So much to do! So little time!

Advent begins this Sunday and for many people, the task of celebrating Christmas has already begun. Presents have already been bought, cards sent, preparations for menus made and travel plans initiated. Yet into this mix, there are Carol celebrations to attend, end of year parties, Nativity plays and jostling to find a car park near the shops.  It can be easy to see how Christmas as well as being one of joy can also become one of tension and stress. People can build up expectations within themselves and of others of what the celebration will be like. People at there most open and vulnerable especially if alcohol and bonhomie are added to the mix. This may be why the Gospel warns about losing focus and seeing this a time of drunkenness and debauchery. Now with more breath test units around at least people seek to find a plan B rather than chance a ride in a blue light taxi.

Yet in the midst of these preparations, we need to find how we also prepare our hearts for this season. It is so easy to have everything crammed with activities that we miss the reason that we are called to celebrate. This is not just about the fact that Jesus is born in Bethlehem but the fact that God takes a profound interest in our lives with so much love that he becomes at one with us. He shares our joys and sadnesses, our successes and our failures, our apathy and our excitement. Jesus becomes one with us so that we can become one with Him. He wants us to discover our true worth which cannot be valued in dollars and cents. He sees that we have eternal value. The call is to find the place where we can at least there is room for him to enter. If every hour is used up if we do not have an anticipation for him to find that empty space that longs for a life which is everlasting then when all the tinsel and glitter is gone we may wonder what has happened and start planning for the next year.

So what to do. I think the one thing that we can do which can make a profound difference to others is to have an active concern for each person we meet as though they were the Christ child. This can be looking for opportunities to help people carry the load, prepare the way and open our hearts. To pray for the person who takes the car spot we were hoping for, to pray for the mother who is struggling with young children, to visit a person we know who will not have family around for Christmas, to pray for those who are homeless and without the shelter of family and friends. The Advent Calendar might be considered in reverse rather than filling it with things we don't need mark off an act of kindness that brings us closer to Christ and each other. Allow yourself to be surprised by generosity and encouraged to give thanks. Discover the way also that you are gifted by the kindness of strangers who make way for you and be willing to receive them with gratitude and peace.

What type of leader do we follow?

Living in a democracy we become used to considering who should lead us at times of elections. More recently certainly in Australia the question of leadership has become increasingly fluid. Who will give the party the best chance of winning the next election rather than considering who will helping us to value what is important to us. This is not limited to just political parties but we see it almost in every walk of life where more is expected of a person in leadership to listen to the people and respond to the signs of the times. Yet too often the person in leadership can start to resemble our own self interest rather than what can help us to become our best self. This is probably the greatest challenge of our age as we seek to consider not just simply whether a person  can do what we want but rather whether a person  will help us to discover how to become our best self.

In following Christ, especially as we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King it is easy to fall into the temptation of asking for things that we want to happen. We need to feel secure, respected and valued. We look to have enough money to see us get by, to be treated with as someone important and to be acknowledged for the gifts we possess. This is all good but when it becomes the sole focus of our life we can become driven by wanting more possessions, wanting greater honors and pointing to our achievements. The siren call is that we can start to feel bereft of an identity if we do not have the latest fashion, having our name written in lights and people speaking well of us. Our lives can become driven by things over which we have no control and in fact they can start to control our lives. We start to surrender ourselves to things that are illusory and which can be taken from us by forces beyond our control. 

Christ seeks to encounter us in our own inner poverty, in that place where people's opinions about us can cause us to feel isolated and alone and where there is a sense of being less than other people we compare ourselves with. We want to escape this uncomfortable feeling of not feeling worthy. Yet it is in this place where we can truly meet Christ as ourselves. Without pretense we can entertain him as the person we truly are where we can have a certain raw honesty about who we are and what we truly value. When we meet Christ in this place we discover that he meets us with a love which is not earned and which cannot be traded away on trivialities. It is a life giving gift of Himself which can transform us anew by recognizing that we have an inherent dignity. This allows us to  discover that we are an elect whom God chooses for our own good and the good of our world. An election which cannot be taken away by the vagaries of power, position or pride. This calls us to be the person who God created us to be so that we can love, honor and walk with Him.

Remaining supple

There is a difference between suppleness and flexibility. The call is always that we are available to God as we are. This not only means that we need to be aware of ourselves but also the environment in which we live. This self-knowledge allows us the opportunity to discover God within our inner self. The awareness of what brings life and hope which allows us to flourish as a  human person. God seeks us to become more rather than less. This creative essence helps us to appreciate the intimacy and the desire of God which permits us to grow in our humanity. 

Equally important is the circumstances in which we give ourselves the best opportunity to thrive as  Christians. This calls us to reflect each day on where we discover the same life reflected in our interactions with other people and where we meet them. These encounters should allow us the opportunity to be more ourselves rather than less. In our daily life, we are called to respond rather than react to the lives of others. This provides us with the means to see how our lives belong to Christ and how this influences the way we live. This is where we need to be supple in our response to others. We need to see what allows them to grow most easily in their relationship with God. 

Often the tension we meet is that mistake this suppleness for flexibility. Suppleness allows us to be responsive and attentive to the other person. To discover what helps them to encounter God more easily as the person they are. Flexibility, on the other hand, means that we can at times change to meet the expectation of another without consideration of whether it is good for us and good for the other. It can cause us to deny that our lives have their origin in God and our lives need to be responsive to his love. In determining how to make the right choice we need to consider will this bring life to me and to the other. Where discordant notes are sounded we need to notice what it is that sits uneasily with us. Similarly, when we take the path of least resistance we need to notice the end that this can lead us to. In all things and all situations, we need to grow in this suppleness and openness to God's presence. To discover what most allows for the greatest good and what most easily leads to the flourishing of the love that God calls us to bear witness to. We need to trust the other person to God that the spirit working in them will produce the spiritual fruits which are necessary for their life and the life of the community.

