Lent made easy (for those starting again)

 ‘… and suddenly angels came and waited on him …..’ (Matt 4:1-11)

 Matthew 4:1-11 (Year A: First Sunday of Lent Sunday 5^th March 2017)

Even self-confessed atheists, agnostics and others can feel the need for some sort of Lent.  If there were no Lent one might have to invent it!  Coming, as it does, in the Spring time in the Northern Hemisphere Lent is a natural time in the rhythm of life to clear out, to cut back, to review, to plant and to sow.  As the days get longer and the winter winds and ice recede (and global warming has been regrettably and immensely helpful in this regard) a sense of longing and possibly even excitement arises.  The summer is coming, holidays beckon for those healthy and wealthy enough and the sun cream is on the ready (for all of three days in Ireland once a year!).

But Lent is more than just a social norm associated with personal discipline, dietary adjustment and positive psychology. For those who follow Jesus it is a time of renewal and preparation. Renewal, that is, because every so often we need to make a special effort to readjust our spiritual compass and turn away – metanoia or conversion – from what is harmful to us and others.  Preparation, that is, for the greatest festival and day of the year – Easter Sunday.

(Some day, perhaps, Christians will agree about a single date for celebrating the Lord’s resurrection?). 

The passage from the dark of winter to the light of spring and onwards to summer is a journey we, each, take in life. However, another winter awaits after the next summer (or does it?).

We only have now.

When Jesus went into the desert he had undergone a very public type of baptism at the hands of his cousin, John.  When Jesus emerged from his trial in the desert  he was ready and equipped to commence his public ministry (a sequence of events confirmed not only by Matthew but by Mark and Luke as well).  Matthew has a strange way of introducing the time in the ‘wilderness’ (4:1):

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil

Mark puts it this way (1:12):

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

We may note that the wilderness experience of Jesus was a time of special testing. Jesus would be tested on what he hungered for, what power was really about and who to trust.   He passed that hard threefold test.  

We may note that the episode of the three temptations recounted by Matthew involves a discourse between Jesus and the Tempter – the Devil.  The discourse is shaped by scripture as Jesus and the Devil compete to quote scripture at each other. ‘The Devil can cite scripture for his purpose’ as William Shakespeare reminded us in The Merchant of Venice. Many a power struggle has erupted in churches where various parties or persons in hierarchy or below have invoked scripture to prove someone else wrong or to justify a particular line of thinking or action.

The key point is that the wilderness experience played a purpose.  Likewise, for us, wilderness experiences, be they daily or periodic or seldom but fierce, are times of grace – at least potentially. They prepare us for what is ahead.  Rather than seeing them as hopeless dead-ends or some sort of punishment for past demeanours (distorted notions of God still abound), we need to recognise – there in the middle of the wilderness – the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

We need to be open for the next chapter.

Perhaps we need to let go of all our plans, hopes, concerns, fears and preoccupations and go with the flow of suffering – there in the middle of the wilderness. (There is no need for dietary, spiritual and penitential blitzkrieg even if one enjoys that sort of thing!).  But, ‘going with the flow’ is not about surfing the waves of self-pity, animosity or fear. It is about not resisting what washes over us while setting our compass on a goal which may be less than visible or clear but, nonetheless, present by a sense of intuition, prompting and hope which never fails even in these trying times.

And so, often, due to custom and upbringing we think of Lent as a time to ‘do something’ by way of penance or by way of positive and kind things towards others. The idea is to re-focus, to re-train, to do, to undertake, to bring some good to others. But, could we also (without neglecting these other things) consider what good comes our way from others?  Matthew closes the story of Jesus’ struggle in the desert by saying ‘and suddenly angels came and waited on him’.  Jesus had, by all accounts, been through an extremely rough time in that place of dryness, darkness, hunger, thirst and temptation. Temptation comes in many forms of delusion, seduction, doubt and the kind of persistent, obsessive and negative questioning that leads to nothing good. 

Angels came and waited on him …..

can we switch to asking a question to ourselves – ‘where in my life, right now, are good angels present?’ ‘Am I missing something or resisting something or someone?’ ‘Have I entertained angels without realising it?’ ‘where do I draw strength and nourishment after a period of drought and harrowing trial?’

Lent should be a time to stop and think. Perhaps I need to ask these questions in those special moments of quiet and pause.

