2005 - 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time to 4th Sunday of Advent

Sunday 4 September 2005

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: - Responsibility and Forgiveness

Ezekiel was called to be a prophet in extremely dangerous times for the Jewish people. The Babylonian army was preparing to overrun the entire region. To keep watch against attack, sentries were posted at all strategic points and on the ramparts of Jerusalem. Ezekiel used the current political crisis to call his people to accept responsibility for their inaction. He hadn' t been listened to. The enemy was at the very gate. Why should he go on preaching? It was too late. All was lost! Not so fast, said God. A prophet must continue to confront society even if no one listens. Otherwise the prophet will be held responsible for negligence (Ezekiel 33:7-9).

There is a salutary lesson in this prophecy for us modern Catholics. We must continue to strive to correct society' s and the Church' s past mistakes. We must also continue the unpleasant but necessary prophetic mission to challenge the present generation, both in society and the Church, to accept individual and collective responsibility for current affairs.

We live in an era, a culture, of conflict. Years ago we scoffed at the ease with which northern Americans used litigation to right wrongs. We laughed too soon. Australians are now catching up fast. How do we implement Our Lord' s directions in our own day and age?

It would seem that Jesus wanted His disciples to launch a new order of reconciliation stressing forgiveness, even in our pursuit of terrorists. Not only did he teach His followers to triumph over personal sin. He also showed them that to forgive another was to triumph over that person' s sin (Matthew 18:15-20). They gradually found out how serious Jesus was about self- sacrifice as the only way to salvation. When Peter stood in front of Our Lord to block the path to destiny, Jesus recognised in his words the same spirit or demon that tested him in the desert.

Church leaders can sometimes impede God' s way forward. That is why they need collegiality as a salutary process in the discernment of the Spirit' s plan for contemporary disciples.

Sunday 11 September 2005

24th Sunday of ordinary time Forgiveness

In today' s first reading (Sirach 27:30-28:7), Ben Sira teaches that it is God alone who judges: the human person cannot take judgement upon himself. What is more, the story of the covenant (for the time being I' m using the word relationship instead of covenant) is the story of God' s unending pardon: we must imitate divine compassion.

If Catholics are looking for a noble cause to pursue into the 21st Century, surely forgiveness and compassion fits the bill! First we must practice these virtues among ourselves and then hand our discoveries over to our secular brethren. We have a sacrament of reconciliation. We are called to be a sacrament within secular society.

Look to the responsorial psalm for the link between the two main readings: The Lord is kind and merciful; slow to anger and rich in compassion.

Today' s Gospel (Matthew 18:21-35) has Jesus tackle one of the thorniest problems confronting the human family conflict! In Jesus' times Jews were certainly taught to forgive. But, there was a scale to be observed. Each village rabbi had his own interpretation of this scale of pardon, e.g., if a daughter offends a parent, how often is she to be forgiven by the parent. There were schools of interpretation among the rabbis. Some agreed on a common scale, some varied their interpretation.

Peter, who still thought of Our Lord as an itinerant rabbi, asked about his going rate to cover disputes between brothers. Should he forgive a brother seven times (a very generous rate)? Jesus took this opportunity to teach his Gospel value of limitless forgiveness. He used his favourite teaching method, the parable, this time about a king (we can sense a reference to God) who forgave an immeasurable debt. There is no scale of pardon for Christians, no eye for an eye, no seven times for a brother, but an impossible to imagine, seventy times seven!

We must learn to forgive others as God has forgiven us. We may be unable to forget, even with post-trauma counselling, but we must forgive. Catholics celebrate sacramental pardon. They must also individually exercise a ministry of pardon, especially today when secular society is drowning in a culture of conflict, litigation and suspicion.

Sunday 18 September 2005

25th Sunday of ordinary time - An expedition of Discovery

According to this parable (Matthew 20:1-16), latecomers were paid the same lump sum as the early birds. Jesus used a village social security office as part of this parable. Men gathered there waiting for work to be offered. The latecomers were everyone other than the Jews the gentiles, the others - the Australians, for example. The Kingdom of God has been developing in Australia as long as human beings have been here. The Spirit has been at work in hearts and minds since creation. The Church came with the first fleet. Aboriginal people had a unique relationship with God through their own culture. There is a fashionable lobby at work to convince Australians that the old ways of dealing with God are the best. But, we immigrant Australians are the latecomers. We have our own ways, one of which is to expect new revelations of the Spirit to speak to each generation. Here in our parish, a previous aboriginal stamping ground, we Catholics are on an expedition of discovery to uncover new religious treasures. That is the Jesus way. We must not hoard the deposit of faith. We must develop it.

