The Dance, the Dancer and the Dancing

 As we approach Trinity Sunday we can often skirt around trying to understand how we are drawn into the reality of the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can often be caught by feeling that we have to relate to one or the other but the reality of three persons and one God can confuse us. It can cause us to chase various rabbits down holes which are interesting theological explorations but do not actually help us to grow in a dynamic relationship with God. 

I believe that in essence we are called to sustain the same dynamic relationship at the present moment. Just as when we are dancing we are called to experience being the dancer and the certain movement of the dance. I believe that this is a powerful metaphor for the Christian life. We are called to a person of prayer. We learn from our tradition the ways in which people have been led on the dance. We notice those who have become a dancer to that particular rhythm of life. Their way of dancing attracts people to notice how they too are invited into the dance.

So too with us in our own age. We are called to listen to the music that enthralls us, to step out and feel the beat. There is a resonance that runs through our own body which calls us to be part of this dance. The question is not whether we can dance but rather whether we will join the dance?

Ordinary Events, Extraordinary Lives

 I wonder what the disciples felt when they were present to Jesus' ascension. In my own reflections, it may seem that this second separation was more difficult than the first. At the foot of the cross, they experienced a whole mixture of human emotions with which we would be familiar, fear, shock, anger, rejection, and anxiety. These emotions drove them into hiding and withdrawal. Yet in the midst of these all too human responses, Jesus walked into their midst and proclaimed peace and reconciliation. It was these initial resurrection encounters that called the disciples to a deeper appreciation of His life.

However, there was a sense in which the second withdrawal was necessary so that an internal conversion of the heart could take place. It was this liminal space between the Ascension and Pentecost in which the womb of expectation was born in each of them. No longer was their life called to be one simply of observation of the life of Jesus but rather a participation in proclaiming the Good News. They were called to be people who responded to the life for which they were chosen. To proclaim that this changed how they would live in the world and what they were prepared to live and die for.

We are faced with the same choice as the People of God. We can either see ourselves just as observers of holy things and holy people or we can to an appreciation that we are transformed into life through daily prayer and action. In this way, the sacramental life is not an action that we receive or something that is done to us but rather an invitation to participate in a new life. Our participation and response are central. We are not spectators called together on Sundays just to go through the motions but rather people who are commissioned to live that Good News in daily life. In this way, the Holy Spirit transforms ordinary lives into an extraordinary witness of God's love for the whole of creation.

God does not have favourites

 This statement should assure us that we do not have to earn God's love but we do need to witness it with our lives. This can help us to know in our hearts that God loved us first and that our vocation is to grow in that love. This calls us to see each of our encounters as a meeting with the risen Christ. To see in the eyes of another a reflection of God's love for us and to encourage each other in faith. 

This love is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling but a practical call to action. To love one another in a way that helps them to experience their own worth and dignity. This is at the heart of the Good News that we witness the goodness of God's love which created everybody for a good purpose. This shapes both our actions which seek acts of social justice that seek to remedy anything that degrades humanity and seeks to reach out in solidarity with those in greatest need of our care.

Especially, during this month of May, we are called to become part of a continual pattern of prayer around the world for the ending of the pandemic and for specific intentions through praying the rosary. St Mary's Cathedral is one of the 30 Marian shrines around the world which will join in this prayer vigil. More can be found on https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2021-05/shrines-around-the-world-linked-for-recitation-of-the-rosary.html. I believe this act of solidarity joins our minds and hearts with fellow Christians around the world for a common purpose. It is one of the practical ways is that the physical distance between is carried on the wings of prayer.

As we celebrate Mother's Day we also give thanks to other mothers for nurturing and sustaining us with love and friendship. We also keep them at the centre of our prayer for all the intentions that they carry in their hearts.

Love shows itself in action

 Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love

In a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,

What seizes your imagination, will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,

What you do with your evenings,

How you spend your weekends,

What you read,

Whom you know,

What breaks your heart,

And what amazes you with joy and gratitude,

Fall in love, stay in love,

It will decide everything.

(Arrupe)

For whom do we lay down our life?

 It is not often that Anzac Day coincides with Good Shepherd Sunday. Bit it is significant that they arrive at the conjunction of event around the world. Not least is the current pandemic but there are also fresh rumours of war or armed conflict reemerging. Russian troops gathered on the border of Ukraine, the flights of Chinese fighters over Taiwan, the ongoing conflicts in Chad and sub-Saharan Africa, the tensions in the Middle East and ongoing suffering Yemen. There can be a sense of deja vu in how we face familiar problems in a new context. The central question is how we respond to circumstances beyond our control as a person of faith.