In the original Greek version of this passage the verb for ‘ministering’ is  diakoneó which can translate as to wait at table or to serve. But trials come and they go and they come back again. As Luke reminds his readers (4:13):

When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

But, back to now.  Enjoy Lent. Be open to grace.

The things we treasure

 ‘… strive first for the kingdom of God …..’ (Matt 6:33)

Matthew 6:24-34 (Year A: The Sunday before Lent Sunday 26^th February 2017)

[This passage from the Gospel of Matthew – 6:24-34 is used this Sunday in the Roman Catholic Church.  Other churches designate this Sunday as ‘Transfiguration Sunday’ and use Matthew 17:1-9.  For a previous blog on this site on the latter passage see here]

For some reason, the liturgists omitted the verses that precede this Sunday’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 6:21 Jesus says:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

But, what do we treasure?  When asked, many might see health, enough income and happiness for themselves and their loved ones. Yet, it seems that a lot of human effort and energy goes into the ‘extras’ like owning a bit more or owning a bit more than others, being well regarded (as distinct from loved), securing the future financially and climbing some ladder of power and responsibility. Do these things bring whatever it is we treasure the most? Or, have we substituted shoddy treasures for the real treasure within?

Only the individual can try to answer these questions in the quiet of his or her conscience.

It is all very easy for some of us blessed with health, relative wealth and positive relationships to say to those who may lack some or all of these: ‘Do not worry!’ or ‘Trust in God!’ By all means it is when we sense of a lack of these goods that we must trust all the more because whatever it is that we are going through here and now is, can be, will be for our good – believing that the love of God for us may seem lost.

Staying and resting in the present moment is a simple thing to understand but altogether difficult to achieve.

A child plays on the sand making castles. She is completely absorbed in the pleasure of task. Past is not relevant. The future is not there. Just now.  That child is you, me, us.  Now we see the child as an adult – racked by the past and the future and everything besides. Unable to focus properly, to listen, to receive, to give.

To live the present moment is to live in that moment in freedom and Grace – Grounded, Relaxed, Attentive, Calm and Enthusiastic. Self-mastery is the fruit of living thus.  But, worry can never be exorcised – at least not entirely.  Only trust in a better future, in a noble purpose and in a higher being can carry me along. In this way, the past is healed, restored and transformed in the here and now.  The future is created only in the present moment. The present moment is the sacrament of God’s loving presence. No need to travel far, to undertake onerous spiritual exercises, to engage in many prayers, to strive and strive again. Rather, see, taste, breathe, hear, touch the present moment.  There God meets us – really. 

Love your enemies (it will drive them crazy)

 ‘… Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.....’ (Matt 5:48)

Matthew 5:38-48 (Year A: 2^nd Sunday before Lent Sunday 19^th February 2017)

“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemies” is a phrase we use in the English language (at least in Ireland anyway). The implication is that something is so bad that you would not wish it on ‘your worst enemies’.  The implications of this is that you might wish lesser calamities on ‘your worst enemies’ including enemies below the head of the queue!  Speaking to us today through the good news of Matthew Jesus has news for us ….  wishing any bad on your enemies – worst or otherwise is not acceptable among Christian disciples.  More than this, we are actually bidden to LOVE our enemies.  Now, what does that mean? It means that we ought to speak, act and think only and ever for the GOOD or our neighbour including our ‘enemy neighbours’ – even the ones who abuse us, speak ill of us, disrespect us, jeer us, put us down and seek to harm us some of the time or most of the time or all of the time (if any of us is blessed not to have such people in our lives then we are blessed and if we do we are also blessed but in a different way because such persons are a gift and a challenge for us to go forward in love).  How do we know what is good for our neighbour in choosing to think, speak and act? Therein lies the challenge for Christians who want to take their religion seriously.  Not for no reason did God say to us through his prophet:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5)

And the same point is taken up in Matthew 22:37:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

with all your mind….

'Loving' our enemies to bits (literally)?

Over the centuries some theologians have struggled to rationalise situations where people literally kill each other in wars deemed to be ‘just’ while loving their enemies to pieces (literally). Now, it is easy to pontificate on these matters from a keyboard or comfortable lounge. Situations vary and circumstances dictate.  Pacifism is all very well when there are other choices. But, how do we take the commandment to love our enemies as ourselves even in situations of war and great danger to others?  Not to kill someone who is certainly in the process of committing multiple murders (for whatever reason) could be tantamount to being party to murdering many because one did not act in a given moment to prevent what was clearly imminent.  I give this extreme situational example merely to demonstrate that moral questions are never simple or black and white even if the underlying principles are.