The following editorial was taken from a 1982 parish newspaper. 'See your personal faith as an expression of Isaiah's dream. All parishes have patron saints. Sometimes that means nothing to local people except an identification tag. Often, parishioners know nothing of their patron's life and death and, so, cannot be expected to colour their lives with that saint's brand of Christianity.' What a pity! A patron can personalise a local church's view of itself and the world around it. Our two giants of Christian strength, Peter & Paul, have made it easier for me, at least, to find a focus for South Melbourne pastoral and missionary strategies. Ordained for the old church but destined to work in the new already inclined me towards ambivalence. Orthodox and unconventional is the style I personally adopt. To do the church's thing in one's own way is the best combination I can propose. In a nutshell, Peter kept the faith, Paul made sure it was shared around especially among people previously thought to be ineligible. The faith has been preserved here in South by staunch and loyal Catholics. But each generation has to find its own expression of Catholicism. This book (Isaiah 55:6-9) illustrates that never-ending search for the contemporary presentation of the Word of the Lord. Peter was blessed with a rock solid conviction that Jesus had conquered sin and death. Paul couldn't rest until everyone everywhere had heard the name and had been shown the way.

Sunday 25 September 2005

26th Sunday of ordinary time Remember, O Lord, Your Mercy

Ezekiel, a young priest, shared exile in Babylon with thousands of other Jews. He wrote in the late 500s BC. The best and brightest citizens were taken away in waves. The perpetrators had a primitive view of justice. Individuals received no mercy though personally innocent. If you were a member of a tribe, a family, an ethnic group, you were guilty by association.

The whole of chapter 18 (Ezekiel 18) is a skilful lesson in a revealed truth that God rewards and punishes only those personally responsible. Ezekiel knew that the exile would end, sooner or later, and that spiritually reconstructed Jews would return home equipped to rebuild the Kingdom of God in Palestine. They, with their new-found enthusiasm for good religion, would reform Judaism and prepare the nation to receive the promised Messiah. The torch carried by the true believers would survive in families and groups until the voice cried out in the wilderness and another reform began on the banks of the river Jordan, 600 years after Ezekiel, but like one long night in God's time.

Today's responsorial psalms links, as usual our two main scripture passages: 'Remember your mercies, O Lord.' The gist of our gospel (Matthew 21:28-32) is this. When a person recognizes his or her error and changes his or her ways, God is prepared to forget his earlier lapses and remembers what he has done now. The tax collectors and prostitutes accepted by Jesus had this experience of reconciliation. We need to remember that Matthew's gospel was probably written in Antioch, Syria, for a pretty wealthy Christian community struggling to establish itself in the face of hostility from local orthodox Jews. Matthew was very hard on the Jewish religious leadership for inciting persecution of the Christian minority. In this context, today's passage makes more impact.

Matthew recorded Our Lord's criticism of the Chief priests and the authorities. Well educated, as they were in the Law of Moses, they rejected John the Baptist's call to conversion, even though it was a reaffirmation of the core message of the revered prophets over seven centuries. Instead, despised elements of Jewish society, prostitutes and money grabbing tax collectors, with little or no grasp of Jewish religious education, jumped at the opportunity to turn from sin and follow the Gospel. There's a cautionary tale here for modern Catholics, especially us clerical, religious and lay leaders.

With respect, many of us persist in putting the new wine of the Gospel, for example, Vatican 2 insights, into old wineskins, outdated and arbitrary institutions and procedures, and then complain when the old wineskins burst and the new wine is lost to a whole generation.

Sunday 2 October, 2005

27th Sunday of ordinary time- The Church God's Vineyard

All that follows casts light on current affairs.

The ancestors of the Jews of Isaiah's time were semi-nomadic. After the settlement in Palestine, about 1200 BC, the Jews still tended flocks of animals but, also, planted vines to produce grapes. Vineyards became a rich source of imagery for prophets whose mission was to regularly call the Jewish people back to God and His ways.

