16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Having been sent out by Jesus the apostles return to Jesus for a debrief on what they have done and to rest. The Lord doesn't send them out to go it alone. He continues to guide them and inspire them as well as taking the burden of teaching on himself when the crowd follows the group around the lake to where they wished to take their time out. This Gospel, therefore, is an antidote for all clergy and lay evangelizers who begin to suffer from indispensability or a "Messiah complex." It is the Lord who governs the Church and indeed the whole of history. It is he who informs the mission of the Church and gives it effectiveness. We cooperate with grace and must accept that on occasion we need to be taught anew and take a pause to refresh our souls. The crowd were "like sheep without a shepherd" (Mk 6: 34) and just like the people of today in desperate need of hope in a world plagued by uncertainty and sin. Nevertheless, the Gospel is as much for us, who have been gifted with faith, as it is for them. We must address the Scripture to ourselves knowing that: "We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done." (Lk 17: 10) It is the Lord who can relieve the burden of our own expectations and perfectionism: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mtt 12: 28-30) 

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

What interests me, regarding the Gospel for this week, is not what Jesus tells the disciples not to take with them rather what it is they should take. They are to take a companion, a staff, to wear sandals and to wear a single tunic. To put it another way they are not to be alone, defenseless, barefoot and naked as well as not encumbered by food, luggage and money. The Holy Spirit has prepared the way for them and they are to rely on divine Providence. Yet, they are to be sensibly prepared for the journey ahead with the standard protection against the elements. This reminds me of the instructions of John the Baptist to those who came to be baptized in Luke 3: 10-14. Even though the Baptizer lived an austere, desert existence he is eminently reasonable and sensible in his advice to live a good life. Not all Christians are called to martyrdom or to live lives of austerity and radical self-denial yet all are called to follow the Lord and take the Good News out to the world. This they are to do, like the disciples, in a sensible and suitable fashion while using their resources wisely. The important thing is that they do in fact make a start trusting that the Holy Spirit will guide them and provide for their needs: "You received without payment; give without payment." (Mtt 10: 8)

 

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When I read about people who leave the Catholic Church or are non-Catholics who are hostile to the faith it is amazing how much their opinions are informed by misunderstandings of who Catholics are and what they are on about. I find this also when I hear the stories of those who come to the Catholic Church examples of which can be heard on the EWTN series Journeys in Faith which can be viewed on Youtube. As with Christ, in the Gospel today, we find people will take offense at the Church in ways that impede the working of grace. It is incumbent on us to turn the other cheek to insults and live out the Gospel. The experience of mockery and worse is not unprecedented. The early Christians suffered at the hands of the pagans who thought they were atheists. Today we may suffer because we do not buy into the politically correct worldview that condones abortion, same sex marriage and euthanasia and in this way we are seen as irrational and "religious extremists." St Peter wrote to his community: "Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge. For the Lord's sake accept the authority of every human institution whether of the emperor as supreme or of the governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honour everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honour the emperor." (1 Peter 2: 12-17) 

 

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

St Paul tells us: "For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich." (2 Cor 8: 9) We all know, however, that Jesus was born of a family of humble means from Nazareth since his (presumed) father was builder (Gk. tekton) and that his parents offered at his presentation in the Temple the sacrifice of the poor - "to turtledoves or two young pigeons." (Lk 2: 24) When he was dying on the Cross Jesus was stripped of his remaining earthly possession - his garment to the soldiers. His gifts to the Church, represented by the Beloved Disciple, were his mother and his pneuma (spirit) meant that there was nothing left on Good Friday except his broken and bloody corpse and he was buried in a borrowed tomb. In what way then, was he rich, then? St Paul gives us a deeper explanation in his letter to the Philippians when he says that Christ: "... who, though he was 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." (Phil 2: 6) In the Gospel for today we see how he brought healing to others through his divine power and yet was subjected to laughter and skepticism. He did not ask for reward nor did he cash in on his "celebrity." He could have journeyed to Rome or some other major city and worked miracles there to great profit, as he was tempted to do by the devil at the outset of his ministry (Mtt 4: 5-6). Instead, he stayed in Israel determined to accomplish the mission him given by the Father without a house of his own: "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." (Lk 9: 58) Our Lord has truly loved us and given everything for us. Why, then, do we find it so hard on occasions to return his love? How is it that those who call themselves Catholic struggle to give the Lord fifty five minutes of their time to offer him thanks and praise at Sunday Mass?

Nativity of John the Baptist

Celebrating the birthday of John the Baptist, the only other person other than the Lord and Our Lady to have their nativity celebrated in the liturgy, is important, One reasons is that it prevents us from slipping into the heresy of Marcion who, in the first half of the Second Century AD, rejected the Old Testament completely and proposed a canon of Scripture of parts of the Gospel of Luke and the Pauline epistles. To him the God of the Old Testament was different to that portrayed by the New. When we celebrate the birthday of John the Baptist we acknowledge the continuity of salvation history which goes from the beginning of Book of Genesis to the conclusion of the Book of Revelation. I encourage all parishioners to study the Old Testament so as to be familiar with the sacred texts that Jesus himself knew and used. Seeing how God's promises are fulfilled in history, even in the presence of sin, idolatry and failure, can help us to realize that God is at work in the present and able to accomplish his purposes despite all of the obstacles that might sometimes be regarded as insuperable. The Church says: "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God'." (Is 49: 4) However, she also needs to listen for the response: "I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (Is 49: 6)

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus tells us that the seed of the gospel sown by the evangelizer: "... would sprout and grow, without the sower knowing how. The earth produces of itself..." (Mk 4: 27) As disciples and therefore evangelizers we need to have confidence in the ways that we cooperate with grace and sow the Gospel in our words and deeds. If we are anxious and fretful the danger is that we think the efficacy of the Gospel depends on my efforts alone. This risks damaging the tender shoots of faith that are growing hidden in the heart of those we seek to bring closer to the Lord. We must remember that it is he who is "Lord of the harvest." (Mtt 9: 38) Salvation is the default of the human condition since God: "... desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim 2: 4) We have to know that, although we are commissioned in baptism and confirmation to serve the mission of the Lord, we do not determine how or when our efforts will yield fruit since "we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Cor. 5: 7) Part of our faith it is trust in God's Providence and love such that we do not panic nor affect others' freedom adversely by being "God botherers." We trust that God, having summoned someone into existence will be at work in them to bring about his will since: "I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it." (Ezek 17: 24)

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The First Reading we have today from the Book of Genesis is essential to our understanding and articulation of how God has been revealed to humanity. The story of Creation and the Fall, while not a scientific textbook, is inspired Scripture which tells us the truth about humanity's relationship with God and his plan for its salvation after our first parents who chose to rebel by choosing what is evil instead of adhering to what is good. Since most of us are Gentiles we have been grafted, though baptism, onto the olive tree that is the Jews who were the original Chosen People and remain as such: "... for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Rom 11: 29) St Paul says: "For if you (the Gentiles) have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to nature, into a cultivate olive tree (the Jews) how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree (converted to Christ)." (Rom 11: 24) It is a complete error to think that we can find a foundation for our faith in a "new cosmology" or on the basis of some other foundational myth, whether Asian, Maori or European. We cannot, likewise, think of them as all having equal value or meaning. The work of evangelization is to unite the whole of humanity in the one family of faith which includes the understanding of our origins. Thus, the Church: "Through her work, whatever good is in the minds and hearts of men, whatever good lies latent in the religious practices and cultures of diverse peoples, is not only saved from destruction but is also cleansed, raised up and perfected unto the glory of God, the confusion of the devil and the happiness of man." (Lumen gentium, 17)