Continuing with the Sermon on the Mount in Chapter 5 of Matthew’s Gospel the reader encounters more disruptive advice. Not only is liturgical life disrupted according to the preceding verses (‘..first go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift..’) but so also is ordinary everyday life in organisations, families, politics, media, neighbourhoods, churches, trade unions and every other walk of life.

Spite, resentment, anger and revenge leading to more spit, resentment, anger and revenge … and so on.  Human behaviour is cyclical and so his human history – the story of human behaviour.  However, it is not always like this and it is not inevitable. Reconciliation is possible – at least sometimes, somewhere and for somebodies.  This particular section of the long ‘Sermon on the Mount’ is as counter-cultural and subversive as the Gospel stories go. Not only are we bidden to ‘turn the other cheek’ but to ‘love your enemies’. If this were taken literally along with the prohibition on the swearing of oaths the entire court and judicial system would either grind to a halt or become dispensable in favour of reconciliation tribunals. Alas, that’s not the way it works. And even in church communities and organisations it is not unknown for Christians to sue each other on grounds of honour, property or Right Teaching.

But what’s the story in the face of bad behaviour?

In the face of bad behaviour, untruths and injustices what are we invited to do? Answer with more bad behaviour? No, we are bid to ‘turn the other cheek’, ‘go the extra mile’ and ‘giving a shirt in addition ..’ This sort of response risks destabilising organisations and situations. It is not the way the real world works, it might be claimed.  The guiding principle of realpolitik is hitting back, pre-empting, covering your own interests and if this does not work wheeling, dealing and ultimately cutting a deal and moving on.  Instead, Jesus is telling those who will listen that we should let go and let live. Why? Surely, it is not right to refuse to stand up to injustice? Surely, we must act sensibly to defend our good name and reputation against attack that is unwarranted?

It is easy to miss the point here.  The Sermon the Mount is not a call to passivity, submission or collaboration in unjust situations. Rather it bids us to reach beyond the immediate situation to the other person or persons who deserve our deepest respect even if we think they are by far in the wrong. By always wanting what is best for the other as well as one self (the injunction is to love the other as oneself). In this sense turning the other cheek and going the extra mile can be an act of defiant trust and freedom.

The Love Covenant incarnate

A scholarly examination of the relevant passages and parallel passages in the ‘Old Testament’ (there was nothing ‘old’ about when Matthew’s gospel was being written up around 80 A.D.) shows Jesus as going beyond the Law to fulfil the Law. In other words, he was speaking and living in such a way as to reveal the core meaning of the Law and, ultimately, the Love Covenant between God and his chosen people who – as it now turns out – is everyone who is open to Grace regardless of ethnic, social or other identity background.

Matthew writes ‘pray for those who persecute you’.  Luke spells out the same point as follows (6:27-28):

‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.'

‘Pray for those who abuse you’. That’s a strong expression. Now, in case there might be any misunderstanding or misapplication of this phrase, those who abuse – whether emotionally, physically or otherwise – must be confronted and corrected publicly if necessary. But, we should still pray for them and love them because to love is to be free of that hatred that we might experience but which we do not allow to conquer or control us. Love the transgressor but not the transgression.  And where some transgressions have wrecked untold misery and suffering on people the transgressor should face the full consequences of the law. The churches have a much less than glorious record in aspects of abusive human behaviour for which they now pay a high price in loss of trust and association.

Easy in theory, hard in practice

We need to focus on what we can do in the here and now to help spread the positive news of God’s love.  Once we give into hatred we are allowing someone else to control us including our behaviour and thinking. This is easy to say and quite another matter to apply in practice.   Having passed through a martyrdom of violence, discrimination and hurt there are hundreds of thousands of people alive today and living on the island of Ireland (and some abroad) who have witnessed terrible things in their own lives as a result of the conflict (let’s call it by its real title of ‘war’) over the last three decades of the 20^th century. Those of us who directly escaped the direct experience of all this will never know the depths of human suffering in that complex ethnic, religious and political conflict. And the seeds of violence and hatred are still present in Irish soil.  Remembering and acknowledging may be healing. However, it can also keep alive seeds of deep resentment, fear and animosity. We should be vigilant about our own hearts in the first place.

