Seeing the person

We live in a world where we are called on to make decisions on the fly and where guidance is informed by opinion and commentary rather than by facts and considered responses. Our lives then seem to be dissipated by the competing forces which can seem to tear us in one direction and then another. This is never more evident than when we face major trauma in our life. Whether it be the loss of a person we loved, separation and divorce, moving from one place to another, the uncertainty of unemployment or facing the challenges of retirement from paid work. What is evident is that we need to own what is happening to us. We need to acknowledge grief but we also need to be supported by a community who is willing to accompany us and by people who are able to hold our story with love and respect. This helps us to discern what is truly important from that which just appears urgent. It helps us to discover our own self and what moves us into action. This is not something we rush into because these life changing events pose important questions. The most fundamental choice, however, is that we see the person in front of us and their immediate need. By taking the first obvious step a person starts to discover how healing and restoration can take place.

That we may see

Seeing is believing. Doubts can always creep into our lives when we pray for change but the same circumstances seem to recur over and over again. We want things to be different but things often seem to stay the same. We become blinded to how God may at work because our expectations are limited to what we expect. God seeks to expand our vision by expanding our hearts. There is a desire that God wants us to see and experience more. It is not that God has gone to sleep on the job but rather that we believe that God’s power to save us is limited to just what we can see.

Our belief is not just a matter of memorising sayings or writings but rather in allowing God to engage our deep need for salvation. To discover the place where our sight has become downcast or our vision blurred. Ultimately, God does not want us to die in our sins or our lack of belief that our lives have meaning. We discover our identity as a person in becoming what God asks us to become and discovering what leads us to beauty and wonder. Lord, that we may see.

Who will sate my thirst?

The ability of someone to listen to our story and believe in us allows us to see to the heart of another. When Jesus sits down with the woman at the well we see an interchange which changes a life. In the first instance, the woman comes to fulfil a basic need to receive water so that she can live. She needs to have her thirst quenched. This goes deeper when she notices the obvious cultural context from which each speaker comes from. However, the conversation does not stop here but Jesus draws her towards a deeper thirst of what brings meaning and hope to her. Through this dialogue, Jesus encounters the person and draws them into a deeper relationship with him. This conversion experience not only touches the heart of the woman but also the community to which she belongs. Each of us has a story and a context in which we live. Each of us searches for a meaning which adds substance to that story. We thirst for someone who will bring that meaning to our life and sate our thirst. As we continue this journey may we discover the one who listens to our story and brings meaning to our lives!

Tuning out the background hum

Lent is a time when we start to clear out the static air and tune into God. We become so used to hearing voices that they can appear to be a wall of noise which hums along in the background. We become used to this noise and when it is lessened we can become surprised by the other things we hear. We become aware of the natural sounds which surround us and which are not mediated to us by others. This quietening allows us to become present to ourselves and the environment in which we live. In coming to this place we also start to listen to the noise which is within us and the many things that can distract us and can at times seem to overwhelm us. Yet in this place, we are called to notice the person who wants us to hear his voice. This takes time and practice. We need to find that place where we can most easily be present. We need to come to this place in our own bodies with a piece of scripture or a reading that speaks to us of God. We need to still ourselves and be open to the one clear voice which speaks to us and calls us into a relationship of prayer which will transfigure our life.

Who are we seeking?

Ash Wednesday is a time for fasting, almsgiving and prayer. These are traditional practices which allow God to be at the centre of our lives. However, they can at times seem to be hard work rather than a way of allowing God to draw us closer. We hear this in the Gospel in the temptations which are put before Jesus. He is tempted to sustain himself with something which is not bread. We can often hunger for something or someone to make sense of our lives. We can consume things without thinking or consideration because they ease the hunger pains either in our minds, our hearts or our stomachs. Yet afterwards feel empty again. Fasting allows us to discover what truly nourishes us. Then Jesus is tempted to change situations at the click of his fingers. We want the quick solution or the instant result. Yet once again it is what we give our lives to which changes the situation. What are we truly moved to dedicate our lives too? Lastly, there can be the belief that we have to be across all the news in the world to be relevant and up to date. We want to be in control and responding to every situation with candour, wit and perspective. We try to put ourselves at the centre rather than allowing God to be at the centre. Lent is essentially about allowing God to be at the centre of our lives and listening so that we can discover what truly leads us to life.

Can I afford that?

