2006 - 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time to Feast of the Holy Family

Sunday 3 September, 2006

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - The just will live in the presence of the Lord

When Deuteronomy (meaning Second book of the Law) was edited in the seventh century BC, more than 500 years had passed since Moses' encounter with God. The prosperous era of David and Solomon had come and gone. The twelve tribes had divided into northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms. But, the north had fallen to invaders and a similar fate threatened the south. Never was a reminder of support, from Moses and the Law, needed more.

By God's grace the text of Deuteronomy, left forgotten in the Temple during a long period of religious indifference, was discovered in 622 BC and became the source of king Josiah's reform. Jews of that time needed an explanation for the disasters, which had overtaken them since the heady days of David and Solomon. God had promised them the world. Now they were on the eve of destruction. What had gone wrong? The priests editing Deuteronomy wrote what Moses would say and do in the current state of affairs.

Today's reading (Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8) provides a dose of that 'nostalgia'. Moses would remind Jews of the excellence of the Sinai laws. No other nation on earth could boast of such a code of conduct towards God and amongst themselves. These laws -would affect their very lives, deep in the heart. Because these law came from a living God (not a dead pagan deity) who had chosen to be so close to his people as to amaze outsiders and, even, the Jews themselves.

The verses of responsorial psalm (Psalm 14), 'The just will live in the presence of the Lord' provide some beautiful examples of the Jewish code of conduct.

By the way, the person who lived by the Mosaic Law was called just or right in his dealings with God and people, i.e. 'he who does no wrong to his brother, who casts no slur on his neighbour'. (After a few weeks of strong talk from John, now we're back to Mark's version of the Gospel.)

Moses had stated that nothing was to be added to his law. However, the Pharisees and scribes had added many observances, to which they seem more attached than to God. Jesus knew the Mosaic Law more than anyone. He continued the ancient role of prophet by denouncing all hypocrisy, easily satisfied by appearance not substance. He demanded a change of heart and mind, the only way to what is God's revealed spirituality. Jewish religious education had, for hundreds of years, compiled a list of bad things, called unclean which had to be avoided at all costs. Ordinary Jews, the men and women in the street, could not avoid unclean things since these were part of everyday living. Only religious rituals prescribed by priests could cleanse people. This burden was unbearable!

Jesus did away with all these rituals, for him, nothing was unclean in all God's creation - touching the sick, a corpse or a bloodstained object does not offend God. God is not bothered if we eat this or that. Jesus taught that sin is always from the heart and never something we do unintentionally.

Sunday 10 September 2006

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Praise the Lord, my soul

Before we deal with today's first reading (Isaiah 35:4-7) from Isaiah, let us reflect a little on the phenomenon of Jewish prophetism! The prophets strike us as men of exceptional quality. They had outstanding faith and also exemplified a more highly developed human personality. Perhaps it's not irrelevant to note that the great century of Jewish prophetism, the Sixth Century BC was also, the century that produced other great religious leaders. You could say that God was obviously at work in many different places, within many different cultures, in this pivotal century of human history. We Christians claim, however, that God was never so powerfully and intimately at work, all at once, than among His chosen people, the Jews, especially in Judah, where Jerusalem was located.

At the time of writing the first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah, the northerners (Israel) had been carted off into exile as a punishment for political, intrigue against Assyria. Isaiah's message to the exiles promised a miraculous return home, using vivid imagery, which could describe, equally, the Hebrews' victorious march out of the desert into the Promised Land, 500 years earlier!

All this might seem simply a history lesson. Thanks to Jesus, it's much, much more. As we shall see in today's Gospel, His mission, like Isaiah's was to lead people, from spiritual blindness and deafness, into an exciting, challenging world where God opens the eyes and ears of the heart.

And, for this divine intervention, we have today's response in the words of Psalm 145: 'Praise the Lord, my soul.'