The ultimate point of living is to live fully and completely. This is the real meaning of ‘perfect’ or ‘teleios’ in the scriptural Greek indicating completeness. For ‘holiness’ in religious discourse we might consider using the word ‘wholeness’ as well.  To be holy is to be one and to be whole. The late Cardinal Cathal Daly (1917-2009) once wrote:

The saint is the sinner who stubbornly refuses to stop trying.

Dom Mark Ephrem Nolan, Abbott of Holy Cross Abbey in the beautiful valley of Kilbroney in the Mourne mountains, spoke wisely a few year ago about the demands of love for our enemies:

To love our enemies means to allow life to circulate between us. It means to listen to our enemies and speak with them, to look at them, to try to understand what is happening within them. To love our enemies begins with our prayer for them and this is often a slow process. In many circumstances, to forgive is beyond our strength. Ultimately it can only be a gift from God, a grace to ask for in prayer, a gift to receive and share.

Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount is specially suitable for those of us who may have picked up some attitude from a religious system of pure good works meriting reward in proportion to deed done. This picture of God as Chief Accountant is a distortion. Yes, God is just and to be feared in love.  But, God is above all compassionate and kind. It is through the benevolence of God that grow in wholeness and in the unique person that God wants each one of us to be.  When we are truly ourselves then we are whole. Life is a journey of growth in wholeness.

Keeping (all) the commandments

‘… Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”....’ (Matt 5:37)

 Matthew 5:17-37 (Year A: 3^rd Sunday before Lent Sunday 12^th February 2017)

Following the opening of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ with the 8 Beatitudes, the evangelist Matthew now recounts an elaboration on the Law of the Gospel. The ‘New Law’ is not, strictly, speaking any different from the ‘Old Law’.  The ‘Law’ is the Law of Love: to love God with all our hearts and minds and to love the person next to us now as ourselves.  That’s the Law and it is needs to be written on our hearts by the Author of that Law who sent His only Son to show us what Love really entails.
In this extract from the long ‘Sermon on the Mount’ four substantive issues are brought up by Jesus: Anger, Adultery/Lust, Divorce and the Swearing of Oaths.  While the interdiction of Swearing of Oaths has been overwhelmingly ignored by Christians (there is always a get out clause in scriptural exegesis to fit current needs….) the first three continue to inform public discourse and Christian contributions to it.  Judging by print space in many ecclesiastical publications one might be forgiven for thinking that the Gospels are all about sex and things to do with sex. Alas, the Gospels as well as the Bible in general is very ‘disappointing’ when it comes to sex. The scriptures as well as the teachings and life of Jesus witness to a Godly concern about truth, justice, care and the inclusion of the outcast.  Yet, ‘sex and things to do with sex’ are surely very important to us today and to the many generations that have heard and received the teaching of Jesus. 
An executive summary….
Underlying the Sermon on the Mount and underlying the ten commandments (at least two of which are explicitly covered in this particular extract from Matthew) is the universal, comprehensive, all-embracing and all-demanding commandment to (i) love God with all our heart and mind and (ii) love our neighbour as ourselves. It is from these absolutely foundational and non-negotiable principles that everything else takes root including the teaching of Jesus on adultery and divorce. The point about any of the 10 commandments is the following ‘executive summary’:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37)

Love your neighbour as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)

The reason murder, lying, stealing and being a cheat are wrong is that they strike at the very heart of God in our brother or sister. The reason ignoring God and casting God aside is wrong is that we cast aside our brother and our sister in whom God resides and is united.  Not for nothing did God come to save by the Cross where the crossbeam is held up by the vertical beam and the vertical beam is stabilised and held up by the cross beam. Our Christian religion in a seamless and frictionless fabric where the Divine and the Human are distinct but united and we, through baptism and faith, are woven into that fabric. However, the unity of the divine and human goes beyond the boundaries of faith and sacrament. In some mysterious way the Risen Christ is united to all humanity.  What is done to one is done to all and to God in all regardless of who they are. 

