One for sorrow but two for joy

‘…Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people..’ (Luke 2:10)

Isaiah 62:6-12

Psalm 97

Titus 3:4-7

Luke 2:1-20

 New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Year C: Christmas Day, 25 December 2021

Surprised by joy: this is a saying that aptly fits the experience of millions of children this morning. I have clear memories of that both when I was a child and when my own children were of a certain age. A messy, cold living room at 4a.m. in the morning with wrapping, batteries and instruction sheets scattered in all directions even if Santa hadn’t consumed that glass of milk or taken away this carrot for Rudolf!

Surprised by Joy is also the title of a book written by Ulster Irishman, Clive Lewis Staples. He may have taken the expression from a poem by William Wordworth when the poet forgot about the death of his daughter at least for a moment:

Surprised by joy — impatient as the Wind

I turned to share the transport — Oh! with whom

But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,

That spot which no vicissitude can find?

Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind —But how could I forget thee? Through what power,

Even for the least division of an hour,

Have I been so beguiled as to be blind

To my most grievous loss? — That thought's return

Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore,

Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,

Knowing my heart's best treasure was no more;

That neither present time, nor years unborn

Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.

Ultimately, as we look back on life so far we can say ‘one for sorrow; two for joy’. 

It is up to us to figure out and reframe our experiences according to this ratio. That one would have let oneself be happier is one of the five top regrets of the dying.   The message of Christmas is that tragedy does not define us. Rather, the news is good. This is a different kind of news to the kind enunciated by the Roman Emperor: it is real good news to the poorest and the least privileged of people – shepherds living a precarious life and earning a precarious living.  It is also good news for those temporarily imprisoned by loss, isolation or loneliness.  A saviour has come into our broken and sick world and we do not surrender to despair. Hope is alive and we will be surprised not just by any old sort of joy but ‘a great joy’. Not just charan (joy in ancient Greek) but mega joy – Megalēn joy.

There are many options for Readings from the Old and New Testament for this Christmas Day. Among them is Isaiah 62:6-12: Psalm 97; and  Titus 3:4-7.  

Breath of Heaven hold me together

“… When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb” (Luke 1:41)

Luke 1:39-45 (Year C: The Fourth Sunday of Advent, 23^rd December, 2018)

For a 3 minute video talk see https://youtu.be/8c-rArTNs4c

This is a story about two mothers and two (yet to be born) babies.  It was, in all likelihood, a story of shared anxieties (not recounted here) and shared joys mixed in, no doubt, with much physical discomfort, sickness and worry. Such is life and such is the experience of mothers and pregnant women – an experience that can only be theorised and described by that half of humanity that will never know what it is really like to be pregnant and, or, to be a mother of a child or to be sick or to be insecure …….. In many respects, nature lets some men get off lightly. Tradition has it (but it is only tradition) that the evangelist Luke wrote his gospel with the help of Mary the mother of Jesus. Hence the unique birth narratives in the gospel of Luke and the memories of Jesus in the temple found in the second chapter of Luke. Whoever Luke was and however he (assuming that it was a he) gathered together his version of the good news we get a sense of a feminine perspective in much of Luke – the role of the holy spirit of God, the central point of compassion, justice, balance, relationship and caring as well as the references to the role of Mary in the Jesus story.

When Mary went to her cousin Elizabeth she brought – in her very own body – the Life that would set the world on fire.  Elizabeth seemed to realise that something extraordinary was happening in Mary’s greetings and presence. The child in Elizabeth’s womb literally jumped for joy. This might seem like poetic licence but there is no reason to exclude this happening given what women know and men don’t and what, moreover, modern science confirms about the amazing behaviour of babies in the womb.

Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting. She saw and she heard and she was attentive. Something stirred in her. Life and Joy moved her to declare ‘And why has this happened to me’ (v.43). She was filled with the Holy Spirit just as we are and can be if we see, hear, listen and attend to what is hidden and what is before us. John did not see from where he was. He heard a voice – that of Mary and through this voice he was connected to that Life that was with Mary through the grace of God. One wonders what sorts of stories were told and shared and retold by these two mothers for many years after. ‘A woman’s heart is a deep ocean of secrets’ as Old Rose said in the film ‘Titanic’ (no doubt it will be on offer again this Christmas on TV!). And in the gospel of Luke we are told that ‘Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart’ (Luke 2:19). It is surely the case that she continued to treasure and ponder all these words in her heart for many years before and after her visit to Elizabeth. However, Mary and Elizabeth were not mere mothers behind two great men. Their stories and witness places them as powerful women who challenge doubt, despair and oppression – all recounted after this passage in the rallying cry of the Magnificat.

But there is a sting to this Visitation story. The two unborn babies are destined to suffer and to die: one through beheading for the crime of telling it as it is; the other on a cross for ‘turning the tables’ (literally as in the Temple as well metaphorically).  There was, surely, much heartbreak for both mothers as matters turned out (even if Elizabeth had died by the time her son was executed). Luke quotes Simeon as saying to Mary:

This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too. (Luke 2:33-35)

The joyful encounter between Mary, Elizabeth, Jesus and John ended in tragedy. Or, did it?  That other great feast of the annual Christian calendar is only a little over 3 months away.  In the resurrection we see hope beyond tragedy; life beyond death and renewal beyond decay. Before we get to resurrection there is flight and there is exodus followed by a long journey through barren places. The story of Israel is our story as she wanders around a desert. But, the story of those were not of Israel is also our story because God’s generosity has no limits then or now. Within months of the encounter with Elizabeth, Mary would be fleeing with Joseph and the child Jesus just as thousands are doing this Christmas in various parts of Southern and central Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. And within months of that encounter many children would be massacred in the area around Bethlehem:

‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’ (Matthew 2:18)

A voice is heard today in Ramah and the surrounding countries. It is one of wailing and loud lamentation as Rachel weeps for her children and refuses, in front of our TV screens, to be consoled.  Sky News may not be picking this up very clearly today as we watch from our comfort zones of Northern Europe and America.  But, millions of dispossessed, terrorised and hungry brothers and sisters are coming our way sooner or later. Let’s do practical things to be open and welcoming towards all. We never know but we might be entertaining angels. Joy might stir within us as it did in Elizabeth when her cousin called in to visit her with Life.

And let’s not forget those nearest and dearest to us, also. We need to cherish, support and love all who are alive and kicking!

I like this song by Amy Grant from the early 1990s:

Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)

(you can hear it on youtube here)

I have travelled many moonless nights
Cold and weary with a babe inside
And I wonder what I've done
Holy father you have come
And chosen me now to carry your son

I am waiting in a silent prayer
I am frightened by the load I bear
In a world as cold as stone
Must I walk this path alone?
Be with me now
Be with me now

Breath of heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy
Breath of heaven

Do you wonder as you watch my face
If a wiser one should have had my place
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of your plan
Help me be strong
Help me be
Help me

Breath of heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy

Breath of heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven

(1,203 words, above)

In addition to this coming Sunday’s Gospel reading which is common to most Christian churches, the other readings from scripture found in the ‘paired’ Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) of the Church of Ireland for this Sunday are: Micah 5:2-5;  Psalm 80:1-8; and  Hebrews 10:5-10.  In the liturgical cycle of the Roman Catholic Church, for this coming Sunday, the choice of readings is the same as above.

Less is more

“…‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” (Luke 3:13)

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Psalm 146:4-10

Philippians 4:4-7

Luke 3:7-18

 New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Year C: Third Sunday of Advent, 12 December 2021

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice

....is taken from Philippians 4:4 which is the opening verse of the second reading for this Sunday.

Joy is a difficult thing to define or measure. It is felt more than seen. It is seen more than heard. It is heard more than measured. No market value can be put on joy.

The secret of joy is in trusting (God) and in giving (to others). The Gospel of Luke provides important guidance.

