to these two essentials to human life but they also have distinct differences. A person can be recognized as a person’s equal in their rights before the law but unequal in their opportunities to express that equality. Law of its essence can do so much, it can recognize inequality and seek to remedy it but it does not ensure justice. Justice is essentially an element of humanity which provides respect and dignity to the other.

What appears essential to this discussion is not only the equality and justice for the couple with same sex attraction but also the equality and justice for their children. We know of the difficulties that have been present in other marriages where the rights of parents need to be balanced with the rights of children. This is especially evident in cases of divorce and remarriage. There is also the need to balance the rights of the third party who either through surrogacy, fertility programs or adoption have rights which also need to be respected. What is evident is not only a spirit of equality between two people but also a spirit of justice. In all relationships, law can be a blunt instrument which can only state what it intends. What is needed is also a spirit of justice which seeks to balance these competing goods between all the parties to a marriage.

As Christians how can we value the dignity of sacramental marriage between a man and a woman which seeks to naturally preserve the good of the couple and the goods of children while also showing our respect to couples with same sex attraction? There are no easy answers to this question as it touches on belief, tradition and practice. Many of the images of marriage speak of the relationship between God and humanity. There is also an essence of the Trinity in which all relationships are called to be mutually faithful, creative and productive. A giving and receiving of one for the other. How can we preserve the dignity of sacramental marriage when it could potentially differ from marriage recognized by civil law? Can we live with difference and diversity? What impact would this have on how religious celebrants preside at marriages which are currently both civil and sacramental celebrations?

Called to walk with Jesus not work for him

I think sometimes in our ministry we can fill a little bit like Phil in Groundhog Day. We can seem to repeat the same day over and over again and seem to make little progress. We can often work hard in our parishes to make a difference to people’s lives. We are active in our schools, we celebrate the sacraments, and we seek to live the liturgical year. But are we caught up in a time loop which seems to keep bringing us back to the same starting point. There is a sense in which our lives can become if we let it to be an endless line of activities. In our own lives as Diocesan clergy it can be easy to see how we can be tempted to become managers of God’s graces rather than participants. We can start to care more about buildings and processes rather than about people. We can know more about policies than the Gospel. We can become more concerned about numbers rather than hidden wealth. We can speak from what others have told us rather than living it for ourselves.

Yet at the heart of our lives Jesus seeks to guide us to become closer to God the Father. He seeks to consecrate us by his word that we may live no longer for ourselves but for him. It is a deeper truth that seeks us out and seeks to enliven our lives. As Pope Francis said those given leadership in the church are not called to be managers but servants that imitate a Jesus who deprived himself of everything and "saved us with his mercy." In many ways he gives us the contrast presented in every life where, on the one hand each person can struggle to think only of himself and seeks to take advantage of his situation as opposed to the considering the needs of those around him and gives of himself. Pope Francis stresses that Christ the pastor is a thoughtful guide that participates in the life of his flock, not searching for other interests, not having other ambitions than those of guiding, feeding, protecting his sheep."

In our own life and ministry we are called to search for this deeper truth which will allow us to become people of mercy not sacrifice; to become people of Easter Sunday not Good Friday, to welcome people by discovering the one who welcomes us. Our pilgrimage of faith is one which seeks the truth of the matter that our lives have eternal value and in living from that truth we discover Jesus who calls us to walk with him not work for him.

Be a light for the world

At night time it is possible to ponder the stars and to be amazed by the immense beauty of creation. We can sit back and contemplate the light that is received. Yet scientists would tell us that this light that we see now actually puts us in touch with a history which has since passed, It is the paradox that we can present to a history which is alive and active in our present. This is actually the reality that we experience in the story of the ascension. It is a historical event which touches us deeply in the present. It would be easy to become paralyzed by this very realization much as the disciples were. They became present to the resurrected Christ but wanted to pin him down to a certain point in history whereas his mission was for all ages. The light he shines on the heart of creation reaches out to the cosmos. We are called to be in touch with his creative life which transforms our own. It calls us to become those pinpricks of light which are called to bring beauty and life to our world. We are called to radiate and magnify that life to others. We are called to be a people on mission who proclaim the Good News to our world by the lives we live.

