18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 The Early Christians, in a document called The Didache saw in this episode Eucharistic significance:  "Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom." (Ch. 9) Jesus took the bread, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke it before giving it to the disciples who in turn distributed it to the crowd. Twelve baskets of fragments were collected of leftovers. The story goes from being an act of pity, whereby Jesus meets the physical needs of his flock, to enacting in their presence the dynamic of the Mass. The Mass draws in diverse people each week who receive teaching and healing. This is not enough. We are also fed by the Eucharistic food, which is the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus united as one Church with the one mission we are sent out into the world to take the Good News to it. The surplus consecrated hosts are gathering and housed in the tabernacle as an enduring presence of Christ in the sacrament. In this way, Christ who is the Bridegroom to the Church, which is his Bride, has compassion on us for frequently we feel, as it is said in the gospel of Mark  for the same story: "... because they were like sheep without a shepherd." (Mk 6: 34) Let us never cease to avail ourselves of the graces which are available to us in the Mass which are the same as were offered to the crowd in the wilderness all those centuries ago.

Gender Dysphoria and Romans 1

 Recently I have been prompted to reflect on how our society has arrived at the situation where we have the media and political parties promoting euthanasia, abortion and gender dysmorphia as moral goods and even as ordered realities, that have somehow always existed. Answers to the causation of this bizarre state of affairs can be explained in all sorts of ways but I find a handy resource in St Paul's letter to the Romans. This hopefully gives us a sense of how human nature has not changed and the consequences of a civilization that has repudiated its Creator.

We read: 

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth." (Rm 1: 18)

It is evident from the rest of the Bible that God does not stand idly by as human beings distort His creation. There will be consequences. It is also plain that for individuals for accomplish their design of dominating and twisting created reality to their own ends that they first must suppress the truth. This involves mockery of right authority and a substitution of objective truth with lies and plausible half-truths that set the stage for what is to come.

"For what can be known about God is plain to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he had made. So they are without excuse." (Rm 1: 19-20)

The Catholic Church teaches that human beings can know of God through the use of natural reason (CCC 31-35). It is apparent to everyone that the existence and the order of the Universe is evidence of a Creator. There is also the ability of human beings to know the truth as we read in the encyclical Veritatis Splendor. Therefore, there is no excuse for people to claim that  the truth simply does not exist or that it is not possible for us to know it.

"... for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or four-footed animals of reptiles." (Rm 1: 21-23)

The next consequence of this perverse desire not to recognize God's existence is idolatry. St Paul is referring here to the Golden Calf of Exodus or the bronze serpent which also became an idol. We can think of many contemporary examples of objects or people that have become the focus of devotion. The Book of Wisdom puts it this way: "For all people who were ignorant of God were foolish  by nature and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know the one who exists, nor did they recognize the artisan while paying heed to his works... Yet again, not even they are to be excused; for they had the power to know so much that they could investigate the world, how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of all things." (Wis 13: 1, 8-9)

"Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen!" (Rm 1: 24-25)

In Exodus, after the forging of the Golden Calf, it is said that: "... the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel." (Ex 32: 6) The word "revel" translates also as "fondling" and has sexual overtones (see also Gen 26: 8). God does not punish idolatry immediately but allows the resulting sexual license and impurity to take place. We can think of these two things as promiscuity and pornography both of which debase human dignity. The advent of the sexual revolution has brought in its train a commodification of sexual activity which alienates men and women from each other.

"For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error." (Rm 1: 26-27)

After being corrupted by promiscuity and pornography the next consequence is same sex attraction, which is an affective disorder. The order decreed in Genesis "male and female he made them" (Gen 1: 27) is overturned. man and women no longer complement each other and are fruitful. St Paul is probably thinking of the destruction of Sodom (Gen 19: 1-26) when speaks of the punishment for this behavior being visited in their own persons but we might think of sexually transmitted diseases and all the mental illnesses of loneliness, depression and suicide.

"And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done." (Rm 1: 28)

The evidence of a debased mind is given by gender dysphoria. The mutilation of "trans kids" should not be done. Furries and other disordered paraphilias are evidence of debased minds.

"They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious towards parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless." (Rm 1: 29-31)

St Paul may have been thinking here of the court of the emperor Nero. In our time we can see the cultural suicide of reality television especially shows that promote promiscuity and adultery. They have no shame.

"They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die - yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them." (Rm 1: 32)

It is tragic that many people who engage in the above mentioned behavior come from Christian backgrounds and families. They are aware of Jesus and his death on the Cross but they choose to give free rein to their disordered appetites. Not only that they seek to "affirm" others and push them to ever greater extremes of of immorality and disordered behavior. They celebrate self assertion and fulfilment even going so far as to glorify Satan in music and film. Seeing the musician Sam Smith in his satanic costume at an awards ceremony or the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games leads us to see where all of this will end.  