In today's first reading (Isaiah 5:1-7) we have one of the strongest and finest examples of this prophetic use of the vineyard as image of the Jewish people in their intimate relationship with God. Here we have God portrayed as their loving 'husband'. The Jewish religion had become formalized with a heavy burden of regulations governing worship and morality. Isaiah wrote about God's impatience that His chosen people were unable to be fruitful, after hundreds of years since the first heady days of King David. Isaiah foretold the disastrous consequences of preferring a narrow nationalism to an all-embracing spiritual mission to build the Kingdom of God on earth. The vineyard would, unhappily, lie in ruins until the faithful minority would gather around a future Messiah, hundreds of years away. The covenant or relationship would become so intimate then that the Messiah could say 'I am the vine, you are the branches'.

Psalm 74, our responsorial psalm, links our two main scripture readings, 'The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.'

At the time when Jesus preached today's parable, the relevant circumstances were those of the contemporary economy. I'm grateful to Maertens and Frisque for the following insights. The country was divided into huge estates which belonged mainly to foreigners. The Galilean and Judean peasants, who rented these lands, displayed, under the influence of zealot propaganda, a lively opposition towards such owners. It's improbable that Jesus had in mind the modest vineyard of Isaiah 5. Killing the heir was one sure way of getting possession of the land it went legally to the first occupant after vacancy caused by murder.

Jesus was confronting the religious and secular government of the Jewish people. He had often preached that his Good News would fall on their deaf ears and be taken seriously by the 'little ones' of Israel. The rich and powerful would indeed kill the owner's son but they would not inherit the vineyards. It would become the workshop of the new Israel, the Church. The Church wouldn't own the vineyard (Church history provides many misguided attempts to do so) but would work in God's vineyards. Christians must remember we are not greater than the vineyard. We are a part of it.

Sunday 9 October 2005

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Church - God's vineyard: I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life

During the last millennium BC, the status and performance of the Jewish monarchy deteriorated into chaos. Consequently, as we hear today from Isaiah (Isaiah 25:6-10), God's chosen people were called to return their throne to God or disappear from His story, as had all other human monarchies. Isaiah foretold a glorious reinvestiture of God as King. Without the help of audiovisuals, three-dimensional pictures or rap around stereophonic sound, the prophet used powerfully the only tool available - words! The status of the person enthroned was judged by the quantity and quality of the food and drink provided. Isaiah leaves nothing to the imagination in that respect. And the banquet would be open to all, not just Jews! This is a special theological insight provided by Isaiah. It's a preview of the mission of the kingdom - launched by Jesus - universal, catholic and apostolic.

Responsorial psalm 22 provides the link between our two main Scripture readings. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

We know now that the 'house of the Lord' isn't the temple in Jerusalem, St Peter's in Rome or, even, our own local church. It's a 'house' of living stones, true believers or disciples, and is filled with the invisible Spirit. However, not everyone, even religious people, wants to live in the house of the Lord as described above. The same misguided idea that dogged the spiritual development of the Jews, that God was with only special people in special places at special times, handicaps many a Catholic even today.

Now to the first part of today's parable (Matthew 22:1-14), which echoes the controversies between Jesus and the Pharisees: their hostility to God's messengers and to Him would exclude them from the eternal banquet. Consequently, all manner of people would be invited to share in the glorious banquet of spiritual 'goodies'.

Matthew had a wide experience of early Christian communities. He realised, unlike Luke, that material poverty had little to do with justice of the kingdom. He insisted more, for that reason, on moral performance and on right relations with God. He reminded Christians, then and now, that being born into the Church does not guarantee salvation. Conversion and self-reformation must always be an essential part of individual and collective church life. This is what is meant by the puzzling, to some of us, second part of the parable about the rejection of the man who sought to 'belong' without putting on the garment so kindly provided by the host for the needy

Sunday 16 October 2005

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Give to the Lord Glory and Honour

Conflict in the Middle East seems to be ageless. It's on and off as I write and you read. It was off for a while in about 550 BC. King Cyrus of Persia was enormously successful in battle. He had conquered Babylon. His first act was to liberate prisoners of war held there, including Hebrews.

In today's first reading (Isaiah 45:1,4-6) Isaiah, himself a prisoner, praises God's plan even though he was not Hebrew. This is the only place in the Old Testament where a non-Jew is called the anointed one of God just like David, a Jewish legend, if ever there was one. This was an incredible compliment for the Jews who reckoned Yahweh was theirs and theirs alone.

