Will we touch the wound that heals us?

The reality of Easter is that Jesus enters into our deepest wound by touching what hurts us the most. This is at the heart of forgiveness and calls us, to be honest to ourselves and to God. Often we can shy away from this area because we are too vulnerable and believe our humanity is at most risk. When the wound is touched, it brings forth a whole heap of deep-seated emotions of anger, disgust, fear and loathing. There is a sense in which we stand naked before God and that nothing can hide us from this rawness and these feelings, that we have somehow been complicit in being wounded. Yet it is when we touch the wounds of Christ, when we acknowledge our fundamental distrust, that anything can change, that our act of forgiveness moves beyond mere words. It is a reality which strikes us at the core of our being which causes us to become people who are freed from the sin that binds us and holds us prisoner to our own thoughts and suspicions. Only when we come to this place can we ever experience healing which calls us to become disciples, not from the moments when we are totally in control, but from the times when we have been most deeply wounded. Will we accept Jesus’ invitation to touch that wound?

Where heaven meets earth

Are we missing the point? Lent calls us to encounter the person of Jesus in the journey of our lives. It recognizes that our faith only makes sense if we move beyond our initial impressions of Jesus into a life and death struggle with God. Unless he meets us where we are, our faith is always read in a text book or learnt by rote. This deeply personal encounter is mediated through the sacramental life of the Catholic community. We encounter the risen Christ through the sacraments which capture the place where heaven meets earth in our humanity. We are nourished, healed and forgiven; we are caught up in a life which is not our own. It calls us to become disciples who proclaim the Good News that death is not the answer but how we live is the constant question. The resurrection of Jesus Christ comes at a time not of our choosing but as a response to our deepest desire. This is why the Paschal Mystery which we celebrate over the three days of Easter is at the centre of our Christian life and the centre of our faith. It asks three fundamental questions: What are we prepared to live for? Who are we prepared to die for? How do we share what we have received with others?

Transforming suffering through the life of one person!

There is a growing indifference to faith when it does not provide the instant sugar hit or the answer that we have chosen as the solution to our problems. We want a faith which is powerful, spectacular and relevant. Something that will change the government of nations, entertain our inner poverty and provide proven results. Instead we receive a person who seems broken, powerless and irrelevant. Jesus does not match our model of a Saviour. He seems too human against the tide which has turned against him. He makes no answer to the accusations flung against him. He gradually takes all the insults, hatred and violence into himself. The journey to the cross seems to be another failed mission, an admission that nothing will or can change, and the inability of humanity to believe in anything but itself. We have seen this played out in Lent not only in our own prayers, but also in our community and in our Church. Everything seems to be more Good Friday than Easter Sunday. There seems to be more suffering, hurt, anger and hatred. Yet as we approach this Holy Week, it is a time to turn in silence and to wait. This is never easy in a world which wants to distract us from poverty and pain. Which seeks us to dance when we should be mourning. Which seeks to find answers for ourselves rather than living with the question. Who can bring us life and why do we follow him?

What would you do to save a person’s life?

What would you do to save a person’s life?

The story today can see played out in many forms in media but also in small town gossip. A person may not be stoned but they can be ostracized, isolated and demonized. Their actions can be seen as the sum of the person. Worse still there can be a disassociation where the person is treated as a non-person. After a person is dehumanized it is possible to hurl abuse at them and essentially sentence them to death in our minds and hearts.

The gospel writer highlights this by not naming the woman at the centre of today’s drama nor does he name members of the crowd. Essentially, the story involves both but points at an essential difference. Jesus does not hold our actions against us nor condemn us for our sins. He waits, he listens, he understands. He recognizes that conversion only happens when a person knows that they have no one else to turn too, when forgiveness is not conditioned by what other people think or how other people behave but from a life giving encounter with a person who loves them unconditionally.