Adolph Hitler and his accomplices did not just murder six million Jews: he murdered one Jew six million times.  When one child, one man or one woman is murdered or let die by another we are all impacted because humanity is interwoven.
An old Law
The evangelist, Matthew, reflecting his communities and audiences places considerable emphasis on the Jewish Law and the clear understanding that Jesus is the fulfilment of that Law.  In this case, the focus is on continuity and development and clarification rather than disruption or revolution. Indeed, the simple commandments to love God and our neighbour (see above) are taken from the Old Testament:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5)

‘…love your neighbour as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18)

It is accurate to say that Jesus did not bring anything essentially new to the table of God’s Word in so far as these two foundations are concerned. However, He did bring something new in revealing himself as the unique way to salvation through the free gift of faith and adherence to the Law of Love founded on that faith. Moreover, in the Gospel of John and the Letters attributed to John we see these commandments taken to a pitch of reciprocal and communitarian love rooted in the Holy Trinity which leaves no room for an individualistic Christian faith or ethic. We are, all, bound together by one Faith and on Love in the all the richness and diversity of life. From 613 distinct precepts in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) and many of which Jesus patently did not observe (ritual cleanliness being an example) to 10 commandments to two Great Commandments….

Jesus goes to the roots of murder, cheating, lying and stealing.  The roots are in those desires and fears that radically disrupt relationships of loving care.  A recurring thought, desire or obsession is like a seed. Watered and habituated it grows and sprouts and becomes a very nasty weed and briar that becomes harder to root out the more it grows. If we are seriously about observing the Laws or the Law of God we need to go to the roots deep within us. This is where the practice of deep of repentance and surrender and reception of loving mercy can make a vital difference and, literally, save lives in some cases.

Issues to do with faithfulness, marriage, divorce and remarriage pose a challenge to Christians today in almost every part of the world including, of course, Ireland. None of us has not known directly someone who has gone through the most painful and disruptive experience of marital or relationship breakdown. Approaching this matter in a loving, humble and fair way is not easy. Some has been hurt – badly hurt and this must be acknowledged fully.  From a period of absolute prohibition on many things from contraception to divorce to acceptance of homosexuality and to abortion we have moved rather quickly, at least in this part of the world, to a situation of almost ‘anything goes’.  In our own faith communities and circles of spiritual support, we must fall back on the four principles of (i) scripture, (ii) tradition, (iii) reason and (iv) experience – not in a spirit of individualism or ‘I know best’ so much as in a spirit of open dialogue, respect, freedom of conscience and, at the same time, faithfulness to the Word of God.  This is no easy journey. Some thoughts on one particular aspect of this challenge are contained in a previous Sunday Blog [How do we respond when relationships fail?]

We do well to sit, together, at the feet of Jesus on the side of the mountain listening to his loving words ever new and ever old transforming our minds and our hearts in a fascinating and troubled world.

Not radical enough

 ‘…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven ....’ (Matt 5:16)

Matthew 5:13-20 (Year A: 4^th Sunday before Lent Sunday 5^th February 2017)

Have you ever wondered? Have you ever wondered how some people you have met lit up your way for you?  They were like ships that pass in the night – lit up and showing forth light for another and then moving on. 

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.

(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tales of a Wayside Inn, part 3, section 4)

We, too, can be lights for each other in a generally dark world not by compelling or even suggesting to others where they should point their ships and how they should steer them. Rather, the light which we sometimes give can show up a path for others. That’s all. 

So much for the personal metaphor. What about the political and social world in which we all live?

On the eve of World War I in 1914, a British politician remarked:

The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time.

A sense of gloom and foreboding hung over Europe that August even if a frenzy of patriotism and nationalism was being whipped up among the populations of Europe. Ireland was no exception, at that time, and both of the major political traditions on this island shared in this orgy of nationalism in varying ways.

Today, there is a widespread pessimism and foreboding across Europe and much of the world. Even if there can be no meaningful direct comparison between 1914 and 2017 there are, at least, some possible common trends: a type of nationalism that excludes others as much as asserting national or ethnic sovereignty, constant rivalry, distrust and provocation among the ‘super powers’ and not so super powers, uncertain economic conditions as the world enters into an entirely uncharted and unprecedented shock to the institutional arrangements for trade, investment and movements of people. When people become frightened they batten down the hatches and group together as ‘we alone’ or, worse still, ‘we above and over all others’. What is it that leads people and their elected and non-elected ‘leaders’ to behave in ways that are, ultimately, self-destructive?  Why do some people hate so much? For some reason I am greatly encouraged, inspired and struck by the lyrics of Where is the love? sung by the musicians of Black Eyed Peas [or watch and listen here]. Though long, it is worth reproducing the entire lyrics here. They contain much wisdom and insight (yes, I will get back to Matthew 5:13-16 in this blog and all of this is linked!):