I feel that we need to have a prayerful response to these situations. We need to recognise the profound effect that armed conflict and the ravages of the pandemic can have on the life of communities. We need to be people who are not only praying but prayerfully present to the reality of the suffering of others. Our lives are interconnected and we are not called to live in isolation from the needs of others. Our prayer should not be to keep the reality of such situations far from our minds and our concerns but rather how do we respond as a person of faith to these circumstances. What affects one part of humanity affects us all. As Pope Francis notes are that during May we pray that this pandemic may end.

However, as people who are called to apply our minds and hearts to ways in which we can respond to this situation. This means that we need to be reasoned and reasonable in how we are of service. In some cases, we need to consider not only what is for our good but the good of the whole community. We have noticed this has assisted in responding to isolating outbreaks of the virus and people being vaccinated. Yet there is also the need to connect with each other in ways that support each other rather than becoming consumed by fear, anxiety and anger. In times such as these, it is natural for tensions to rise and people to become suspicious of the behaviour of others. Yet our call to serve is not just to seek what is good for me but what is for the good of the whole.

Thus it is when we are called to act we notice how we are called to be both prayerful and present to the good of the other. Our lives are based on simple acts of kindness which value the life of another. In being present in these ways we follow the example of Saint Mary of the Cross Mackillop who looks for the next obvious step as we travel together. We become people who lay down our lives for each other.

What surprises us with awe and joy!

Easter presents us with a new reality that centres on the risen Christ. This new reality not only challenged the early disciples but also challenges us. What we are called to notice is that this is not focussing on what we need to give up but rather the relationship that we need to sustain. When Jesus appeared in the midst of the disciples they were overcome with fear believing they were seeing a ghost. Sometimes we can sense the same reality when a loved one dies. Familiar events can draw that person to mind and at times we can be caught by surprise when we are touched deeply. The circumstances can overwhelm us in ways that are hard to put into words. We are often drawn towards memorials of that person which are either the clothes they wore, the pictures we remember by or even the place where they are buried. There is a connection that holds us close to the memory of the person.

The resurrection touches us in the same way but more profoundly. In the encounter with Jesus, the disciples notice a fundamental shift that rocks their own understanding. They become physically present to their own response to how Jesus is truly present. This is not just a figment of their imagination or wishful thinking. They are not just moved by distant memories called to mind but a new encounter that changes their lives. This is how the journey to Pentecost changes us. The locus of control is not centred on what we want but on who Jesus is for us. He moves towards us so that we can move towards him. This is a relationship that transforms us in our own daily encounters and refocuses why we do what we do. It opens our minds and hearts to be people who understand how we are called to rise from the "dead" and seek a new life.

This is what we witness in daily life that Jesus calls us to be people who proclaim the Gospel by our way of life. This is not just lip service or formula of words but a way of being present to our world. This is a lived encounter with the person of Jesus who stands at the heart of our Christian community. It does not make us superhuman but it does recreate us in God's image and likeness. The call to be a witness is not a task to be undertaken as if it was something on the to-do list. Rather it calls us to become more fully alive with awe and joy that God seeks this profound new relationship that transforms us and the way that we live. Not because we have to but as a result of how Jesus' life stands at the centre of our own. We cannot but be faithful to the indwelling spirit which arises within us and proclaims that Jesus has risen!

Believing Thomas!

 Thomas always seems to get a bad rap! He wants to check out what the other disciples have experienced is true. He asks good questions about how we experience life when he says if I don't see it for myself I cannot believe it is true. For him, faith is a personal journey even when he is encouraged by others. I feel that this is true for all of us and especially in our present age. Why others can teach us about Jesus it is only through personal experience that we learn to relate to Jesus. Even the best teacher or homilist can only lead us towards that experience they cannot undertake the journey on our behalf. In fact, this is where we are called to begin our Easter journey. We are called to notice what happens in everyday life. To discover what leads us to an experience of life and not death. Where we find our hearts burning within us as we listen to scripture, pray and gather with others.

Yet in the reality of daily life, we are called to encounter the living wounds of Christ. Often around times of suffering and death, we experience different emotions of trauma and grief. This is perfectly natural and each of us with the support of others undertakes this part of the journey in life. What catches us by surprise is that the experience of passing through trauma and grief empowers us to encounter others in ways that bring hope and life. Much in the same way as Thomas meeting the Risen Christ we put our hands in their side. Not to cause more grief and suffering but to encounter one heart beating in rhythm with our own.

In fact, there is often a tentativeness in each of us in standing with a community or an individual who has gone through an experience of deep grief. Often we can be with them on Good Friday but is hard to stay with the silence of Holy Saturday which marks the transition to Easter Sunday. Often it is this waiting that frustrates and worries us. There is a tendency which wishes to rush a person through their experience of suffering and death because it disturbs us with our own mortality. Yet if we can wait with the person and their questions like Thomas it opens up space within us to touch the heart of another. Often this is done with hesitation when we ask for one thing but do not expect the response to be invited in. This is a place of profound trust and vulnerability. It is in fact what Jesus invites Thomas to do. To make the first tentative steps to sense his heart beating in time with our own. Easter is a time when we are called to trust and have faith that Jesus will surprise us often in our everyday encounters. In many ways, he uses the same words: "Do not be afraid, put your hand into my side". Trust that even in our deepest questions and our darkest night, Christ's light will shine.