Let's listen again to the Gospel:

'Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise'. (v.11)

‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you’ (v.13)

If each of us collected ‘no more than the amount prescribed’ for us the world would be a different place indeed. If only…

Where we are today is on the cusp of a momentous change in the conditions of this mother earth where we have been planted. The call to love our neighbour takes a particular urgency because it means loving our children – the next generation. There is more than weather extremes and rising temperatures and flooding at stake here. We simply don’t know for sure how much or how long it will take but we can be sure of one thing – unless action is taken at global and local levels the future planet and the conditions for those living there does not look pretty. To put it another way, we are consuming one and a half earths. This cannot continue. Eventually, something gives. It becomes a choice of ‘de-growth’ or ‘de-carbonise’ or both. Leaders and peoples can continue to duck and dive on what it takes to begin to fix the underlying causes of environmental degradation but, eventually, the reality and the truth will catch up with us all.

We know that the current patterns of globalisation, trade, consumption and energy utilisation are not sustainable. What are we doing about it? 

Preparing a way for all

“…and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6)

Baruch 5:1-9

Benedictus

Philippians 1:3-11

Luke 3:1-6

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

 Year C: Second Sunday of Advent, 5 December 2021

Last week I highlighted, based on the readings of the first Sunday of Advent, three key points:

1. The need to stay calm
2. The need to remain steadfast in love
3. And the need to keep moving towards our ultimate destination.

This Sunday the focus is on preparation and inclusion.

We live in a radically different culture to the one in which the gospel writer, Luke, lived.  However, as with all four evangelists who wrote for the first or even second generation of early Christians and who faced enormous trials in the first century we also face a world that is often indifferent if not openly hostile.  The sacred writings and stories that later became part of the Canon of Scripture drew on the deep traditions and memories of the Jewish people – forsaken, held in captivity, restored and led forward. 

The prophet Baruch writes of a period of captivity and destruction some 6 centuries before Christ. He tells of a great and glorious future for the chosen people (5:5):

Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look towards the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them.

Baruch echoes the prophet Isaiah who foresees a time of liberation and a time when the nations will be gathered and saved.  This links to the arrival of John the Baptist in the desert.  Luke quotes from the prophet Isaiah 40:3-5:

A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

‘All flesh shall see the salvation of God’. This is important because the gospel of Luke was, apparently, written for pagans in Greece (that’s us, so to speak).  All flesh – all races, all genders, born or unborn, left or right, straight or gay, ‘religious’ and ‘non-religious’, high-church and low-church, broad church or narrow church, liberal church or conservative-traditional church, all peoples – are called today ‘to see the salvation of God’. The writers of the Biblical books were hung up on the idea of ‘all’.  All are called to salvation. Inspired by John Wesley, many Christians attach special importance to four cornerstones or four great ‘Alls’ of our belonging to Christ:

1. All people need to be saved.
2. All people can be saved.
3. All people can know they are saved.
4. All people can be saved to the uttermost

Are we up to the challenge? Are we ready? Do we care? We can only start with ourselves.  Even if we feel or think that we are not up to the challenge; are not ready and do not care; there is a power and a love bigger than each one of us that is preparing a way through our hearts to joy and a peace and a freedom in the midst of this personal and social wilderness.

As it says in the Benedictus: ‘By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ (Luke 1:78-79)

That call and promise is extended once again, through Jesus, to us this morning, in the words of Saint Paul:

And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.  (Philippians 1:9-11).

Let this time of waiting and hope which we call Advent mark a new beginning for each one of us!

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Further reading: notes and questions, verse by verse (Luke 3:1-16)

Preliminaries

Whereas, in Mark, the opening proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ and directly quotes Isaiah,  here in Luke there is a long and gradual warm up with the various stories of Jesus’s conception, birth and childhood. Chapter 3 of Luke is a turning point. This is where the prophecy of Isaiah is proclaimed once again and the baton is passed from John the Baptist to Jesus.

v.1-2:  The political context

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 

What a formidable opening to chapter 3 and prelude to the declaration of John the Baptist! Then, as now, the region in which our saviour and Lord was born was deeply troubled and politically torn. It resembled some well known war-torn region ready to be tipped over into all-out violence at any moment as the ruling colonial authorities dealt cruelly with any uprising. At the same time, there was an air of excitement among the oppressed Jewish people that a Messiah would come before long.  As usual, the religious authorities ducked and manoeuvred to curry favour with the imperial overlords while seeking to maintain control over their own flock. Has much changed?