As we hear about Jesus' miracles as in today's Gospel, we should recall that Satan had already tempted Jesus, in the desert, to buy popularity by performing wonders at the launch of his public ministry and mission. Jesus, as we know, refused. Whenever He did perform a miracle, Jesus linked a physical cure with the need for an inner change of mind and heart. The healing of impaired senses, like hearing, sight and speech, was always a sign of deeper healing we now call salvation. Jesus often took aside people for healing because He wanted to emphasis that the crown was incapable of spiritual hearing, sight or speech. Isaiah had already predicted that prisoners of war, returning from captivity would be healed of despair and depression to the extent of shouting out with joy because God had saved them.

In today's Gospel passage, we find Jesus, in now Jewish territory, on the Lebanon border, enabling a dumb man to speak. In contrast, most Jewish people, despite having inherited God's blessings, were so spiritually dumb, they couldn't spread God's good news, only parrot the legalisms taught by religious authorities. That was the spiritual sickness Jesus diagnosed among his contemporaries. Jews of the time thought saliva was breath, somehow solidified. By putting his saliva on the man's tongue, Jesus indicated his breath, His spirit, would be humanity's healer down the ages.

Sunday 3 September, 2006

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - The just will live in the presence of the Lord

When Deuteronomy (meaning Second book of the Law) was edited in the seventh century BC, more than 500 years had passed since Moses' encounter with God. The prosperous era of David and Solomon had come and gone. The twelve tribes had divided into northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms. But, the north had fallen to invaders and a similar fate threatened the south. Never was a reminder of support, from Moses and the Law, needed more.

By God's grace the text of Deuteronomy, left forgotten in the Temple during a long period of religious indifference, was discovered in 622 BC and became the source of king Josiah's reform. Jews of that time needed an explanation for the disasters, which had overtaken them since the heady days of David and Solomon. God had promised them the world. Now they were on the eve of destruction. What had gone wrong? The priests editing Deuteronomy wrote what Moses would say and do in the current state of affairs.

Today's reading (Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8) provides a dose of that 'nostalgia'. Moses would remind Jews of the excellence of the Sinai laws. No other nation on earth could boast of such a code of conduct towards God and amongst themselves. These laws -would affect their very lives, deep in the heart. Because these law came from a living God (not a dead pagan deity) who had chosen to be so close to his people as to amaze outsiders and, even, the Jews themselves.

The verses of responsorial psalm (Psalm 14), 'The just will live in the presence of the Lord' provide some beautiful examples of the Jewish code of conduct.

By the way, the person who lived by the Mosaic Law was called just or right in his dealings with God and people, i.e. 'he who does no wrong to his brother, who casts no slur on his neighbour'. (After a few weeks of strong talk from John, now we're back to Mark's version of the Gospel.)

Moses had stated that nothing was to be added to his law. However, the Pharisees and scribes had added many observances, to which they seem more attached than to God. Jesus knew the Mosaic Law more than anyone. He continued the ancient role of prophet by denouncing all hypocrisy, easily satisfied by appearance not substance. He demanded a change of heart and mind, the only way to what is God's revealed spirituality. Jewish religious education had, for hundreds of years, compiled a list of bad things, called unclean which had to be avoided at all costs. Ordinary Jews, the men and women in the street, could not avoid unclean things since these were part of everyday living. Only religious rituals prescribed by priests could cleanse people. This burden was unbearable!

Jesus did away with all these rituals, for him, nothing was unclean in all God's creation - touching the sick, a corpse or a bloodstained object does not offend God. God is not bothered if we eat this or that. Jesus taught that sin is always from the heart and never something we do unintentionally.

Sunday 10 September 2006

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Praise the Lord, my soul

Before we deal with today's first reading (Isaiah 35:4-7) from Isaiah, let us reflect a little on the phenomenon of Jewish prophetism! The prophets strike us as men of exceptional quality. They had outstanding faith and also exemplified a more highly developed human personality. Perhaps it's not irrelevant to note that the great century of Jewish prophetism, the Sixth Century BC was also, the century that produced other great religious leaders. You could say that God was obviously at work in many different places, within many different cultures, in this pivotal century of human history. We Christians claim, however, that God was never so powerfully and intimately at work, all at once, than among His chosen people, the Jews, especially in Judah, where Jerusalem was located.