What do we offer?

Often we ask is this value for money? Are we receiving what we paid for? This attitude seems to be inbred within us as a natural reaction to how we spend our money and our time. We want to know that we receive something of value which respects our own worth and identity. 

In the scripture we notice how people dispense their offerings to those in need to draw attention to themselves rather than seeking the good of the other by offering their whole self. What we discover is that we need to be focused on the person in front of us with the resources at our disposals. This is not just about how we share our material resources but how we are attentive to the person as they are. We can often appear distant and distracted rather than attentive and loving. This is where we treat the gift that we are giving as though it was a person and the person we are giving our time to them as a thing. We might not say it in our words but our bodily attention is not present to them. We are there and not there at the same time. I know when this happens to me that as if I go missing in action and I am observing the other person from a place which treats them in an I and them experience rather than an I and thou engagement. I seem to space out and remove myself from the equation.

What Jesus invites us to attend to is to notice when this starts to happen and when we start to distance ourselves from others. Once again this is the difference between being close to someone and being proximally in their presence. We are called to be both but it is how we move from the inside out by seeing our prayer lived in our actions. This unity is what God wishes for us to be lovingly present in both what we pray for and how we relate to others. We see all our life as prayer, not just the times when we choose to be present. We offer everything.

All in!

The Lord our God is one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, you must love your neighbour as yourself.

Holiness calls us to be equally present whether we are in a chapel or in the shopping centre, a retreat centre or in a classroom, in a seminary or in a parish. God seeks to be present in every aspect of our human lives. Therefore, our prayers are called to immerse us into the heart of God and into the heart of the human condition. We can encounter God equally spending time when we are praying and in having a conversation with a friend; we can be able to spend time interceding for those in need and being present to the needs of those in our workplace. God is at the heart of all creation and seeks to draw everyone into a relationship with God’s desire in the course of our daily lives.

Each person is called to become friends with God and those we meet each day. This friendship shows how important it is to be in a constant relationship which allows our prayer to become incarnate.  Our prayer is not just a one on one time with God but at its essence calls us into a profound communion with the desire for each human person. God seeks us out so that we may seek out God. This is a profound giving of our whole self to discover what we are called to become.

This means that our prayer transforms our own square metre in which we are called to live. We are called to discover how God is present to us unfolding in our presence. This is not just following our hearts but allowing them to grow in understanding and to giving our best in whatever area we find ourselves each day. God allows us to discover how we may be open to the Holy Spirit in the midst of what seems ordinary and every day. This everyday mysticism seeks to draw a unity between our prayer and our lives. We are not called to pray in isolation but we are called to be people who pray at all times with the way we relate to God and the way we relate to each other. 

To love him with all your heart,

To love him with all your understanding

To love him with all your strength

To love our neighbour as yourself

Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me!

One of the common sites in Sydney is seeing people who are homeless and living by their wits on the streets. Our encounters with them can vary depending on what we see and what we don't see. An initial reaction can be what do they want from me, which can be quickly followed by many questions and even judgements which are raised in our minds and in our hearts. So often we can walk by with a blank expression on our faces pretending not to see or preferring not to acknowledge their presence. They can easily become a non-person and even when the cry out we would prefer it if they kept quiet.

Yet in the Gospel, Jesus calls the blind beggar to him and responds to his deeper cry that he may see again. I think this is a challenge for us as Jesus allows the person to be treated with dignity and respect. He looks beyond the fact that he is begging by the road and even the fact that the crowd is trying to silence him. He wants the person to ask for what he can do for him. This seems like an obvious question but is one that we are reluctant to ask maybe because we have already presumed the answer. We may have become jaded by regularly encountering the same person whose life does not seem to change. Yet there may be a challenge for us to acknowledge the person and even if we do not give them money at least to give them the benefit of our presence for a short time. By knowing them and they know us we can discover that our lives have a value which cannot be measured in money. Our presence makes a difference for the times when we cry out with the same voice, "Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me!"

Tempted in every way that we are but did not sin!

There is always a temptation to ask for grace from God on our terms. We become used to asking for things that we believe will make all the difference in the world. The central temptation seems to be put ourselves in the place of God rather than allowing our lives to be in communion with God. Over the last few weeks I have been reflecting on the difference between proximity to Holy things and closeness to the Holy. Proximity can be measured and can be acknowledged by how many times we go to Mass, whether we say our prayers, whether we give money to charities and how we spend our time during the day. All of these are good things and are ways which can assist us to discover a closeness to God but they cannot substitute for an actual experience of that closeness.

The essential difference is whether we are working for Jesus or walking with him. I know this may sound like a broken record but I believe this is central to growing in a relationship of holiness and wholeness. When we want to walk with Jesus we see as what he has to say to us as important, we value his presence and we start to shape our days by what he sees as being life-giving for us. We become what he hopes for us and we start to encounter him in others and in the places where we live. It also gives the way we use our time a deeper meaning whether it is at work or play. This is an encounter of deep and lasting friendship where he desires the best for us.

This also changes how we exercise leadership which is not through force or authority over others but rather through a deeper love and engagement in what is good for them. We have become so used to seeing power being devolved from the top down that we are surprised to find that power actually comes from the bottom up. It is from those we consider powerless, insignificant and irrelevant that we are called to hear the voice of God emerge. Those who appear 'far away' from the seats of power.  When we listen to God he helps us to see that it is those without a voice who echo most deeply his desire for us. This is a call to draw the best out of us so that we do not fill up the deep emptiness inside us with power, prestige and stuff! Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you!

What would we stake our life on?