Signs of Hope

 It is now about a year since we experienced a very different Easter. There is a sense that as we start to emerge from the ravages of the pandemic that we seek signs of hope. Not least is our ability to start returning to Church and experience a deeper communion with God and each other. What we considered normal and every day has changed. We are all too conscious of how unpredictable life can be and what we look for as signs of hope.

This Easter Sunday as we gather and celebrate with family we become familiar with some of the traditional problems that occur at this time not least the traffic jams as people seek relief from enforced isolation. Yet Easter is not just a passing season where we take a breath before plunging into winter. It is a time where we look for signs of life where there seems to be only death. The ability to see that God is present even in the darkest night.

As we journey from now until Pentecost we are called to be surprised by the risen Christ who encounters us on our everyday journey. May this be a blessed time for us all. As we once again see signs of hope.

How do we welcome Jesus into our hearts?

 We know the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem all too well. How cheering crowds could so easily turn into a howling mob! It is a reality we see all too often when peaceful demonstrations turn ugly when anger turns into violence and the hope of liberation turns to tyranny. There is something all too familiar with the story which seems to be played out in our own time not only in events over history. It is probably a good reality check to see where our hearts are at the beginning of Holy Week.

There can be anticipation that Lent is rapidly drawing to an end and we approach the climax of Jesus life in the Paschal Mystery. Where is it in his life, death and resurrection that we see the story of our own salvation played out? This is not just a mystery play that leaves us unmoved but a life that touches deeply into our own. Lent is not just about what we have given up but how it has prepared us to encounter the person of Jesus in the reality of our own frailty, vulnerability and sinfulness. His life is intertwined with our own as we journey towards Calvary. We know suffering, disappointment and the feelings which cause us to hide away from a God who loves us. The immanence of the person Jesus overcomes us and surprises us with grace.

Over this week we are called to accompany Jesus, not just as passive observers but as living participants who are profoundly affected by his total self-offering. The at-one-ment opens the gates to the relationship with the Father which lay at the centre of his life. This is not just a blind abandonment to fate but rather an active engagement with what lay at the heart of his life. God was prepared to offer everything of life that we may enter into eternal life. That in his death we discover a life that transforms us and breaks our own hearts with life and love. This Holy Week is not just a depressing repetition of past events or a reminder of the cost of sin on the human heart but rather a hope-filled encounter with the person who reorients our life towards God.

The Law written on our hearts!

 When someone asks us what the right thing to do we often turn to a book of rules or laws. When we ask how I am called to be the person that God desires me to be we need to know the heart of the person who wrote the laws. This is often the dilemma we encounter in daily life. In some ways, it is easy to know the law rather than the heart of the lawgiver. Often we encounter this in relationships whether it be in playing a sport, living our lives in the workplace or meeting people for the first time. The encounters that are part of daily life are called to be truly life-giving for ourselves and for others. We are called to become our best self which seeks to show authenticity and integrity.

Over the last few weeks, we witnessed this reality in the life of the nation and the world around the issue of sexual violence towards women. The question is how to build workplaces and social environments which allow women a place where they can feel safe and respected. I believe often we live with the contradictions where physical beauty is seeing people objectively and this causes a diminishment in treating a person with the dignity that they deserve. This is not only present in how we see the prevalence of the trivialisation of relationships that are lifelong and sustaining. Often it is the breakdown of trust between persons which causes people to live in a society that is underlayed by fear and anxiety. The question is not how we apply the law but how we are called to people who are authentic and integrated.

I believe Richard Rohr noted this in rites of passage that men discover both their power and vulnerability. The fact that these rites of passage are not present as a regular part of our western culture can cause young men to become powerful without recognising their own vulnerability and the vulnerability of others. I can sense that the ability to have power without responsibility can cause many to treat others as objects to be possessed rather than people to be related to. Young men need to learn through prayer and reflection on how to live their lives as people of compassion and integrity. 

When we come to the questions of the heart we need to recognise that our prayer often deals with the internal conflicts that we all experience. When issues trouble us they call for a thoughtful and prayer-filled response which is for the good of the person and the good of the whole community. There can be a sense in which it is easy to demonise the other and to see our own life as the only thing that matters. Yet at the heart of the gospel is what seeds to be want to be planted within us which blossom to eternal life. I believe that bringing issues into the light allows us to recognise not only the truth of human life but also how we become people of compassion. This allows us to notice what needs to die within us so that we can become our best self.