It also points to sin not as a thing which lives outside a person or a disease which can be easily eradicated if only we had the right medicine. The story of the conversion deals with a person accepted totally for who they are. The story of conversion does not mean that a person will not sin in the future but their reason for sin is lessened. There are no short cuts to God. Reconciliation is not simply a rubbish bin where you get rid of the bits you don’t like. It is taking on the mantle of God’s love and mercy which changes not only how we act, but also how we think and how we are called to relate to God. Reconciliation changes everything. It calls us to be transformed from the inside out.

Some of you may not have been to reconciliation for months or years. There may be a feeling that you have not committed any mortals or that God understands our failings. This is a true to a point but all our sacraments call us to a point of conversion. They call us to be people who are transformed into God’s image and likeness. You do not need to come to reconciliation with a whole shopping trolley of sins trying to pick the best ones out. It is more about saying that Jesus calls us to become people of mercy, who want their minds and hearts enlarged. None of us are too old or too young to become disciples who carry that mission of mercy into our world. If we reduce the sacraments to ourselves only rather than as opportunities to become one with Christ, then we miss the point.

Jesus calls us to become truly one with God so that we can be transformed. When we see the world and God only about ourselves then we live a privatized faith and a privatized religion. God asks us to be a missionary disciple who through our own conversion become authentic witnesses to what we believe, not because someone has told us, not because we have read it somewhere, but because it becomes life and bread from us at the core of who we are. We are loved and forgiven so that we can be missionaries of God’s love and forgiveness for our world.

Everybodies life matters!

This weekend we have the distressing scene of the woman who is dragged before a crowd who want to stone her. It is more distressing not because of the accusations that are hurled against her but that she is being used to bring accusations against the person of Jesus. She is simply seen as a means to an end. Yet in the face of torrents of abuse, Jesus simply bends down and writes on the ground. Many people have speculated about what he wrote. I guess we will never know. However, when he straightens up he asks the person without sin to cast the first stone and then bends down again. The people accusing the woman drop their stones starting with the eldest and walk away. Eventually, all the accusers have left the scene and Jesus is left alone with the woman. He asks if any of those who accused her remain. She states that none are there. He then says go and sin no more.

 What is essential to this gospel passage is that we are not brought to the point of conversion by coercion, abuse or gossip. The only way to experience that conversion is to encounter love in the person of God. It is only in the realization that we are loved by God that hearts can change. This is at the centre of Gospel it is not by pointing the finger but in liberating the person from their slavery that lives can change. What enslaves us from living a life which God desires for us? What assists us to love others who are struggling with an addiction to sin?

Building bridges not walls

Sometimes our reflection on life can hold God at arm’s length. We try to relate to God as other and more than ourselves. This can objectivize our relationship with God into the third person. I am me and God is God. However, this way of relating to God puts a distance between us which cannot be easily bridged. This weekend’s Gospel of the Forgiving Father displays the closeness of God to each one of us. The younger son takes the gift of God’s grace as his own possession while the elder son takes the gift of God’s grace as a reward for his work. Both fall short of what is on offer which is the free and unconditional love of God which sees all as beloved.

The central part of the Gospel is how we seek to enter into discussions which build bridges and not walls between each other. It is easy to recognize difference but it takes a forgiving heart to be present to a person as they are and not how we perceive them to be. God seeks to move our conversations beyond ourselves into actions which reconcile, heal and strengthen our relationship with God and each other. It is never just about ourselves but how our relationships display God’s love and mercy. How does my life centre on God’s offer to bridge the gap and how do I seek to bridge the gap with others?

Do what we can do not what we can't

When we see the storms that hit Fiji we can often feel connected and at the same time remote from the disaster. Unless we personally know somebody who lives there, if we have visited Fiji or have some association with the islands we can feel both concerned and distant. This contradiction can disturb us because we want to help and almost feel powerless at the same time. However, each person is created for God’s mission to immerse ourselves in the day to day life and not to become remote from it. We are called to search for the freedom inside themselves which is convicted of God’s joy and life. It calls us to reach out to human beings out of respect and friendship confident that God’s love is displayed in how we become present to the normal events of daily life. Essentially what makes us human and Christian enables us to live out our vocation. This is not only as a person loved by God but as a person who is able to help transform our world and be a messenger of God’s grace. We are called to do what we can, not what we can’t.