Over the last week, we have witnessed some of the controversies of advertising a prestigious horse race on the side of the Opera House. The question has not just been around gambling but how we use a central icon of Australian culture which is recognised around the world. What do we consider of adding value to our lives and what do we consider central to the way we live them. It would seem quite natural that we consider what are the foundations for our lives and what draws us into relations with others.

We can become very used to valuing who we are by what we own. In fact, this is the dilemma faced by the rich young man. Do we value things first and people second. There can often be a tendency to judge those who have nothing as lazy and lacking motivation to change their lives. Yet Jesus calls us to look at how our attitudes to others and to ourselves need to be in harmony in looking at how we use the resources that are entrusted to us. Do we believe that people are doing the best with what they have received as Brene Brown asks in her book "Rising Strongly"? If we believe that our wealth is solely our own rather than a gift from God then we will tend to be very demanding about what we expect from others. We can hold them at arm's length and distance ourselves from them. 

However, if we believe that each person is made in the image and likeness of God then we need to seek ways in which they can experience our lives as having eternal value. This then calls us to use our resources in a way which recognises that value of every human life and indeed the value of the whole of creation. This fosters an attitude which shifts our focus on external wealth towards internal wealth. This is more about what we seek to become rather than what we seek to own. In shifting our attention on to what lies at the heart of all things we start to notice that our attitude to humanity also shifts. We start to develop a sense of hospitality, generosity and thanksgiving which opens up our hearts and our behaviour to the presence of others. We do see that the central principle should not be about safety and security but rather a vulnerability which allows us to make connections with people more than things. In this, we join with the psalmist who prays, "Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!"

Let the little ones come to me!

I have been reflecting during the week on the various feasts that have occurred: Therese of Lisieux, Guardian Angels and Francis of Assisi. The common theme in each of these saints is the way that Gospel inverts our priorities and looks at the value of every human life. The emphasis seems to be on being simple, being loving and being hospitable. In making room for others which the world seems common and ordinary we discover how God reaches out in friendship with us. He wants to present to us in what can appear mundane and every day rather in the successful and the spectacular. God desires to encounter us in our daily realities which call us to open our hearts and our lives to the call that brings hope and joy to our world.

The disciples were rebuked because they tried to keep those who wanted to approach God directly and to be touched by the person of Jesus. This may be the most difficult aspect of the Sexual Abuse crisis that besets us. There is a desire to ensure that children are both safe and loved. They need to discover a God who reaches out to them and trusts his life to them. In fact, I sometimes reflect it is the places where this trust has been broken by clergy and those in authority are not just criminal but demonic. Much of what we see in the Royal Commission contains important recommendations that ensure that our Churches are places which help to safeguard the most vulnerable but also provide a place where they can encounter God in their brokenness. These recommendations point to the reality that no one can be considered to able to minister on their own without the support of a community. In fact, when we try to go it alone we find ourselves becoming judgemental and alienated from each other.  This is why we also need to provide the structures which allow the Good News to be most easily lived. 

Yet I fear that structures alone will not do it alone unless we have a spirituality which enables us to confront the evils within and the evils without. The call to prayer is not just a placebo to make us feel good but rather an encounter with the living God. This means that we need to be honest in our prayer about what we truly need and what God truly desires. Sometimes it can seem that we play hide and seek with God or that he plays hide and seek with us. We look for God in all the familiar places where we have been discovered before and then at times come away disappointed that God seems to have moved on. Yet God also pursues us to find out where we have hidden and put on a disguise so that he cannot recognise us. We need to discover our God not just in the places where the light shines but also in the shadowlands where we hide away that which we would rather not see. Yet in bringing it before the person of Jesus we discover it is He who can transform what seems impossible and dark within us. He calls out that we may not be lost, afraid or forsaken. The call of the Gospel is that he seeks to meet us in our daily lives and in the environment in which we live. He desires most deeply for us to come to him in our simplicity, our every day loving and hospitality. God desires to be at home with us without airs and graces. They call us to be more human, more Christian and more present with our whole lives. Our Christian Vocation is not just a job to be fulfilled but a journey to be walked.  It is this spirituality which is assisted by the saints I mentioned earlier. May St Francis, Our Guardian Angels and St Therese of Lisieux prayer for us. 

Stop fighting among yourselves!

One of the signs of contradiction is the number of different Christian denominations that seek to proclaim Christ to the world. It seems as though if we really believe that we are One in Christ Jesus much of our effort should be focussed on looking at unity rather than division. As one person said to me, "If you cannot get your act together why should anyone follow you!" In recent years the hard work of ecumenism seems to have stalled and in fact, many denominations seemed to be consumed in internal disputes about who Jesus is but more importantly how he wants us to live. Each person seems to have their own version of what Jesus would do and what Jesus would say! No wonder we struggle to build a world which allows people to encounter Jesus rather than just encountering us. He is not our own personal possession but rather a person who draws us to consider what God is drawing to us in our current age. His Word and His Life have never been more important than in our own.

The Gospel for this coming weekend directly addresses the signs of Jesus' presence in our midst. This is not just in the words we speak but in the actions which seek to provide refreshment and hope to those with whom we live. This calls for a twofold reflection. The first part of this is a humble acknowledgement of when we have been promoting ourselves rather than Christ. It means that we need to stay close to His Word and to the living tradition of how that Word is made manifest both in the life of our Church communities and in our own lives. This means that we need to recognise how we miss the mark through our own frailty. It also helps us to acknowledge how the material goods entrusted to us have to be used justly and not to just leave us feeling comfortable. Jesus' life should leave us feeling uncomfortable not out of worry or fear or guilt but rather out of a deeper desire to allow his living presence to be at the heart of our own.