What's wrong with the world, mama
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin'
In the USA, the big CIA
The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all
People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach?
Or would you turn the other cheek?
Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)
Where is the love (The love) [2x]
Where is the love, the love, the love
It just ain't the same, old ways have changed
New days are strange, is the world insane?
If love and peace are so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong?
Nations droppin' bombs
Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones
With ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone
So I could ask myself really what is goin' wrong
In this world that we livin' in people keep on givin' in
Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover
The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the love, y'all
People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach?
Or would you turn the other cheek?
Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)
Where is the love (The love)? [6x]
Where is the love, the love, the love?
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets colder
Most of us only care about money makin'
Selfishness got us followin' the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema
Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness and equality
Instead of spreading love we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under
Gotta keep my faith alive 'til love is found
Now ask yourself
Where is the love? [4x]
Father, Father, Father, help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love?
Sing with me y'all:
One world, one world (We only got)
One world, one world (That's all we got)
One world, one world
And something's wrong with it (Yeah)
Something's wrong with it (Yeah)
Something's wrong with the wo-wo-world, yeah
We only got
(One world, one world)
That's all we got
(One world, one world)

What has any of this to do with this Sunday’s short passage from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St Matthew following on from the eight Beatitudes which opened the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ in Matthew?

In the end of our lives we can look back and say that we were helped by the light of others – or the light of God shining through others like stain glass windows. If we have been a light to others it was not because we strived or worked at it so much as we allowed the light within to shine by removing obstacles and blinkers and shutters. To be ourselves as children of light – that is the point of it all.  It is one thing to pay lip service to the Beatitudes. It Is another thing to live them wholly and faithfully.  This is a gift we can only be open to. But, a blessing is a blessing and beatitude means beatitude. Living blessedly is the way to more blessings of life, happiness and fullness. Why settle for anything less?

Rejoice and be glad

 ‘…Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you....’ (Matt 5:12)

Matthew 5:1-2 (Year A: 4^th Sunday after Epiphany Sunday 29^th January 2017)

Religion sometimes gets a bad name for allegedly spreading gloom, fear and a spirit of killjoy. In fact, many nowadays juxtapose the terms ‘religion’ and ‘spirituality’ as if they were entirely different concepts and as if ‘religion’=bad while ‘spirituality’=good. We can all fall into this way of thinking as the world around us shapes our conversations and thinking no matter how adept we think we may be at resisting the pressures of group thinking and group post-thinking to misuse a hyphenated prefix .  How often one hears the expression ‘I’m not religious but I am spiritual’.  Sometimes it is said by persons who affect humility since being ‘religious’ is deemed to be a somewhat old-fashioned, possibly reactionary or haughty state of being.

However, the word ‘religion’ has its roots in the Latin word religare meaning ‘to bind together’. Now if the essence of religion is to be in a relationship of I / thou so that there is a binding together then what is ‘spirituality’? ‘Spirituality’ is also about relationship. According to Wikipedia: ‘German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (a famous atheist) regarded self-transcendence, asceticism and the recognition of one's connection to all as a key to ethical living’. Key to a modern (or dare I say postmodern) approach to ‘spirituality’ is the search for inner happiness or, to use a somewhat religious expression, blessing.

In the Gospel of St Matthew Jesus is reported as declaring a charter for happy and blessed living.  As with so many other sayings of Jesus, the ‘beatitudes’ can become a routine and unremarkable set of over-familiar words inscribed on some Church stain glass window or read out on the fourth Sunday after Epiphany in the year of Matthew.  We might listen again this Sunday.

Line by line

‘When Jesus saw the crowds’ (v1) indicates that Jesus saw beyond the normal and the superficial. He saw into the human heart and the deepest needs of ordinary people. This is why he ‘went up the mountain’ (v. 1) in a very prophetic way as the great figures of the Old Testament did (e.g. Moses). There, on a mountain side he ‘began to speak’ to people about the things of life and the things of God as both are interwoven. This is what he ‘taught them’:

(1) ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ (v. 3).  The poor have a special place in the heart of God throughout the scriptures. ‘Poverty’ is, however, a blessing in another sense.  It would be easy to confuse matters by suggesting that the poor – those without resources or income – should be happy with their lot because the kingdom of heaven will be theirs at the end of their miserable life. Not so. To be poor because of oppression, denial, neglect or theft is not a blessing.  Rather, those who empty themselves of an attachment to power, to material wealth and to spiritual goods are blessed because these attachments block their way to the garden of peace and contentedness.

