Gospel of life: The Ascension

Scripture reading:

“All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.” Acts 1:14

Reflection:

Immediately after the ascension of Jesus the disciples together with Mary as well as the wider family of Jesus withdrew to “the room upstairs where they were staying”.  Here was the first ‘Novena’ of the band of early disciples who were to wait for power from on high, viz., the Holy Spirit. We are weak; we need power from high for the road ahead which will be marked by many turns and unexpected pitfalls.  We will encounter opposition on all sides and even at times from those who are nearest and dearest. To act for life, unity and justice will cost us dearly. So it was and so it is and so it will be.

A prayer:

“As we follow the example of Our Lord each day, we hear His words: "Know that I am with you always, even to the end of the world." We pray that we will always have the courage to be disciples of Jesus and show His love for all people by standing here in defence of life. We pray that all mothers feel the presence and strength of Our Lord each day.” Priests for Life.

 

Gospel of Life: The Resurrection

Rosary for Life, Unity and Justice

For the next 40 days up to the 7^th October I offer a series of reflections on each of the decades of the Holy Rosary. The Holy Rosary is a traditional prayer recited by Catholics and a few others outside the Roman Catholic Church. It recalls important moments in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Saviour and Lord.

This is a testing time for three reasons:

1. The culture of death is advancing on many fronts not least in Ireland where legislation is pending for the legalisation of abortion up to birth (and beyond birth in the case children who survive abortion in the hours following a failed abortion) as well as euthanasia. We are, literally, running out of time.
2. Discord, strife and in-fighting abound in the body of Christ here on earth. We need to pray and work for unity based on gospel values. This is all the more urgent given the Synod on synodality scheduled for October of this year.
3. The injustices driving economic inequality, social breakdown, environmental disruption and political corruption are all too evident at global and local level.  We need to act. If not us, who?

I am suggesting that the Rosary forms an important part of the resources at the disposal of ordinary people – like you and me – to pray and live for change that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.  We need the courage of early Christians to witness with our lives and our words that are called to repentance and renewal.

The Glorious Mysteries

The Resurrection

A scripture reading:

"And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death for ever." (Isaiah 25:7).

A reflection:

"God did not make death. He hates it, and in fact has fulfilled this ancient promise of Isaiah through the death and resurrection of Christ, by which he destroyed death and made us the People of Life. Those who continue God's work in the world therefore fight against the lingering power of death's kingdom, in whatever form it takes.” [from Priests for Life]

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank You for creating human life in Your image.

Thank You for our lives and the lives of those we love.

Thank You for teaching us through Scripture the value You place on life.

Help us to uphold the sanctity of life in our churches and community.

Give us the strength to stand up to those forces that seek to destroy the lives of those most vulnerable, the unborn, the infirm and the elderly.

Today we commit ourselves never to be silent, never to be passive, never to be forgetful of respecting life.

We commit ourselves to protecting and defending the sacredness of life according to Your will, through Christ our Lord. Amen

(Anglicans for Life)

 

 

The rock of faith

 ‘Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. (Isaiah 51:1)

 

(Year A: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, 27^rd August, 2023)

 

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READINGS 

Isaiah 51:1-6 / Isaiah 22:19-23

Psalm 138

Romans 11:33-36

Matthew 16:13-20

 

Every so often we may stop and wonder; stare and think; appreciate and move on.  The gospels contain one such ‘stop and wonder’ moment when Jesus asks what seems like a very simple question. It ran something like this:

I have been with you some time. We have had great times together and we have had hard times together. I never promised you that it would be easy.  You heard my call and you followed me.  Others did likewise.  News about us spread throughout the country. Some said I was a great prophet – even the greatest, others said I was a trouble maker and a fraud while others, still, said I was from the Evil One.  But, you – what do you think?  Who do you say I am? Why are you still following me? Who am I to you?

For today on this God-given Sunday, we are asked the same question.  ‘Who is Jesus Christ for you?’ ‘What does Jesus Christ mean for you today?’ ‘Does it matter?’ ‘What difference does Jesus make to my life today?’