There is a constant worry that we will never be able to afford something. We do all the sums, make all the calculations and consider the future. Often there is a great anxiety about paying all the bills and making all the ends meet. Yet the major consideration is who do we become? There can often be a tendency to overemphasise the cost of everything and the value of nothing. We often grab the bull by the horns and then worry whether we can stay on for the ride.
Yet in the Gospel, Jesus challenges us to see what we value first so that can be the motivator for our whole life. If we seek something which will sustain us in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in joyful times and in sad times. Essentially, Jesus points to how our relationship with God and each other sustain us. It calls us to look at what has eternal value, not just transitory worth. It calls for our prayer to translate into action. By seeing our lives as God sees them we find that we have eternal worth and value. 

Being Foolish

When we consider our relationships with others we can always subconsciously want something in return. We can make our love conditional on what another can do for us or what we can do for them. There is a sense in which even if we don't say it that you owe me and there can be a sense of obligation which can become present. The way we are present to another can reflect our relationship with God. If our prayer becomes more about what God can do for us rather than allowing God to be at the centre of what we do, we can easily miss the mark.

Yet God calls us to love our neighbour as ourselves. This is a profoundly simple statement but it points to the unconditional nature of God's love for us. If we seek a good for ourselves then we should also seek it for another. God seeks the best for us so that we can bring savour to others. At the end of each day, we can review our day to see the time when we lived this commandment and when we did not. To give thanks for the time when we kept God at the centre and the times when we noticed placing ourselves at the centre. In all things, God desires the best for us so that we can bring life to our world.

Anticipation and accomplishment

One of the hardest things to acknowledge is when we find ourselves consumed by anger. It can take over our life and cause to act in a way which seeks to destroy what we believe to be the source of that anger. We can strike out with words that are aimed to hurt and which damage our relationships with others. The Benedictine rule notices that when we find anger rising within us we should deal with the other person with moderation. This essentially comes down to the reality that our anger is telling us more about ourselves than about the other person. We need to acknowledge what is happening inside ourselves and take ownership of it. When we are able to bring that to pray we can ask God to show us what we need to pay attention to and how to respond in an appropriate way. This is the source of the teaching for this weekend we are called to recognise that the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets draw us to pay attention to how God calls us to relate to each other. This is not out of fear of punishment but so that we can enter more fully into the life that God opens up for us. It allows God to be at the centre of our life rather than ourselves.

Straight and Crooked thinking

Back in the 1930s, Robert Thouless published a book called ‘Straight and Crooked Thinking’. What I have always found useful is the appendix which contains a section called “Thirty-seven dishonest tricks commonly used in an argument with the methods of overcoming them” This very practical book examines how we use language, the meaning of words and thinking clearly about issues. It sought to shed light on the issues of the day. I believe it is just as current today as it was when it was first published.

In our current climate where people rush to put out opinions, we seem to have produced a reactive culture which undermines the reflective process. The urge of the instant response and the urgent concern which draws us away from ourselves. We surrender ourselves only to the immediate moment rather than considering how we come to that moment as ourselves. Our news is pre-digested and served to us in easy mouthfuls. This draws us away from considering what is important and being able to communicate in a way which sheds light on important issues.

The reason to think clearly is not to draw attention to ourselves but so that others may come to an understanding of where our light is called to shine. As a prayerful people, we are called to be people who love our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and to love our neighbour as ourselves. This is the heart of the Gospel. 

Be a blessing to others

There is often a common approach to the use of the Beatitudes as a checklist of our Christian growth. To a certain extent Jesus wants us to pay attention to these signs within us and within others. They help us recognize where God’s life is at work within us and helps us to be present to others. However, we need to guard against the belief that we can hold on to them as credentials which will guarantee our entrance into heaven. These are primarily signs to us which point to a reality which does not focus solely on our own achievements but which open us up to God and each other.

They are primarily ways of helping us to discern how God’s life is at work within our community. It would be good to remember that they call us to live a blessed life and to be a blessing to others. They put God at the centre so that with freedom we can show his life at the heart of our own. They are not so much a how to manual but a demonstration of the diving life which is at the heart of creation. The main prayer that we can always make is may my life be a blessing to others.

Healing the darkness not exploiting it!