(2) ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’. Some see in this verse a reference to the ‘tears of compunction’ that arise when we recognise our sins and the full impact of these on others as well as ourselves.  It is only right that we should mourn thus (but it is good to mourn in the healing knowledge of God’s love and forgiveness. An ‘Anam-chara’ might help if we are lucky enough to find one in a million). However, many are those afflicted by poverty, ill-health and oppression for reasons other than ‘tears of compunction’. The Gospel, which is Good News, holds out a hope and a pledge that these will be comforted – if not now later (Matthew draws much on Isaiah including, in this case, chapter 61 where a previous blog touched on this in People with a Mission).  Saying that those going through various agonies and sufferings will be comforted ‘later’ is all too easy for those who are comforted and comfortable.  What about the now?  None of us can change the world on our own. None of us remove suffering and oppression entirely from this world and this life. But, opportunities do arise every day and in every way for us to recognise suffering in ourselves and in others. Through recognition of suffering we can become more compassionate towards others and towards ourselves (indeed the two most go together of necessity).  In the capacity to embrace suffering in this way we are led to a realisation of an enormous gentleness that accompanies kindness for:

(3) ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.’ (v. 5).  Being meek and gentle does not imply submission or docility in the face of oppression or injustice.  The really gentle know how to stand up and fight but to do with the utter respect for the other even when subject to what is patently unfair treatment and abuse. In this way, the gentle inherit a place of strength and of blessing knowing that they have followed the path of justice and mercy which makes them stronger than their enemies. Even in the most desperate of circumstances the gentle are victorious because they stand in a place of moral strength and thus inherit what is truly precious and valuable and besides which social honour, power, privilege and money do not compare.  For them what matters is to do the right thing as Micah 6:8 urges us (‘He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God’).  It does not matter what others think or not or what the ‘world’ and all of its trappings of power and prejudice regards as right:

(4) ‘‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’ (v. 6). To yearn and strive for what is right – no matter what the cost – is the greatest prize.  Many a person who has had to ‘walk the plank’ not out of choice but out of compulsion. Blessed are those who have had ‘walk the plank’ because, in their hearts, they knew what was right and what was, therefore, essential for them to do. Having been shown mercy by God hidden in their hearts they learned the hard lesson of mercy themselves for:

(5) ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.’ (v. 7)

A sense of overwhelming compassion overwhelms us in the depths of such anguish and leads – if we are open to this gift – to a purity of intention and vision for:

(6) ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.’ (v. 8). Religious language using the word ‘purity’ is typically associated with one dimension of purity. A singular, focussed, and compassionate glance of the heart sees beyond the image or the outward impression to the person in whom God resides. What we do to others – especially those in most need – is done to God in our brother Jesus.  Such purity is the source of peace in ourselves and a channel of peace for others for:

(7) ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’ (v. 9)

We bring peace to others when we are open to the gift of peace within us. When we make our peace with God – our past sins our anxieties about the future and our current preoccupations dissolve in the peace of the Now. But not everyone is open to the gift of peace and some will refuse it on all accounts. Then, we are reminded that:

(8) ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’   To face bullying, threats, put-downs and various forms of controlling behaviour is not uncommon in the school yard. However, it may also be found in the workplace, in the market square and even in our own very own families under one guise or another. To be falsely accused and to be represented as bad to others is a source of great suffering in our world. We must stand in solidarity with all those undergoing persecution whether for their faith, the colour of the skin, their social class, their sexual orientation or for simply who they are. We can be a source of blessing and a cause of joy for others by living peace, embracing purity of heart and gentleness of compassion.

Ultimately, the Beatitudes or ‘Blessings’ are for every Christian disciple and not just for those with some special ministry or calling. We are, each and all, called to be poor in spirit, contrite, gentle, hungry for justice, merciful, pure in heart and peacemakers and faithful in persecution.  Once again the prophet Micah puts it thus:

‘to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God’

To have a heart of compassion, humility and fairness is to change our world. This can spill over into the world of others.  This is the way to a social revolution based on love.

Time for a real reformation?

