Thirteenth Sunday - 2022

"As they were going along the road, someone said to Jesus,  “I will follow you wherever you go.”  It’s true to say fewer and fewer are saying that today. Our being here today suggest we are trying to say I will follow you Lord, but do we fully appreciate the implications of what we are saying? Jesus wants us to come and follow – but also to understand the implications of saying I will – there will be a cost and it’s important that we understand what that cost entails. So in the gospel passage today Jesus gives us three lessons on what “following Jesus” really means. LESSON #1:  As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” This world is not our true home – we are just passing through to somewhere else – we’re going home. True we need shelter, food and clothing, and other necessities of life – but we must not over pack. If we make these things the centre of our heart’s desire; bigger and better houses, more and more wealth to purchase things to make us happy; in short, to make here and now the goal of our hearts, Jesus and time and eternity will pass us by and we end up being left behind come eternity. LESSON #2. To another Jesus said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” The culture we live in and the expectations and demands it places upon its own must always take second place to what our true vocation in life really is; living a holy life and being a witness to a higher calling, God’s Kingdom of heaven. Our culture is now dominated by a secular world view – secular culture makes the rules – but our lives must always challenge these secular values by the way we live by the Word of God, not the worlds. LESSON #3.  Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Simply put, half a Catholic just won’t do. Today’s society champions the right to choose, to choose what you like, what attracts you, what you say is right for you. To each his own. More and more we see religious people apply this way of thinking to their religious life. “I like to go to Mass once and a while, but not every Sunday, it’s a busy world, I have so much to do – family, friends, obligations others expect of me.” “And the Church has some good suggestions for living but there are too many doctrines and dogmas to accept. After all, I have the right to choose what I will do with my life.” This is the way of thinking of a divided heart. "No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and (the world) riches!" Mtt. 6:24.  Let us take these three lessons to heart today – let us ask how well we understand their implications for our lives.

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Corpus Christi - 2022

As the Easter celebration come to a close, the liturgy adds two special feast days, Corpus Christi and the feast of the Sacred Heart. The last chapters of the gospels give the accounts of Jesus resurrection and the disciples encounter with the risen Lord. In Matthew we read: “And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted.” Mtt. 28.17 Luke tells it this way;  As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them. But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have." And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Lk. 24.36 The key here is REAL. “…See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see;” St. Paul tells us that if Christ is not raised, our faith is useless. This is the real truth upon which the very existence of Church stands. The feast of Corpus Christi focuses on this essential truth; Jesus is really and truly present in his Church for all ages. There are three main characteristics that make up the first encounters with the risen Lord, and these continue to be with us today. They are: ·       THE GATHERING IN CHRIST’S REAL PRESENCE ·       THE REVELATION OF GOD’S PLAN ·       THE COMMISSIONING OF THE CHURCH “When two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in their midst." Mtt. 18:20. Jesus is gathering and forming his Church around his real presence. He remains with them to lead and guide them in every age to come. The principle sign/sacrament of that “gathering in his presence”, is the liturgy of the Eucharist. Only Jesus himself can cause such a profound personal faith to arise in one's mind and heart. It is essential that we “encounter the risen Christ”. (The two disciples on the road to Emmaus) returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. Lk. 24:33 The SECOND ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTIC of the Easter encounters is the instruction. Jesus teaches the disciples the meaning of his resurrection; for them and for the whole world. He guides them through the scriptures, showing how he is the fulfillment of all that has been promised, and how he has been sent to lead them into the fullness of all truth.  Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, Lk. 24.46 Now with their hearts refreshed by this "communion" in Jesus presence and enlightened by his instruction, the THIRD ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTIC follows; the commissioning of the Church to go out into the whole world and proclaim this good news of salvation. “Go and announce the gospel of the Lord!” With these words the Mass ends and the work of evangelization begins. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Eucharist to the very existence of the Church. Clearly, as the gathering at the Eucharist declines so does the very existence of the Church decline with it.