How do we feel when we want to step out of the limelight and into the shadows? Often events either in our world or in our own lives can seem to overwhelm us and there seems to be no way out. If only we could hide and keep our own counsel. The only problem is that when we cut ourselves off from the rest of humanity or enclose ourselves in our own private kingdom we are more likely to become stuck in a darkness of our own creation.

Wisdom and knowledge are hard fought and easily lost. It calls for us to take a long loving look at the real and to reach out with grace and compassion to who we encounter. We know how easy it is to be caught up in the visceral, where likes and dislikes become the truth of our existence. Yet into this situation where we can easily wallow in darkness we encounter good news which seeks to heal and reconcile. A person who seeks to heal the darkness we encounter within ourselves rather than exploit it. This is not a quick fix but an awareness of what in ourselves, in our communities, and in our world needs healing. This is not done with blunt instruments and harsh words but with a lightness of touch and a surgeon’s care. Most of all by the desire to restore people to a kingdom of hope, faith and love.  

I did not know him myself

I did not know him myself. This extraordinary statement by John the Baptist is at the heart of this weekend's Gospel. But it is not the end of the story. There was an understanding of what he had encountered in prayer and the meeting with the person himself. He saw not only with his mind but also with his heart. Also, he did not witness just for himself but to point others to the person of Jesus. the witnessing was able to point a way for people to meet Jesus.
The same is true of our own lives. We are called to be people who live out our prayer in a way which allows people to encounter Jesus. This is not to draw attention to ourselves but through us that they may grow in a living relationship with Jesus. It presumes that we are able to know the person of Jesus ourselves. This can happen in many ways, through our study of scripture, through our encounters with other people, through our consideration of the way we live our lives and the way we allow our lives to be shaped by our thinking. We never do this on our own but as a Christian community which gathers together to listen to God's word, to receive him in Eucharist, and to live in a way which binds us closer to God and each other. It builds on a rich tradition of Christian theology and practice which has shaped our lives. In this way, we encounter the person of Jesus in our daily lives and can point to him by the way we respond to his life-giving Word.

At whose feet do we lay our gifts?

At whose feet do we lay our gifts? This question can determine the direction in which our lives can develop. This is all about what consumes our time, our talent and our treasure. We called to review what we spend our lives engaged with. The three most useful tools for discernment our diaries, our journals and our bank statements. They tell us where we are spending our time, what we are reflecting on and where we store our treasure. This is all fruit for prayerful reflection. Fundamentally does our life revolve around us and building our own kingdom or do we seek to centre on what God desires for us? Often there is a fear in letting God into our decision making because we do not know which direction this will lead us. Especially in an age of personal autonomy, we can believe that our choices are more important than God’s desires for us. The central principle of the Christian life, however, that God desires for us a life which will bring our choices into union with the divine life. We do are incarnate, body and spirit. What we do reflects how we are called to be in communion with God.

Seeing our world differently

The new year often beckons us to make new resolutions about how our life will be different. The can be an anticipation that this will be the year when I engage more intentionally on a project which has been alluding me. That this will be the year that I succeed and be able to tick off another accomplishment from my to-do list. Yet too often we become frustrated because all of our plans seem to require us to do more rather than being present to what is fundamental to our lives. We want to be different but we see it all expressed in external actions.

Mary faced the same dilemma, but she engaged with it differently. She saw that the birth of a child, in the person of Jesus changed the world and not just her life. She saw that the centre of gravity had shifted. She noticed how many were astonished and amazed by what was happening. Yet she did not ground her life on what others thought but allowed herself to ponder on their meaning. This is the central gift that I believe she brings to us. At the end of each occasion, she sought to discover what brought life to herself and others. How she could be present differently in the light of these experiences and then take the next obvious loving step. May the peace of Christ disturb you!

The Vulnerable God

There is a natural sense of anticipation we encounter at Christmas. All of our planning, presents and presence come to a meeting point. We are called to be open to the place where God encounters us as we are and not as we think we should be. He opens up our hearts to the reality that God is intimately vulnerable and available to us. He places his life in our hands so that we may discover the gift of our own lives. He surrenders himself to us, so that we may surrender our lives to him.

The incarnation challenges us to recognise that in his person heaven and earth are wedded together. All life is sacred and this changes the way we see our world. It calls us to recognise the fundamental dignity of human life and all of creation. There is a sense in which the focus is taken of our own needs and on to God’s desire for us. The Gospel story is fundamental one which shapes us to be people who receive and offer God’s love. This is not just a warm fuzzy feeling but a recognition that how we live changes our world. It calls us to see each encounter we have as one of graced presence. That each person is made in the image and likeness of God. May the peace of Christ disturb you!