At the time of writing the first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah, the northerners (Israel) had been carted off into exile as a punishment for political, intrigue against Assyria. Isaiah's message to the exiles promised a miraculous return home, using vivid imagery, which could describe, equally, the Hebrews' victorious march out of the desert into the Promised Land, 500 years earlier!

All this might seem simply a history lesson. Thanks to Jesus, it's much, much more. As we shall see in today's Gospel, His mission, like Isaiah's was to lead people, from spiritual blindness and deafness, into an exciting, challenging world where God opens the eyes and ears of the heart.

And, for this divine intervention, we have today's response in the words of Psalm 145: 'Praise the Lord, my soul.'

As we hear about Jesus' miracles as in today's Gospel, we should recall that Satan had already tempted Jesus, in the desert, to buy popularity by performing wonders at the launch of his public ministry and mission. Jesus, as we know, refused. Whenever He did perform a miracle, Jesus linked a physical cure with the need for an inner change of mind and heart. The healing of impaired senses, like hearing, sight and speech, was always a sign of deeper healing we now call salvation. Jesus often took aside people for healing because He wanted to emphasis that the crown was incapable of spiritual hearing, sight or speech. Isaiah had already predicted that prisoners of war, returning from captivity would be healed of despair and depression to the extent of shouting out with joy because God had saved them.

In today's Gospel passage, we find Jesus, in now Jewish territory, on the Lebanon border, enabling a dumb man to speak. In contrast, most Jewish people, despite having inherited God's blessings, were so spiritually dumb, they couldn't spread God's good news, only parrot the legalisms taught by religious authorities. That was the spiritual sickness Jesus diagnosed among his contemporaries. Jews of the time thought saliva was breath, somehow solidified. By putting his saliva on the man's tongue, Jesus indicated his breath, His spirit, would be humanity's healer down the ages.

Sunday, 17 September 2006

24th Sunday of Ordinary Time - I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living

May I remind you again, dear reader that Scripture experts claim that the book called 'Isaiah' was written by three different people at three different times. Today's passage (Isaiah 50:5-9) is from the second author who tells of the suffering involved in working faithfully for God, especially if you are an appointed prophet. Another highlight is the mention of a key Old Testament character known as 'the Suffering Servant'. This term sometimes applies to an individual prophet, like Jeremiah, who we know from his own writings, went through hell on earth. It sometimes describes the predicament of the minority of faithful Jews who, as a collective, can be described as 'the Suffering Servant'. Today's verses, of course, will be used, above all, to describe Jesus' own passion and death. The Good Friday liturgy is filled with references to Old Testament prophets, including Moses himself, who were rejected by 'religious' contemporaries who should have known better.

Latin American theologians blamed 'institutional sin' for the awful opposition experienced by their own people striving to be faithful to Gospel imperatives.

All baptised Christians are initiated prophets. Sacramental programs for teenagers and adults, together with purifying life experiences will further develop the prophetic calling and mission among Church members. At this point, Mark's Gospel (Mark 8:27-35) already foretold a tragic outcome for Jesus, which never ceases to amaze, whenever it confronts us. For the first time, the Gospel shows the apostles taking seriously the messianic role of their master.

'Christ' is a Greek word, which means 'messiah' in Hebrew. (It's not surname but a title.) When our Lord used the further description of himself as 'Son of Man' he was alluding to an Old Testament reference to the Messiah as the 'Human One' or the 'Son of Humanity'. Jesus just had to try to repair the damage done by centuries of 'bad' religion. The God of Jesus is immanent as well as transcendent.

God had become entrapped, so to speak, in legalism and ritualism. That is not where He was meant to be. So, He became flesh and blood and lived among us in the person of Jesus. That way and only that way, could God and humanity be reunited. Jesus had to be rejected by religious authorities and go to his death because self-sacrifice is the only safe path to salvation for humanity.

Local churches, as well as individuals, had to be faithful to the Gospel; they will have to freely accept that suffering is part and parcel developing the Kingdom.

