Twenty-sixth Sunday - 2021

Today’s Second Reading comes from Chapter 5 of James. We have had five weeks of tough talk from James as our Second Reading in the Liturgy of the Word. James is speaking to converted Christians – those who embraced the gospel and are now followers of Jesus. He has been warning them of the danger of relapsing back into the corrupt ways of the world. In the gospel for today, Jesus has some tough things to say as well – his words are downright scary. Cutting off your hand, tearing out your eye – that there is a real possibility of going to hell: “… where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.” But have we not passed beyond talking about hell in our time in the Church? Is not our message today that our God is a God of mercy? “Don’t worry, God is a merciful God?”.  How are we to reconcile mercy with Jesus’ warning of going to hell? Mercy verses judgement. An example that I find helpful is to reflect on the dynamics of a drug addict and their councillor. The councillor approaches the addicted person with great compassion. Their message is clear. Yes, I love you, I will never stop working with you, I am here for you, right to the end if need be – but you are going to die a hellish death if you do not stop destroying yourself with your addiction. Perhaps we might say that there are few who are better able to describe what it’s like to be in the bondage of hell than someone trapped in addiction. And who is able to speak a more sobering word of wisdom than those in recovery. The root causes of addictions are complex but in the end the solution will have to be radical. An alcoholic will attest to this, “I must cut it off, my hand must never grasp a drink ever again.” We must never forget that God has created us with the responsibility of freedom of choice, freedom to choose how we will live our lives, freedom to choose where we want to spend our eternity. Like addicts of sin Jesus is warning us: If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off - if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off - if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out – because if you do not stop …! This is the voice of a loving parent pleading with their wayward sons and daughters. This is the voice of loving mercy calling out from the cross, the sign and proof of the desire to forgive. Jesus will be there for us right up to the very last hour – what will we choose?

Sunday September 19 - 2021

On the side panel of this site VOICES, you will find this graphic which is a link to a website with the title, Strange Notions. It is a solidly Catholic site that takes on some of today's rationalist notions on faith and reason. Because rationalism so dominates the discussion these days people of faith my find this environment troublesome and difficult to navigate. The various articles appearing on Strange Notions website may provide the assistance we need to get over these stumbling blocks that are so widely spread round by the rationalist arguments these days. Check it out. -> -> -> -> -> ->

Exultation of the Holy Cross - Sept 14

Here is a link to an excellent commentary by Dr. Brant Pitre on connection between the Bronze Serpent in the desert and the Cross of Jesus. > > > LINK < < <

Twenty-fourth Sunday - 2021

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This gospel passage for this Twenty-fourth Sunday 2021, contains two of the most important questions we may ever be ask to answer. We might characterize them in this way;  + the first is about religion ( “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ) + the second is about faith (“But who do you say that I am?” ) Few questions receive more attention than questions about religion. What people say about religion can vary greatly:  > about God, is there a God or not? > if there is a God what is God like? > are there many gods? > why does God matter to us? > which religion has got it right? So many questions like these make up the discussion, or the debate, or the argument about religion. In places like the Middle East, religion and conflict seem to go hand in hand. Here in our country the question seems to have become more muted, deciding instead that it no long matters that much, or just keep it to yourself if you have an opinion about religion. In the gospels, we see Jesus very much engaged in the religion questions of the day, but his purpose is to get to the deeper question, the question of faith, for it is what you believe that shapes the way you conduct your life. It is one thing to form theories and have opinions about religion, it is quite another to embrace with certainty what you are convinced is true. St. Paul made it quite clear when he said, that if it is not a certain fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead, our whole faith structure collapses into nothing. (1Cor. 15:14) It is the official position of our liberal, democratic society not to have a definitive answer to the questions of religion. As long as we do not impose our beliefs on others, or deny them their rights granted them by law, we can practice what ever religious beliefs we have. It is our country's guarantee of religious freedom under the law. So question one asks, "... what are people saying about ...?" After exploring the question of religion, Jesus turns to the question of faith. Jesus has come into the world to bring together and form a communion of people over which he will be the head. ("I will build my church." ) The nature of this communion will be to have a real yet mystical union with Jesus as head and a true and fraternal union with one another. Their instruction will come, by way of revelation and inspiration by the Holy Spirit forming and guiding their minds and hearts. ( “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”) Their purpose is to live holy lives and be a sign and example for all the world to follow. (Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.) In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 1 John 4:8-16 The fact that in this county we have the freedom of religious belief and practice, which we respect, and see as a blessing, does not diminish the importance of the fundamental question: What do you believe - "who do you say I am?". And if your answer concerning Jesus is the same as Peter's, what is the state and condition of your "communion" in the Church that Jesus builds in the world?

Twenty-third Sunday

I came across a story of a wealthy owner of several upscale restaurants who unfortunately was given only a few months to live because he had been diagnosed with cancer. He decided to devote his last months to improving the lot of those who were in great need. His plan was to disguise himself as a beggar and go to his restaurants begging, to see how the down and out were being treated. He was cruelly rejected at each one of his restaurants until the last one where he was most charitably treated. He fired the managers of all the other restaurants and made the manager of the last one general manager over all the others. In this Sunday's Second Reading, James is equally intolerant of those who use the standards of the world to judge others. "Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?" Here James is identifying the elephant in the room that each generation persistently fails to recognize - by what standard are our lives to be Judged >>>Truth<<< In John's gospel Jesus said to those who started to believe in him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31 In his trial before Pilot Jesus said, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” John 18:37 It is rather ironic that it is Pontius Pilate who has the key question for our generation when he asks, "What is truth?" Our age has the knowledge of science and technology working for it which enables us to better understand the workings of this physical world in which we live. This gives us scientific fact. What we do with this information needs direction. The guiding light for all knowledge is truth.  James shows his people how they are using the goods of this world to enrich themselves at the cost of the those less fortunate - a prosperous life that is void of truth. Is it not true that in the construction of a complex building, the carpenters, plumbers, electricians and all the builders need the architect who designed the building to show them what they are building? His design is truth. We have some very sophisticated builders in our world today, so why are things in such a mess? Dare I say, we are not consulting the Architect. Here is the link to the article I referred to above. > > > LINK < < <

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