Resurrection of the Lord - Easter Sunday

 One of the puzzling aspects of the Resurrection is that the accounts of the first Easter Sunday morning differ. Then again, all of the accounts of the Institution narrative at the Last Supper also differ and in the Gospel of John are not mentioned at all. Elsewhere we have books and gospels in the Bible with multiple beginnings and multiple endings. Yet, the accounts of the Resurrection all agree one thing - that the tomb was empty. I have no patience for those that regard this as a secondary or, even worse, dispensable aspect of our religion. The foolishness of those who look for any number of explanations, other than that the tomb was in fact empty, is staggering. St Paul tells us: "Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can you say there is no resurrection from the dead? I f there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain... If Christ has not been raised your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. The  those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied." (1 Cor 15: 12-14, 17-19) Let us therefore be amazed at the emptiness of the tomb and, indeed, wondering, but above all let us believe. "Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because  you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain." (1 Cor 15: 58) 

Holy Saturday

There is no liturgy today other than the Divine Office so there is no scripture from a Mass for us to break open. It is appropriate because the Word was silenced when Jesus was put to death. Yet, we are aware of the women who were waiting and preparing to come to the give Jesus' body the proper burial treatment they desired for him and according to the law. It is appropriate for us to have that sense of suspended reality since it reflects those moments in our faith lives when we feel abandonment. Temporary atheism brought on by trauma, doubt or spiritual exhaustion puts us in the darkness. We wait and in this waiting there needs to be the conviction that even though God is silent he has not deserted us. In fact, in the dark night of the soul, God is closer to us than ever. We need to keep going, keep praying and keep loving. When we come to the tomb, whether it is the grave of our faith, idealism, self regard, etc., we will find that the tomb is, in fact, empty. However, that part of the story remains for the Easter Vigil. For the moment we must wait.

Good Friday - Celebration of the Lord's Passion

On Palm Sunday we heard the Passion of our Lord according to the Gospel of Mark. Other years we would have Matthew and Luke. Today we have the Passion according to the Gospel of John which is proclaimed every year on this day. One thing that stands out about this account is that Jesus is in control. He says to Judas: "Do quickly what you are going to do." (Jn 13: 27) He then speaks for a couple of chapters before we get to the start of the gospel we have for today. As the soldiers come to arrest Jesus he intimidates them, such that they fall down, and he instructs them to leave his disciples alone (Jn 18: 6-8). In front of Pilate, Jesus turns the tables on him by putting him on trial and, through him, the whole Roman Empire. He defies Roman power: "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above." (Jn 19: 11) Jesus, in this gospel, is described as "carrying the cross by himself" (Jn 19: 17) without any mention of Simon of Cyrene (cf. Mk 15: 21). Serenely, from the cross, Jesus commends his mother to the Beloved Disciples and him to her (Jn 19: 26-27). Finally, he expires not with a "loud cry," as in Mark (Mk 15: 37), but rather he says: "It is finished. then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (Jn 19: 30). The majesty of Jesus, the "Word became flesh" (Jn 1: 14), is manifested in this gospel and we are taught that the crucifixion was not some kind of tragic accident but a part of God's plan for the salvation of the world. 

 

  

Mass of the Lord's Supper

This evening's Mas is called the Mass of the Lord's Supper. Someone might object - but is not every Mass the "Mass of the Lord's Supper"? I recall years ago that youth and university chaplaincy groups would rehearse seder meals and priests would use chalices and Communion bowls made from earthenware. Chalices would even, on occasion, be wineglasses. The implication, or even express theology, was that the Eucharist was a replay of the Last Supper. We were all sharing at the "table of the Lord" and the Holy Spirit was the wonderful vibe between us as we broke bread and shared wine together. If you do not believe me find the lyrics to the "eucharistic" songs written in that period, for example, Carey Landry's "We are companions on the Journey." 

To remedy such a impoverished sense of the Mass we need to be reminded that Pope St John Paul II taught in Redemptor hominis 20 that the Eucharist is: "... at one and the same time a Sacrifice-Sacrament, a Communion-Sacrament, and a Presence-Sacrament And, although it is true that the Eucharist always was and must continue to be the most profound revelation of the human brotherhood of Christ's disciples and confessors, it cannot be treated merely as an "occasion" for manifesting this brotherhood. When celebrating the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the full magnitude of the divine mystery must be respected, as must the full meaning of this sacramental sign in which Christ is really present and is received, the soul is filled with grace and the pledge of future glory is given." In Eucharistic Prayer III we pray: "Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice."