Sunday, 24 September 2006

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time - The Lord upholds my life

It was extremely difficult for Jews living away from home to live peacefully. The local predominant majority, always non-Jewish, just wouldn't leave them alone. As an example, today's first reading (Wisdom 2:12,17-20) is set in Alexandria, Egypt, in the first century BC. Jews had been there since Fifth Century BC. Since Alexander the Great, 2nd Century BC, Greek thought and culture predominated. It was a modern way of viewing the freedom of the individual and nobility of the human spirit. Greeks promoted scientific research and highly valued human beauty and prowess. (Hence, the Games!) The 'eccentric' Jews were countercultural and, so, unpopular. There were so many things in their lives that were different from local, though imported customs.

The same is true now, as well, even though in our secular society, a strictly observant Jew or Muslim tries not to stand out too much, but cannot hide his or her integrity and enthusiasm or even dress code.

The author of the Old Testament book, known as 'the Wisdom of Solomon', sought to rally beleaguered young expatriate Jewish student to a wholesome appreciation of Jewish tradition. They had inherited a special knowledge of God, far superior, they would be taught, to that of Greek philosophers. Each parish is a community where faith in the God of Abraham, Jesus and the Spirit living in our hearts, is taught. There are some shocks in today's Gospel passage (Mark 9:30-37). The first is - how fickle the disciples were. Our Lord had opened his heart to them by revealing the fate waiting him - torture and execution. Even so, the disciples fell into an incongruous argument about leadership positions! They seemed no more understanding or sympathetic than were the crowds. Yet their scriptural knowledge must have been, as for most Jews, considerable. It was that body of sacred texts to which Jesus appealed as he unfolded a scriptural argument pointing to the predicted torture and execution of the Messiah. When that failed, and to underline their lack of understanding, Jesus took a small child, helpless and defenceless, and said, more or less, 'this is me, this is how you will welcome me, if you are my followers.' Researchers tell us children weren't highly regarded at that time. So, Jesus used a child to teach them about the future - his and theirs. They would have to develop a childlike helplessness in the face of harsh reality. They, like him, would be dealt with badly. So, they must, in future, espouse the cause of those whom society would deal with harshly. Here is the second of the shocks mentioned above. Jesus revealed a vulnerable God who needs compassionate men and women to protect Him and His plan of salvation. Whoever expected such theology!

Sunday, 1 October 2006

26th Sunday of the year - God is at work whenever and with whomever He chooses

Our first reading (Numbers 11:25-29) comes from an Old Testament book called Numbers because it begins by listing the numbers of Hebrews named in a census taken in the desert during Moses leadership. There are also some tribal memories relating to the desert experience, like today's passage about the two elders, Eldad and Medad, mysteriously endowed with God's spirit. These were two elders who didn't attend the scheduled ceremony of investiture. Despite their absence, they were filled with the spirit and began, against expectations, to prophesise.

The rest of the book, by the way, is highly conservative and extremely concerned with protecting the newly established institution against unauthorised activities. So, it is surprising to discover this example of tolerance for spontaneous prophecy. We can safely conclude that even early in the history of salvation, God shows that His ways are not our ways.

Authorities, civil and religious, are always ill at ease when confronted with 'outsiders' clearly under the influence of God's Spirit. In our own day, law people are more and more called by the Spirit to prophesise, to see through the accumulated masses of rituals and regulations to the very heart of the Gospel way of Jesus. At the beginning of our Gospel passage (Mark 9:38-43, 45, 41-48) we have a parallel to the story of Eldad and Medad, the two elders mentioned in today's first reading. Again, we have an example of tolerance. This time it is Jesus' disciples who are tempted to ex-communicate a couple of 'gatecrashers'. Time was running out for Our Lord, so he spent a lot of time and effort training the disciples, especially those he wanted to leave in charge of his Church. He tackled some of the difficult questions about criteria for entry into the Kingdom. He taught the apostles to be tolerant of good Gospel work done outside the control of the apostolic Church.

For us modern Catholics that means we, too must learn to rejoice when other churches perform evangelising works. Of course, we are sad that other churches have lost some of the treasures, theological and sacramental, of the earliest Christian tradition. But, it is wrong of us not to recognise our own need for continuing reform: because numerous Catholics don't take the Gospel seriously because many parishioners have not been accustomed to the initiative. Leaving the development of the local churches to dwindling numbers of clergy and religious. We must believe that God works somehow through 'rival' churches and, also, through secular prophets!