Dream of what his life may be for you

The time of waiting is almost over and we make the final preparations for Christmas. As we make these preparations we come to an awareness that God becomes present in ways that are often unexpected. We here this in the story of Joseph, a righteous man, who seeks to encounter God in the midst of his daily life. He wants to do the right thing by God and by Mary. He seeks to understand what is happening in the midst of a sense of confusion. The central question is what does God expect of me and how should I respond?

This question hangs on our hearts as well. Life often can be shaped very differently than we would have planned it. We want to do this right thing by others and by ourselves. This often can lead us into the tension of balancing the contradictions that we encounter. This means that we need to come to a place where we can be honest before God about what is happening. We need to have a heart for what brings life for ourselves and for others. We need to be attentive to how God does open doors for us and leads us step by step. We also need a trusted person with whom we can share our way of being present to the question. May the peace of Christ disturb you!

Life is more than reality television

In the midst of Christmas preparations, we seem to gain daily doses of reality television. We try to distinguish between what we have heard and what we hope for. We become so conditioned to respond to news stories that we do not know how to act thoughtfully.  We can become consumed by a way of being present to others which focus solely on our own needs. Yet the Gospel speaks to our hearts and opens our eyes. It challenges us to see the signs of God’s grace present in healing the sick, in befriending the poor and in making room for the people that society rejects. This is at the heart of our preparations for Christmas it calls us to recognise that the incarnation of Jesus changes the way we are present to the world.

The presence of Jesus seeks to reconcile the divisions in our own hearts and in the heart of our community. This is a gospel of life which says that every person is valued and is made in the image and likeness of God. How we become present to others in our prayers and actions allows us to prepare a way for the Lord which acknowledges this. As Christians, we are called to be people who reflect on the Gospel and live it with joyful hearts. This is not just about wishful thinking but actively seeking to put it into practice. Reconciliation is never just about ourselves but it is a way of life which seeks to put the Gospel into action. May the peace of Christ disturb you!

Who we are is what we see!

When we go to the doctor it is usually either for a general check-up or because we are starting to notice symptoms which either cause us pain or discomfort. The better we are able to describe these symptoms, the better the doctor is able to diagnose what it happening. Yet the most important thing is how we respond to the diagnosis and what questions we need to ask. How we become present to our own health concerns helps us to become involved and engaged in the process of receiving appropriate treatment. It helps us to know that our health touches on physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of our lives. The ability to work holistically with the people who provide us health care can produce a good outcome.

In a similar way, our spiritual health calls us to be present as a whole person. Advent is not just a time for confessing sins, hoping that the chaff will be burnt away, it is a time for a review of life which looks below the surface and seeks to listen to the voice of God. This is not just a time to go through the motions but to seek out what God is calling us to. Reconciliation is not simply about squaring ourselves away with God but a deeper call to produce the fruits of the sacrament we receive. It calls us to open our lives to God’s grace in a way which does not just take notice of the symptoms which distance us from God and from each other. This calls us to allow God to enter into our own hearts so that we can see our lives differently.

Often we focus on what we want more than what God wants, we can easily miss the mark. God wants us to go to the heart of the matter. A relationship which can sustain us and helps us to grow closer together in faith. By seeking to be reconciled with God helps us in our reconciliation with others and inside ourselves. It helps us to become people who are more open to God’s grace which seeks to heal and reconcile all of our humanity. By showing our willingness to renew our faith in reconciliation, to become less cynical and chastened by our own coarseness, we open our hearts to become disciples. May the peace of Christ disturb you!

Christ has a plan, do you?

We know that this is the beginning of Advent and we start planning for Christmas. There are gifts to buy, cards to be sent, meals to be prepared and guests to be invited. In the midst of the preparations we also attend pre-Christmas functions, which look back to celebrate the year and to say thank you. Yet with all these celebrations how do we prepare to receive the person of Christ in our midst. This is very much the focus of this weekend’s readings if we do not pause and reflect that the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.  This seems counterintuitive. We know when Christmas Day is and we plan accordingly. Yet the important part of these celebrations is that we allow Christ to meet us. Just as we are called to be Bush Fire ready we need to alert and aware of how we are called to meet Christ each day. Christ has a plan, do you? By setting aside some time at the beginning and end of the day we can prepare and reflect on where God is at work in our lives. It helps us to be attentive to seeing Christ in the people we meet and in the things we do. It allows us to be receptive to those graced moments where Christ is present. 