The second part of the reflection is how we encourage other Christians to be faithful in their life and ministry. Too often we become caught up in theological debates or rhetorical arguments which prove that I am right and that you are wrong. These often arise out of a deep disturbance of the spirit which seeks to put us at the centre of the universe rather than God. If we believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in the life of our communities we can acknowledge the signs of His presence through the fruits that He produces. This calls us to be people of prayer and discernment who listen before we speak. We need to walk with a person as they seek to make sense of where God is speaking to them in our current age. This builds on the lived experience of the person which can draw them into the rich treasury of the lived experience of the Church. If we just teach from a text or from a book it can often be a dead letter which falls heavily on a person's heart. Yet when we listen to the experience and help them to discover the rich heritage of saints and thinkers over the ages we start to discover a God who is always faithful and speaks the Word in many ages and many languages. As the Ecumenical movement has discovered by much hard work, this act of listening calls us to be vulnerable to the work of the Holy Spirit and an openness to distinguish between innovation and novelty. The Word will always be seen in what brings faith, hope and love. In allowing people the freedom to discover Jesus who is at the heart of our lives. As the Psalm says the precepts of the Lord bring joy to the heart.

Changing the world over a cup of coffee!

How many times have you sat around the kitchen table or in your local cafe setting the world to rights? The conversation often focuses on our own perspective and what we see as needing to be changed. We are often critical of the present leadership of our country, of our churches, of our banks and other institutions. We notice with an eye on how we would do things differently and what we would focus our energies on. The main difficulty is that if we were in a position of leadership would things be any different. There is a difference between discussing who should be in power and actually exercising that power for the good of others.

This is probably why Jesus draws people's attention to the little child who has a natural openness and curiosity about the world. They have grown to trust those around them and are able to teach them how to experience wonder in the creation and in the normal events of every day. They what to discover more and be present in the moment. They are entranced by each encounter and moved to learn more about our world and what holds it all together. They talk about a leadership from below and not above. They want people to enthralled by every aspect of what is happening in their lives and the impact it is having on them. They want to have life and have it to the full.

Yet too often we become busy with many things and the "important" issues of the day. We want to make an impact which will profoundly change the world and the way we live. Yet when James notice the internal wars that we have within ourselves we start to notice how our focus can be drawn too easily to being powerful, spectacular and successful rather than faithful, hopeful and loving in our interactions with others. The call is not to just see the world as we want it to be but rather to view it as God desires. It calls for our prayer to listen to the heartbeat of God which seeks our to be in sync.

This can often be challenging because people do not want a life which is focused around a profound calling but rather that the world is shaped in their own image and likeness rather than God's. As a people of prayer, we are called to discover what leads to peace and enables people to be open to the gifts of the spirit. God wants us to be open to the Spirit which leads us into a closer unity of purpose which seeks a leadership which emerges in our local communities and on our own streets. Then when we sit around the kitchen table or at a cafe our talk is not mere words but rather a recognition that in our conversations and in our lives we change the world. A leadership which enlivens and emboldens us to live in union with God and in union with each other.

What are we actually asking for God in prayer

I remember that it was Robert Louis Stevenson who commented that if we actually prayed the "Our Father" in an intentional way and actually believed the prayer our relationship to God and our neighbour would change. We would discover that our relationship with God is not exclusive to the lives of others and our forgiveness is conditional on our an ability to adopt a merciful heart. We are called to seek God's reign not our own. This seems so relevant to our own time when issues of power, privilege and possessions seem to be at the heart of many of the challenges facing our world. This is not just about changing deckchairs by putting someone else in power because they will face the same reality that the early disciples faced. Life is not changed from the top down but from the bottom up. It comes from a heartfelt response that we can live differently. This is evident not just in the life of the Church but in many other areas of life. This is not about preaching what others should do or dictating how others lives should change if we are not prepared to examine what needs to change in our own life. 

I believe the challenge we have centres on the use of power that we witness in the Gospel where Peter is given the keys of the kingdom. He immediately starts to seek control over the mission that Jesus' of dying and rising. Peter is confused as he believes that the power that Jesus has on offer is for him to decide what is compatible and not compatible with the living of the Good News. What he discovers is that in order to gain life we need to be vulnerable in discovering who the person of Christ is for us. This is not through a carefully prepared plan about how Jesus will turn up but rather a willingness to risk our whole self for the glory of God. It is why hearts change structures not structures changing hearts. I think this is the profound risk that we face as the Church reflects on how to respond to the shocking revelations of abuse in its life. There needs to be a heart for change which not only seeks to ensure that children and vulnerable people are safe but also to discovering a renewal of the Gospel in the lives of all people. There needs to be a call which recognises that Intentional Discipleship is not just about paying lip service to the person of Christ but a profound way of living which offers our whole self to living that in our time and space.

Such an approach recognises the teaching of St James where we do not just say that something should happen but it should not cost us anything. He recognises that our response is one of faith and works where it is not just about saying that we are good in a way which privatises our relationship with God. Rather it seems to see how our heart engages with the mind and the body by demonstrating how this can be lived out. This often means that we have to wrestle with the temptation to have power over others, to be spectacular or to possess what another rightly owns towards an attitude which is present to our current situation which provides all we need to live a life which is humble, tender and just. This allows us to be people who do not seek to overpower others by the force of our will but allows them the freedom to discover a God who truly brings life in what we are prepared to surrender for their good more than our own.

Be Opened, Be Open

One of the most remarkable things about living in Australia is the blooming of the desert flowers which happens maybe once a decade. Anybody who has travelled to the red centre knows how it attaches itself to every crevice of your car. This is so evident that almost on every occasion that you open the door some more dust falls out to let you know that you carry with you something from the heart of Australia. Yet the remarkable events of the rains falling on what appears dormant ground amazes and delights the people who witness how even in the most barren landscape life can be regenerated and renewed.