Ultimately, it is not by self-perfection that we encounter God. Christianity is not another self-help program. It is a relationship which enables us to become transformed by God’s loving mercy. Thus it is an integration of our whole life which is expressed whenever we gather to celebrate Eucharist. God calls together not people who have made it, but people on the journey.

How does God call me to be present to others this week?

What is God revealing to me about my own life?

What is being transformed in my community by God’s grace?

Do we shape the world or does the world shape us?

The context in which we live does shape our world. Our perceptions of how the world is can influence how we respond to others, where we invest our time and what we consider important.  What attracts our attention will influence what we do and what we seek to be. We only have to consider our news programs and note the ordering of what we view: current events, business, sport and weather. It is good to stay informed but as Christians we are called to view our world through a different lens. All of these things can have an impact on our lives but do they focus on what is urgent and immediate rather than what is important.

During Lent we are called to consider how we respond to the place where we live. There is a need to study our environment as it is not as we would wish it was; we need to be prayerful in being present to God and to others; we also need to act in a way which is considerate of what God and others have placed on our hearts. I think we can be driven by external events beyond our influence and control rather than looking at what God is putting right in front of us. By seeking to be people who pray, reflect and act we start to be present to a world full of God’s grace. The focus shifts of our plans and onto what God’s is achieving with us.

How have I found time to be prayerfully present to God and others?

Where have I spent most of my time?

What am I called to do next?

What brings me life?

The three temptations of Jesus are the same that we each face: to be powerful; to be spectacular and to be relevant. When we are entrusted with the gifts of the spirit it is wise that we are in touch with the giver of the gifts. What can happen is that we start to see the gifts as our own possession and that the world revolves around us and our choices. Lent allows us the opportunity to open our hearts and our lives to God’s mercy. It calls us to recognize the time when we have sought to use the gifts entrusted to us to advance our own status.

In our own age we are called to recognize both what enhances the living of the spiritual life but also what dampens it. Lent does not call us to turn inwards but to recognize the spirit rises like a wellspring within us. The central questions are what brings life to us, what brings life to others and how do we acknowledge that God is at work within our community. By seeing each person as created in the image and likeness of God we can help them to become what God wants them to be.

At the end of each day pause and reflect with God for a couple of minutes

What brought me life?

Where did I move away from what brings me life?

What can I do differently tomorrow?

Say a prayer which reflects this intention

Seeing things differently

We can often encounter a world-weariness where we just seem to be going through the motions. There is sense where our work can lose its savour and purpose. The work is so familiar and every day. We do not see immediate results and there is always a danger to lapse into boredom or listlessness. When we are faced with this crisis we can seek to discover new pastures or new jobs which seem exciting, fresh and new. We are attracted towards people who have the answer to this deep sense of inertia and pain.

The gospel this weekend talks about putting back out into deep water and discovering Jesus anew. Often it is in familiar situations that we are called to find new energy, hope and love. Lent allows an opportunity for us to discover where Jesus is calling us to a fresh insight. This is why during this penitential season we are called to give something up so that we can see through what is blocking us from encountering Jesus in our everyday life. This could be as simple as switching off the TV and spending some time in prayer or reflecting on the scriptures; visiting or calling somebody we have lost contact with or even engaging in some work for a person who is not as fortunate as ourselves. Lent is about seeing differently and allowing Christ to pay out the nets. 

What would be the KPI's for Catholics?

What would be the KPI’s (Key performance indicators) for Catholics? This can seem to focus on what we are called to do rather than who we can become. As a sacramental people we are called to see the word made incarnate. This means that the celebration of sacraments is essential to the way we live. We are called to be a people who gather together and recognize that we travel with each other in our journey of faith. We listen to God’s word and allow it to speak to our hearts. We offer our lives in the Eucharist and thanksgiving for how Jesus becomes present to us. We are drawn into a communion with his Body and Blood, and then we are commissioned together to be a people to live as his disciples in our world. So it would appear that we are a people of God when we gather, when we listen, when we give thanks, when we are drawn into communion and when we go out on mission. At each Mass we celebrate what is fundamental to us as people on a journey of faith. We are people drawn into the mystery and the life of Jesus Christ.