What bites us may not kill us!

 The image of Jesus suffering on the cross has often been one of the most confronting images in which we encounter a God who self empties everything for our good. This is a very disturbing reality for most of us as we discover a God who is vulnerable and who can suffer with us and for us. There is a part of us that wishes to save Jesus from this suffering but there is also another part of us that recognises that our own personal suffering afflicts our own body. None of us is immune to the afflictions which can cause us mental, physical and spiritual pain. There is an acknowledgement that Jesus' total offering of self for the good of another can help us to experience not only a deeper insight into our own life but also how we are called to become vulnerable to what seems unspeakable.

This reality can become part of our own Lenten experience. Through our own penance, fasting and almsgiving we discover that there is an inward desire to encounter God as ourselves. This can be about losing our false image of self which seeks to control outcomes, seeking quick fixes and listening all too easy to the solutions which are not meant for us. Lent ultimately seeks us to encounter God in our own poverty, powerlessness and frailty. This allows us to abandon our whole life into the loving embrace of God who does not seek counterfeit affection but an inward desire which wells up within us. This seeks for us to become real and become who God desires us to be.

So here we stand at Laudate Sunday hoping beyond hope that our lives are centred on the one person who matters. To discover in the midst of our daily confusion, struggles, sadnesses and the pressures of life that there is a God who sustains us in love, hope and peace. This does mean abandoning our plans but rather encountering a God who seeks to bring them to fruition with a graced awareness. The recognition that God sustains us when we make the first step. Thus our mediation on the cross sees our own vulnerability in his own. That our lives are open to God who is all in all.

Can we buy off God?

 Sometimes our prayers of intercession can sound more like a wish list where we try to bargain with God. We seek to influence a particular outcome in our favour and we would like God to see it from our point of view. Often this can seem like we keep badgering God with the same request even though it may not be what God sees as the best for us. There can be a tendency to see this is as a transaction which if I pay a certain amount of money, undertake a particular sacrifice or spend a certain time in prayer that God will respond more favourably to my request. There may even be a subtle thought that if I do this God owes me the solution which is most beneficial to my circumstances.

Yet sometimes it is in our disappointments that God encounters us as we truly are. The most significant insight is that we cannot buy God off and seek him to compensate us with a certain reward for our good behaviour. Regardless of our action or inaction the love of God is constant and I believe this is what Jesus notices in the turn over of the tables in the temple. His frustration and anger are not that people are seeking to develop a relationship with God but the thought that it can be turned into a transactional relationship. Jesus desires us to encounter God in a way that transforms our lives into a way that brings us into a deeper faith, hope and charity.

I believe this is where our Lenten discipline is the most challenging because it is not what we give up but rather how we abandon everything over to God. This profound surrender seeks to engage our whole being, heart, mind and body in a way of living which acknowledges our total dependence on God's loving presence in our lives. It is when we do that out of a profound union with the person who loves us most deeply that we start to discover who it is that we are called to be and how we are to act. It allows trust to be discovered which build up a sense of mutuality that we are created in God's image and likeness. There is a sense that God desires what will bring us the greatest happiness and the best contribution that we can make to our own community. Lent is not what we give up but rather the relationship we are drawn into that recognises that even in our frailty, sinfulness and limited vision that God calls us to see with eternal vision. To notice how God's presence transforms our world for good!

Transformed by Light Plunged into Darkness

Lent brings with it two amazing contrasts in the spiritual life revealed to us in the Transfiguration. The first is that we meet the full reality of Jesus contained in the law and prophets. We see clearly the black fire of the written word on the white fire of our hearts. We are called to see God present in all things. The glory of God is made transparently clear which overwhelms us with awe. We are astonished by God’s immense love for us in revealing Jesus' divine presence and its impact on our lives.

Yet almost as we seem to comprehend this we seem to be plunged into darkness where God seems to be no-where and no-thing. It is almost as though all the certainties about God are stolen from us and we enter into a cloud of unknowing. We start to have doubts about ourselves and our fears confound our isolation. Yet it in this darkness that we are able to listen attentively to the voice of God which says, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him."

Thus Lent is a deeper awareness of how we can encounter God in every aspect of our lives while also realising that God is no-thing. These dual experiences are essential if we are to surrender our whole life to God. Recognising that is through these these experiences we encounter God as our true self.

What do we thirst for?

 Lent is a time when we are driven out into the desert to face our own demons. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of daily life, we often are drawn to events outside of us which seem to crowd out our inner lives. There are bills to pay, people to meet, appointments to be kept and items to be purchased. Our lives can become simply a to-do list which we mark off with an inevitability there will be more things to be done. There can seem to be a relentless pressure to perform and meet the expectations of others. That there never seem enough hours in a day to attend to what we consider important.