Note that ‘the word of God’ came to John the son of Zechariah just as it comes to us today through others and in us. Where did John receive the word? Verse two tells us: ‘in the wilderness’.

v.3:  The response of John

He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins..

In every age and place many are called up to go out from where they are and to give witness. John did it his way. His message was very much a preview – like in a film trailer – of what was to follow when his cousin would enter the scene.  The key message is the same – all must turn away from their wrong-doing and experience an inner turning around. It is the same as repentance or conversation. And, it is the call each of us needs to hear again today.

v.4-6:   The witness of the Prophets of old

as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:  “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight,and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”’

Prophecy has more or less ceased since the sixth century before the coming of the Baptist. No wonder many confused John the Baptist with the Messiah or though that Jesus was John come back to life (e.g. see Matthew 14:2).

Living in the now

 ‘…stand up and raise your heads.’ (Luke 21:28)

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Psalm 25

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Luke 21:25-36

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

 

Year C: First Sunday of Advent, 28 November 2021.

In a strange way the readings we have just heard seem timely.  We are living in a time of unease.  We are trying to make sense of what has just happened.  We have no idea what the coming weeks hold. Right now, we hold a mix of thoughts, feelings, worries and hopes.  We may cling to anything that gives short-term comfort: a phone call, an upcoming visit, a planned holiday next year, the Toy show on RTE player later today, the family coming home from Christmas, the companionship, the fun as well as the challenges and the hard work that Christmas entails for many. Perhaps, Christmas is not something we necessarily relish in navigating family politics and remembering loss and pain over an empty place at the table.

Whatever our thoughts and feelings right now we do well to acknowledge them honestly. We are where we are and the world is as it is today. The only thing we can change right now is ourselves, our relationships, our responses today, now, here.

I suggest three things that we can do right now:

1. Stay calmly grounded in the here and now
2. Remain steadfast in love because this is the only thing that matters
3. Keep moving forward towards some goal or destination no matter how dim it seems.

Staying calm meanings trusting that God has a plan for this world and our lives in it just as we heard from the Prophet Jeremiah witnessing some 6 centuries before the birth of Christ.

Remaining steadfast means living our lives to the full in the here and now that we may ‘increase and abound in love for one another’ as it says in the epistle for the first Sunday of Advent (1 Thessalonians 3:12). The best way to prepare for death is to live life to the full now and to live it well so that we leave a good memory and example and find our well-being in this thought.

As Chiara Lubich of the Focolare movement once said:

Precisely because we do not know the day nor the hour of His coming, we can concentrate more easily on living one day at a time, on the troubles of today, on what Providence offers to us now.  Some time ago I spontaneously uttered this prayer to God.  “Jesus, make me always speak as if it were the last word I say. Make me always act as if it were the last action I take. Make me always suffer as if it were the last suffering I had to offer you. Make me always pray as if it were the last opportunity I have here on earth to converse with you”.

 

Taking a stand for truth

“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (John 18:37)

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

Psalm 93

Revelation 1:4b-8

John 18:33-37

 New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

(Year B: Christ the King, 21^st November 2021)

Two things strike me in hearing once again this short extract from the Gospel of John. First, as John tells the story, Jesus shows himself not to be afraid of anyone: neither Pontius Pilate the Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea or Caiaphas the High Priest or the mob baying for his life and blood. He faced power knowing what was before him. The second striking feature of this story is that Jesus does not allow anyone – least of all his adversaries and accusers – to define who he is. Pilate demands answers to questions he has framed. Jesus does not engage with him: rather He declares plainly who he is.