What attitude defines our life

We become used to the great speeches which define what is central to a person's life. They have an immortal air to them not only because they speak to the people who first heard them but they speak across the ages. They have an ability to capture hearts and minds in a way which transforms the life of communities. This is especially true of the proclamation made by Jesus in the synagogue. He is not simply trying to capture people's attention but he is trying to say something by the person he is. He seeks to bring freedom to people who are captive to their circumstances, he seeks to bring Good News to people stricken by poverty, he seeks to help people see clearly what it that they need to do and he seeks to lift burdens off people who are trampled down in life. This is at the heart of the jubilee year. It is not simply about acts of charity but being a person who is charitable in the attitude to life; who is not a dispenser of mercy but a person who lives mercy, who does not simply inspire hope but is hope to others. This week we will honour many Australians who help us to discover these attitudes to life who bring the Gospel of this weekend to life within our communities.

Finding my way home

The silence after a death of someone you love can often be one of the hardest moments of grief. Their sudden departure no matter how well you have prepared yourself can shake the certainties of conversations you once had. The working through the practical events of preparing for the funeral, receiving phone calls, cards and messages can often help to carry you through days that seem to be lost in activity and preparations. I wanted to particularly thank the many message of support and prayer which I received on the death of my mother last December. I deeply appreciated the kindness and the support I received at this sad time. I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of my own struggles at this time which may resonate with some of your own.

The immediate impact is the loss of home. This is not just saying farewell to a physical place where Mum used to live but the spiritual connections which that place had for me. There is a sense of connection which resonates in the place where she lived and called home. I recognize that this disorientation can cause a sense of aimlessness and emptiness. There are many things that can remind me of Mum but which are not Mum. There is a feeling of being broken open to the wind and laid bare before the world. You look for things that can continue to guide your footsteps. In cleaning up the unit where she lived it is often hard to let go of things in a hurry for fear that you do it all too quickly and move on.

Then there is the sense of whether you are crying for yourself or for the person who has died. The rupture of that connection lays you open to many phantoms and memories of what is important to life. Am I doing this for myself, am I doing this for my mother or am I doing this for some other reason. There is a call not to manufacture grief but to recognize the ripples of sadness that can seem to overcome you and which lie at the heart of my prayer. There is a call to allow my prayer to become more real and not manufactured. The call is to be myself.

However, in the days following Mum’s death there have been consolations which remind me that in the midst of the tears that her spirit rests with God. These have been moments when rainbows appear at crucial moments. They seem ethereal and transitory but they hold the sense of wonder which lay at the heart of my Mother’s search for meaning. I also gain a stronger sense that I can be myself in the face of a world which would seek to redefine me. I think this is at the centre of the spiritual life. We are called to be the person that God calls us to be. We are called to be faithful to that calling which allows us to become more and more transparent to God’s grace. At the time of greatest trial, the words of Julian of Norwich ring true, “All shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Do we remember when we were baptised?

How many of us can remember the date of our baptism? This may be difficult because it means hunting through our parents records and looking for an elusive certificate. The certificate can reveal to us something important. That our parents considered it important enough for us to be baptised into the person of Christ. We are called to be immersed in a relationship which not only allows to surrender to the wonder of God but live a life which is grace filled. We are born into being so that our lives may reflect God’s glory working ever creatively within us. It places us at the heart of God’s creative plan.

Baptism is not just an entry card into eternal life, it is a call to live that eternal life and to be transformed by God. We are created in God’s image and likeness. As such we can celebrate the life he has entrusted to us. It calls us to become coheirs with Christ in his creative and loving plan. No longer are we alone among the universe but are invited to participate with that creative life and love. We are called to be people transformed by God’s loving mercy. 