Who is our King?

The desire to give our lives for the good of others is at the heart of the call of servant leadership. It runs counter to many other forms of leadership which seeks to gain power, position or success for the person. At the heart of Jesus’ leadership, we see a person who seemed powerless, whose life seemed to end in failure and whose position on the cross stands in sharp contradiction to all that we seem to admire in others who lead us. The cross casts a long shadow over our civilisation and our world. It calls us to consider what truly matters in life and how we are called to find eternal value in what we seek to become.

At the heart of this year we have sought to discover the mercy which was at the heart of Jesus’ life. It calls us to discover how we are called to become people, who open up our hearts to God by opening our hearts to each other. This is not just by working harder and longer hours but by adopting an attitude to others which is truly merciful. This seeks to discover how we become a people who take reconciliation seriously. This is not just by an individualistic view of forgiveness but a genuine desire to surrender our lives over to God who calls to make us disciples of mercy. We cannot simply be saved by our own efforts but allowing ourselves to bear our own wounds, which are transformed by Jesus life, death and resurrection. We are called to allow Christ to become our King.

The End is Nigh?

When we read in the news about growing tensions around the world, natural disasters, the results of a highly divisive election, the suffering of people in Mosul and Aleppo, people drowning at sea and the rattling of sabres between countries we naturally become afraid. These events quite naturally can have a direct impact on our thinking and on how we act. We can start to overemphasise how our salvation depends more on ourselves than on the Kerygma of Jesus Christ. It is easy to become distracted about events beyond our control and beyond our reach. The one thing that we need to do is the work that God has entrusted us with and gifted us to do.

The call of the Gospel calls us not to be afraid. In fact, these words are often repeated when Jesus speaks to his disciples. When our lives are driven or controlled by fear we are either paralysed into inaction or reaction. Our lives are no longer our own. Our prayer can try to be manipulative of God. We seek what we want and proclaim what we want to hear rather than listen to God in the silence of our hearts. Our response should always be one which seeks to heal, reconcile and proclaim that the Kingdom of God is very near to us. It is how we live and breathe the Holy Spirit in a troubled world.

Remember!

One of the hardest things in life is going to the funeral of a person who has loved us and whom we have loved. Even when a person’s death is expected it is never easy and we can come with all sorts of mixed emotions. We feel the loss and the numbness inside which we cannot quite put into words but we are also embraced by the words of those who mourn with us. The support of a community is vitally important not just because we hold a person up in prayer but also people need to witness to the prayer that has legs, in the people who gather with us. This silent and powerful presence allows us to know that we are not alone in our grief.

The funeral service allows us to pay respect to the living and to the person who has died. It helps us to be reassured that through a Christian community that our life has a value to others. It allows us to farewell a person with dignity and to assist them on their final journey with our prayers. I think the hardest thing about the funeral are all the questions which we are left to ponder afterward when our conversation is filled with the silence of that loss which no one else can replace. We look for tangible reassurance that they are remembered. This is why during the month of November we remember all those who have died and as they have been close to our hearts, that they may be close to the heart of God.

Being present as I am not as others think I should be!

There can be a natural tendency to look at a person’s faults and to emphasize the errors they have made in life. The difficulty with this approach is that it magnifies our failures while ignoring the moments of grace that can transform a person’s life. These moments of grace are not immediately obvious because we can become so accustomed to a person’s story or our way of perceiving that person that we are no longer open to change either within ourselves or within that person. Zacchaeus was well known within the community as a wealthy person but also an awareness that this was achieved at the expense of others. No wonder people were muttering behind his back when Jesus went to stay with him for supper. How could Jesus not know what this person was like? Yet this is the point, he did and still he wanted to eat and drink with this person. Faith is not a popularity contest it calls for the person to encounter God as they are and as they are they can be transformed and be present to others. Faith has this profound combination of private conversion and public witness. Our faith is deeply personal and communal. It calls us to grow in our personal relationship with God and with each other which demonstrates how our faith transforms us and the communities in which we live. It is no longer just about my own private salvation but how God reaches to others through being present as I am.

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.