Meek and humble as he was, Jesus as Son of God and Son of Man was no push over.  He stood his ground for truth and for human liberation.  He is, after all, the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14.6). He is not some interpretation of truth or some projection of our limited ideas of truth and goodness in the 21^st century.

One of the reasons Jesus was executed is that he walked, knowingly, into confrontation with the religious and, ultimately, Roman political authorities of his time. These two authorities were openly collaborating with each other. 

Now, Jesus could have chosen more nuanced language. He could have bit his tongue. He could have curried favours with the ‘powers-that-be’. He could have checked what he said with some legal experts to avoid lawsuits over defamation and libel. He could have avoided making a scene in Jerusalem and especially in the Temple. In fact, he could have stuck to pious teaching, performed a few miracles and healings and generally lead a quiet and sheltered life and not transgressed particular boundaries where the Sabbath, or purity laws or other conventions were concerned.

But this was not Jesus’ way.

His rule was and is, today, based on love – real love that this world hardly knows. It is a reign of profound gentleness, utter kindness and a loving and free invitation. In other words, it is a type of reigning with which we are very unfamiliar.  However, there is a chance that we can find that spark within us where the Risen Jesus is mysteriously present ever and always.  The first in-breaking of the Kingdom starts with its out-breaking in my heart and your heart and someone else’s heart. Where two or three are sincerely gathered in his name and united in his love there is the Kingdom right now, in our midst. ‘For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth’ (verse 37) says the Lord. In a sense all of us as disciples can share in the costly priesthood of Jesus who gave himself in kingly service of the truth. We may, too, share in his kingship and face with courage and faith those who ridicule, misunderstand or persecute us.

The late Dutch writer and theologian, Henri Nouwen, helps us to understand the significance of this Sunday when he wrote:

"on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, Christ is presented to us as the mocked King on the Cross as well of the King of the universe. The greatest humiliation and the greatest victory are both shown to us in today's liturgy. It is important to look at this humiliated and victorious Christ before we start the new liturgical year with the celebration of Advent. All through the year we have to stay close to the humiliation as well as to the victory of Christ, because we are called to live both in our own daily lives."

As we read, today, in the Book of Revelation (1:6):

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

  (words above = 655)

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Notes

The choice of passage fits with the solemn feast of Christ the King.  You might be surprised to know that this is a relatively new feast in the Western Christian Calendar – instituted as it was by Pope Pius XI in 1925 against a particular political context globally as well as in Italy at that time. In time, many Western Christian churches followed this lead including the Church of England and most churches in communion with the See of Canterbury.

Talk of Kingdom and Kingdom of Heaven is all over the scriptures including the four gospels. This can be a little off-putting to some people especially in Ireland as notions of royalty, privilege and submission are foreign to modern-day civic republicanism.  However, we are not talking, today, about kingdom in the common earthly sense. Did you know that the word, ‘kingdom’, as in heavenly kingdom or kingdom of God, crops up over 100 times in the four Gospels in the form of the Greek word, basileia, or some grammatical variation on basileia). Yet, in the four gospels, the word, church, or ekklêsia is only used twice and that in Matthew, only. Clearly, ‘kingdom’ is an important reality that Jesus came to announce and to initiate in the here and now.

The context for a kingly messiah is set in the Hebrew scriptures where, for long, the Jewish people looked to a restoration of kingly power to unite and lead God’s people.  However, the idea of royalty only arrived late in the history of Israel. In the first book of Samuel (1 Samuel 8) we learn that God only reluctantly agreed to make Saul a king. The behaviour of the various kings that followed Saul was less than impressive or exemplary. In fact, kings, at that time, were often bullies, immoral and murderous.  In this context, ‘kingdom talk’ found on the lips of Jesus or in the traditions that followed Jesus’ earthly life must be seen as surprisingly subversive and provocative.