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Trinity Sunday - 2022

When you look back on the history of the human race you find that in every age people understood well that everything that exists must have had a creator; every age that is except this age. Within the scientism of our age there are those who insist that everything in the universe just spontaneously happened on its own. However, knowing who the creator of all things who is called God, truly is has been a long work in progress. History is full of gods that man put forward to describe who God is; some of whom are still today thought of as true gods. Knowing who God is, is impossible for mere humans to discover on their own. As his first letter, John points out “that no one can see God”. God, who is beyond sight, must reveal Himself to us. And so, our Jewish-Christian tradition has been that long historical experience of God revealing who he is to us. First God is seen as having the nature of a father, the giver and protector of all life. Then in the New Testament, Jesus is revealed as the Son of God. Finally, Jesus reveals that there is a third person, the Holy Spirit, who comes to take us up into the very life of God. In the early generations of the Church, these revelations were pondered and studied, not without conflicting opinions. Then, in the year 325 AD, that is Anno Domini, the year of the Lord, not of the Common Era; the bishops of the Church gathered in the City of Nicaea to discuss and define who God truly is. From this Council of Nicaea we now have the Nicaean Creed in which we profess our faith. In 1 John 4: we read: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is already in the world at this time. From a theological perspective the doctrinal proclamation of the Church lays out for us who and what our God is, one divinity shared co-equally by three divine persons. So our spirituality is formed by our relationship with each of these three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here there arises an interesting question, do I think and act with each divine person in a uniquely different way one from the other? The people of the Old Testament thought of God as one person, the Father. Their spirituality grew out of their relationship with this one God. In the New Testament Jesus calls God his Father and himself as God’s Son. Further to that, what was shocking even scandalous to some, Jesus reveals that he too is God, sharing fully in the one and same divinity that is the divinity that makes the Father God. Further to this, Jesus reveals that there is a Third Person who is also God, sharing fully in this one divinity and that this Third Person, the Holy Spirit will have a full and dynamic role in the lives of all believers. Now we all have fathers. The character of our relationship with our natural fathers may vary, but overall we have a good idea what fathers are all about. Added to this, in the gospels we see the very dynamic relationship Jesus has with the Father, the same relationship which Jesus direct us to have also. Perhaps the easiest of the three persons for us to relate to is Jesus since he is fully a human being like ourselves. Now with the Holy Spirit the images seen in the scriptures are not so easy to identify with. At Jesus’ baptism by John the Holy Spirit is identified with a hovering dove. Later the Holy Spirit is seen as breath breathed upon the disciples, then as flames of fire over the heads of the disciples. As significant as these images are they may not inspire in us an attraction to develop a personal relationship with such a Holy Spirit. My understanding of what having a relationship with the Holy Spirit might look like began by taking into account that my spiritual life began in the very womb of the Holy Spirit. This most mysterious new life, literally a sharing in the divine life of God, began when I was born anew in the Holy Spirit. Quite naturally  the notion of womb, birth, new life conjures up the image of a maternal person, one who is a mother. Consider this, in the scriptures the Holy Spirit is directly linked to wisdom. In the Old Testament in the very Book of Wisdom the pronoun “she” is used throughout to refer to the Holy Spirit. From the very womb of Mother Holy Spirit we are born into the life of the divine. Like all mothers Mother Spirit gathers us up into her arms where she nourishes our new life on the milk of her divine wisdom. As children of the Father, we embrace a new spiritual life with the goal of fulfilling the vocation the Father has given us. In communion with Jesus his Son, now our brother and leader, we take on the challenges that try to prevent us from attaining the fullness of holiness to which we are called. But this battle can be fierce at times, and we often find ourselves wounded and discouraged. St. Ignatius calls these “times of desolation”. I believe it is in such times that we find comfort and healing in the maternal embrace of the Holy Spirit. We return to where our spiritual life began to have it repaired and healed and given new strength to take up ounce again our journey to sainthood. As we pray in a personal way in the presence of the Father and equally personally with the Son, so we can develop the same personal way of speaking with the Holy Spirit. O Holy Spirit from who’s womb I was brought forth into this new life of holiness and given the blessed fruits that nurture and make it thrive I come to you now as a wounded son and daughter seeking your healing embrace once again.   As I place my wounded heart in your consoling hands Bring me to life once again. Instruct me with your words of wisdom. Cast light upon the path that I must take So that I may live to the fullest the life the Father intends for me.

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Pentecost - 2022

It is impossible to over state the importance of this day of Pentecost. Stating the importance of Easter St. Paul says: “…  if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” 1Cor 15:17. So too, of Pentecost Paul states with equal consequence: “… and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 12:3 As examples of the necessity of the Holy Spirit let us look at just two figures in scripture, the Apostle Thomas and the Apostle Paul. The disciples’ faith in Jesus was scandalized and totally crushed by the Cross of Jesus and they fled in despair – as the two disciples on the road to Damascus lamented “we had hoped …” They believed Jesus had come from God, as Luke describes it, "And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” Lk 4:36). But to believe Jesus WAS God, and all things were under his authority, including our very lives – this required a direct intervention of Grace. Thomas put it well (especially for our generation): "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Jo. 20:25. Only when, he gazed into the face of the risen Lord, could he then exclaim: “My Lord and my God!” Jo. 20:27 And St. Paul after being knocked to the ground on the road to Damascus – when he saw and heard: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”, could he realize who Jesus truly was and turn from being an enemy to apostle.  Acts 9:5.  But as convincing as these visions and encounters were, there was about to happen a different plan for revealing Jesus and convincing believers. This plan was to become the norm for all generations to follow – so for us today. It began on Pentecost. A true living faith would be the result of a direct encounter with the Holy Spirit – an encounter that would take place in the depths of a believer’s soul. And the unfolding of this plan is what we have just witnessed as we have been pondering and praying through the Acts of the Apostles these past Easter Days. Here are just two examples from Acts: While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Acts 10:44. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Acts 19: Remember that amazing and prophetic prayer Pope John XXIII offered up to open the Second Vatican Council 1961:  “Divine Spirit, renew your wonders in our time, as though for a new Pentecost, and grant that the holy church, preserving unanimous and continuous prayer, together with Mary the Mother of Jesus, and also under the guidance of St. Peter, may increase the reign of the Divine Saviour, the reign of truth and justice, the reign of love and peace. Amen” At nine o’clock on the morning of October 12, 1962, twenty-four hundred Roman Catholic bishops began a lone procession through St. Peter’s Square toward the Basilica for the solemn opening of the Second Vatican Council, and a new Pentecost is what has been happening in the Church these last 56 years since that prayer.  And it’s not over by a long shot. A new Pentecost awaits any and all who desire to know the Lord. Let us be like the father of the possessed boy seeking Jesus help, when Jesus said to him that all things are possible for those who have faith: “… cried out to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Mk. 9:24 Cry out your prayer, loud and clear: Jesus my Lord, I confess to you and to all the world my need for your presence in my life. I am alone and in darkness without you. I am influenced and controlled by the many forces that surround me. Even though I struggle against them, it is sin that so easily dominates my life. Who can save me but you alone, my Lord and my God. Deliver me from the Evil One. Touch my life with that power which flows from your resurrection. Cause your Holy Spirit to be born in me anew. Prince of Peace and Lord of Glory reign now in my heart. Baptize me with your Holy Spirit and Fire. Raise me up to a New Life in you. Amen.

Here is a link to a guide to praying for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit +++ LINK +++

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