God is assuredly with us Catholics (one, true Church) but he is also at work whenever and with whomsoever He chooses.

Sunday, 8 October, 2006

27th Sunday of the year - May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives

Genesis was written around King Solomon's time when Israel was experiencing a period of peace and prosperity. Religious traditions were at last gathered, put in order and edited. Thanks to that divinely inspired process, we have such gems, as today's few verses (Genesis 2:18-2). Of course, we expect heavy 'macho' and patriarchal emphasis to permeate the narration of the divine origin of the human couple. For example, Genesis says that women are created as an individual but from man and subordinate him. However, another discovery emerges when the author develops the idea of 'the couple'. 'A man leaves father and mother'. He has to begin again, this time in a relationship with another unique individual person.

For most Catholics, marriage is a providential way, the sacramental enabling of them to prepare for the final encounter with God. Years of shared life, their efforts to listen to and understand each other and to make decisions together require two individuals to mature gradually and sacrificially as a couple, that most blessed and adventurous of all human relationships.

Many times in sacred Scripture, God depicts himself as married to humanity. Jesus of Nazareth would prove that commitment through life and beyond death itself.

Today's Gospel (Mark 10: 2-16) presumes that God has a plan for married people - they are to give themselves entirely to each other. Fidelity to each other - for richer or for poorer for better or for worse, in sickness and in health is a prerequisite. Why then, if that was the tradition handed on through generations of Jews, did the Pharisees, guardians of the strict observance of Moses' law, ask Jesus about divorce? They already accepted that Moses himself had made an allowance of a divorce in a specific situation. Of course, this allowance favoured the man, given the dominant local view of women and marriage!

According to Mark, Jesus would have none of that. Moses should have known his place and stuck to God's law. God had created human beings different but equal. Men had behaved badly down the ages, treating women as chattels. (There were noble exceptions, of course). Jesus restated God's original plan of an exclusive and faithful union. He was, in deeper fact, proclaiming the Kingdom in the guise of a recovered paradise. Here he is showing that it is a restoration of the original enterprise of a couple united in love. From that point on, married love Became one of the chief 'exhibitions' of the Kingdom. Of course, the question still remains whether the consent between human partners is always sufficiently free to encourage God's participation in the union.

Sunday, 15th October 2006

28th Sunday of the year - Fill us with your love, 0 Lord, and we will sing

Again, we have an expatriate, practising Jew of Alexandria, Egypt, a long way from his reassuring temple in Jerusalem, sharing the best of his religious tradition with the younger members of his embattled, faith community (Wisdom 7: 7-11). When Jewish tradition extolled the treasures of spirit and heart over material wealth and power, it had no monopoly of wisdom; every religion shared that insight, as does Islam! But, the author of the book called Wisdom deliberately set out to emphasise that the Jewish insight was far superior because it came direct from God's own living heart. The author taught that Jews should consider their relationship with God, their spirituality, as more precious than life itself. He taught that they should share this wisdom with others and help neighbours and families to grow more in friendship. It isn't people, he taught, who know more who are wiser but, rather, those who know best how to share their wisdom with others, offering a share of God's own friendship. The author used a literal licence by pretending that what he wrote were words spoken by King Solomon himself. Solomon had asked God for wisdom because he knew that wise leadership would ensure prosperity for all. Imagine if God's own wisdom was sought after by men and women in parliaments and boardrooms. Jesus had previously set the apostles straight about the Gospel preference for the 'little ones', the poor in some way or another (for Luke, you had to be materially poor, for Matthew, you had to be spiritually poor.) Jesus had also left them in no doubt that their style of governance had to be service driven. In today's Gospel (Mark 10:17-30), Jesus tackles the biggest obstacle of all, according to Luke and that is wealth. Wealth had always been considered among the Jews as a sure sign that you were OK with God, that is how far they'd strayed from God's way, as preached by the prophets. Even the apostles were unmasked as believing in the prevailing mindset. They were shocked by Jesus' treatment of the rich young man. But, we know God loves the rich as well as the poor. A rich person can be spiritually poor. A rich person needs encouragement to become poor by involvement with those who have no means of organising, defending or liberating themselves.