In what sense could Jesus speak of himself as ‘King’? Certainly not in the sense that the term was understood and applied in his time.  Whereas the passage in this Sunday’s reading from the gospel of John is not to be taken as a verbatim transcript of a conversation that happened almost 2,000 years ago, we can be sure that somewhere along the line Jesus challenged prevailing notions of royal power and dynasty. He juxtaposed a completely different model and way of ruling based on love, service and justice.

No greater love

 “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (john 15:13)

Isaiah 2:1-5

Psalm 130

John 15:9-17

The Scripture readings, above, are from  taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © http://nrsvbibles.org

(Year B: Remembrance Sunday, 14 November 2021)

Recently I have been reading ‘A State of Emergency’ by Richard Chambers. It is a gripping and altogether human story of people during the Great Modern Plague that began in early 2020. It almost sounds like history except that it is not: we are still living through this. What moved me most in this extraordinary account of the early weeks of the crisis here in Ireland is contained in the chapters where the author describes the ensuing crisis up and down the country in our nursing homes.  We do well to remember what happened and how thousands of nurses, carers, ambulance crew and others moved into what can only be described as a war scene of absolute catastrophic proportions and human tragedy. 

Most telling were the stories of workers exhausted, scared and overwhelmed turning up morning after morning, night after night putting their own lives and health on the line. In those early days there were no vaccines.   Nobody anticipate the full implications of what was unfolding and how far it could go.  All we knew was that acts of outstanding bravery and self-sacrifice were taking place.

I have no hesitation in drawing on this very recent episode of our history and linking it to the time of remembrance in or around Armistice Day on 11 November.  As you know, it is traditional at this time of year to mark, commemorate and thank God for the bravery and sacrifice of millions who laid down their lives that we might live and be free. Indeed, we should never forget. As it says in today’s Gospel reading:

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (john 15:13)

This was true in 1914 when the nations of Europe including Ireland as part of the United Kingdom went to war against each other. It was also true in 1939 and subsequent years when across the world millions including many Irish women and men answered the call to serve the cause of justice and defeat tyranny. Wars are sordid. No nation comes out of war with completely clean hands. However, we should remember the love that enabled people to give their lives. Love of others, of one’s own family and one’s own country enabled heroic deeds.

Now that peace reigns in Europe for the most part and for some time – thanks be to God – we should remember that an enormous price was paid by others and that we are urged to imitate the selfless love of those who went before us. We do not have to look far, my dear friends. Today in a hospital near you nurses, doctors and carers are working extremely hard at all hours of the day and night. We have a limited idea of what this means until one of us or someone we know is in need of urgent medical care for whatever reason.

As a society we should best remember the heroes of the past by giving our own lives in whatever God has called us to do. Who knows how our acts of kindness, generosity and self-sacrifice can save lives.

Let us put the common first before our own self-interests. This is the best way to remember and move forward.

Love for life

 A reflection on Mark 10:2-16 [Sunday 3rd October 2021)

Marriage is a keystone in the life of most people.  Falling in love, making a commitment and staying faithful to it is the story of so many people. Thank God for this.  All societies value marriage: it is the bedrock of happy relationships, stable and nurturing environments for children to grow up in and the means by which couples support each other in the ups and downs of life.

I am afraid that the ideal of marriage – as a self-sacrificing love that lasts until death of one partner – is not the reality for many, many people especially in these Western and post-modern societies.  It may come as a surprise to those not familiar with the scriptures and Jewish history that divorce was common place in the time of Jesus. In fact, the grounds for a man to issue a decree of divorce were flimsy enough.  In this context the clear, blunt and uncompromising teaching of Jesus was as shocking to those who heard Jesus 2,000 years ago as it is to those of us today who take care to listen to the Word of God and take it seriously. Indeed, in our own lifetimes we have seen huge changes in attitudes and behaviours where sex, marriage, birth control, divorce and remarriage are concerned.  Here in Ireland two bitter referenda were fought in 1986 and again in 1995 to remove the constitutional ban on divorce. The latter referendum was carried by the slimmest of margins at that time.

