2nd Sunday of Advent

Saint Paul tells us: "For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." (Rom 15: 8-9) This speaks of a plan, reaching back to the dawn of humanity, with God as the planner: "With all wisdom and insight he (God) has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up  all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (Eph. 1: 8-10) He invites human beings to accomplish his purposes so that the divisions and distortions brought about through sin might be ended and a new reality of unity and harmony established. The question today is: where I can locate myself in that plan? Do I accept that despite the uncertainties and confusion evident in my own life and in the world around me that Providence is at work to bring God's plan to fulfilment. When we read the Old Teastament we see that God was not frustrated by the evil and weaknesses of the Jewish people to bring about the Incarnation. Likewise, he will not be frustrated by the corruption and selfishness of the world that rejects him today. Just as in the time of John the Baptist, so now he wants individuals to cooperate with him even if they are called to be a prophetic witness to the Pharisees and Sadducees of today.  

1st Sunday of Advent

The Gospel tells us: "Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." (Mtt 24: 42) I was in Wellington during the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake which occurred just after midnight. I was certainly awake after that as the aftershocks occurred and the tsunami alert was issued. I wondered what would happen next. What did I need to do should the situation deteriorate. In the light of this, I can ask myself whether I have the same attitude to my faith life? The relationship I have with God is far more important than other aspects of my life since it is the one thing that will last for eternity. My body, earthquake or not, will at some point die. As we begin the season of Advent let us use it as a prompt to awake ourselves to God in our lives and our need to be always ready to encounter him whether it is in life or in death. If the Lord were to return today how would he find me? The time I have is an opportunity to live as God has called me to live and therefore be at peace rejoicing in the truth. Scripture tells us: "But do not ignore this fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed." (2 Pet 3: 8-10) 

Feast of Christ the King

When we think of the horror and scandal of the Cross today's reading from the Letter of Paul to the Colossians is made all the more extraordinary. How is it that he who was thought to be the son of a tradesman from Gallilee can have such claims made for him?: "Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (Col. 1: 15), and, "Christ is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col. 1: 17) True, we can have Jesus as our brother, a teacher, a miracle worker, a sage and many other things, however, we should never forget that he, indeed, is Lord and master. When we feel outnumbered, dispirited and afflicted by our sufferings, our sins or the sins of others we can take comfort from the knowledge that, in his pre-existence and through his resurrection, Christ is King of the Universe - past, present and future. In the Book of Revelation he reassures us: "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades." (Rev. 1: 18-19) Nevertheless, the Kingdom of God is only present to us now in sacrament and mystery. We need to be patient to see the full glory of Jesus and the harvest of the Spirit. To do this we must strive to live in the truth and respond to it: "Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.' Pilate asked him, 'So you are a king?' Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice'." (Jn 18: 36-37) 

  

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Gospel the disciples, some of whom may have been on their first ever visit to Jerusalem as a follower of Jesus, gaze in awe at the beauty and magnificence of the Temple. We can, I think, put in the place of the Temple any of the natural or man-made wonders of the world. The whole of Creation will at some point come to an end. The physicists speak of the inevitable contraction and destruction of the Universe which will most likely happen long after our own Sun has burnt itself out. The Second Coming, which may or may not happen in my lifetime, will also presage a destruction but not one that ends with a black hole rather it will lead to a new Creation. What will be destroyed is death itself. Saint Paul writes: "Then comes the end, when he (Jesus) hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler  and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all things under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." (1 Cor. 15: 24-26) Regardless of our material circumstances and the glamour of the world, therefore, we are confident of the inheritance that God has for all who trust in him and live in accordance with his commandments. "So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. Fos this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal." (2 Cor. 4: 16-18)

Homily for 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thank God for foolish questions! What would happen if people had not challenged Jesus? What if everyone had believed what he taught and did not give him opportunity to elaborate on it? This is especially the case with the Resurrection which is one of the greatest mysteries. Indeed, you could say that it is the most important. Saint Paul wrote to the community in Corinth: “For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished.” (1 Cor. 15: 16-18)

So, what is the Resurrection? How does it work? The Corinthians had questions just as we do. For us it is central to our faith and we need to know about it. It is said that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Mind you, occasionally there are answers that make the questioner feel stupid.