The way of poverty today leads us to analyse the causes of misery, to take seriously such issues as aboriginal rights and decent, ample public housing. In a practical way, then, poverty can lay claim to be described as a Gospel imperative.

Sunday, 22 October 2006

29th Sunday of the year -Lord let your mercy be on us as we place our trust in you

As well as enlightenment, another motive for some people, of their own accord, to undergo trials is to save others. Such was the Servant of God, as portrayed by the authors of Isaiah (and Jesus was that Servant, par excellence.) For thousands of years, people had sacrificed animals - and at times, human beings - thinking they could unload their own personal and collective sins on these animals and so be rid of sin. But, these sacrifices never really interrupted or stopped the cycle of crime and violence. God had his own way of breaking that cycle. He revealed it gradually through prophets like Isaiah.

The prophet had in mind the innocent band of Jewish exiles in Babylon (Isaiah 53:10-11). They were the victims of Jewish political stupidity. They bore the 'sins' of their own people. But, they would be rewarded by becoming the beacon of renewal and reconstruction when they returned to Palestine.

Victims of social, economical and political oppression back in Ireland became, likewise, the architects of a flourishing Catholicism here in Australia over 150 years ago As for Jesus, so for the Church. There can be no resurrection without torture and death.

In today's Gospel passage (Mark 10:35-45), Our Lord tackles the thorny question of leadership. There were already twelve members of the leadership team. As well, Peter, James and John were clearly the inner circle. Nevertheless, they certainly upset Jesus when he caught them arguing about who would have what portfolios! Also, when James and John, the sons of Zebedee, took the initiative by asking Jesus for two positions, Our Lord had to sort out them out. He knew by then, (and James and John were beginning to accept) that time was running out for them all. So, Jesus asked them a leading question: 'Are you ready to drink the cup?' They should have been humble and answered in the negative. Indeed, they were nowhere near ready to become immersed in the ordeal waiting in Jerusalem for Jesus. James and John can't be blamed for being ambitious. They were, after all, brought up to expect a messiah, like Jesus in some ways but certainly not in others, to overthrow the Jerusalem system and initiate a complete reform of Judaism. Our Lord was shocked by his disciples' attitude to the caring kingdom. 'Jobs for the boys' was out of the question. The spirit would choose leaders when Jesus was off the scene. As it happened, Peter, James and John did run the early church and, indeed, drink the cup as well.

Sunday 28/29th October, 2006

30th Sunday of the year - Lord let your mercy be on us as we place our trust in you

Lots of ordinary people daily advance God's plan for the redemption of the human family. One such agent of God was Jeremiah. His call came around 626 BC. He was empowered by God to utter condemnations of Israel, and secular world powers, which would become reality. He, also, foretold the eventual unfolding of the New Covenant between God and humanity. Our first reading (Jeremiah 31:7-9) is taken from the more hopeful section of his prophecy. Indeed, it is a sublime passage about consolation and restoration. In it Jeremiah predicted than Jewish prisoners of war would return to Palestine and would activate long overdue reforms. These would begin an era of fidelity to God leading to peace and prosperity. Jeremiah meant to depict this marvellous deliverance as a second Exodus, much like the one from Egypt, when God, through Moses, led the Israelites to freedom.

Those of us who work with God expect to experience great trials and suffering. We may, also expect periods of consolation. God has, after all, promised not to test us beyond our limits. We mustn't allow bad experiences to embitter us to the point of inability to enjoy God-sent good times.

Our Gospel episode Mark 10:46-52) appears to be a straightforward account of a miraculous cure. But there is much more to this event then meets the eye! Jesus never cured anyone just because they asked. He always associated healing with faith. The early churches, such as Mark's, would rejoice as they recall these miracles of healing of souls. For them, spiritual healing was most important. Mind you, the equation can be altered, I think, so that making a person feel well again can dispose him to believe in God and goodness.

That idea underpins the Church's missionary style of establishing clinics and schools. That way poor people can be made well enough and knowledgeable enough to get on with climbing out of poverty.