We become what we love!

The Gospel message from this coming weekend talks to us about remaining in the Father's love. The reality of falling in love is one of the greatest dimensions of human life. It allows us to be fulfilled and creative at the same time. The importance of choosing how we love and whom we love marks out our existence as human beings. It allows to give expression to a deeper sense that we have been called into existence by somebody who has loved us into being. This weekend we give special recognition to our mothers who have carried us and walked with us. They have helped at the most intimate and fundamental part of our lives. They have helped to shape and form us into those early years of our life. The fact that we are here today allows us to give thanks for the lives that we can share with others.
Today we can give thanks for our mothers and our ability to shape the lives of others. They help us to understand more deeply the love of God which forms us to be people capable of loving others. As Christians we are called to be people who are shaped by that Word which creates and recreates us each day. May we follow that commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbour as our ourselves.

What would I love to spend my life doing?

We can never rest on our laurels! Where there is life there is growth! The main question in today’s gospel is not whether we will grow but how will we grow. What will our life be like? The essential question today is how will my life display God’s glory and beauty to the world? Will my life become fully alive with God’s dream for me?

We live in an age of self-made people. You can do anything if you set your mind to it! However, while there is a truth to this will it actually be the one thing that displays God’s life for you. Will it allow you to be truly free or a prisoner to experience? There is always a belief that we will have finally made it when we have achieved a certain goal or completed a certain project. But at the end of each goal there is a sense of achievement and disappointment. There is a satisfaction that something has been completed but also a wondering about whether this is all that life has to offer. When we invest our lives in a project we would want to make sure that it is one which still keeps giving life to us and to others on an ongoing basis. What would I love to spend my life doing? What will bring hope to others and to myself? What helps me most easily to see God’s beauty in the life I live?

Laying my life down for my friends!

Laying down my life for my friends! This Gospel talks about how we are called to present to others with the love of God. In a society which actually shapes the world in our own image and likeness we are called to delve deeper to find how God wishes to shape of world in his image and likeness. There is a need to discover the bedrock that can sustain others with life and hope. God does not call us to be superhuman but fully human. This is the call which is placed on each human heart to be present to to each other as we can. Often we can think or feel that God's call is beyond us or demands too much off us. In fact it is far simpler and more direct than we can imagine. It calls us to be our best self in relationship with God and with each other. It calls us to offer the whole of ourselves and hold nothing back. Our lives are called to be given away for the good of others. The paradox is that as we give our lives away we have more life to give. We become the person we can be. We can become saints. May we discover this day what it is that will bring life and hope to the another person. 

Am I just imagining this?

How do we meet Jesus in these days of the resurrection? Often there can be a sense in which these days have a sense of unreality. After all the build up to Easter Sunday there can be a natural sense of asking what is next? The disciples had a similar view. They knew Jesus during his life and ministry and had witnessed the passion. What did they need to do now? Easter is a time in which we are called to allow Jesus to find us and reveal himself to us so that we may bear witness to his presence to the world. How can we do this?

I think there are four simple ways. The first is to become silent in our prayer. We need to spend as much time listening and waiting as we do talking. The conversation has to be two way. The second is to become people who reflect and meditate upon scripture. We need to allow the word to find a home in us. The third way is to become conscious of those graced moments in which God does become present to us in our daily lives. The moments where we can give thanks for the action of God in our lives. Lastly, we need to encourage each other to witness how we see God at work in each other’s lives and how they help us to build up a vibrant faith filled community. 