 ‘…The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned....’ (Matt 4:16)

Matthew 4:12-23 (Year A: 3^rd Sunday after Epiphany Sunday 22^nd January 2017)

This extract from the Gospel of St Matthew comprises three key parts:

• A setting of the scene by reference to the prophecy of Isaiah and directly applying it to Jesus (v.12-16)
• A clarification of what it was and what it is that Jesus came to proclaim and do: repentance and healing. (v. 17,23).-
• A call directed to specially chosen persons to become followers of Jesus and the response of those called. (v. 18-22)

Setting the scene

Matthew was addressing, among others, a Jewish Christian audience.  Many who heard and read his testimony understood the Hebrew narrative about a messiah and the promise of a new reign of God.  Matthew probably drew on multiple oral sources many of which were shared by all four evangelists who made into the official church-approved canon some centuries later. Citation of the prophet Isaiah in the initial verses of this extract would have carried deep significance and insight for those hearing it again.

What is it that Jesus came to proclaim and do?

Jesus came to proclaim the in-breaking of God’s kingdom here and now and beyond.  But, that on its own, was not enough. Jesus came to effect salvation and liberation in the here and now.  So, healing or liberation goes hand in hand with proclaiming. The two are different sides of one and the same coin. By ‘teaching’, ‘proclaiming’ and ‘healing’ Jesus was showing the freshly called disciples what discipleship for the new kingdom looks like and what it involves.  The first disciples were, indeed, a type of ‘discipulus’ or pupil in Latin. We have no chance of being a light for others if, we do not learn and continue to learn from the Word made flesh amongst us.  Likewise a ‘teaching’ church is a ‘learning’ church learning from its own members living and past. It also learns from those outside the fold who may not share the same understanding, experience or language.

A call to the first disciples

Those initially called were very ordinary people. Certainly, they were not Temple officials or learned scribes and teachers.  If anything, God’s choice – in Jesus – was leaning towards the low to middle end of the socio-economic profile of Palestine.  Fishing was a way of life for those living by the Sea of Galilee and since Jesus grew up in this region and settled in Capernaum by the lake (he ‘made his home’ there). He probably had closely observed people like James, John, Andrew and Simon to be later called ‘Rock’ or Peter and decided that these were the right persons for the right mission at the right time which was now. Perhaps uncouth, headstrong, opinionated, given to rivalries at times and untrained in the finesse of Jerusalem court life these country bumpkins would be just right though in time they would run away and abandon Jesus for a while. The first key point is that the first disciples were called as they were. 

Matthew relates that they Simon and Andrew ‘left their nets and followed him’ while James and John ‘immediately…left the boat and their father, and followed him.’ In other words, those called left all at least for now. They left parent or parents and occupation. They did so in trust not knowing where this would lead. Why did they do this? How were they motivated to leave their families and to abandon their occupation or livelihoods?  There is no Gospel evidence that they ever returned to their families or livelihoods.  We might assume that something very powerful moved within the minds and hearts of the first called. Perhaps they had heard or even known Jesus to some degree beforehand. Perhaps the teaching of John the Baptist had ‘cleared the way’ for a strong experience such as they had.  Whatever happened it is clear that they answered Jesus’ call ‘immediately’.  There was no procrastination or years of trial.  There was no time for that. After all, the kingdom of heaven was at hand.  While the historical record is not certain it is reasonable to assume that most of the initial disciples met persecution and death as a result of their following of Jesus.  The second key point is that the first disciples answered the call in the here and now. This sets a pattern for all future disciples (and not just those who may be called to a special ministry). The call is in the here and now and not in some hypothetical future or in some set of conditionalities. Today. Now.

Seven questions to consider

1. Where is the ‘good news’ (gospel) being proclaimed today in a way that is convincing and relevant to the questions and needs of people today? 
2. How is this ‘good news’ being communicated and in what terms and language (primarily as a threat or as an invitation to something even greater and better)?
3. Are those proclaiming credible witnesses living according to what they proclaim?
4. What does discipleship mean today and how does it relates to the many different expressions of ministry in the church (or churches)?
5. If, as it seems, a rising proportion of people are ‘walking away’ (or never walked there in the first place) from traditional, organised and formal ‘religion’ how do they understand and seek spiritual meaning, identity, connection, truth and values?
6. Are the current ‘parish’ or ‘congregation’ models fit for purpose? (put another way, are liturgy, ministry and church fit for purpose?)
7. What do we do about it?

Might we, all, one day witness the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy and cited by Matthew:

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned. (Matthew 4:16)

That would be real reformation making a real difference in people’s lives.