Thus, we are asked to recognise the work of God being done in society by people not of our persuasion. Jesus Christ acted through those who did not yet believe in Him. 'Political and cultural changes, though they appear at times to be against Church interests, may destroy many superstitions and false gods' (Christian Community Bible).

Back to Cyrus. His intervention, doing the God of Israel's work, without even knowing it, was remarkable in its own style, especially in those bloodthirsty times. Cyrus did not reduce Babylon to a heap of ruins. The men were not massacred. The women were not violated; the children were not hurled against rocks. The occupation of Babylon was achieved without the shedding of blood.

Psalm 95 links the two main readings, 'give the Lord glory and honour'.

Our Gospel passage (Matthew 22:15-21) deals with the entrapment tactics used against Jesus by a coalition of Herodians, Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew records for us Jesus' admirable way of dealing with the thorny question of paying taxes to the foreign Roman state. It shows Jesus as apolitical. For him, you could be a good citizen, (no matter who is in government) and, also, a God-fearing person. He reckoned if you used the goods and services provided by the state, you had an obligation to contribute through tax payments.

From the beginning of European occupation of Australia, Catholics have had to spell out their relationship with civil authority. (Today, Muslims do!) They did so pretty successfully until the question arose of loyalty to the British crown, especially during two world wars. A problem also arose when Catholic leaders in Australia fought for the right to Government support for church schools. We are in for another period of soul-searching as Australians sort out their preferences in the coming debate about Iraq. Catholics can live with 'Yes' or 'No' vote in the light of today's Gospel.

Sunday 23 October 2005

30th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Rich nations still have a long way to go

The Exodus body of legislation was promulgated at the end of a long struggle, by a long line of prophets, for social justice. Economic disturbances occurred at the time because of a change from a rural economy, based on family and traditional infrastructure, to an urban one where isolated individuals could no longer depend on the resources of the clan. Strangers, orphans, widows and numerous other poor people were dying of hunger, and no one in society rallied to their aid. We can now identify those Exodus verses (Exodus 22:20-26) as the beginnings of that social legislation which was to be the hallmark of civilized peoples. They also point the way for projects of international aid for the poor, an area of concern where rich nations still have a long way to go The spirit of these verses could well provide a basis of Australia's attitude to the rebuilding of East Timor and relief for the poor of Indonesia post Tsunami.

Our Lord, Jesus, took up the prophetic role, especially towards the end of his three-year campaign for a better world. The religious political factions took turns to bait Jesus. In today's gospel (Matthew 22:34-40), it's the Pharisees' turn. They invited Our Lord to publicly announce his version of the Jewish religion. These Pharisees were popularisers of that religion. They were like 'catechists'. Our Lord admired them for that. He didn't, however, condone their elevating minor matters to the level of the Ten Commandments. Their moralizing made it almost impossible for the 'person in the street', the battler, to fully practice the Jewish faith. The little battlers of Israel were officially classified as sinners. Jesus understood their predicament. That's why he spent so much time with them. He loved them. So, asked for his version of Judaism, he first appealed to the Pharisees' strongly professed love of God. Then he included, before they could catch their breath, love of others as important as love of God! He also introduced an advanced spiritual concept by recommending healthy self-love as a legitimate concern for true believers.

Today, we Catholics are called to re-assert that summary, provided by Jesus, in its comprehensive entirety. Eminent economist, but also social philosopher, Kenneth Galbraith has described the way we, in the West, live as 'the age of contentment'. He says that our rich citizens have a vested interest in the continuation of poverty. His words, not mine! Could this be the voice of secular prophecy?

Sunday 30 October 2005

31st Sunday of Ordinary Time - The Church - God's Vineyard

Today's first reading (Malachi 1:14-2, 2:8-10) is from a very short prophetic document called Malachi, which was either the writer's name or a word meaning 'messenger' we don't know. The book seems to have been written around 515BC.

The temple had been rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity and should have become the centre for the spiritual revival of Judaism. But, according to Malachi, the priests weren't doing their job. Maybe, then as now, the behaviour of ministers of religion reflected a spiritual sickness deep within the nation and its religious organisations. The war between Persia and Egypt must have disturbed Judah socially and economically, because the Persian forces had to pass through Palestine. Regional politics must have had an upsetting effect on Judeans. All this surely contributed to the tendency for Jewish citizens to be more concerned with their society and its religious institutions. Later in the document, Malachi also severely criticises lay people. His criticism of the clergy in today's text is based on the recorded arrogant misbehaviour of priests, who were acting as if they were above religious laws. Priests and laity need each other more today than for hundreds of years. Priests, as preachers of the Word, need to be prophetic within secular society by the lives they lead.