Seeing is believing

Seeing is believing. We live in a very visual world. Our access to situations around the world can both strengthen and challenge our humanity. It allows us a medium in which we can connect almost instantly with people all around the world. This instant communication challenges us to respond to situations with the same speed. However, what we view can help determine the world we live in. There are so many choices that we can find ourselves connected solely with people as the same interest as us. We become selective in what we view and who we connect with. There is also an element in which the visual reality can determine what we consider to be true. If we have not seen it we may believe it has not happened or that it does not have an immediate effect upon us.

Thomas has the same dilemma he wants to see and experience what other people have told him about. There is a desire to believe but he wants concrete proof. When he sees and experiences the presence of Jesus his life is transformed. The same can be said of our own life when we see people who help us to encounter the person of Jesus by what they say and do. They help us to engage in a reality greater than ourselves. The challenge of Easter is to help us encounter the person of Jesus in our daily live. This encounter will always transform us and help us believe that he is truly risen!

Sugar Hit

We all know the dangers of taking too much sugar all at once. There is a sense in which we can gain a sudden burst of energy and then exhaustion quickly follows. After a long period of fasting and abstinence there can be a sense in which we have run a marathon of 40 days and then can see the sudden burst to the finish line as our goal. It is almost all the preparation and training for Easter is all exhausted in one day. However, Easter is not just a flash in the pan: here today and gone tomorrow. In fact Easter lasts for 50 days! It is a time in which we allow Jesus to find us and lead us closer to the Father. While the season of Lent is more about looking at what prevents from seeing God at work in our lives, Easter is more about allowing ourselves to be more open to God's promptings. It is a time when we are called to be open to God's spirit working in and through us. This culminates at Pentecost where God sends his spirit upon the disciples. This is not just a private gift reserved to the lucky few, it is a commissioning to live that life of grace for others. During the Season of Easter we need to be open to the gifts of living this grace for others. We are called to be disciples who walk with Jesus. To be more comfortable with the life entrusted to us as members of a Christian community. Each person has gifts given them for the good of others. 

Going along with the crowd

All of us want to be cheering for the same team or at least be on the winning side. There is a sense where a sporting event, a concert or even an election can engage us completely in the moment. Something happens on these occasions which connects us not only to each other but also to a deeper sense of what it means to be alive. We want to be present and experience what is going on and to be changed by that occasion.
The question, however, are we there as spectators or participants, as tourist or as pilgrims? An experience can be life changing if draws us into a place where we can reflect upon it more deeply. No longer is it just something that just happened but it calls us to live differently now. This is how we are called to move into Holy Week. We can become aware that in many ways that this is a time of awful injustice, cruelty and torture. We can observe how the crowds, the authorities and even his own disciples abandon Jesus and the time of his greatest need. But this is more than just a human reality. It calls us to ponder on how God's love transforms this event rather than just be amazed by it. We are called to relate deeply with the person of Jesus whose life, death and resurrection reaches out to us. It changes us from the inside out. It allows us to encounter, struggle and become in communion with the God who walks with us even in our darkest night!

How will my life bear fruit?

Unless a grain of wheat dies it remains only a single grain. This is one of the constant dilemmas of modern life how do I gain what I want without losing what I already have. There is a sense in which we are told we can have it all without making a commitment to something or someone. The central question in the midst of competing demands is whom would I want to risk everything for? Jesus is struggling with this question as he knows people are attracted to his life and ministry. Yet he is not sure whether it is because of who he is or what he does that attracts them. It is probably easier to describe a person by what they do rather than who they are. We watch a person’s actions as articulating a sense of what they truly value. Yet this is what Jesus’ tries to draw the disciple’s attention towards. It is not the miracles that make the difference to a person’s life even when they can restore a person to health, it is being drawn into a living relationship with God that makes the difference to how a person views the world and lives in it.

