3rd Sunday of Easter

 Jesus threefold question to Peter today is: "Do you love me" (Jn 21: 15, 16 and 17). This reminds us that not only is God declared in the Scriptures to be love: "for God is love" (1 Jn 4: 8) he is also asking us for love in return. This love response is to be found not in the intellect or the appetites but in the heart. It is relevant that Pope Francis' last significant document was a treatise on the Sacred Heart of Jesus since it reveals the depth of God's love for us. It is also from the heart that we find mercy, as we celebrated last Sunday with Divine Mercy. It is also interesting that Peter feels hurt when the question is asked for the third time (Jn 21: 17). His response is to submit to the Lord and his knowledge: "Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you." (Jn 21: 17) It is true to say that God knows us even better than we know ourselves and loves us, likewise, more that we can know. St Paul teaches: "Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints for the saints according to the will of God." (Rm 8: 26-27) As we journey towards Pentecost may we progressively open our hearts to the Holy Spirit so that we may be transformed by God's love just as Peter was.

2nd Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy

 One maxim which I find myself using with parishioners is: "The opposite of faith is not doubt. It is certainty." Often in television dramas a priest or nun is depicted as suddenly having doubts about the faith or the Church. This inevitably leads to the person wrestling with and failing to continue in his or her vocation. St Augustine speaks of Christian life as being characterized by holy desire. The Lord has taught us: "Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you." (Mtt 7: 7) We can be thankful that Thomas had doubts because it gave the evangelist an opportunity to give us a lesson on how to deal with our own doubts. The important message lies not in the doubts themselves, as understandable as they are, but in the response of Thomas when he is confronted by the Lord: "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20 28) Thomas is not defiant. He is not certain in his disbelief. He submits his will to the evidence placed before him. We too, in times of doubt, need to have the desire for truth that leads us to acknowledge and opens us up to a deeper faith shorn of wishful and magical thinking.

Easter Sunday

 Given the amazing advances and analyses of the Shroud of Turin I find myself fascinated by the scriptural references to this marvelous relic which I have seen referred to as God's "receipt for the resurrection." All of the gospels refer to the linen cloths: "Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body wrapped it in the linen cloth" (Mk 15: 46), "So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth" (Mtt 27: 59), "Then he (Joseph) took it down, wrapped it in the linen cloth and laid it in a rock hewn tomb" (Lk 23: 53) and "They (Joseph and Nicodemus) took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths." (Jn 19: 40). However, it is the gospel of John we hear this morning that places great emphasis on them and gives them as his primary evidence believing that Jesus was risen rather than his body stolen or some other explanation: "He (the beloved disciple) bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed..." (Jn 20: 5-8) The resurrection is an act of faith, "hope in things not seen," (Heb 11: 1) and as John writes: "... for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead." (Jn 20: 9). Nevertheless, the scriptural account emphasizes physically seeing the evidence and being brought to belief through it. When St Paul says to the Galatians: "It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified!" (Gal 3: 1), is he referring to the Shroud? In any event, we are all called to make an act of will today which places our trust in God and reaffirms his power over sin and death not only for Jesus Christ but also for us who believe in him.

Easter Vigil

 This is the night of nights! Instead of a mysterious reality, from which space, time and light emerged, in the first creation we have a dark tomb from which comes the new Creation and the new Man - Jesus of Nazareth, thought to be son of the carpenter and son of Mary, risen from the dead! The angels say to the women, similar to the words to be addressed to the apostles at the Ascension (Acts 1: 11): "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." (Lk 24: 5) This is the fulfilment of prophecy and indeed of the whole Old Testament let alone the whole of human history from "Abel the just to the last of the elect" (Lumen gentium, 2). Anna, Simeon and all those who looked forward to the vindication of Israel rejoice. Their faith and hope in God are vindicated: "Through him (Jesus) you have come to trust God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God." (1 Pet 1: 21) Let us, too, also have our faith and hope in God renewed and reinforced through the liturgical mysteries that re-present for us this great moment in Creation. 