Why my faith is important to me (My mother's reflection)

I have two memories from my youth that have periodically recurred to me. The first was a comment from my history master, that the best test of friendship was the ability to be comfortable with one’s friend in complete silence for an hour. At 16 we all thought this was utter nonsense, but now? I wonder! The second was a comment from Tim, one of my science students, a committed Catholic, who shared that it seemed to him that we only begin to know what life was about when it is time to die. I should have given him a much different answer now than the one I gave then, but I then was only some 8 years older than he, and puzzling myself

As a young scientist I had no difficulty in believing in a transcendent Creator God. The excitement of the discoveries in atomic physics, the incredible systems in the human body, the balances in nature, such as the carbon and nitrogen cycles could not have been arrived at by pure chance. And the exciting expansion of space exploration opened our young minds to the miracles of the universe and it’s Creator. And there were many scientific theories, none of which denied a creator; big bang or steady state?

But something was missing. How did humanity, including myself, fit into God’s plan? In the Christian community to which my family belonged much emphasis was placed on the Fall, and it was implicit that as a consequence we had to work and pray hard to earn again the love of the Creator God. An image of God developed, an anthropomorphic inversion of the original  Genesis story ,we ‘created God in OUR own image’ and God appeared as judgemental, punitive , loving us when we were ‘Good’ and removing that love when we were ‘Bad’ A frightening model!.  I pondered also at the past and present cruelties injustices and divisions among people who professed to be Christian. Humanity in the 40’s was struggling with the horrors of the Holocaust and Hiroshima. It seemed the Church had no answers to my many questions. I drifted from the Church and lived for many years following “the Golden Rule” (“do to others as you would have them do to you”) (Mat.7:12) and the prohibitions of the Decalogue (Ex 20.7-17). While a sense of God, though distant, was behind this moral code, still something was missing for me.

          A busy life, concerned mainly with family and scientific and teaching employment, moved on. Parents died, children grew up and employment opportunities brought us to Australia. Two of the children had already found comfort in the post-conciliar Catholic Church, and my work included teaching in Catholic schools both in England & here. In the gap of silence that followed our ‘desert experience’ as if by an invisible magnet, both Bob & I were drawn to the post Vat II Catholic church. Much reading and discussion followed; particularly we talked of the work of some of the Christian Mystics, such as Julian of Norwich, Therese of Avila and from modern times Evelyn Underhill.  The ideas of spiritual journey from blind faith to searching faith recurred and the need for contemplative silence was new to us. Above all we learned of the unconditional love of God and that in the Pascal mystery of Jesus’ death, Resurrection and Ascension, we learned we’d already been saved; so different from my early experiences and instruction.   The mystery of the transcendence and immanence of God came alive as in Luke 17. 21 “The Kingdom of God is within you”        Many experiences of God’s love began to dawn; one which I’ll share was especially powerful. When our 6 year old granddaughter drowned we were numbed beyond words and even emotions; as we farewelled her I felt invisible hands on my head and a profound peace came over me. We were being comforted by God’s love, and this came through our silent closeness to him at that time. This experience was reinforced as we reflected on Rabbi Kushner’s experiences described in “When Bad Things happen to Good People” as he shared his loss of his eldest son and drew benefit from the compassion of God, and he added the thoughts, shared with his communities, that our tragedies are not punishments from God

 Of the seven life-journey sacraments of the Catholic Church, the most powerful for me is the Eucharist. There is experience of Christ’s spirit being present among the community, the awareness that, though not perfect, we are forgiven and loved by God. Spoken and sung prayers of adoration and petition give a sense of both the transcendence & immanence of God; There is the prayer of listening to Scripture, from both Hebrew & Christian Testaments,  refreshed with fresh insights from scripture studies  in the light of modern scholarship. Many of the modern hymns are based on scripture, such as yesterdays from Isaiah 55 “Come to the Water” The newly revived prayer of silence which follows the touch of Jesus in the receipt of the Host gives a chance to experience deeply an awareness of God’s presence. And this Eucharist thanksgiving is celebrated every day in every country in the world. One of the Eucharistic prayers summarised my longing; “May we live in the joy of life in your presence”