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Today we are given four different parables for the kingdom of heaven: treasure hidden in a field, a merchant in search of fine pearls, a net thrown into the sea which catches fish of every kind and angels who come out and separate the evil from the righteous. The element common to all of these is the intentionality of the search for, or the reaction to, the kingdom. New Zealanders, as a rule, save this kind of focus for the sport they are following or the acquisition of money or material possessions. Before thinking that such an attitude applies only to others it is necessary that I apply the parables to myself. What sacrifices have I made, or am I prepared to make, to stay true to my faith? What if the New Zealand state was to start a persecution against Catholics and attempt to suppress Church institutions or the Mass as in the time of Henry VIII and Edward VI? Would I stand with Thomas More, John Fisher and the eight Carthusian monks who were starved to death or would I acquiesce and go along with everyone else to accept the new religious situation? We see Catholics, promoted in the media, who promote abortion under the guise of "free choice." Heaven forbid that we should find ourselves locked out at the gates of heaven: "When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock on the door, saying, 'Lord open to us,' then in reply he will say to you, 'I do not know where you come from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he swill say, 'I do not know where you come from; go away from me all you evildoers!' There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out." (Lk 13: 25-30)

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 The key message I understand from this week's readings is the forbearance of God. When we see worldly leaders and dictators they are distinguished by their ruthlessness and greed. By comparison the first reading says of God: "Although you are sovereign in strength, you judge with mildness, and with great forbearance you govern us; for you have power to act whenever you choose." (Wis 12: 18) The gospel illustrates this with the parable of the tares and the wheat. The landowner instructs his slaves: Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers. Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn."(Mtt 13: 20) It is not up to us to judge others, for we do not know the depths of the heart of anybody, including even our own heart. We need to go to reconciliation so that we resist the temptation to be our own judge, jury and executioner. We are simply incapable of perfecting ourselves. Let us use the means that the Church gives us, especially of prayer and examinations of conscience, so that we may be open to the Holy Spirit who will guide us in all our ways for we are assured in the second reading: "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 to deep for words." (Rm 8: 26) 

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 The parable of the Sower of the Seed was so important to the early Church that it is fully as an allegory in which each of the component symbols is explained. This is not an academic exercise. By and large, as cradle Catholics, we have seen the seeds of faith sown in ourselves and our families. Over the decades the reception of that faith and its fruitfulness have been manifested before our eyes. Looking at the Church in New Zealand, we are painfully aware that the harvest has been thin. The causes of failure are the same now as they were in the time of our Lord: "...the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart...when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word...the cares of the world and the lure of wealth" (Mtt 13: 19, 21 and 22).  Luke also adds in his gospel: " the pleasures of life." (Lk 8: 14) What does it take for us to do so that the Word is vital in our lives? The parable tells us: "...this is the one who hears the word and understands it." (Mtt 13: 23)That is why we all need to be diligent in listening to the Gospel and striving to both understand it and apply it in our lives. This task, proper to all missionary disciples, takes application even when we feel that the going is tough due to sin, boredom and doubt: "...for we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Cor 5: 7) We cannot be content to drift along in our faith: "For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." (Heb 13: 14) The challenges of this present life should not discourage us in the practice of our faith: "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." (Rm 8: 19-21)

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 What a wonderful gift is offered by Our Lord when he says: "... and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."! (Mtt 11: 27) We know that as disciples that we have been chosen. After hearing some of the hard teachings about the cost and expectations of discipleship in the last couple of Sundays we are given a privileged insight into the great mystery of the Holy Trinity. This can be described, inadequately, as a  synthesis of infinite, unadulterated, amazing and creative love that encompasses "all things." As missionary disciples, commissioned by baptism, we are invited to share in that love. This includes those, especially, who are weary, carry heavy burdens and are restless: "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mtt 11: 30) The goal of our discipleship is not world domination, social popularity, worldly prosperity or fame, rather is it a life united to and transformed by the love of God which culminates in divinization. This life is a participation in Christ's victory over sin and death and we live this already in the sacraments. We can be tempted to despair or to embrace the vain promises of the world which the baptismal promises refer to as Satan's "empty show." We face the ongoing challenge and spiritual warfare to authentically witness to the promise we have been given and the Spirit we have received: "My sisters and brothers, you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you." (Rm 8: 9) All Catholics are called to stay true to their faith in trying times with abortion, euthanasia and other threats to human dignity and religious freedom. Saint Paul admonished the Galatians and it also holds true for us: "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary  in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith." (Gal 6: 7-10)