All too often we can look across our country and our world witnessing what does not bring life. What appears to be dark, dismissal and lifeless. There are ways in which this red dust of the everyday life attaches itself to us in a way which is hard to escape. Just when we fill we have shaken loose the last remnant of what seems to be deadly and inhospitable than we see more of it falling to the ground and surrounding us. Our eyes can become clouded and our hearing blocked from seeing anything but the red dust. How will we shake ourselves loose of what so finely attaches itself to us?

Yet the Gospels talk to us about hearing clearly and allowing our ears to become unblocked. I believe that in my own reflections the words that seem to resonate with me are addressed to the heart of our own lives and the life of our churches: we were silent when we should have spoken, we spoke when we should have been silent. What seems to be critically important is that we need to listen well and speak with a compassion for the good of others. This means that while we need to provide appropriate self-care for ourselves we also need to show the same consideration to others. In this way, we try in every conversation to hear what God wants us to hear and respond in a way which touches the humanity of the other.

We are called to be people who are present to each other in a way which seeks their good more than our own. To discover what animates their life and what fulfils their desires. This is so much at the heart of this weekend's readings that we always seek the good of the other so that they may experience the same freedom that we can take for granted. So that they may discover what brings life and what brings hope. This compassionate sense is not just doing good but being good with hearts which are open to the person in front of us. Be open to the heart of God as God's heart opens to you.

Not just human traditions

It would appear that we are at a tipping point in our history where we are called to examine what is important about our lives and our institutions. We live in an age when more and more people for greater scrutiny and accountability for all our institutions. There is a sense where in many cases it appears that people entrusted their lives to all sorts of institutions whether they be banks, churches, political parties, unions and other organisations in the hope that they would add value to the whole community. Yet somewhere along the way, there has been a growing gap between our everyday lives and the level of governance exercised on our behalf. It is this growing disconnection which acts as cancer within our society causing people to be sceptical and suspicious of the intentions of any organisation. This lack of trust can ebb into our everyday conversations and isolate us from each other. While it is easy to see how this affects us at a global scale it has a more direct impact on how we live our daily lives. We retreat into our private world and close of interest in anything beyond our immediate concern. This can even be fed by social media which actually shrinks our world to only those people we agree with and causes us to become more rigid and inflexible in our acceptance of others. At the very time when we are called to listen to the heartbeat of God, our ears seem to be closed. We live private lives consumed by our own immediate need and intentions.

Therefore, it is important that we look at what we are consuming and what is actually feeding us. It is easy to see how a spirit of destructiveness can creep into our thoughts, into our words and into our actions. There can be a malevolence which can come disguised as a good. We seek to be safe, secure and relevant to our own age. Yet in these very actions, we can start to separate out others who behave differently to us. This can be seen in attitudes where racism, fundamentalism and extremism can breed a sense of intolerance which can fester even in the midst of polite conversation. There can be a growing sense of antagonism, anger and discontent which can breed so easily that it is difficult to contradict. Yet we need to be aware of how parasitical these attitudes can become when they seek to alienate people against each other especially those at the margins of society who have no voice of their own. St James stresses this when he gives emphasis that pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God is this: "Coming to the aid of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated from the world"

So at the end of each day, we need to examen how we have been present in our world. Have we sought what brings life, hope and joy to others or have we become caught up in a vengeful and destructive spirit contrary to God's creative plan? This may be a time when we come to notice whatever feeds us and draws us closer to the Good News. We may need to look at what we watch on our televisions and internet feeds. Is this actually helping me to discover life for God and for others? It is so easy to become caught up in the traditions of our own age that we miss the life-giving spirit which is so ancient and so new.  In that listening with the ear of our hearts, we can discover how to be present in our current age which seeks to build up rather than tearing down. What helps us to listen to God most clearly and how will we live that voice out for the good of others and ourselves?

You have the words of eternal life

The last few weeks have not been easy as we have read many stories emerging from the United States about the Grand Jury report in Pennsylvania about abuse of children by clergy. The message of these reports runs so contrary to the Gospel that we wonder how it could develop in such a catastrophic and endemic way which touches not only the lives of those who have been abused but also their families, the whole Catholic community and the world to which we are called to witness. In many ways what has been revealed echoes much of what we have heard emerging from the Royal Commission in Australia.  Our faith is shaken and we wonder whether anything will help restore people's trust not only in the Church but more profoundly in the person of Jesus Christ on whom it is founded. Many commentaries have been written and will probably still be written. It is easy to see why people would walk away from the Church with disappointment, anger and rage. They seem to have expected so much and they seem to have received so little.

Yet in the midst of this catastrophe, we still believe that there are good people hanging on by their fingertips to the promise that Jesus provides the words of eternal life through our Eucharist. This should not just depend on wishful thinking or wringing of hands but a profound choice that we need to enter into our own dark places. This cannot be done alone and we start to realise that our Church needs to provide leadership which listens to the heart of Christ in our current age. I believe that there are three things that we need to develop in the life of the Church. 

We need to be a people who are serious about prayer and its transformative power. I believe that this is at the heart of Pope Francis' call to penance and fasting. We need to have hearts and minds that are open to God's saving grace which nourishes, restores and heals communities and individuals. This is mostly portrayed in our sacred liturgies where we seek to encounter the God who meets us in our weakness and ambiguity of life. There is a call to recognise that we need to have a common prayer which unites us with God and with each other. We cannot appear to be people who have made it just because we worship in Church. We are a broken people who seek healing and nourishment not by our own efforts but by our utter dependence and surrender to a God who shares our disappointments and failures. 

We need to be people who are serious about building resilient communities who recognise the call to grow in holiness and wholeness as intentional disciples. This means that we need to take seriously the call of being one in Christ Jesus. All people need to be engaged in the task of responding with love and compassion. This is not something that can be specifically reserved to clergy or even trained professionals, it needs to be at the heart of every community that we establish a culture which enables and empowers people to be formed in the Gospel and give expression to charisms present for the good of the community. There is a call for greater collaboration which is focussed on the mission of living the Gospel by seeing what builds up and restores people in hope, faith and love.

