2nd Sunday of Lent

 Pope Francis teaches us that all the baptized become, through the sacrament, missionary disciples. He says: "Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God's saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love." (Evangelii Gaudium, 120) This means that, having accompanied Jesus up the mount of transfiguration and seen his glory for ourselves, we are also called to follow him down to the plains and join him in his saving mission. This mission involves hardships, disappoints and the cross but having witnessed his glory, we have a sure and certain hope that we will share in the glory of eternal life. A challenge I can imagine for each one of us this Lent is not only to give up treats, give money to charity or pray more but also to engage in opportune acts of evangelization. This can be as simple as asking someone about their spiritual life and journeying with them to deepen it. I can accompany them as they re-engage with spiritual realities in the arid desert of an atheist society afflicted by loneliness; parched for hope and meaning.

1st Sunday of Lent

 Who is at the centre of human history? The first human being, who was capable, unlike the animals, of  self-transcendence and moral action, and chose to commit the first sin? Or, is it Jesus of Nazareth who, born of a woman and subject to all the limitations of human life did not sin? Being put to death, innocent though he was, Jesus broke the chains of sin and death to reveal God's power over what was thought to be the destiny of the human race - inevitable and universal annihilation. St Paul describes in the Second Reading how Jesus reversed the transgression of the first Adam and by free gift handed us salvation. In his first letter to the Corinthians he points out: "Thus it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living being'; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust so those who are of dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven." (1 Cor 15: 45-49) Lent is a time to dust of our earthly inclinations and look to prioritize the heavenly so that we may be conformed more truly to Christ.

Ash Wednesday

 The First Reading comes from the Book of Joel which is part of those prophetic readings which predict the downfall of the Northern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom flourished for a period of time when Egypt to the South and the other powers to the North were both weak. It not only became prosperous it also plumbed the depths of idolatry which its kings offering child sacrifice. The prophets, as a result, predicted the dies irae (days of wrath) when God would smite his enemies and punish the Kingdom for its idolatry and sin. In the reading today Joel reminds the people that this was not inevitable. Just as in our own lives, we have a choice to turn away from self-destructive behaviour or not. God is always ready to help us. With the desolations and consolations of the Good Spirit we can discern what we must do to live in accord with God's will. Lenten observances of all sorts help us to act on accordance with our faith and suppress idolatrous inclinations of whatever sort. Let us commit to a Lent which makes a difference.

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 The people are told, in the First Reading: "You shall be holy" (Num 19: 2). The people, who are in Hebrew Qahal YHWH (the gathered/assembly of the LORD) are not told to be popular, successful, prosperous, politically correct, kind, woke or any other worldly quality. They are to be holy. What is the motivation for this? The Scripture continues: "... for I the Lord your God am holy." (Num 19: 2) We as ekklesia (Gk: the gathering/congregation), that is Church, are heirs to the promises of Israel and to its mission: "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise." (Gal 3: 29) The key to living out this holiness is to be found in the Sermon on the Mount. That is to : "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mtt 5: 48) This perfection is expressed in forbearance, generosity, mercy and love. It is a love that surpasses human categories because it is informed by the nature of God Himself. If we are to bear the name of Christian then we are to become like Christ. To become come like Christ means, in turn, to be like the Father for: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (Jn 14: 9) Saint Paul, writing to the Romans, interpreted the teaching of love in this way: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet': and any other commandment, are summed up by this word, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbour, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law." (Rm 13: 8-10)

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 The key for me to today's readings is to be found in the First Reading where it states: "If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice." (Sir 15: 15) God summons us and empowers us through prevenient grace. We are formed and designed to accept our individual relationship with God and we can only find peace truly in Him. However, God, being of His nature love, doe not force us. He may offer us grace but we need to make the free choice to accept it. The gospel reading places before us the choices we are called to make as disciples. We are exhorted to turn away from sin, to forgive others, to repudiate evil, to be faithful in marriage and to be honest in our speech. All of this is to come from hearts transformed by love and informed by the Beatitudes which we heard about at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. The rigid adherence to law, as Law, avails us naught if our hearts remain hardened by anger, resentment and unforgiveness. The hard lesson for the disciples, then as now is: "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mtt 5: 20)