A few verses from Psalm 130 link our two main readings: 'I love you, Lord, my strength.' We need to see beyond all church institutions, including clergy and hierarchy, and regularly focus on the unique role of Father and Teacher God. This is not a subversive idea! It's highly recommended during clerical spiritual exercise. Otherwise, we may indulge in a personality cult involving key Church officials. It's not fair to them. Secular society inevitably raises political, business and cultural leaders way beyond their abilities, then persecutes them when they fail to deliver superhumanly. In Australia, we label this phenomenon 'tall poppy syndrome'.

On the contrary, Jesus wasn't from the Jewish tribe of Levi, to which priests and those in charge of religious activities belonged. Neither did He belong to any religious association, as did the Pharisees. He moved among the rank and files, observing the behaviour of the religious leaders and educated society. He regularly instructed His disciples, including the apostles, not to imitate contemporary secular or leadership styles (Matthew 23:1-12). His church was to be a community of believers, with some members designated (for us, ordained' or 'professed') as the servant leaders of others. Responsible officers within the Church, and that includes the emerging lay leadership, should scrupulously avoid all the conventional means of seeking power and maintaining it: diplomatic intrigue, political pressure, and even honorific titles. At all times Christ's Church must realise that its business is to serve.

Sunday 6 November 2005

32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - God is full of surprises

The author of the book called Wisdom wrote, probably while living in Egypt, between 80 and 5OBC. Over centuries, many well-educated Jews had moved away from the troubles of Jerusalem to the relative peace and prosperity of Alexandria, Egypt (just as many well-educated Christians are today moving away from the troubles of Egyptian cities, like Alexandria and Cairo, to the relative peace and prosperity of the US, Canada and Australia).

From 333 BC Greek philosophy and culture were fashionable in Egypt. Indeed, they were popular and influential. The 'wisdom-writer' of today's Old Testament reading wanted young, impressionable Jews to beware of such spiritually subversive material The Greeks had developed modern views about individual freedom and the nobility of the human spirit. They promoted scientific research and they esteemed highly physical beauty. They are also known as the founders of one of the greatest celebrations of human skills - the Olympic Games! This is the environment which faithful Jews found both attractive to their young and therefore a threat to faith. The book of Wisdom was the first important Jewish effort to express the faith and wisdom of the Jews, not only in the Greek language but also, in a literary form adapted to Greek culture. Today's section of the book (Wisdom 6:12-16). provides an answer to the eternal, agonising questions about pain, evil and death itself.

God is revealed as always available, always merciful to all, without exceptions.

Now we progress from the book of Wisdom to the Gospel of the One who is Wisdom personified. The details of the parable about Jewish betrothal and marriage ritual are too difficult for most of us to understand (Matthew 25:1-13). We should note however, and this is the salient theological point of the parable, that rabbis regularly described the relationship between God and humanity as a marriage. Infidelity to God was, therefore, just like adultery. Another point to note is that the key players in this drama of getting everything right for a wedding are women. (Indeed, women have leading roles throughout the Gospels)

In today's parable, Jesus teaches that God is full of surprises. Some of us who think we are ready for a close encounter with God, aren't ready at all! The flame of faith, hope and love can't be expected to burn within us if we've run out of fuel. So, the oil of the parable is meant to emphasise the necessity of storing goodness, expressed in deeds. Just because a person is baptised and attends Church regularly does not mean that he or she possess fidelity to God and His way. The shut door at the parable's end, is Jesus' warning that faith without work is dead.

The Catholic Church is called to God to be alert and ready to discover His presence and activity wherever people strive to be good. The Church's mission of encouraging secular societies worldwide to live in justice and peace is a true response to Jesus' command to be ever vigilant.

Sunday 13 November 2005

33rd Sunday of the year - 'Happy are they who fear the Lord'

King Solomon established a well ordered government, provided for the security of the nation, took pains to advance his people culturally and promoted the common good. He also became known as the founder of a special form of written religious teaching called 'wisdom literature'. These writings, including today's first reading (Proverbs 10:13, 19-20, 30-31), evolved over the next few centuries to take their place as sources of Divine Revelation together with the laws of Moses and the preaching of the Prophets. One of the many topics tackled by 'wisdom literature' was the place of women in a male-dominated Jewish society. Women worked more than men did. (Has anything changed! Do I hear women readers ask?). While the men would sit 'at the gate' of the village, women would look after the children, house and orchard.