We need to be people who seek to live a sacramental life. This takes hard work and I believe it challenges us to look at who it is that we encounter in the sacraments. I think for too long we have trusted that if we prepare people well for the sacraments that they will be able to live an efficacious and affective Christian life. Yet we know this is not true in any other area of life. We do not train people for other walks of life hoping that they have enough knowledge and wisdom to engage with all the problems they will encounter. People need ongoing support, encouragement and training in how to respond to the challenges of our current age. I believe that if we put all our energies into focusing solely on how to provide this for clergy we may actually reinforce a sense of clericalism by placing the stress on their formation at the expense of how a whole community needs to be formed. This does not underplay the important role of leadership for which clergy are formed but it cannot be held or considered in isolation from the parish communities they are called to serve. We need to ensure that we are building a Church which is truly missionary.

In saying all this there is a recognition that clergy do need to ensure that they do not act as lone rangers riding into town believing it is only they who bring all the wisdom and knowledge to people in desperate need. There need to be support structures which are well established in every community which provide pastoral councils and finance committees which are fundamental to considering the good governance, sanctification and formation of parish life for the good of spreading the Good News. In this context, the priest is there not just to manage the good ordering of a parish in this work but to become a person who aids that formation of others. He is called into a life of service so that others may grow in faith. A priest does need this practical support but he also needs to ensure that he does not neglect what is important to his own calling, to grow in relationship with God, to grow to be a loving presence in the community in which he lives and to develop healthy relationships with others. This cannot happen by chance but by providing support in the way of spiritual direction, supervision and guidance which sustains him and the community of which he is a part.

In saying all this I hang on the words at the end of this week's Gospel when Jesus says, "What about you, do you want to go away to", and Simon Peter responds, " Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God."

Take me as I am!

The Gospels present a great dilemma, how can a person share their whole life with us. Often we become used to people speaking or writing to us. With modern technology, this has an immediacy which wasn't always present in the past. So much so that we have difficulty processing all the information and become selective in what we read or what we choose to hear. Certain words can strike home for us while others become background noise. This may be especially true when the people ask Jesus, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" and he replies, "If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him." The words challenge us because there is something happening here which meets us in our everyday reality which disturbs us and causes us to stop in our tracks. Is this truly an encounter with the person of Jesus or is it just a symbolic representation?
When we seek to understand Eucharist we actually encounter his real presence which becomes part of us when we receive the Body and Blood at communion. The reality is not that he becomes part of us but we are also drawn into union with him. It is this profound union which lies at the heart of this reception where we start to see that this is a meeting so direct, so personal and so intimate that we are drawn into his human and divine presence. We are transformed by this reception which is a living remembrance of how he shares his life with us. This also allows us to come into closer communion with each other and which missions us to live that life in our world. In becoming one in the Eucharist we are called to be Eucharistic in our world by what we have received during the celebration of the Mass.
It is this living memory that we hear people talk about especially in the reception of organ donation where a person starts to remember things which have not been part of their life. Therefore, in our gathering together at each Mass and in the reception of communion we are called to encounter the living memory of Jesus. This is a profound sharing of his life which basically says take me as I am!

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord!

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord! The psalmist seeks us to engage us both body and soul. These reflections build on Elijah's' calling to announce the goodness of the Lord and not to worship our human-made Baals. He has just fled for his life from the anger of Ahab and his spirit seems to be emptied of any hope. He is tired of running away from a tyranny of human hands that he has come to a point where he feels like death is the only reward he can hope for. Yet into the midst of his despair and anguish the Lord comes and says get up and eat of the journey will be too long for you. There is a flicker of not just receiving human food but coming into a living relationship with God. This does not happen immediately and he has to be reminded a second time to get up and eat. After a long journey, he lets sits down in a cave and awaits God's voice which does not come in a dramatic cataclysmic event such as a storm, an earthquake or a raging fire but in the quiet zephyr which passes before him. It is in this quiet reflective moment that he encounters the God who will sustain him and enliven him in the realities of life he faces each day.

In a similar way, St Paul speaks to the Ephesians about not grieving the Holy Spirit. He counsels them as though he would counsel children in drawing a contrast between a life which causes disruption and antipathy between people and one which enables people which enables us to befriend each other and befriend ourselves. He speaks powerfully of the voices that cause to hold grudges, to lose our temper, to raise our voices, to call each other names and to foster a spirit of spitefulness. He realises that the violence and hatred we can bear to others can be fostered from within. He urges us rather be kind and forgiving to each other. There is a sense wherein seeking the good for the other we also discover the good for ourselves rather than the other way around. In allowing others to be considered as an encounter with Christ we start to learn what it is to be more human and more diving in the way we pray, think and act.

Our central teaching is not just learnt from a textbook but rather from a person. We are called to learn that Jesus central method of teaching was to come to him and learn. We are called to be people who encounter Jesus in our prayer, our study and our action. This is calling us to be deeply incarnational not compartmentalising these three encounters into separate events but seeing them as essential to any fruitful relationship. He enables us to discover what truly feeds us and tastes good for the body, soul and mind. It is why he reflects that our Eucharist enables this direct encounter with his life. He says, "Anyone who eats this bread will live forever and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world." It is this most intimate of moments when we discover that the calling of God touches the deepest part of us which longs for the still moment of being present to the presence. In this place, we discover the eternal now, Jesus Christ, who brings life and hope to our world and echoes the words of the psalmist, "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord!"