Sometimes, we over-complicate our lives, and religion too. We think of religion (and God) as a set of ideas or a set of ‘do’s and don’ts’. We might even think of religion and God as a form of life assurance policy ‘just in case’. That is, ‘just in case it is true in some sense’ or ‘just in case I need a crutch when confronted with sudden and unbearable suffering’. Or, perhaps, religion and God is a convenient and socially acceptable way of maintaining family traditions. After all, what is the harm in baptising children if, subsequently, in a church-affiliated school it means they get a good ‘Christian’ education in self-discipline, duty and care of others along with excellent academic results?

But, who is Jesus for you today?

This Sunday’s Gospel passage is very timely and very meaningful. We need, each of us, to ask the question.  And, perhaps for now, not seek to answer the question in a hurry or in a way that is tidy, exact and definitive. Rather, let God speak to us in the question with every passing moment and breath.

After all, it was not ‘flesh and blood’ that revealed this to Peter but his Father in heaven. It was a work of grace. Peter received a calling and a trust that would be the rock foundation (the Kephas to use the Aramaic term that Jesus gave to Simon at the time of his calling) on which the early Christian community would be founded.  It is likely that the word ‘Church’ or ekklêsia in the Greek was added much later than the initial oral reporting by the writer of Matthew of Jesus’ words).

It may be noted that the much contested ‘conferring of the keys’ verse (Matthew 18:19) is unique to this Gospel and is not found in either Luke or Mark which are, in other respects, mirrors of Mathew 16:13-16.

Verses 18-19 of Chapter 16 is unique to the Gospel of Matthew. We may ask if it was introduced later to address particular concerns and was it indicative of tensions in the Christian community somewhere about Antioch and further afield in the decade of the 80s when Matthew was written?). And while some might base a strong theology of a petrine papal ministry on verse 18 of chapter 16 in one of the four canonical gospels, they need to pay attention to two verses placed two chapters on in this same gospel of Matthew.  The conferring of the ‘keys of the kingdom’ with the use of the rabbinical ‘binding and loosing’ instruction anticipates the very same words in Matthew 18:18-19):

 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 18:18-19 need to be read together.  ‘Where two or three gather in my name…’ is the essence, meaning, source and destination of the ekklêsia  - literally a ‘gathering together of people’ in the ancient Greek. 

(ekklêsia  appears over a hundred times in the New Testament but hardly ever in the Gospels except in the Gospel of Matthew where it appears only here and in Matthew 18:17, whereas, the word ‘kingdom’, as in heavenly kingdom or kingdom of God, arises over 100 times in the four Gospels with the Greek word, basileia or some grammatical variation on basileia).

Both passages (Matthew 16:18 and 18:18-19) have been cited by Christians through the ages to strengthen a particular emphasis or latter-day arrangement for Church authority and governance. The Primus inter Pares (first among equals) of Peter is clear to most.   However, we should not jump to conclusions about modern-day patterns of church governance on foot of sweeping generalisations or extrapolations from one or two sentences of the Gospel taken in isolation. Neither should we ignore or dismiss the actual and historical evidence about the key unifying and leadership role of Peter and those who came after him in that place (Rome) where, by tradition, he was martyred and on whom the visible communion of disciples was built. Our eldest brother in faith, Peter and those who came after him – for all their faults and errors – were and are important signs of potential (and actual) communion. The Church breathes with two lungs – East and West and is founded on the rock of Peter as well as the brotherhood of equals called in Christ.

Was it on the person of Peter that the Church was built or simply on his faith and that of the community of disciples of whom Peter, apparently, was the lead spokesperson or actor? I suggest that both understandings are not mutually exclusive.  There has been a tendency in Roman Catholic Christianity to claim these verses as sufficient evidence for a monarchial papacy with immediate and universal powers over all Christians in matters of faith and morals.  On the other side there has been a tendency among those outside the Roman Catholic Church as well as many within to ignore the key role of papacy in helping the universal church to reach consensus in matters of faith and morals.  Historically the role of Peter and his successors to this day remains crucial to Christian unity and diversity.  The petrine ministry is an essential part of what it means to be catholic and when we walk away from it we risk throwing caution to the wind with all of the disastrous and chaotic consequences that ensure.