One other reflection developed for me , reflecting on Jesus’ promise “ In my Father’s house are many dwelling places” (John 14;2) and this linked with my reading of the Vatican II documents, particularly “Nostra Aetate”, which urged unity between Christians, a deeper understanding of our own faith and an acknowledgement of the beauty and truth in other faiths. When Pope John Paul II invited world religious leaders to meet in 1986 & 1999, in Assisi and Rome to pray for peace together, he finished with the exhortation “Individually and together we must show how religious belief inspires peace, encourages solidarity, promotes justice and upholds liberty” 

  So I have learned that Faith is not static, but searching; experiential not merely intellectual, that there seems to be evidence of God’s spirit moving through and between the various world faiths as we begin to dialogue, and this brings Hope, and sometimes Love; but of the three gifts, Faith, Hope & Love  the greatest is that of Love.

So where I started, with Tim’s statement , I’d found that spiritual life is a journey , unending and that friendship with God can be experienced in the silence of Contemplative prayer as well as in more traditional prayer forms.

     I am 85 earth years old, but probably only half that in hope-of -heaven years, and still learning. Intellectual understanding has been part of the quest, but it is the spiritual longing for a deeper relationship with God is my goal.

A translated poem from the 14^th century Turkish mystic, Rumi perhaps summarises better than I can

                   The intellectual quest is exquisite, like pearls and coral

                   But it is not the same as the spiritual quest

                   The spiritual quest is on another level altogether            

                   Spiritual wine has a subtler taste

                   The intellect and the senses investigate cause and effect

                   The spiritual seeker surrenders to wonder.

                             (Rumi Wisdom; trans. Timothy Freke)

Be Merciful as your Father

The call to be merciful is at the centre of this weekend’s readings. Ultimately, it talks about ensuring that we consider not only our own good but the good of the other. There is a call for epieikes or forbearance to all. This means that people in positions of authority exercise it with a consideration for those that may be affected by their decision making. This is central to the call of Pope Francis for people to be missionaries of mercy. There is an expectancy that we develop an attitude of epiekeia to each other. Drawing people to God through the manifestation of our life. We are called to be people who not only preach mercy but pray mercy, live mercy and be merciful as our heavenly Father.

Over the next year there will be opportunities for us to discover the importance of this. In many instances this could be as easy and as difficult as the constant praying of the Jesus prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner!” This prayer has always been close to my own life as I recognize that God calls me to a life of mercy not sacrifice. I am called to enter into a life which entrusts myself totally to the life of God.

Reading the map

Often as we are travelling we have to wait at roadworks. These are important points in which are called to pause and reflect. The roadworks are conducted not only to make our travel safer but also more direct. When corners are taken out and the ways are leveled it is easier to see the way ahead. This is a good parable for Advent. It reminds of not only of the importance of work undertaken on our behalf but also a reminder that for it to last it should not be done quickly. The work of preparing for Christmas should be undertaken with the same care and attention for the detail of our lives. What paths need straightening, how is our vision impaired, what do we listen to but not take in, who is walking this path with me? In taking time each day to pause and reflect we start on that important work of being attentive to God in our daily life. Our journey does not start at the place we are seeking to reach but at our point of departure. In seeking to discover God's divine life we need to discover that it all begins from the point we are now.

Being so busy preparing for Christmas that we miss Christ!