It would be all too easy in these few words this Sunday to talk about divorce and how to navigate this topic given the cultural context in which the Bible refers to divorce as well as the varying interpretations and pastoral challenges that confront the churches today. The matter has been compounded by the question of same-sex marriages. Let me not go there this Sunday. Rather, let me focus on what is essential, radical and compassionate about Jesus’s teaching about marriage.

In the teachings of Jesus love comes before every rule and every custom.  The Sabbath was made for men and women and not the other way round. Marriage is a wonderful and free gift for those ready to receive it.  Marriage grows from the love of two people. What is special about married love is that it is exclusive to two persons.  Not just that but it is for life – at least until one partner passes from this life.  Finally, marriage is open to new life because sexual love is ordered to the union of those married as well as the procreation of new life – God willing and circumstances permitting of course!

Today, sadly, as in Jesus’s day many fall short of the ideal of an exclusive, life-giving and life-long relationship ‘until death do us part’.  There are as many reasons for this as they there are married persons. To stay faithful means so much and has huge benefits for children, women, men and for society as a whole of which family is the basic unit.

We should do everything possible to help individuals and couples remain faithful to their married vows.  Of course, in a minority of cases, physical and psychological abuse indicate that separation is the best way forward for everyone.  Most cases of relationship breakdown are not so clear cut.  Much prayer, dialogue and support is required to help people in difficulties.

I can speak from personal experience that marital separation is a hugely traumatic and heart breaking experience and one that is not made lightly.

Many find themselves in second relationships.  Some even go through the terrible trauma of divorce which is devastating financially, psychologically and spiritually.  Many remarry and find new happiness and joy.  We must look with eyes of compassion on those wounded by such experiences even if the outcome is a positive and loving commitment.  I have no easy answers.  It is easy to quote those verses of scripture to defend a ‘liberal’ approach or a strict ‘no exceptions’ approach to divorce and remarriage.

The best way of responding to a world turned upside down is to re-affirm Christian values of:

• Love for life
• Loving sexual union
• Love for family.

If people should find love, life and freedom in remarriage after a journey of pain and separation who am I or who is anyone to exclude them from full communion in and with the Body of Christ?

Tough teaching and tough choices

“…Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68)

Joshua 24: 1-2a, 14-18

Psalm 34: 15-22

Ephesians 6: 10-20

John 6:56-69

The Scripture readings, above, are from  the appointed 'paired' readings for the principal service of the day from the Church of Ireland while hyper-links to the readings are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © http://nrsvbibles.org

(Year B: Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, 22 August 2021)

And so, after we come to the close of a long discourse in the sixth chapter of Saint John. Let’s recap on what we have heard, read and mediated in our hearts over the last five weeks including this Sunday’s passage:

•  Jesus feeds all of those who come to him (John 6:1-15)
• The crowds ask for a sign.  Jesus declares (verse 35): ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’.  (John 6:24-35).
• And then he goes a step further (verse 51): ‘Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ (John 6:41-51)
• And unless anyone still has not got it he says (vs 54-55): ‘Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.’  (John 6:51-58)

The words in John from today’s passage are challenging. It sounds very much like a meditation from an early Christian community already familiar with a primitive form of the Eucharist or Holy Communion. First, this is about the giving of Jesus – his body, blood, humanity and divinity in the sacrifice of calvary.  By this He is risen and gives life to us from the cross and from his resurrection.  This said, the chapter in its entirety speaks to us of the communion instituted by Jesus and told in the other (synoptic gospels).  In other words, John 6 does not present an either-or choice as between a eucharistic interpretation and something else concerning his Word and his sacrifice.  All are linked and explicit in this chapter.  For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (refer to 1 Corinthians 11:26).

Whatever the exact circumstances in which chapter 6 of John was written and what lies behind it, we can trust that it represents God speaking to us today – not by means of some direct transcript but through the mediation of memory, story and evolving understanding. We are in holy company listening to the living word and this word is at work in our hearts each time we seek to listen and to be open to the word of God.