In any case, the Church universal as well as the Church local was and is built on the blood of martyrs – even today in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Pakistan. Let us never forget that.  

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11)

Someone's mother

  I will gather others to them besides those already gathered. (Isaiah 56:8)

 

Pic: Bazzi Rahib, Ilyas Basim Khuri. The Canaanite Woman asks for healing for her daughter, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55922 [retrieved 19 August, 2023]

 (Year A: 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 20thAugust, 2023)

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READINGS 

Isaiah 56:1-8

Psalm 66

Romans 11:1-32

Matthew 15:10-28

 

The second part of this Sunday’s Gospel story presents a challenge. We find ourselves with Jesus in what would have been considered as a foreign place among foreign people. Remember that in the running order of Matthew’s 15^th chapter we have just read about an argument between Jesus and some Pharisees and Scribes who were taking issue about the Law including ritual cleansing practices.

Now, in the district of tyre and Sidon a Canaanite, a foreigner, came forward and ‘started shouting’ at Jesus, a Jew, in search of help. Why would a devout Jew respond to a foreigner for help?  Was Jesus trying out the patience and trust of others around him by deliberately not answering this Canaanite (in other words ignoring her)? Even then, he provided, according to Matthew, what might be considered an abrupt and rude response by declaring ‘it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs’.  If ever Jesus might be accused of political incorrectness and ethno-religious discrimination here was a prime example! (Canaanites would have been regarded, generally, in Jewish society as a sinful and godless race to be shunned if not exterminated).

But, the Canaanite persisted and, this time, on her knees. She had a daughter who was seriously ill. And mothers, as we all know, will go to any length when it comes to their children – child or adult.  We may note that the woman persisted without being presumptuous. She did not presume that Jesus would perform a miracle. And, she did not argue with his blunt parable about giving food to the ‘dogs’. She used the parable to continue pleading by suggesting that even the dogs can eat the crumbs that fall from the masters’ table.  How often do we see an honesty and realism in those outside our comfort circles including those who are cut off from our fellowship or networks.

To be cut off is to be alienated from someone or something. It may also involve a cutting off from oneself – one’s own inner being, needs and concerns. Ultimately, a state of being cut off may involve a cutting off from awareness of a loving God who watches over us every moment of our lives.

Writing to the Christians at Rome, Paul, the Apostle to the gentiles, looks with great compassion and also great hope for his own people – the Jewish people, the chosen people destined to be the first to be saved except that many of them missed the opportunity.  However, ‘the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable’ (Romans 11:29).  There is always a firm hope that even when we are cut off and alienated for whatever reasons God is waiting, calling, inviting and active in our lives.  In a well known passage from the prophecy of Isaiah we are reminded that ‘my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.’ (Isaiah 56:7).  In other words, God’s house is for everyone and not just the chosen, or the exclusively invited. 

The Canaanite mother displays three qualities: lots of faith, lots of humility laced with a sense of humour and lots of persistence. Faith and humility are the winning formula time and time again in the gospel not least when they are displayed directly by foreigners or outcasts such as the thief on the cross or the Roman centurion who pleaded for his servant.

Another assertive woman has been the mother of Jesus – the first disciple of the Lord. She declared the greatness of God her saviour in the Magnificat.  She continues to plead for the disciples with motherly care.  If faith coupled with humility can move mountains then we are witnesses to the power of God at work in intercessory prayer.

We can thank the persistence of mothers for a lot of things in our lives. The story of the foreign woman who persisted out of love for her sick daughter is a reminder that we, too, are both the object of the faith-full persistence of others as well as the subjects of faith who never give up on the mercy of God.

