Pentecost

 One of the most memorable homilies I heard when I was studying in Rome was a priest who made the point that without the Holy Spirit the Church is just like any other institution. So many of our activities, regardless of how worthy they may seem to the world, are simply pretexts for social or economic advancement. It is so easy, on account of Original Sin, for human activities to be tainted by self interest but cloaked with virtue. In fact, the nauseating virtue signaling that we are bombarded with each day on the media and government propaganda is something that, without the Holy Spirit, we can be complicit in. No wonder, when Catholics lose sight of the Holy Spirit, they get a negative reaction. St Paul tells us in the second reading, for today: "Those who in the flesh cannot please God." (Rm 8: 8) When we shut out the Holy Spirit from our discernment of what and how we practice our faith we end up "in the flesh." We end up peddling an ideology, that is, Catholicism rather than the person and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ who guides us through the gift that is the Holy Spirit which, in turn, takes us to the Father. Our sights need to be set on the things of heaven and the glory that awaits us there rather than worldly prosperity or approval. To this end, especially at this time in history when the forces of atheistic propaganda are so powerful, we need to heed the counsel of St Paul: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ - if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may be glorified with him." (Rm 8: 14-17)

Ascension Sunday

 Every Mass should be an "Ascension moment." One legacy of the Reformation and the Catholic response to it is an overemphasis on the issues that obsessed the Christians of the 16th and 17th centuries. This includes the doctrine of the holy Mass as a sacrifice, describing the Eucharistic change as "transubstantiation" and justification. All of these are important, of course, however the holy Eucharist contains the whole of Christ. As a result, the Eucharistic Prayer is not solely about the Institution Narrative and the death of Christ on the Cross: "...the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son". It also speaks, as we also hear in Eucharistic Prayer III of the "...wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven." The gaze of the faithful is directed from the holy Eucharist up into the heavens as they long to be with their risen Lord: "and as we look forward to his second coming" which has the ensuing consequence of directing us to greater efforts in the mission given us in baptism. The Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs II puts it this way: "And so, having called us to your table, Lord, confirm us in unity, so that together with N. our Pope and N. our Bishop, with all Bishops, Priests and Deacons, and your entire people, as we walk your ways with faith and hope, we may strive to bring joy and trust into the world." Thus, we have confidence in the power of Christ not only to forgive sins but also to sustain in our everyday lives as we face the challenges to faith today o: "Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful." (Heb 10: 23)

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 This week we get to hear about dissension among Christians. This is not news even when we think of our Lord during his earthly ministry. Even in the physical presence of the Master the apostles were fighting one another for status. Yet, the Lord says in the gospel that his gift to the disciples is peace: "Peace I leave you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." (Jn 14: 27) Dissension is of the world: "Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing and things like these..." (2 Cor 5: 19-21) To his end it is incumbent on Catholics to consider all matters of the faith in the light not of the world but of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, as we pray in the Nicene Creed: "has spoken through the prophets," however we say immediately following that: "I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." Dissensions often occur underpinned by personal rivalries. The Church needs  to act in communion to proclaim and live the faith knowing that when we do so we will experience the peace that only the Lord can give.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 What motivated Paul and Barnabas to embark on their first missionary journey with all of its hazards and trials? They could have stayed in Antioch and built up the church there. The Book of Acts states: "While they were worshipping and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them'." (Acts 13: 2) It is the Holy Spirit who directs the community and identifies the charisms and tasks of its members. This does not mean that the task will be easy because: " 'It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God'." (Acts 14: 20) This is because disciples of the Lord are not driven by earthly considerations but the hope of future glory: "Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." (Rev 21: 1-2) The motivation for a missionary disciples, both then and now, is that of love. It is the desire to share the Good News to all humanity. It speaks of a new way of loving which is only made possible by the Cross and the revelation of the resurrection. Jesus says: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (Jn 13: 34-35) This love is in turn founded on gratitude since God, in Jesus Christ, has loved us so much first. This love gives us the impulse to share with others what we have come to know and to believe even when it seems that the world does not want to know. "For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them." (2 Cor 5: 14-15)