At the end of this important chapter we have encountered Jesus in his word and in his sacramental signs of living bread which is his body. This not an easy teaching to grasp or an easy one to explain and live by as witnessed by the tone of controversy in verses 60-69.  It might be all too convenient to turn this passage into a harbinger of reformation and post-reformation controversies many centuries later. We would be missing the point if we were to focus on a relatively modern controversy about how to explain the mystery of the Lord’s Table. At the centre of this discourse is the unity of life, word and living bread. We do not know just how but we believe all the same.

We can walk away from teaching that is hard to grasp or apply in our lives.  Like the chosen people in today’s first reading we have a choice: we can cling to life and the ways of faith in God and in his ways or we can follow the other nations to use an Old Testament way of saying.  But do we really have a choice?  Where else would we go as Peter declares.

You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.  (John 6:68-69).

May we believe this, proclaim it and live it out in our daily lives.

Peace, Bread, Life

‘… the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”(John 6:51)

1 Kings 19: 4-8

Psalm 34: 1-8

Ephesians 4: 25 - 5: 2

John 6: 35, 41-51

The Scripture readings, above, are from  the appointed 'paired' readings for the principal service of the day from the Church of Ireland while hyper-links to the readings are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © http://nrsvbibles.org

(Year B: 10^th Sunday after Trinity, 8 August 2021)

If we were to summarise the Gospel message and call to action of Jesus Christ with a Johannine emphasis (in the gospel of John) we might focus on:

• Peace
• Bread
• Life

The story of the feeding of 5,000 followed by a long and rich conversation between Jesus and his closest disciples reveals a new understanding of God’s own life shared and continued through his people. At this point many (including the disciples) don’t get the message. They either seek a quick fix and spectacular solution to their immediate needs, or, they take offence at what they are hearing and seeing.

Jesus challenges us to hear again and seek those goods to which the visible, the earthly and the fleshy point. However, always rooted in this earth and reality Jesus and his word is no phantom or non-material substance (John uses the term ‘sarx’ – flesh in ancient Greek and not body as the other evangelists do).  In the course of his ministry he uses materials such as water, bread, wine, oil and flesh to press home the deeper reality of our communion with him and with one another and that the material, of itself, is good.  So, though many might take exception or offence at the use of the word flesh both then and now, this manner of speaking has the potential to shock us into a deeper realisation that flesh is good and that in sharing the life of God with others we share - spiritually – in the flesh. My Irish (Gaelic) version of the bible is even more graphic and uses the word ‘feoil’ or meat. No wonder the early Christians had some explaining to do in Rome before being fed to the lions after accusations of cannibalism!

As in so many areas of belief and religious practice, we do well to accept the truth behind what is happening without trying to ‘scientifically’ explain the mechanics of what is happening. We are best to leave that to God. The point of this discourse in chapter 6 and in the liturgical and worshipping life of Christian communities is that God brings us life – right in front of us and within us.  Our mission is to embrace such life and live such life to the full.

Are we really living off the Bread of Life..?

In our lives where are the signs of new life? What does it mean for us today to eat the ‘bread of life’ which comes down from heaven? Where is this life visible in us, others, ourselves? What sort of daily bread do we feed off? Are we genuinely bread for others or do we seek to keep this bread for ourselves? Do we respond to the hunger for bread in our world today? Millions, many of them children, go to bed (or no bed) hungry every night and this doesn’t just happen in far off places and lands. As we write and read these words hundreds if not thousands of refugees are packed into open boats somewhere in the seas of the world. 

How does the Eucharist connect us to others including those ‘with no bread’?  In our communities, workplaces and homes are we living signs of hope, life and blessing for others more than the opposite?

And what about Sundays..?

Sunday is a good occasion to re-connect with the local community in which we seek bread and life with others.  It seems to me that a Sunday without such communion is less than the full celebration and actualisation of the resurrection. We have missed something if we do not, tougher with others, break bread – both the living word and the spiritual food of the eucharist– all in memory of, and in the current day living out of, the Lord’s death and resurrection.