Eating to your hearts content

There are regular messages which are seen on our televisions encourage us to learn more about how to eat more healthily. As we walk down the aisles of the supermarket, or sit down at a cafe, or even when we occasionally look at the menu at fast food restaurants we are bombarded with facts and figures. Trying to figure out the difference between kilo joules and calories can only be one of the daily tasks. What seems to be fundamental is not just what will satisfy our hunger but more importantly what are we hungering for? The search for the correct balance between what we eat and the life we desire is a delicate one and it is more than just what we weigh, although that may be part of it. Most fundamentally it is what draws us into a relationship with others. Food is not just about feeding ourselves but how when we sit down how it prompts us to move beyond ourselves into a relationship with others.

Jesus focuses on that when people coming to him after the multiplication of the loaves and fish. They want more of the same. Their hunger has been filled but somehow they also experience the deep emptiness in the pit of their stomachs. They dislike that feeling and what someone else to fill them again. Yet Jesus talks to them and to us about the importance of Eucharist. It is not just something given out so that we can walk away. It is a call to enter into a deeper relationship inside ourselves with the person of Christ. St Paul in talking to the Ephesians describes this as a spiritual revolution, so that in discovering God's way we discover goodness and holiness of the truth. As Jesus describes it is the discovery of what brings life to our world. He then goes on to say, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst."

What I believe that Jesus is inviting us to is to look beyond mere externals towards an inner conversion of heart. This is not just achieved through willpower but a receptiveness which acknowledges our need for a life which longs to be filled. This is not achieved by hard work or even severe asceticism where we seek to manufacture hunger. It is actually allowing us to encounter our daily hunger for God in what is needed for this day and this moment. This is not a hunger which just seeks to satisfy ourselves or our own needs but prompts us to see with the heart of God which draws us into a deeper relationship which seeks to fill the deep hunger of the human heart for substance and meaning.

At a time of drought in Australia and the reality of deep hunger in our world, we are called to seek what will sustain not only in times of plenty but also in times of famine. This is not just a wishing the other well or hoping that somehow God will provide. It is examining how we can cooperate with the whole of God's creation to create environments in which we care for our land, our people and for our neighbours.  There is a need to seek what God plants in our hearts which will bear fruit for our world. This deep hunger is not just to be fed with physical food but a desire to see that others do not go without. It is only at the times when our lives are shaken by the realities of our frailty and dependence on the goodness of our cooperation with that creation and the gifts entrusted to us that we discover an inner generosity which supports people in need. We see this in the many who contribute to the need of farmers by helping to provide fodder for their livestock. This builds deep connections between those in the city and those on the land. Yet in the same way, we need to work with others in our global community to ensure that they have what they need to lead their daily life. We can see a similar generosity at times of great need but we also need to discover through our knowledge of how to care for the land how we share with others ways of improving agricultural sustainability which empowers people to produce what is needed in a time of global change. 

The challenge of our times is not to just focus on our own hunger for material satisfaction but what will open our minds and hearts to how God sees our world. Without this deeper reflection, we will only see what feeds us for today and then tomorrow and then the next day. God calls us to look deeper to see how our relationship with Jesus moves deep within us to find what brings life and what brings hope. To discover how our lives can be Eucharist by who we are in a relationship with and what he invites us to share with others.

Give it the people to eat!

We live in a time when we need to turn our words into actions. People are conscious of how easy it is to say something in the haste of the moment only to struggle to make it happen. There is a focus on what people say and keen observance to see whether we can trust what has been said. At the heart of it all is whether the words will nourish and sustain us. This is not just about creating a warm feeling in the heart but actually putting food on the table. This why we need to listen to what is the essential need and then discover how we can creatively respond to that need with the resources that are to hand.

In the Gospel we see Jesus and Elijah facing the same reality. People have been inspired to follow them into the desert and listen to a voice which promises life. When they are told to feed the multitudes with what appears to be limited resources the disciples quite rightly do their sums. It does not add up what can they do with so little when confronted with such an overwhelming multitude. You can sense that they are confronted by what seems an impossible task and their confidence to provide for others is greatly shaken. Yet in the midst of great need Jesus and Elijah call upon us to trust in the God who provides for the needs of the many. The focus turns on what the people need rather than the little we have to offer. This is at the centre of the Eucharist moment. What can what appears so small transform our whole life by opening our hearts to God and each other.

We become so used to think in terms of scarcity and lack that we miss the moments of grace which allow us to provide for the moment. This does not make life easier but it does change the way we share what we have with those in greatest need. The centre shifts on to the person and how we can provide what is needed rather than determining whether our relationship should be limited by what we have. Each day offers us the opportunity to creatively meet others and help us to discover what will put food on the table.

For whom do we live?

They were like sheep without a shepherd. These words resonate very clearly to me not just as a priest but also as a spiritual director. The question is how do I lead people to good pasture in which they can be nourished and sustained. This is no easy task as it calls me to reflect on what I seek myself and what time to I find to seek that same nourishment. We live in an age where there seems to be no end to the number of pastures in which we can graze. In fact, it is easy to leap from one to the other in a matter of seconds, whether we are googling, scrolling through our Facebook or just channel surfing. It is easy to become unfocused and distracted by so many items on the menu that we forget to actually sit down and eat. I think this is the essential part of this weekend's Gospel is that we need to find time to sit down with each other in which to encounter Jesus who will speak to our hearts. This normally happens when we attend Mass on Sunday where we are called to hear his words and be in communion with his life. There is a need to come close and rest in his presence.

It is from this encounter that we can start to make sense of our lives on a daily basis: what brings us gratitude: where do we find ourselves being renewed and refreshed; what troubles us and disturbs us; where do find ourselves being tripped up by our own sinfulness and dissipation; what do we consider to be our next step that brings hope and good news to others? Our life is not called to be one of aimless wandering. We are called to find our lives coming alive in the person of Jesus Christ. This is not just by wishful thinking but by a desire which manifests itself in how we pray and how we live. There is a desire that God wishes us to be fulfilled which brings peace to those who are far away and those who are near at hand. May we discover people who lead us to good pasture and especially during this month of July to follow Pope Francis' call to pray for priests that they may be renewed in their pastoral ministry.