Back to our blind man. Mark noted two or three aspects of the cure. Let's listen to them. The man had sought out Jesus. He showed courage and initiative. He didn't want to miss the opportunity. His cure was sudden. Maybe Mark wanted to contrast this with the disciples' own tardiness to see what Our Lord was trying valiantly to teach them. And, the cured man immediately became a disciple. To use Mark's special phrase: 'He followed him along the road'. Individuals and local churches must stay alert and not miss sudden interventions by God.

Spiritual blindness can be avoided only by faith in God and his Way.

Sunday 5th November 2006

31st Sunday of the year - Lord let your mercy be on us as we place our trust in you

Today's Old Testament reading (Deuteronomy 6:2-6) contains a few verses of the Jewish code of belief and conduct. Even today, throughout the modern world, Jewish people recite these beautiful verses. (Jesus alluded to them when critics questioned him about the most important commandment.) This command is set out, so explicitly, only in Deuteronomy. It is, however, discernible in many Old Testament writings, especially Hosea and Jeremiah.

The Old Testament emphasised the loving relationship between God and His people mainly in terms of fidelity to strict observance of worship and behavioural regulations. Jews of the time believed God to be so separate from humanity, so transcendent, that their relationship with him could not be respectfully expressed in terms of endearment, affection or warmth. Jeremiah and Hosea would make up for that lack in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy, however, does emphasise the personal, if not intimate, aspect of true belief by using the second person singular, for example: 'You shall love the Lord.' It, also stressed the need for an inner, total, personal love, not just a tribal or collective response to God. While still too legalistic, in comparison with later New Testament thought, nevertheless, it was a special, spiritual development under the influence of God in the unfolding of His plan of salvation, in the maturing of true religion.

Mark's Gospel was written between 65 and 70 AD. Nero, the mad emperor, had launched persecutions or pogroms against the Christians in Rome and abroad. They needed guidelines for building a faith community in such stressful times.

Today's Gospel (Mark 12:28-34) excerpt provides the basis for a relevant spirituality and morality. Not all Jesus' critics were malicious people. The religious teacher mentioned in today's passage comes out of the encounter very well indeed. He had asked an honest question of a revered rabbi, which is how man people thought of Jesus. Our Lord answered with a new theological insight. He linked love of God with love for others. In this, he behaved like a new Moses. He gave the disciples, and others of good will, a new commandment to fulfill the Mosaic Law. That law, a thousand years old by Jesus' time, demanded of Moses' primitive and irresponsible followers, minimum requirements of morality.

Our Lord preached that all of those commands were meaningless unless based on the love of God and neighbour. God asks for more than solidarity with one's neighbour or concern for those who suffer. We should make an effort to look on others in the same way the Father does, and give them what the Father wants for them.

Sunday, 12 November 2006

32nd Sunday of the year - We are called, primarily, to be men and women of faith

From the time the Hebrew tribes entered Palestine, after their long march from Egypt, they were faced with a religious dilemma. Should they meld in with the locals already occupying the land or should they keep to themselves. The clans already in possession of the 'Promised Land' (I'm calling them Palestinians for simplicity's sake) had gods, known as baals, occupying sacred sites and revered as tribal deities. (Mohammed had the same problem in 7th century AD). The books of Kings are the history of conflict between the corrective forces of prophets against kings unfaithful to the desert God of Abraham and Moses.

Elijah was the most militant of these prophetic defenders of the Hebrew faith in one God - and, He stood alone. He asked God for a sign that his style was OK. A drought throughout the land was God's endorsement of Elijah's mission. Everyone suffered, including Elijah. However, being a true believer, the drought gave him an experience of God's total support. That came through a believing woman, not a Jew, who gave him the little food and drink set-aside for herself (Kings 17:10-16). He trusted God to provide for her! Here is a journey of faith for both Elijah and the poor woman. It's a salutary reminder to all who claim to live by faith, individuals and local churches alike.

We are called, primarily, to be men and women of faith.