Our surrender to God’s loving presence makes all the difference. Yet we are reluctant to surrender ourselves to God because we fear that we will lose control over our lives and direction. Yet the very act of surrendering to God’s loving guidance actually involves us more in discovering our own hidden potential to bring life to others. This is certainly the experience of the saints. When they lost everything they gained everything and their lives burst open in joy towards God. This is not about working harder or longer but discovering that God’s wisdom and love at the centre of our living can be the most life giving thing we can help us to be present to others. What seems like a waste of time can be our most productive moment. It is important to discover that God seeks only the best for us which is when our lives bear fruit.

What bites us will heal us!

What bites you will heal you. This principle is often used in medicine to help the immune system trigger a response in the body to fight against the very thing which threatens to kill it. There is something counterintuitive about this because are natural instinct is to run away from that which will threaten to kill or destroy us. We become fearful of the things which seem to threaten our existence be they on the land or in the sea. We are familiar with stories about snake bites and shark attacks. Yet the main question is how we live in a land where we know that this is part of our natural fauna. How do we protect ourselves from that which can threaten to destroy us?

This is the question which Jesus puts in the scriptures when he talks about examining the things in life that can destroy our relationships with God and with each other. Last weekend this was examined in the light of the Ten Commandments and the actions which can undermine these relationships and make them toxic. Today’s Gospel is about bringing these actions into the light so that we can grow in our relationship with God. However, there can be a natural resistance to do this for fear that in exposing the sin we expose something of our own vulnerability and frailty. The fear is that if we acknowledge that which has damaged our relationships we will further damage ourselves.

The truth is that if we do not acknowledge the evils present in our society and the fact that they exist we cannot find remedies for these evils. Surely this is true in the stories we have read about over these weeks of Lent: the pleas for clemency for those convicted of drug trafficking, the need to face the reality of domestic violence, the dangers of homelessness, the effects of PTSD on troops returning home from active service and also the issues of child abuse within institutions. The acknowledgement that these things happen is the first step in seeking healing for people who have been bitten by these evils. By acknowledging the truth and bringing it light we discover it will not destroy us but it will provide healing to some of our most vulnerable people.

3rd Sunday of Lent

Touching on the sacred is at the heart of today’s Gospel. There is a need for people to encounter the living presence of God directly. The turning over of the tables in the temple is one of the most dramatic events in Jesus’ ministry and can be easily misunderstood. There is a sense in which the mediation between God and humanity had become distorted. More attention was spent on the transaction which exchanged a secular currency for a sacred currency in which sacrifice could be offered. Like any transaction there was an ability for people to make a profit at the expense of those who could least afford it. This exploitation of a person’s desire to enter into a wholesome and holy relationship with God was at the centre of these ritual practices. There was a sense in which the ritual practice kept God at arm’s length. Jesus recognized the importance of offering these sacrifices but also wanted people to enter into the relationship with God which was personal, intimate and life changing. Jesus wanted to say it was by offering himself that he opened a door to the sacred presence of God which others could follow. He was seeking to be the atonement which could make peace between people by offering what we could not do on our own. He was calling people to be at one with God.

In our lives we know this can be seeing in many aspects of life. There can be a sense in which people can make money out of what appear arcane areas of knowledge. It is one of the great challenges of our modern age for most professions. The introduction of the internet has made medical, business, academic and political knowledge more widely available. No longer can people be guardians of this knowledge because it can become available through a computer program or on google. There can be a similar recognition that the door to the sacred is wider now that it has ever been. Many people can offer their own interpretation or insight into the divine presence. In such an age there can be elements of truth which are present in what people write and say. But it can be confusing and people can be pulled in many different ways at once. There can even be a sense that when someone seeks to speak with authority on a certain topic and especially about God it can be treated with immediate skepticism.

How, therefore, are we called to discern where God’s spirit is leading us?

The first question is what do we consider to be our sacred space? This may well be a Church or a chapel but it could also be the place where we find ourselves able to open our hearts to God. It is important that this does not become too cluttered or complex. It should be able to be a place where we can be open to God and where we can be still.