Today's reading is a poetic appeal to all husbands to praise their wives and be grateful to them. Today, it may seem patronizing or inappropriate. Catholics must, at least, read 'the signs of the times' and participate in contemporary discussions about men and women sharing responsibilities both within secular society and the Church.

Our gospel (Matthew 25:14-30), also deals with 'wisdom' taught by Jesus of Nazareth. By the way, a talent was a coin worth 30 kilos of precious metal -a substantial gift! However, in this parable Jesus spoke of 'talents' as units of an intangible currency - skills and abilities given by God to each of us. Older Catholics, like myself, were brought up with this benevolent view of God as Creator. We were sure God endowed each person, at birth, with unique qualities helping us discern and contribute to the establishment of His kingdom right here, right now. Waiting for the Kingdom meant, for us, to work for it to come about. So the servant, in the parable, who hid his valuable 'talent' represents the lazy or indifferent person who thinks faith is inherited ('I was born Catholic') or the coward who never dares to take his risks on behalf of people outside his own circle of family and friends.

God, however, needs the cooperation of all of us! He risks his World (his overview) like a money manager invests his capital, expecting a productive outcome. (This is the theology, behind the Church's protection of the unborn and concern about genetic engineering.) Uninvested talent is devalued talent. Bury your talent and bury yourself. Today's parable warns us that, to use our Catholic treasure, we must become involved within secular society. A church afraid to risk her heritage, by involvement in humanity's struggle for justice and peace would be in real danger of losing everything.

Sunday 20 November 2005

34th Sunday of the Year - Feast of Christ the King

Today, you and I can safely celebrate this feat of Christ the King as a good chance to gain proper insight into a traditional doctrine essential for Christianity, and extremely relevant to Church world relationship right now.

Ezekiel wrote about the poor quality of Jewish leadership before and after the lawful deportation of thousands of talented Jews to Babylon in 598BC (Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17). During 'the troubles', rich Jewish landowners and Babylonian 'squatters' neglected the plight of the local urban poor. Wandering bands of terrorists, loyal to warlords, were causing ordinary people to live in poverty and fear. The only solution, Ezekiel protested, was for God to send someone, like the great David, to remove corrupt leaders and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. God would be Shepherd King, working through a Messiah, to protect, gather and feed all the people. He would show the oppressive, venal leadership just who was in charge!

Psalm 22 links our two main readings: 'the Lord is my Shepherd. There is nothing I shall want'. Our gospel parable (Matthew 25: 31-46) describes how the King/Shepherd sorts the good from the bad. The law of love the only way to judge finally will be all the more needed because Jesus Christ, the Judge has identified himself with the needy. During the time Matthew was writing, between 85 and 90 AD, converts to Christianity were suffering hardships associated with leaving behind Jewish family friends and social structures. He had to reassure these 'little ones' that a time would come when they would be involved in judging those who had ex communicated them. This idea of 'little ones' has to be expanded to include all persons who have suffered injustice at the hands of the wealthy and ruthless over the centuries. Jesus was introducing a new view of judgment, reward and punishment. Jesus spoke of caring for our neighbours, be they friends or foes, instead of serving a community, class or nation in general terms. Classes and nations are human concepts created by us. We form or deform these concepts according to our own political viewpoint. Jesus' judgment will be a moral one, not based on ethnic or cultural prejudice. Secular societies seem to be heading towards such a universal attitude in the face of crises of justice in Rwanda, Bosnia and Timor. Our love for the poor must extend beyond material help. We must share our spirituality and ourselves and, thereby, Our Lord.

Sunday 27 November 2005

First Sunday of Advent Lord, make us turn to you

Just a few lines about the Advent season before looking at today's readings. From what I can discover, the Christmas - Epiphany circle was introduced into the liturgical year at the end of the 4th Century of the Christian era. By then, thanks to the Emperor, Constantine, the Church had melded well and truly into secular society. It was in danger of losing fervour and hope in the 'kingdom of this world'. The purpose, for us, of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany is ceaselessly to re-animate in us that hope, that great expectation. We should not minimalise the meaning of these special, if short, seasons to a sentimental commemoration of Jesus' childhood, lest we forget the baby in the crib grows into the adult on the cross.