Thus, in the Mass we enact an anamnesis (living memorial) or the whole of the mystery of Christ. In the Mass of the Lord's Supper we, through the washing of the feet, are reminded of the Last Supper as that moment in which Christ instituted a mystery which must be seen in the context of the whole of his saving work which continues in the Church today.

The Mass of Chrism

Unlike the other ceremonies of Holy Week the Chrism Mass has the same readings every year. What changes, therefore, is not so much the message as the people, clergy and laity, who gather for the blessing of the oils that will be used in the year to come. Every year we hear the words of Jesus: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Lk 4: 21) The question that occurs to me is: is this really the case? Have the Scriptures over the previous twelve months been fulfilled in our parishes and communities? Is the faith and mission of our Lord Jesus Christ been realized and, if we cannot say so, what is preventing it from happening? The priests are getting older and fewer. Many of the laity too are showing the wear and tear of age. Jesus' message is one of hope: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me...". (Lk 4: 18) We too are anointed, in baptism and confirmation, with the priests also anointed in ordination, so it is with that power and faith that we need to encounter the future and live out the mission entrusted to us. Pope Francis, building on the work of his predecessors, is our leader on earth. Let us entrust ourselves to his mission and realize the power of the anointing that we have received.

Palm Sunday

The entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem marks historically and liturgically the climax of the mission of Jesus that started in Galilee and will be completed at Pentecost. The procession with palms enacts, in microcosm, the journey we, as disciples, make with the Lord. The mysteries of salvation remain a reality for us in 2021. The Scriptures and the life of faith are not words on a page or something to be studied, dissected and critiqued rather they are to be lived. Yet, this is not as easy as it sounds. If we were living in the time of Christ would we have been spectators or would we have joined in with those who spread their garments on the road and waved branches? Such a public display of enthusiasm regarding the son of a carpenter making a messianic gesture on the eve of Passover would have opened the disciples up to ridicule or even danger from the Roman authorities. Today, to make public affirmations of faith can open us up to mockery in a society that sees Catholic faith as a negative. The liturgical maxim - lex orandi, lex credendi (the law of praying is the law of believing) - challenges us nevertheless to manifest in our lives what we enact in the liturgy.   

5th Sunday of Lent

The paradox of the Christian vocation is voiced by Jesus in today's gospel: "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (Jn 12: 25) This is a strong statement. Much of it depends on  what is meant by "this world." God created the world and saw that it was "good" (Gn 1: 25). He also created human beings and saw that they were "very good" (Gn 1: 31). The type of "world" that causes us to be estranged from God's life, when we look elsewhere in Scripture, is bound up with pride, greed and disordered desire: "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination to God." (Lk 16: 15) and "Do not love the world or the things of the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world - the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches - comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever." (1 Jn 2: 15-17) A challenge for us, when we contemplate the Passion of the Lord, is to focus on the eternal and be open to the power of God's love which is beyond our imagining. When I gaze on the crucifix do I see primarily suffering or do I see love: "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (Jn 12: 32)  

4th Sunday in Lent

Jesus says to Nicodemus, who has come to him under the cover of darkness: "... those how do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." (Jn 3: 21) This is clearly a challenge to Nicodemus and to rest of the Jewish leadership. Many of them would have been good men who sympathized with the ministries of St John the Baptist and Jesus in their hearts but never did anything about it. We can also think of England at the time of the Reformation when St John Fisher and St Thomas More stood up to King Henry VIII. Standing up for the truth is not easy and can be dangerous as the latter two found out on the scaffold. And yet, their names live on and they have treasure in heaven. We do not know what happened to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who assisted to obtaining Jesus' body after the crucifixion (Jn 19: 38-40), however, we can hear the challenge of Jesus for ourselves which prompts us to speak up for the Gospel and to share the joy of knowing the risen Christ with those meet. Let us, too, walk in the light so that what we do in our own lives can be seen as being done "in God."

3rd Sunday of Lent

Catholics and Christians, in general, live with a tension. On one hand, they know that grace builds on nature and that God is reasonable while, on the other, the cross is: "... a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks." (1 Cor 1: 23) No wonder unbelievers struggle to understand us. Aggressive atheists, in particular, think of us as irrational such that, even if we wanted to, there can be no dialogue worthy of the name between us since: "The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" (1 Cor 1: 18) and "For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom." (1 Cor 1: 22) We may not be able to offer the people of today the signs they seek nor can we give them the wisdom they hanker for. Nevertheless, every single baptized person is called to witness to the power of God and the joy that it brings. We must be ready to testify to that power and communicate that joy. This has always been the case. The earliest Christians were told: "Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as the Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame." (1 Pet 3: 14-16)