Our preparation for Christmas are important as they call us to centre on an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ and the life he offers to us. This can often be crowded out by Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, Christmas Parking, Christmas Travelling and even Christmas carols. They can give us a feel that something important is about to happen but can swamp us with too many experiences. As we approach Christmas we can often feel tired, lethargic and exhausted. So much of our time goes into the activity of preparation that we may find that we have not prepared ourselves. It is important that we make room for Christ to be in our hearts. This is about being a person of prayer who reaches out to others in need. It is a prayer which allows us to come to a still place where we are present to the people who are important in our lives. It is also important that we find not lose ourselves. I pray that during this season of Advent the focus could be on our preparing ourselves for Christmas Day and not becoming dissipated by too much activity. This is a time of joy, not sadness, of hope not despair, of charity not greed. May people see in us the face of Christ as we seek to discover the face of Christ in others?

A Kingdom not of this world.

The last week has witnessed tensions rise around the world as the results of attacks in Paris, Beirut and on the Sinai Peninsula. The atrocities which have been carried out cause us to question what is the best way to respond to terror. There are many people who are far more qualified than I am to look at the global and national ramifications of the circumstances in which we now found ourselves. However, at a personal and communal level we need to reflect on whether these events should change how we live and what we believe. There can be a tendency to respond with equal or greater force, to seek revenge and to allow our opinions to coloured by mistrust and suspicion. As followers of Christ we are not immune from the events present in the world but we are called to be formed in the image and likeness of God. We are called to be people who create life, facilitate hope and act with charity.  We are called to be people who in our earthly life seek to honour the commandment given to Jesus to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind and all our soul and to love our neighbour as ourselves. This is central to our Christian faith and the way we are called to live. This cannot be taken as an optional extra it is foundational to how we are called to live in relationship with others especially at times when our hearts seem to be torn in two.

Trusting our lives totally to God

We can often have an image of God as the divine accountant who measures out whether we have a credit or debit balance. While we may not articulate this in what we say, it can be displayed in the way we choose to live. We can tend to hedge our bets and believe that as long as we live with a credit balance that we are on the inside track. This weekend’s gospels tell a very different story. It is not about giving God what is left over but an offering of our whole lives. What God wants is not just what we choose to give he wants everything. This can seem too much, too radical and too demanding. If we give God everything what will be left for us? However, this is what lies of Elijah’s discussion with the widow. She believes that she can just provide enough for one last meal for her son. She is barely in a position to share anything. Similarly the widow who puts all that she has to live on into the Temple treasury. Both of these women rely totally on God’s word and discover that in offering everything that nothing is lost. They discover a God who can make more out of their offering than they can do solely by themselves. This is a surrender which places complete trust in God. It is not easy to come to that place, it takes prayer, it requires trust and it requires an acceptance that God can do more with our lives than we could do on our own. 

How can loving our neighbour be a catastophic error?

I am writing on the eve of All Saints Day which presents the Beatitudes as the manifesto of Christian Life. These words turn the world upside down because they seek to discover a God who is the living heart of our world. It is at the heart of our Jewish and Christian heritage that we are called to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our mind and with our strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves. This is more than a noble sentiment which cannot be applied to daily life. However, this the radical challenge which Jesus presents to us. He is not a misguided prophet or an altruistic do-gooder, he is the person who gives substance to our lives and the way we are called to be present to God and each other.

What can we discover about God in the beatitudes?

                That people who seek to find God out of their own poverty of spirit will find the Kingdom of heaven. This is not seeking poverty for its own sake but discovering that are lives are only complete when we surrender them to a God who will walk with them in the difficulties, questions and sinfulness.

That people who confront their own violence in actions, thoughts and deeds discover the gentle spirit of God which brings people together rather than driving them apart.

That people who are able to show compassion for others at time of great turmoil and loss experience a way of being present to others which brings comfort and healing.

That people who are able to feel the deep hunger of humanity rather than stand in judgment over it will find a way of being present to others with integrity and truth.

That people who reach out to others with their time and resources will find that the well is never spent.

That people who seek to have a genuine desire to walk with God will see the face of God in others.

That people who seek to bring reconciliation and healing will be changed into being co-creators with God.

That people who walk with Jesus will seek to work with others because they are people created in the image and likeness of God.