So, now to Isaiah. We need to recall often that in the 700s and 600s BC, the Jews were devastated in turn by Assyrian and Babylonian invasions and occupation. To add to their misery, other neighbours launched looting raids across the borders. For succeeding generations of Jews, even today, the very mention of such treachery arouses a desire for revenge.

Today's poem of Isaiah (Isaiah 63:16-17; 64:3-8) soothed a hurt nation. God promised to defeat all unbelieving treacherous invaders. Christians, reading this poem in the 21st Century AD understood it in another prophetic sense. The hero rescuing his people for them was Jesus, covered in his own blood. This would be God's definitive victory and surprisingly, his way of reconciliation with humanity.

Our responsorial psalm is Psalm 79, 'Lord, make us turn to you, see your face and we shall be saved.'

Mark's gospel is all about vigilance and commitment. These virtues were very much needed by Christians in Rome, for whom Mark wrote, probably in the 60s AD before the destruction of Jerusalem and during a period of increasing 'incidents' throughout Palestine. The Roman Christians lived under threat of persecution. They, most of them convert Jews, were suspected of being sympathizers of the Palestine freedom fighters. This made them nervous about the troubles at home, a source of potential trouble for Jewish (and other) Christians living in the heart of the 'evil empire', Rome.

Similarly, Vatican II's document, Church in the Modern World, instructs Catholics to be like the householder in today's parable (Mark 13:33-37) Today's Catholics, full of hope, even great expectation, not just wishful thinking, need to be alert to what is going on in secular society so they can shed light where there is darkness. They also need to be alert because Our Lord is a God of surprises. If we are not awake, we shall miss the exciting experience of discovering God at work in the most unexpected people and most unlikely events. Prayer services on New Year's eve would be good opportunities for thanking God for all the surprises of the past one, ten or even one hundred years. Such gatherings should also be used to express hope in the future. Of all people, we Christians have been given the blessing of carrying to a discontented world the hope of a bright future.

Sunday 4 December 2005

2nd Sunday of Advent - Lord let us see your kindness and grant us your salvation

Today's first reading (Isaiah 40:1-5 9-11) is from that section of Isaiah attributed to an unidentified prophetic writer. Indeed, it seems to be a piece of what's known as 'resistance literature'. As you probably know by now ('cos Ive written about it a hundred times!), the Jews were in awful trouble with the Babylonians in the 6th century BC. Thousands of the best and brightest Jews, the intellectual and business elite had been frog-marched to Babylon. To mention Babylon to Jews, then, was like dropping the word Belsen on an audience of contemporary Jewish people. Our prophet wrote in the dangerous times and resorted to a kind of code language so the Babylonians wouldn't wake up to his subversive writings. News was already abroad that Persian King Cyrus just might do for Jewish POW's then what God had done for Moses and the Hebrews hundreds of years before. Deliverance was in the air. Hope was OK. So, we hear inspiring things written about a road to be built, right through the Arabian desert, from Babylon to Jerusalem. Indeed, Cyrus would recruit and pay unemployed Jews to help build such a road. But, the real breakthrough would have to wait for a future date, wrote the prophets. God's Messiah would lead the Jews out of spiritual slavery into a spiritually restored homeland. Even the Temple would be re-invested with God's real presence.

Responsorial Psalm 84 links Isaiah with our gospel according to Mark: Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

In Jesus Christ, God once again leads His people across a spiritual desert of time and place to a new Jerusalem, this one built from living stones. Just as the liberated Jews of Exodus had to cross the river Jordan, so water was used by John Baptist as a ritual of repentance and renewal (Mark 1: 1-8). Throughout Jewish history, prophets were always announcing the need for reform in the way worship was conducted in Temple and Synagogue. There were already ablutions, washings, practiced as religious rituals both in the Temple precinct and in Jewish homes. John, himself son of a priest, Zachary, would inaugurate a new meaningful washing, baptism as the only way prospective disciples could enter the new and spiritual Kingdom. There would be a new Kingdom and priesthood invested in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The office of priest would be joined with the mission of prophet in the case of the twelve apostles. We can only begin to understand this dramatic, shocking change introduced by John the Baptist. As we now know, Jewish society, especially the religious leadership, couldnt accept this 'good news'. This new economy of spiritual realities was entrusted to faithful followers of Jesus, our ancestors in faith. Even John couldn't grasp the extent of change he was privileged to proclaim! Modern local church communities need prophetic priests and lay people to further develop this gospel of renewal and reconciliation.