Holy Saturday

 The scripture on Holy Saturday is sparse. In Luke we read: "On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment." (Lk 23: 56) There is nothing in Matthew, Mark or John. In other words, there is a void. In Genesis we read: "So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation." (Gen 2: 4) The Passion of Jesus can be seen as work. It accomplishes something. It is not random. The writer of Hebrews put it this way: "It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings." (Heb 2: 10) On Holy Saturday, which in the media is frequently mistakenly referred to as Easter Saturday, there is truly a day of rest for Christians as they anticipate celebrating the eighth day which is the first day of the new creation. Let us make the most of the Easter triduum so that we are not spectators but participants in the work of salvation: "For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters...". (Heb 2: 10)

Good Friday

 The Second Reading states: "In the days of the flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplication, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission." (Heb 5: 7) But hang on a minute! How can we say his prayer was heard when we know that he was crucified!? Surely, his prayer was not answered.  St Paul also speaks of his prayer of deliverance which was not answered in the affirmative: "Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it (the thorn in his side) leave me, but he said to me: '' My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12: 8-9) If this was the case for Paul, it is even more so for our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was vindicated in the resurrection who: "... having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." (Heb 5: 9) This is a lesson for us on this tragic day of suffering and death that God can perfect us through our sufferings when we submit to him. His power is able to perfect us and his glory can shine through the darkness. So often at funerals of those who have died after long periods of illness, dementia or cancer I see how this teaching is true. The love of the care givers and the faith of the deceased reveal the beauty of true self-giving love and the power of the resurrection which follows the darkest of days. This Good Friday let us join ourselves with Christ as Paul exhorts: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection of the dead... Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but this one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3: 13-14) 

Holy Thursday - Mass of the Lord's Supper

 One thing that strikes me about the Gospels is how different evangelists record different things in such surprising ways. St John places the cleansing of the temple early in the ministry of Jesus while the synoptic gospels place it towards the end. Likewise, John does not record an Institution Narrative nevertheless Chapter Six is clearly Eucharistic in its content. The synoptics place the Institution Narrative at the centre but do not record the washing of the feet as we hear of it this evening. What links these two events? I read the words of Jesus "For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (Jn 13: 15) and "Do this in remembrance of me." (Lk 22: 19) I think that both of these actions of the Lord instruct as to continue his life and work. We are not merely to remember his Passion, death and resurrection, in the sense of calling it to mind, but also to embed it in our way of life and to communicate its fruits to others. Through sacrifice and service therefore we can prolong the Incarnation and bring the presence of Christ to the world. Through cooperating with grace, we are doing what the disciples did when they were in the presence of the same Lord, and we are sustained by the same Holy Spirit. The question is though that can we be humble enough to let the Holy Spirit cleanse us and empower us which is exactly what Jesus did at the Last Supper.

The Mass of Chrism

 Jesus' words today: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Lk 4: 23) prompts me to think of the function of the homily within the Mass. The homily seeks to break open the Word whereas a sermon has a didactic function. In the former, the text is given be the Church while in the latter, the text is selected by the preacher. Within the Mass, it is Christ who speaks in the Gospel and it is his words that have power in the present. The priest or deacon has the proclamation of this Word as his priority duty (Lat. primum officium). This Word is constantly being fulfilled everywhere believers gather and proclaim the Word with faith and enact the sacrificial memorial (Gk. anamnesis) of the Passion death and resurrection of the Lord. Without this living Word the consecration of holy oils makes no sense. For it is the one who speaks who is also the one who consecrates and anoints. Since he has been anointed, we too, as a priestly people, are sent out to proclaim and to anoint. The Church finds its commission to embody the prolongation of the earthly ministry of the Lord who is the Anointed One (Messiah) prefigured throughout the Old Testament. His presence, by the power of the holy Spirit, is not a simple memory but a living reality that calls us on to share in his risen glory.

Palm Sunday

 Obedience and humility are not trendy attitudes in our society today. Slavery is rightfully regarded as abhorrent. To reflect on this helps us to receive the full impact of the second reading where St Paul writes: "... though he (Jesus) we in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil 2: 6-8) Those high up in the world of politics, entertainment and money, in our society, do not act this way. They have super yachts, grand mansions and bodyguards to keep them safe. The impact of Jesus' sacrifice is amplified as we consider that he did all of this while we were still sinners. How is it that many professed Catholics, aware of the blood that was shed for them, still struggle to take one hour out of their week to give thanks to the Lord for his mercy and love in the Mass? They want their children to go to Catholic schools but cannot shift themselves to pay reverence to the God who has shown them such love. This is a scandal. Today's readings should motivate us more than ever to express gratitude to God by ourselves being obedient to his command: "Do this in remembrance of me." (1 Cor 11: 24)