Do not be afraid

  But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ (Matt 14:27)

 

 (Year A: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 13^th August, 2023)

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READINGS 

I Kings 19:9-18

Psalm 85:8-13

Romans 10:5-15

Matthew 14:22-33

(See, also, Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:16-21)

What am I afraid of? What are you afraid of?  Good questions because the answer takes a bit of thinking.  Again and again, across the scriptures, we are admonished and advised to not be afraid.  We should take the time and trouble to sit still in the presence of God at home or in a quiet church or in quiet park or garden. There, in the silence we might sense or hear so to speak a whisper - 'It is I'.

In today’s first reading we hear of Elijah meeting God on mount Horeb – not in scenes of thunder, noise and commotion but in the ‘sound of sheer silence’ (1 Kings 19:12) according to one English language translation (NRSVA). Other versions have ‘a still small voice’ (RSV) or ‘a gentle breeze’ (CEV) 

The message that emerges is that God speaks gently and almost silently.  We can hear if we are still and at rest. The idea of a whisper or a gentle breeze evokes memories of a time when the Holy Spirit spoke to us in a delightful way.

However, hearing the Lord ‘speak’ to us is more than just fanciful imagination while we still the body and the mind. The writer of this Sunday’s selection from Psalm 84 declares:

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. (v.12).

To hear what God has to say to us we must be ready to ‘turn to him’ in our hearts. In other words, we must be ready to do his will. Such a disposition is not easy because we prefer to hear what we want to hear from sources that suit our agenda and hang-ups. Listening with a ready ear and an open heart and with a will ready to submit is what matters. Otherwise, we risk twisting scripture (and tradition which birthed scripture) to our own liking and tastes. It may seem impossible to approach the Word of God in such a manner of complete abandonment but we are encouraged by what St Paul writes in today’s selection from the Letter to the Romans:

‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’ (10:8)

And what does this Word that is so near to us on our lips and in our hearts say this Sunday 13th August? It says:

‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ (Matthew 14:27)

Staying focussed on Jesus

‘… they saw no one except Jesus himself alone …..’ (Matt 17:8)

Matthew 17:1-9 (Year A: The Transfiguration of the Lord 6 August 2023)

The drama on the mountain recounted by Matthew involves heavenly visions, voices, visitations, excitement, joy, fear, awe, reassurance and prophecy.  

The story of the Transfiguration is saturated with Old Testament talk and image. Matthew and the community he came from and wrote for were steeped in this world. The reckless and brash Peter is very much of this world outlook. His immediate and impulsive reaction is to offer to make three ‘tents’ or dwellings – one for Moses (communicator of the Law), one for the prophet Elijah (a great Prophet) and one for the new Moses, Law-giver and Prophet of Prophets, Jesus the Christ, who will teach and lead his people to the Promised Land.  In his simplicity and naivete he wanted to capture the moment and perpetuate the experience by confining the divine to one place and moment in time. He had some hard lessons to learn yet.

Instead of a slavish adherence to the Law and the Prophets Jesus has opened up a new way that fulfils the Law and the Prophets. Instead of Mount Sinai we are on another mountain to the North. Instead of the Cloud of God’s presence we are with Jesus in the Cloud of human unknowing. Instead of light shining from Moses (Exodus 4:29), the everlasting light shines on us through Jesus who was transfigured before his disciples.

God knows we need relief at times on life’s journey not least when we know major challenges lie ahead – be it pending surgery and other matters or just the business of growing old year by year and drawing closer to advanced ageing, sickness and death – three things we can be certain about in life.

But if we are certain about these three things we can be encouraged and empowered by three other things: trust, hope and love. These make all the difference to us as disciples on the mountain with others, in a cloud, anxious at times but surprised by joy in the presence of someone greater than our worries, uncertainties and horizons.  The disciples may not have seen too far that day with the cloud on the mountain. It might have been like climbing Croagh Patrick to find mist and rain at the top and not a sight of Clew Bay.  

On life’s journey we need points of rest. Deep rest. There, we sense a peace and blessing that is healing. I hesitate to say that we sense a presence because for much of the time our senses indicate absence more than presence. But, in absence we cling in trust to the idea of presence. That’s faith.