Sunday 11 December 2005

3rd Sunday of Advent - My soul rejoices in my God!

The first reading is special in that the first few verses were used by Jesus to announce the beginning of his ministry at Nazareth. The next verses express the feelings in Mary's heart as she responded to the message brought by Gabriel the angel.

Today's reading (Isaiah 61: 1-2, 10-11) reflects the utterly joyful attitude of prisoners of war returned home. It must have been like heaven on earth, even for just a short time. Reconciliation (penance) services during Advent, from all reports, create the same atmosphere of gratitude and joy among participants, even without absolution! Catholics immersed in secular society most of their waking hours, will feel joy at celebrating, even fleetingly, a safe return to the forgiving presence of God in community. Not only that, faithful to the Isaiah prophetic insight, reconciled (forgiven) Catholics must also, become, more open, more inclusive, to strangers, those who don't share our cultural or spiritual heritage, especially Muslims. From us, at least, the Aboriginal people, migrants (even boat people!) need to experience understanding and hospitality.

Joy is an expectation all Christians need to have. Too often we feel close to God only when under pressure from people or events. What a pity! Admittedly, even then joy can be a great healer. We know we are in God's hands. He won't desert us ever.

John the Baptist had a terrible time of it but he, like Isaiah, was full of joy. This was the first prophetic voice heard by the Jews for about 300 years. During those years of prophetic silence, religious life had been directed by priests and lawyers. In today's Gospel passage (John 1: 6-8, 1-28), we find representatives of the religious establishment visiting John the Baptist to check his credentials. Their style of religion had to be orderly and practiced in Temple or synagogue. John, however, preached in the open and baptised recruits by immersion in the river Jordan. This was a breath of fresh air for ordinary people but a threat to the command structure of the hierarchy. Worshippers need to be alert to the 'knock at the door' whenever Word and Sacrament are celebrated. But, don't forget the Lord's real presence in the poor.

Sunday 18 December 2005

4th Sunday of Advent - God's goodness isn't restricted to one generation or millennium

David was king of the Jews in 1000BC. He brought stability and unity to Israel after a torrid time with Saul as King. The twelve tribes who had, over many years, settled in Canaan were now united as one nation, Jerusalem had been chosen as national capital by David. The books of Samuel, last of the Judges and also a prophet, tell us more about David's personal relationship with God than about his military prowess. The court prophet, Nathan, attempted to calm David's anxiety with a prophecy: the people will regain their stability! David thought that to build a house for God, in Jerusalem, would cement peace and order. But, God, through Nathan, reminded David that He, God, was rather the builder of David's house, built with the living stones of David's dynasty beginning with his son, Solomon (Samuel 7: 1-5, 8-12, 14, 16). God's promise was fulfilled when Jesus, popularly proclaimed, as 'son of David' became the corner of the Kingdom made from 'living stones' or true believers.

Responsorial psalm 88 links Old Testament and Gospel readings: Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

God's goodness isn't restricted to one generation or, even, one millennium. In our first reading we heard of God's promise to build a home for all and it would be fashioned from living stones. That promise was made in the 700'sBC! Today's Gospel (Luke 1: 26-38) proclaims the fulfillment of that promise. Seven hundred years is like one day in the plan of salvation. The name of King David is mentioned right at the start of today's passage and, further on, by the angel Gabriel, because Jesus was the spiritual dynasty promised by God hundred of years before Jesus Christ. The angel came to Mary, not only personally, but also as the embodiment of the 'virgin' family of those who would abandon all to be faithful to the God of Isaiah and Mary. God had to be welcomed by a pure heart, that is, a new heart not worn out in the experience of other loves.

What Mary did was to take upon herself the rejected city's desolation. She, thereby, asserted that there was in progress a new espousal, where God would take back, in her person, his spouse of former times. In the 'annunciation' is accomplished the mysterious marriage between God and His people. That special spiritual relationship is re-endorsed whenever and wherever modern true believers assemble to celebrate both Word and Sacrament.

Christmas gives us an annual, joyful opportunity to renew our marriage vows with God.