4th Sunday of Easter

 My thought for today, regarding what is know often as Good Shepherd Sunday, is why do the sheep need a shepherd? To understand this, from a New Zealand perspective, what is life like for wild sheep in this country? These sheep live in mountainous and difficult places. If they are not shorn of their wool they grow huge and unwieldy  fleeces. Even if they are not threatened by wolves they must face multiple threats and live in uncomfortable situations. By contrast, the sheep that have a shepherd are drenched for diseases and parasites. They are kept secure by fences and have, for most of the time, fresh and green pasture to feed on. They are shorn of their wool in the right season so they do not become overburdened by their fleece. It is a given that sheep are killed for their meat but it is also the case that the farmer wants the best for the sheep and is alert to their needs. When we use this as a metaphor of faith it is clear to us that people can "survive" without faith. Nevertheless, wandering on the mountains of doubt and atheism, unbelievers are prone to anxiety, despair and fear. The hopelessness of lives devoid of ultimate meaning opens up individuals to drug abuse, retail therapy and other forms of addiction to keep the boredom and hopelessness of atheism at bay. We see that existentialist atheists like Camus and Sartre wrote of the need to face the absurdity of life with dignity or Nietzsche who believed we need to create our own morality after the "death of God." The sort of "dignity" and "superman morality" that these philosophers suggested appears to be in short supply. When we consider our own position as Catholics we are no better intrinsically in terms of our human ability to resist evil or cope with addictions. However, we do have the voice of the shepherd: "Jesus said: 'My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.' " (Jn 10: 27) This voice is heard in the Scriptures, the Tradition and the Papal Magisterium. If we listen to that voice we will know security and joy because the shepherd loves us: "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand." (Jn 10: 28-29)  Our Lord also gives us gives us shepherds in the form of the Pope and the bishops. Let us pray for them that they will lead us faithfully according to the mind of the Good Shepherd and that we will have sufficient priests to feed us with the Holy Eucharist.

3rd Sunday of Easter

 Today's gospel speaks to the modern condition. Despite knowing of the resurrection, like the disciples, our society has decided: "I am going fishing." (Jn 21: 3) This is a return to life as it was before our society knew about Jesus. It is a collective form of amnesia. However, the fishing efforts of the disciples yields nothing just as all of the well intentioned psychology and evolutionary biology of our time is fruitless. Just as he did at Emmaus Jesus catches up with the disciples. He invites them and us, once again, to trust him. It is he who knows what is productive and it is he who prepares breakfast. It is only when we live in accord with the Gospel that we can be in harmony and discern what is right.  Once our physical needs are met, as on that Eastertide morning all those centuries ago for Peter, that Jesus asks the key question: "... do you love me more than these?" (Jn 21: 16) Jesus does not even, as on the way to Emmaus, tell Peter that he is foolish. he does not ask for gratitude or an apology. What he asks for is love. So it is with us. Do we, as Catholics, love the Lord "more than these"? Jesus does not ask this question to gratify himself. It is a call to mission. Are we prepared both to love the Lord and to serve him knowing that the cost of doing so it to experience something o the suffering of our Master? It is not a question of what society thinks but the individual encounter and relationship that each Christian has when confronted by the love and generosity of the risen Christ.

2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy)

 What does a world look like without Divine Mercy? It is not hard to see because all you need to do is to watch films. In them you see a world where evil is relentless and sin reigns. Individuals strive to redeem themselves from their past and still get no relief from the futility of existence. All one can hope to do is to postpone the inevitable dissolution and annihilation of death. For the rich and oppressive the opiate is not religion, as Karl Marx would have it as it is for the poor, it  is the thought that there is no judgment nor is there any accounting for what we have done in the flesh. yet, St Paul tells us: "For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil." (2 Cor 6: 10) In the Letter to the Hebrews we are told: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb 10: 31) Today's feast reassures us that the Lord Jesus, who suffered, died and was buried, is also risen and that his power is manifested most beautifully in his mercy. This is the mercy that redeems the whole of the world and is greater than any earthly power. Let us trust in him and let him speak to our hearts as he reassures us: "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead , but see, I am alive for ever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades." (Rev 1: 17-18)