The second question is how do we see ourselves as sacred space? This allows us the opportunity to understand that we are a temple of God’s Holy Spirit. We need to find a time when we can be open to God and a posture which allows us to be present. This may be sitting, kneeling, standing, lying face down or walking. We are human and we pray with the whole body.

The third question is how do we enter into the sacred space? The form of prayer can be as different as personalities. Some find an image can be helpful, others that a piece of scripture can lead them deeper, or even gazing upon a beautiful part of nature. Still others need to shut their eyes and come to a place of silence with a prayer word.

Having considered these questions we need to understand that we are entering into a relationship with the divine. It is important that we do not have preconceptions of what may happen but God we always open is heart to us which are consistent with scripture and with previous generations. God may not say much but he will always seek to bring life out of death, light out of darkness and hope out of despair.

2nd Sunday of Lent

Mount Arbel overlooks the Sea of Galilee and on a good day gives views to Mount Hermon and the Golan Heights. The view is not only spectacular but it is also a difficult mountain to climb. It allows people a way of overseeing the world and experiencing a moment when you can be close to God. In addition to this experience I have also climbed to the top of Mount Kosciusko. The journey up by the cable chair for a person does not like heights was not too traumatic. You face into the hill and it does not look too far to fall. On the way back you have a view which takes in the whole of the valley. Just as we took off from the top of the station the chair behind us stuck and we suspended between the edge of the ramp from which we had departed and were swinging back and forth between heaven and earth. There was a sense of fear that we could be here all day before the chair started again. What seemed like eternity was probably only a minute! I think we can grasp how Peter, James and John may have felt when they seemed to be so close to heaven!

Today’s Gospel allows to touch that eternal moment

                When Jesus is seen as the completion of the Law and the Prophets

                When the voice in the cloud speaks of him as a beloved son of God

                That we are called to listen to him.

In reading scripture we can often become confused by the many stories that we read and believe that the story of the original testament is different from that of the new. However, what the story of the transfiguration tells us is that there is a continuity of life and faith in God. What Jesus draws us to is an understanding of the heart of God who always reaches out to people. There is a divine will for us to encounter God.

The encounter with God on the mountain can often frighten us because it can seem that in an instant our life is placed in a new context. We can be unsure what to do next and where to turn we can fall back on activity to distract us from this fundamental relationship. The journey down the mountain is probably just as difficult if not more difficult because everything else seems to pale in significance compared to this experience. Also Jesus talks about his dying and rising. This can seem deeply confusing but we know that this is the mystery of the life we live. When we experience this reality for ourselves we start to discover that death is not the end that we thought it would be. There is a mystery of life that continues and draws us together. We see this not only in the many charities that make sense of people’s deaths but also the ability to rebuild after disaster. There is a sense that the transfiguration helps to recognize the God who does not abandon us but calls us to a deeper sense of the paschal mystery present in everyday life.

Receiving the message

In our modern age there is often much angst about communication. When we have multiple means of staying in touch via Email, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Websites, Radio and TV it is a struggle to see whether it the problem is actually with the amount of communication channels as the ability to receive the message. I think this is part of the struggle that we face in our current age, it is not that people are not trying to communicate but that too much information comes our way and we start to filter out what we do not think is immediately relevant to us. Our lives become ruled by sound bites or by other peoples opinions. There is a need to discover how we process the information that is relevant to us without becoming overwhelmed and being isolated in our own private realm. There is a need to listen to what is important rather than what seems most urgent. We need to be a people who pray and open our hearts to the people around us. I think the problem with the information we receive is not that it is broadcast but often we fear that it will pull us in too many directions at once. Often we can blame the people who produce the information for not providing us with a way through the forest of opinion that has grown about us. How can we stay in touch and not be overwhelmed. I think that at the end of each day we need to look back at what brought us life and hope. What led us away from our central mission and reason for being. What can we do tomorrow to bring us back. I believe that this examen prayer becomes more vital each day to allow us to listen to the voice of God which is spoken to us each day and whose message we need to receive.