Yet Lent is really a time when we could consider a to-be list. How have we been present to our daily activities with a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude? What has helped us to notice the graced moments where God draws our attention to beauty, creativity and wonder? They may only be simple things like a person who unexpectedly smiles and wishes us a good day. The person who recognises that we may need encouragement with a particularly difficult task or even a person who agrees to accompany us to a doctors appointment. These are all things that we can take for granted but they transform lives.

In a similar way, we can see what most easily allows us to review what is bring us life and lead us to a more wholesome way of living. This can be as simple as seeking to notice what we truly hunger for and what satisfies us. It can also notice what seems to be a dead weight on us and which we endure rather than carry. There are situations in life where we will all encounter difficulties but how do we find ways in which we can bring a sense of joy and peace to a what to many would seem a crushing weight. 

There can also be those times when we are distracted from the very good that we seek to do by things that have the appearance of being urgent rather than important. When we notice that we are spending time on things which do not help us or others we can start to make changes which open us to the more creative use of our day. We can also become aware of the direction in which our life is taking and make small course changes which direct us to a more prayerful way of living.

In the end, Lent is about preparing ourselves for the renewal which comes about through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Recognising those things which are obstacles to the way of life we seek to live, to discover the truth which will sustain us on the journey to becoming fully alive.

Preparing for Lent

 Thinking back over the last year it seems as though we have had our longest Lent. When we first started to hear about COVID we thought that it would last for a relatively short time. But in many ways, it has been like a longer penitential season. We have called upon to pay particular attention to personal hygiene, physical distancing and unnecessary travel. In many cases, the restrictions became mandatory and at short notice. People were called to adjust their plans at short notice and many of the things we took for granted were thrown awry. There was a sense in which the enforcement of this distancing brought with it much confusion, isolation and anger. It called us to reflect on what was important in our lives. I believe this is at what of Lent is truly about it calls us to notice what we need to fast from which at times may be more than food. It is what can isolate us from God and from each other. Thus our fasting helps us to notice the places where we put up barriers to God and to others in our lives. This is where our prayer is not just time which we set aside but rather listening to how God prompts us to discover who we are called to be in our daily lives. It is listening to the quiet voice which sustains us. As I have said to our seminarians we think at light speed, God speaks to us at walking pace. When we notice that we have time to slow down we can start to see that we are not the centre of the universe. We are called to notice those around us especially those in greatest need of God's loving presence. This is not just about observing what needs to be done but actually participating in a way which puts that loving gaze into action. So as you prepare for Lent this is a time where prayer, fasting and almsgiving call us not to be centred on ourselves but on God's loving intent and what brings down the hard borders we discover around our hearts.

The next obvious step

 Mary Mackillop was always looking for opportunities in which she could apply the teaching of the Gospel to the life of the community in which she lived. She saw an urgency which did not put the work of today in the hope of what might happen the future. She was not one for rainy days in which action could be postponed when it was clear that she could make a difference at this moment.

As we read through the first reading from Job for this weekend we can have an impression is that it is just one thing after another. Yet I feel this misses the point he is making which is to be present to the situation we are in rather than seeing life as an endless progression of time in which we always anticipate something in the future but never experience it now. Paul takes this theme up when he talks about preaching the gospel not as a task to be fulfilled but a life to be lived. He saw himself as sharing his life with the people he met so that he could identify the graced action which was needed. In the same way, Jesus sees the immediate need and responds to it. When he discovers Simon Peter's mother in law sick he attends to her need for healing. She responds by showing her thanks by attending to his needs. It is this ability to see the need in the life of another which draws us to be people of healing and reconciliation.

The main thing in exercising these good works is not to draw attention to ourselves but to enable us to hear the Good News at work in our lives and the lives of ordinary people. It is by doing ordinary things extraordinarily well that we discover how God opens up our minds and hearts to the people in our square metre. To encounter them prayerfully and holistically. To see the person who is in need and to take the next obvious step.

Listening to silence

 In a world which seeks to make us busy, many opinions can be thrown us on a daily basis. I am often taken from the time we wake up to the time we go to sleep we listen to many different voices. These voices can often seem to be contradictory and pull us in different directions at the same time. In fact, it is this dis-ease which can not only affect our mental health but our physical health as well. If we try to please all the different voices we find ourselves torn apart.

This is the importance of finding a place where we can listen to the silence within. This is not easy because we have often been taught that unless we are actively doing something we are not worthwhile. Thus we plunge ourselves into activity so that we can prove that we have purpose and meaning. It seeks to crowd out the empty spaces within us by having no spare time to be with ourselves. We don't want to be seen to be wasting time doing nothing.