Why go for a walk when you end up in the same place?

We tend to be very outcome driven. Things can be judged succesful by the results produced and the goal being achieved. We can always seem to be on a journey to somewhere that no sooner have we arrived than a sense of disattisfaction can arise and we seek the next destination. In this weeks readings we see a similar story. My focus was drawn to the success achieved than the journey undertaken. Yet both are important. We become who we are called to be by setting out with each other on the journey. We start to meet ourselves as we are rather than in who we think we should be. In this slow steady pace we encounter the one who walks with us on our pilgrimage through life. We find a sense of healing and resilience which can confront our inner fears. We discover that life enables us to make the next obvious step and transforms the environment in which we live. 

Listening out for God

How we listen for God shapes how we live our lives. This is reflected not just in how we pray but what grabs our attention. This is seen in this weekends readings which deal with both the words of prophecy and our own weaknesses.  The idea of prophecy  can sometimes be misinterpreted as though it predicts events in the future over which we have no control. There can he a sense of fatalism which can poison the soul and cause people to become passively fearful of an unexpected future. People can become disengaged and sceptical that there lives count when confronted by the callousness of the world.
Yet in the midst of all these uncertainties we are called to be open to how God is at work. This is not just in focussing on our own weaknesses but rather on how God's grace is present in ordinary and familiar events of our lives. This allows us to discover how God meets us as the centre of how we are called to live. By seeking God in the everyday we start to see what brings life and what draws us into an everyday faith. Thus prophecy helps us to see how God is not about predicting the future but rather engaging us with the present. To live in a way which is shaped by God and which engenders hope in the way we are called to be in our present age.

Drawing the best out of us!

We all know with fondness and appreciation those people who have drawn the best out of us. They are fixed in our memories and in our hearts. They see something within us which is good and which they help us to nurture and sustain. In become aware of the gifts that we have and growing in understanding we are able to grow in our life of faith. They help us to become alive and to be wholly who we are called to be.
In Jesus story of healing Jairus's daughter,  we discover a movement of faith. The synagogue official not only seeks out Jesus but invites him to come to the place where he lives. Even where it appears that his daughter has died Jesus encourages the person to have faith. He addresses the daughter directly and she once again finds life.
It is almost against the odds that Jesus always encourages us to discover what is wholesome and holy. He calls us to seek what it is that will bring life to a person and to a situation when many would dismiss both as hopeless. Jesus calls us to not succumb to our own doubts that God does not desire the best for us. Also this is not just a view of life which sees everything through rose tinted glasses but rather a desire to encounter God as all in all. To discover what brings life and hope to us especially when we encounter the ordinary difficulties and struggles of life. Our prayer needs to be alive and active trusting our whole selves before God. This is not just wishing to be well but a desire to be wholly who God wants us to be. We need to discover what brings life not death!

What will this child turn out to be?

This question hangs in the air around the birth of John the Baptist. Often we tend to fast forward the scene of his nativity to the proclamation which we find on his lips when he bears witness to Christ where he says, "He must increase, I must decrease" In these prophetic words he starts to see his whole life summed up in pointing to the life of another by being himself. There can be this time of impatience where we want to see instant results and a life which can be clearly understood. We want our spirituality prepackaged and mailed to us in the post. Yet God keeps turning up disguised as our life.

In seeking to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ we cannot just hope that we will encounter him somewhere along the way. There is a need to allow him to discover us. Often we feel that we have to put a lot of effort into finding him, reflecting on scripture, reading the right books, seeking the counsel of other Christians and acting in a way which is founded on Christian virtues and values. This is all to the good but we also need for him to able to reflect with us, to read our hearts, to offer us counsel and to learn what it is to be in relationship with him. There is a need to be found in a way which helps us to remove our masks and to find the place where we are truly known.

Like Francis Thompson who wrote the Hound of Heaven as a reflection on Psalm 139 we start to notice a God who is relentless in his love for us. Who pursues us in a way where we find someone who fully understands who we are and who we are called to be. In an age where people seem to be running from God the chase is still on. God seeks us out so that we may find our true home in which we are called to abide and discover our true worth. We are called to live a life which is at home with God and at home with our selves, in which we are wonderfully made.

The smallest seed

What catches our eye first? Often it is what seems to be most powerful, spectacular or most relevant event happening in the world. Our lives tend to be lived vicariously through the lives of others. We can tend to see their lives as more important than our own. They seem to be able to make decisions which change the world we live in for good or for ill. We become fascinated almost in a hypnotic trance which focuses on their every move. They seem to glide effortlessly into and out of our lives. The seed of their thought becomes planted within us and ensnares our hearts. Like a strangle weed it squeezes the life out of us and causes us to doubt what will bring us hope.

Yet in this weekends Gospel we are called to look at the smallest seed being planted which often can be forgotten or hidden within us. It takes time to nurture this seed and to allow it to grow. This is not a seed which seeks to dominate us and control us but rather enlighten and empower us. Often this growth does not happen instantly. There is a need to allow us to enter into a quiet place where we can allow it to take root within us. This seed enlarges out hearts rather than entraps it. It seeks to expand and enlarge itself within us. This is not just about doing what we want but rather discovering what we need and what will shelter us. This daily practice of sitting quietly and listening to what stirs within us helps us to discover a life growing silently within us.

So take time each day for that slow, quiet growth to emerge and enlighten us. To discover how we can make room for that still voice which does not isolate us from ourselves. That smallest seed which can provide shelter in which others too can grow. Listen to the seed which is planted in your heart.