1st Sunday of Lent

In Odette Churchill’s book based on her experience of the concentration camp at Ravensbrook reflects on how the presence of evil so present in war can infect those people who survive the war. She likens it to a parasite which can infest the person who seeks to destroy its host. It transfers from one to the other.

These sobering words always remain with me when I reflect on my own life. It is easy to see how the evil of another can lead you to respond to the person in kind. Evil can breed evil. Often when we confront this reality in our own hearts it can deeply disturb us. First, that we have discovered these tendencies inside ourselves but also to how we seek to resolve them.

This is at the heart of what we discover in the Gospel today.

                Two things are present:

                                The wild beasts that threaten to tear us apart

                                The angels sent to tend us.

We need to recognize the two realities which Jesus talks about when he goes into Galilee preaching repentance and believe in the Gospel.

It recognizes that unresolved sin can tear us and our community apart but also he recognizes this is not undertaking simply by a solitary gritting of teeth and facing the problem ourselves. It is an opening of our hearts and minds to a God who reconciles and forgives.

We know only too well when we face these temptations. It is almost like a beast seeks to devour us and have us for supper. It can consume all our thinking and actions. It can drive us in directions where our lives seem out of control.

These is one of the reasons why the three disciplines of prayer, fasting and alms giving our so valuable. It allows us time to spend with God to get our hearts and minds straight. It allows us to acknowledge the desires or appetites that can consume us and lastly it allows us to see how our lives can be open to the needs of others.

By this threefold discipline we can bring ourselves before God in reconciliation both acknowledging the difficulties we live with and also seeking healing. The two go together to help us live Christian lives for our own good and the good of our community.

Snowing in Israel

It is snowing in Israel

Putting aside some time to be with God allows us to centre our world and all our activities. Often the scariest part of beginning a journey is the first step. We can have an understanding of the destination and the path we are going to take. This is often part of our planning if only to know that we have a calendar or map which can chart our activities. However, while we can chart out our journey we need to engage with the reality of what it means to follow through step by step. There can be a temptation to keep looking at the calendar or map if only to make sure we are on course. However, if the map or the calendar become our reality we miss being in the present moment. Maps and calendars can assist us but should never dictate to us what is going to happen. The Lenten journey is becoming aware of what is happening within and around us. Coming closer to God opens not only our eyes and ears but also our hearts. May this Lenten season help you to discover a God who is passionate about you!

Preparing for Lent

I will be revisiting my experience of the spiritual exercises in my preparation for Easter. I believe the important thing about Lent is that it is not an endurance test but a way of helping us to encounter God. The essential ways of doing this are very traditional but also very profound. We are called to pray, fast, and give alms. These are not simply external actions they are called to flow from our own encounter with God. How we imagine God to be will shape these three actions. We are called to encounter God as God  is. This encounter needs to be honest and it calls us to reflect on how our lives seek to respond to God. Our prayer, therefore, needs to come before God as we are not as we think we should be. There is no point in putting masks on before God. We need to be honest and true about where we are up to in our lives. I hope that during this Lenten Season I may be able to share some of the ways that I have prayed that help me to take off those masks.
We also need to recognize those things that draw us into the light. Too often we can lives which are not reflective, where we just move from pillar to post. The call for fasting helps us to recognize those things or activities which do not bring life to others. It calls us to be people who are able to acknowledge the things that we do that can lead to dead ends and which lessen our ability to understand how God is present in all things.

Lastly, we are called to be people who do not live lives which are directed solely to our own interests. We are called to be people who share lives for the good of others. We are called to be people who live out the commandment to love God with all our hearts, mind, soul and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. We are called to be people who share our lives for the good of others. Always remember that Lent is not a solitary activity it is part of the mission of the Church. We are called to travel together.

Landing

Difficulty in landing in bad weather