Yet it is this encounter with no-thing that is at the very heart of our prayer. It calls us to encounter our true self which is more than the things we do or the successes we achieve. The place where we have been loved into being. This silent place may seem to be a "waste of time" but it may be the most productive place that we can encounter in each day. By allowing our prayer to draw us into a silence of being present to this moment we seek to integrate our day and become whole. Rather than being fragmented, we listen to the inner voice which brings healing and strength.

The need to be restored in prayer is essential as it brings to notice what heals us and brings wholeness. It allows us to be truly ourselves before God and each other. This restoration allows a balance which sees that in present to no-thing we become aware of how God is present in all things. 

The Kingdom is close at hand

 Our mission field is provided by the one square metre in which we live. This becomes more self-evident when we become aware of physical distancing in this age of the pandemic. Often this can feel like holding people at arm's length for fear that we may be infected by the virus. There can be a suspicion which eyes off what the other person is doing and whether it conforms to our understanding of the safeguards that have been put in place. Yet whether it is border closures, travel restrictions or simply the daily movement around people we are called to attend to what happens to the spirit within us. We want to ensure that we do not become distant from the spirit that dwells within.

Thus while we can be aware of the constant flow of bad news which can fixate us on events beyond our control, we can miss how our lives can make a difference in the place where we live. There is a need to discover as the disciples did how we are called to become people who transform our local environment. This means that we not only recognise and develop our own skills and talents. It also means that we need to discover how these can build up the realm of God in our own space. 

We are called to become people who seek to accord our actions with the promptings from within. That is not just to seek our own good but the common good. This calls for our lives to witness how our prayer and reflection guides us to grow closer to God in our own community. By paying attention to what brings life rather than a disaster. By converting our own hearts we become present to the living heart of God in our community. Our lives proclaim that God is at the heart of all and in all.

What do we set our hearts on?

 The desire for something or someone greater than ourselves lies at the heart of our quest to be truly human. It is almost as if there is something in our DNA which naturally seeks union with the whole of creation and the heart of the creator. We sense a restlessness which desires more and we can tend to spend a lot of time and money trying to discover that one thing which makes sense of this itch within us. The prompting which calls us to go beyond ourselves and discover new land in which we can be at peace. In the gospel reading, Jesus asks his disciples what are you looking for? This seems to be a straight forward question, but within it lies a fundamental willingness to yearn to be ourselves in seeking out the answer.

When the disciples ponder this question they come forward with their own question, where do you live? This searching and seeking seem to be innate within our human experience. We desire to know where it is that God is and what God is about. In someway we seek to be provided with a clear and simple answer. Like the disciples, we yearn to be at one with God in the midst of our searching. It is almost as if we seek to discover something or someone beyond ourselves who can provide that answer and in doing so become fulfilled.

This is especially true when we see the disturbances all too prevalent in our world. When we are often besieged by events beyond our control and which disturb our imagination. Whether it be the events on Capitol Hill, whether it is trade conflicts, whether it is the haunting spectre of a virus which cannot be contained or simple the everyday worries about where our next meal will come from we can find ourselves seeking a person who can provide the answers to our worries and concerns. Yet when our life is driven by fears of what menaces us we can become willful and reluctant to seek the person who is at the heart of all things.

Yet what we discover is the simple response of Jesus to come and see. It is in the very willingness to spend time with him that we discover who we are and who he is. This is not just about stepping aside from our daily tasks to spend time in prayer but discovering how we see the world differently. This seeking causes us to be at peace with ourselves as we discover it is in the ordinary graces of each day that God is revealed. It is about encountering the holy every day rather than in the extraordinary. This is the true miracle of life that God's presence can be experienced through the graced encounter and the divine touch of human life. The willingness to become at one with God at the heart of all things.

Become like water

 At the centre of our Christian life is the sacrament of baptism in which we die to ourselves to become one with Christ. In this sacrament, we hear the words of God spoken saying "You are my Son, the Beloved: my favour rests on you" This this becoming one is not actually a denial of self but rather a revelation of who we are called into relationship with. It calls us to move beyond ourselves to discover how we can discover who we truly are. Like a homecoming, we find our selves also beloved and favoured.

In a time of the pandemic, this can often allude us. I am very conscious of this living in Greater Sydney where we are identified with being the source of COVID and borders are closed to us. In discovering that the normal freedoms that we are familiar with like travel to particular places we can start to feel anything but one and free. When our humanity and compassion focuses more on what excludes us rather than what brings us together we can start to perceive both an internal and external fracturing. There is ambiguity in which we see adverts inviting us to holiday in places to which we cannot go and see our identity shaped by events beyond our control. In many ways, COVID is modern leprosy in which people can quickly be seen as unclean because of where they live and the risk of the exposure of something which is deadly.