The intention of the Sadducees, who were a Jewish group comprised of rich families associated with the High Priest, was to make Jesus look stupid. They wanted to mock him and discredit him in the eyes of the people by coming up with a deliberately foolish scenario. Instead, as he had already done with the Pharisees, Jesus turns the tables on them and gives us, at the same time, insight into the Resurrection. Let us look closely to see what he had to say:

First, Jesus makes it clear that the resurrection does not consist in a replica of our present life. Aspects of life, such as marriage, we are familiar with now no longer apply. Questions about what people look like or what they eat will not be relevant. Anything that admits of change will pass away. The only thing to remain will be those things which are transformed by God’s power.

Second, once people have risen there is no longer any possibility of them dying again. They will last for eternity. Like angels they will exist in the presence of God. There is no “Plan B” for God or idea of reincarnation for thhosde wanting a “second chance” at life.

Third, Resurrection is a birth into a new reality. Being reborn we become children of God, children of the resurrection. This means we cannot at the same time be “children of the Evil One, children of death.”

Fourth, although the term “resurrection” is not used in the Torah, which includes the first five books of the Bible accepted by the Saducees, there is indirect evidence for the resurrection in words spoken to Moses in the Book of Exodus. God, who is revealed as being eternally present, is shown as continuing to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Resurrection has been a part of God’s plan from the beginning as he wants the human race to share his life. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Saint Paul tells the Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8: 38-39)

Fifth, to God all people are alive. We cannot escape God through physical death rather all of us will live in eternity. What remains to be decided by me is how I will experience that eternity. Will I experience it as bliss, communion and infinite joy together with all I have loved throughout my life or will it be for me a state of regret, anger and resentment at the God who summoned me into existence in the first place?

Would Adolf Hitler feel happy to experience eternity together with all the Jews, Poles, priests, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gypsies, Social Democrats, etc that he had tortured and murdered in this life?

Since the Mass is a sign and sacrament of the worship of heaven how I will experience the resurrection is indicated by how I experience church here and now. The question for me is: do I sense the in breaking of God’s life here and now? Do I welcome it? Am I already conformed to the life I will anticipate in the reality of the Resurrection? What is within my heart? Is it light or darkness? Saint John tells us: “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 Jn: 1: 5) How then can I know I love God, walking in the light, when I can’t see God? John goes on later to write: “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” (1 Jn 4: 20)

The Resurrection, therefore, may be in the future and different from our present reality however the way I deal with God and my life now will endure for eternity. That is why we turn our hearts to God and pray we do not take with us into the resurrection the things that have cause us and others pain. Eternity is a very long time.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today Jesus tells us: "Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive." (Lk 20: 38) In this instance he is referring directly to Abraham Isaac and Jacob however when we think of "all" it can be taken as the whole of the human race. That all human beings, alive or dead, from Adam and Eve onwards, are all alive to God is fitting but also mind boggling. It means that in the Mass, when we come into the presence of God, we are also present in a mysterious way to all of those who have preceded us in this life. We acknowledge this at the close of the preface to the Eucharistic Prayer when the priest says: "And so, with the company of Angels and Saints, we sing the hymn of your praise, as without end we acclaim" (EP for the Dead IV) The Mass is a sacrifice efficacious for both the living and the dead. The Council of Trent taught: "And forasmuch as, in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the mass, that same Christ is contained and immolated in an unbloody manner, who once offered Himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross; the holy Synod teaches, that this sacrifice is truly propitiatory and that by means thereof this is effected, that we obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid, if we draw nigh unto God, contrite and penitent, with a sincere heart and upright faith, with fear and reverence." (Chapter II on the Sacrifice of the Mass) We should, therefore, have confidence in the Mass as a wonderful source of mercy and love not only for ourselves but also for loved ones died afflicted with sorrows, sins and regrets unresolved at the time of death.