That people are called to be the authentic witness of how Jesus walks with them in spite of the many people who would claim that they do not live in the real world. The Gospel calls us to view the whole of creation not as a problem but as a gift, not as a mystery to be solved but a mystery to be lived, as a way of being present to creation with generosity and grace.

What is happening with our life?

When we come to a place of pray we are called to turn up as we are not as we think we should be. Each Sunday allows us to stop a moment and listen to what is happening in our lives. In lives which can be driven by endless activity it is hard to know what to ask for. However, what is most pressing on our minds or our hearts would be good place to start. It is the place of which we are most conscious of and can occupy much of our time. This becomes the most obvious point in which we need to make a faith response. It calls for a surrender of that concern to the person of Jesus. It is not that it will be magically resolved but it will allows to become aware of how Jesus can walk with us in what can often seem complex and difficult situations. Jesus' life always touches what is at the heart of our own and draws forth what is needed for this moment and this day. Just remember: Jesus stops, Jesus Listens, Jesus Asks, and Jesus is present to our faith

Can we do this on our own?

It is easy to recognize that we live in a world where self-service becomes the norm. We witness this not only when we fill up our cars, shop in our supermarkets or even phone up various companies with the push button options. There is a sense of convenience in being able to do it for ourselves and allows us to choose who is in control. However, there is also a sense that we lose that important sense of relationship with the person who provides the service on our behalf. We can tend treat the person as a convenience or a utility which is provided for us. We can also lose a sense of self in relationship to the other.

When we witness Jesus’ talking about servant leadership we discover someone who is willing to put himself in the shoes of another. He recognizes that we often belief that the leader is the one who calls the shots and makes all the decisions. The challenge he provides for the disciples is to take the place of the person who is suffering and to take that suffering upon themselves. Jesus seeks to ransom us from our sin, our suffering, and our belief that we can do this all on our own. Jesus does not call for self-sufficient Christians who look out solely for their own interests but disciples and who can enter into a relationship with God who loves them into life.

Who would we surrender our life to?

The gospel this weekend talks about the difference to living according to the commandments and the living in accord with the spirit of God. Sometimes it is easier to live by the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. Jesus challenges the young man in the Gospel to completely trust God in a very radical way, he asks him to sell everything and give the money to the poor. His reaction of the young man is one of sadness. It may be good for us to reflect on what is happening in the life of this young man. We already know he is a man who takes his faith seriously, he obeys the commandments, he seeks to follow the way of God and he seeks out the person of Jesus. Even the disciples are shocked by the words of Jesus when they say, who then can be saved? However, I think the central message is that salvation is not initiated by us it is initiated by God. It calls us to open to God’s grace and surrender our lives to the reign of God. Often we can feel that such a surrender will diminish us. The truth is that when we come to those moments of surrender, God enables us to be more richly blessed. These can be life changing moments that change the direction of our lives. The central question is what moves us to become disciples of Jesus Christ and what holds us back?

How do we treasure the sacramental life in marriage

The fruit of marriage is not just for the good of the couple but for the good of the whole community. Jesus’ teaching this weekend reflects not just on the reality of daily living but that a sacramental life reflects the glory of God present in flesh and blood. It is a sign that God does not abandon his people but allows them to encounter his blessing in our own lifetime. We see that each person is given a commission which enables them to be sacramentally present to the other. This is never more clearly seen in the love of a man and a woman in sacramental marriage. It is not a blessing just reserved for the couple but it allows others to encounter the blessing of God in the way that couple become missionaries of God’s grace to their own children and to the broader community.

Yet we also know in our own community the difficulties that people face when couples divorce. This not only effects them but also their children and the broader community. The ripples of this are felt very deeply by people who have hoped for a relationship which would be lifelong, faithful and exclusive. As a Church community it calls us to walk with people who have experienced divorce who are often feeling not only deeply hurt but also who discover their own frailty. How can we assist people not only to encounter God but also encounter a Church community who is willing to walk them? Also how do we help young people to discover the reality of a sacramental life in a world which is often jaded and whose confidence in a lifelong relationship of love and mutuality is so badly shaken?