As Christians, I believe that the closure of borders can also lead to a hardening of hearts and a stubbornness which alienates people from one another. There, of course, needs to be safeguards for people's health and wellbeing but where these become draconian they can start to breed isolation of spirit which is greater than the physical isolation. As Christians, we need to notice how our prayer and our actions find ways to give glory to God in our everyday life. This is evidenced by the hard work of people in the frontline of contact tracing, the willingness of people to get tested and the following of basic hygiene and the wearing of masks. Yet in the midst of all this, we are also called to discover how these are safeguards not barriers to relationships. There are questions which naturally emerge about how long border controls can isolate us from each other rather than giving opportunities for better track and trace. The call for a spirit of cooperation between states and nations is of pressing concern. One can wonder where the spirit so present in the bushfires has dissipated in the face of a virulent strain of the virus. 

I believe that our responsiveness in the face of this ever-present threat to our health and wellbeing is found in the reading from Isaiah which asks us where is the spring of our salvation? What will bring us joy which will bear witness to God's providence? In our own time and in union with the Baptism of Jesus we are called to notice how we become one through the spirit, the water and the blood. We witness to a life which is not our own. It calls us to become creative not only to how we respond to the challenges of our time but how we allow the waters of baptism to well up inside us.

What gift do I lay before the Lord?

 Circumstances can often dictate our response to how we live. Whether it is the continuing effects of the pandemic or simply putting on a few extra kilos over Christmas there can be a tendency to feel that our life is out of control. This is often when we start to make resolutions that sound good but resolve little because our heart isn't in it. The move towards action always needs to emerge from who we are as a person and what we consider as central to our lives. This may well be some of our best intentions don't come to pass because they suggest that we should become a different person rather than a better person. They suggest that somehow we don't have the motivation or the willingness to commit ourselves to a particular course of action. This is where we need to discover that we are already blessed by God with the ability to respond as our true self. It is this self-knowledge which calls us to be less critical and freer to respond as we can and not as we can't.

I believe this is where our prayer and honesty before God helps us to not talk at God or talk at ourselves. There can always be a belief that there must be some special formula which will allow us to come closer to God or for God to become closer to us. Yet the reality is that God is already present to us and it takes time to quiet our spirits to listen to what is actually going on within. This is not just about thinking the right thing but rather living that presence of God within our own skin. There is a need to engage our mind, heart and body in prayer. This is where we discover to be whole and holy. God does not come to an ideal version of ourselves but rather is receptive to us as we are at the moment. When we can start to see God at work in the ordinary events of each day we start to relax and allow our direction to be motivated by how we are present to this moment and this day. It is not about trying to experience extraordinary events and expecting miracles at the turn of every corner. Rather it opens us to the possibility that God already aids us to find the right direction and the obvious next step. This is important even when we make mistakes or fail to live up to our own expectations. 

There is a need, however, to recognise that we live in the real world in which the mystery of God's love unfolds. We live in the midst of the environment in which we are planted. This means that our relationship with others and with creation matters. We are not people who are called to manipulate to our best advantage but rather discover the gentle interplay which guides us to hear God's voice. This receptiveness allows us to notice what brings healing, encouragement and generosity to the places in which we live. We start to notice what brings life and what does not. By noticing the areas in which we are truly life-giving we find the confidence to feel God's hand at work. There are lightness and surrender that God works with us and labours for us in seeking the good. 

It is from this place of reflection and appreciation of our environment we start to see what particular gifts we put into action. This allows us to see a natural extension of our prayer and study to the events of daily life. We become orientated towards the goodness which brings life to our community. By noticing that each person has a gift to offer we start to realise that life is not hard work but rather an offering which enables others to flourish and grow. Our interactions become blessed rather than burdened. We freely give what we have received. God enables us to be gifted with the generosity to be ourselves. This is where we discover that we are formed and transformed more and more into the person God desires us to become. Our goals and achievements are the fruits of who we are not the determiners of our own worth. We shape the world by cooperating with God's grace rather than been shaped into a person we do not recognise. In all things, we seek to become our true self created in the image and likeness of God.

No room at the inn!

 How a few days can change the centre of our attention. For many, the idea of celebrating Christmas with family and friends has been dashed by the recent outbreak of COVID in the Northern Beaches. The limitation of travel from Greater Sydney to any state or territory was quickly closed. While it is possible to understand the need for good care of people's health there are deeper questions that emerge. Is a hard border a true safeguard against the virus if people behind that border continue to live as though COVID does not exist? There is a need for governments not only to provide safeguards but also to inspire confidence that will bring hope to a nation. People, in general, have been quick to respond in downloading the COVID19 app in the promise that it would deliver greater freedom of movement. The broad response is that this has not been adequate. The QR codes, in the same way, have relied more on people's goodwill to come forward to get tested. While we know it is important not to be complacent people have adopted social distancing and restrictions on gatherings. What may be needed is something that no government can provide which is a sense of hope and joy when all seems hopeless and sad.

It is important to remember that the birth of Jesus came during similar government instructions. Mary and Joseph need to travel to Bethlehem to be registered as part of the Census. They would have experienced difficulties and uncertainties in their travel from Nazareth as they passed others seeking to respond to these instructions. In many ways, they would not have had time to book ahead and on their arrival in Bethlehem found all the best spots taken. We can know their experience of exhaustion mixed with the expectation of the birth impending. Yet in the midst of it all, there is an acceptance which seeks something greater at work. The birth of this child in a confused and uncertain world allowed people to see their lives differently. Often it took those on the margins (the shepherds) and the foreigners (the wise men) to see what was really happening. Maybe this is the case for ourselves that we can become so caught up in our own worlds that we do not see the broader scope of life.

Will we appear out of this crisis in the same way we went in. In many ways, people have tended to see this as a temporary matter which interferes with daily life so that we can return to normal. This may be the opportunity for prayer and reflection on what brings hope to our lives. Rather than a frantic rush to make new year resolutions maybe it is time to find out whether we have room in our heart to receive the Child Jesus or whether we will maintain a hard border around them. Will it breed deeper compassion or will it breed deeper isolation from God and from others? Will we emerge from this crisis as people of deeper holiness or of deeper suspicion and scepticism? In the time that may have been forced upon us by circumstances beyond our control, this is a time to reflect, study and act for a world which proclaims the Good News in everyday life.

Waiting

 Patience is a virtue but at times when we are time-pressured, it can be put to the test. The last-minute activities prior to Christmas can even seem to test the best of us to maintain a steady pace and a peaceful demeanour. As the days count down we can sense the anticipation of what Christmas will mean for this year. The chance of reunions but also the reliving of old memories can resurface. In this expectation, we need to remember that we need to remain present to the spirit of God which sustains us. We are called to be people who are prayerfully aware that the world is centred on God's creative initiative.

It is in these days of waiting that we can encounter Mary who seeks to respond to God with a yes which has practical consequences for her life and the life of each one of us. As she seeks to ponder what her fiat means she seeks to understand how God is at work within and through her. In many ways, the way she encounters God helps us to listen more carefully to how we are greeted and how we respond to others. Do we open our hearts to listen to the moments when we are deeply in union with the whole of creation. It is these moments that can stop us in our tracks and help us to see our lives differently.

As we journey in these last few days before Christmas take time within the hustle and bustle of daily life to listen to what brings life, what brings hope and what brings joy to your life. In all things give thanks.

Be Happy at all times

 "When faced with trials put on a happy face!" There can be a sense that when Paul writes to the Thessalonians there is a sense of being overly optimistic or covering up the difficulties we face with a false smile. I believe what Paul is actually asking of us is that we pray at all times and in all situations. This takes on an attitude which seeks to become a person of thanksgiving in whatever situation we find ourselves.

Yet this is not always easy as Paul notices we need to listen to the Holy Spirit to help us discern what is good from what is bad. This calls for a considered response which not only prays but also seeks to reflect on the environment in which we live and the actions that we are capable of performing. This calls us to be people who do not retreat into our own private world but seek to be holy in the place that we live. This is not manufactured piety but rather a lived expression of God's love for the world.

Each day we are called to notice what aids us in growing closer to God and to others. God helps us to notice the hidden graces which transform us and our world. In this way, we bear witness to the spirit of the Lord which brings good news to the poor, binds up hearts that are broken, which seeks freedom to those who are held imprisoned by their way of life. The call is to become people who imbibe the Spirit and live our life with hope for the good of the world.

Writing Straight with Crooked lines

 Walking through the shopping centre the other day it was hard to believe the hardships we have been through and that much of the rest of the world is facing. There was a distinct feeling of deja vu. That people were shopping, preparing for Christmas, making plans and organise trips to visit families and friends. Yet in the midst of all this activity, there is still a feeling that this Christmas will not be like the ones before. There is a call to discover something which will sustain beyond the immediate commercial reality and to discover a deeper meaning for our lives.

I believe we see this in the figure of John the Baptist. He sought to prepare people's hearts and minds to see more clearly how to live their lives. This was not just repentance from sinful behaviour and attitudes but a true desire to encounter God in our everyday lives. There was searching for those graced moments which transform us and transform our world. They are moments which allow us to encounter the mystery of our own creation in the person of Christ.

As we journey towards Christmas it is this deeper entry into the mystery of each day that we encounter God's living presence. There is a sense in which we are disturbed in the way things from how we perceive them to be to actually how they are. It calls us to notice those graced moments which we encounter each day. It is the scripture of God's Word written on the face of our world and reflected in how we receive that message. As we go about our daily tasks let us pray that we see the face of God in all things and in all people.