Such insignificant people as today's widow are more open to call to faith. And, they give everything as proof. That there were so many 'disadvantaged' people, like poor widows, all around Palestine at that time shocked Jesus immensely. God's plan of salvation, embodied in the history of the Jewish people, appeared to be in shreds. Jewish society was polarised. There were rich and powerful religious and secular elites. There was, also, a religiously starved and powerless 'underclass'. So, the first part of today's Gospel records (Mark 12:38-40) Jesus' denunciation of these elites. The second (Mark 12: 41-44) part clearly shows Jesus' preference for the poor.

But can we go even further and discern here an image of God? If God were someone who gives from abundance, as we naturally like to think, surely He would be better represented by the rich donors than by the widow with her five-cent piece. Being God, as portrayed by Jesus, meant that it's OK to see God as not coming from on high, like a rich tourist nowadays, albeit sympathetic, into underdeveloped countries. He becomes a servant, because poverty for Jesus was an expression of the truly divine!

Sunday 19 November 2006

33rd Sunday of the year - Keep me safe, 0 Lord, you are my hope

We have to realise in the two centuries before Christ, this way of speaking about present events, as if God was discussing them with some famous person of the past, was very fashionable. So, they would tell of this eminent person's vision like Daniel's in today's first reading (Daniel 12: 1-3), predicting events actually happening in the present. What's more, you find the visionary doing his main job, interpreting the events and proving God's mysterious plan for humankind to be working wonderfully well! The 2nd Century BC Jewish person believed that Daniel was a prophet imprisoned in Babylon with the rest of the Jewish elite of the 6th Century before Christ. His message was, more or less: 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going!' The 2nd Century Jew needed to hear that message anew, because the Maccabee clan was leading armed resistance against Syrian occupation. The Jews were in deep trouble, but Daniel taught them to see through the current persecution to the guaranteed coming of the Kingdom of God. Those who died for the cause would assuredly be rewarded with resurrection. (Sounds like Bin Laden!)

In our own day, the Church has many wounds, several self-inflicted, and could well do with Daniel-like encouragement from prophetic wounded-healers, preachers and writers. In today's Gospel passage (Mark 13:24-32), Mark remembers things said by Jesus in answer to the disciples' questions: 'When are all these things, like the destruction of our Temple going to happen?' There was much panic at the time Mark wrote his version of the Gospel. Thirty years after Jesus' death, the Jews rebelled against their Roman oppressors. The Roman army reorganised after initial defeat and, their flags adorned with images of their idols, approached Jerusalem, with evil intent. Then, many 'gurus' or 'messiahs' appeared claiming special knowledge of how to save the nation. Bit like us since 9/11! The more fanatical Jews locked themselves in Jerusalem waiting for God's intervention. They were so suspicious and divided: they fought among themselves. Those who fled the city because of hunger were caught by the Romans and crucified at the walls. In the end, when the Romans entered, burning palaces and the Temple: all Jews not killed were taken to Rome as slaves. It's these events, the end of the world, as His contemporaries knew it, that Jesus predicted. But, the end of one stage of history should be the beginning of another. Jesus pointed out a fig tree about to blossom. 'Keep watching', He pleaded 'Read the signs'.

These are the words of encouragement local churches need to hear, over and over from preachers.

Sunday, 26 November 2006

Feast of Christ the King - The Lord is King: he is robed in majesty

Next week starts Advent. It's like New Year for Catholics - we start all over again. So, today's feast, in preparation, is a 'wrap-up' of the twelve months since Advent 2006. We celebrate today, the one person who got us, spiritually, through 12 months - Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God and of Mary.

When, in 1925, Pius XI instituted the feast of Christ the King, his purpose was to warn against two contemporary extremes, emerging laicism and the dominant clericalism of previous generation. Things have changed since 1925 (or have they?). We can now regard the feast as a good opportunity to gain proper insight into a traditional doctrine essential to Catholicism and extremely relevant to the Church - World relationship today.

Old Testament visionary, Daniel, helps us in our first reading (Daniel 71:13-14). He had just 'seen' depicted as four beasts, the fall of the foreign empires, which had oppressed the Jews over 400 years. Later he 'sees' a deliverer who will guide the chosen people out of darkness into light. Whereas Jewish tradition expected the Messiah to emerge from king David's dynasty, exceptional but human, Daniel introduces another type of Messiah, transcendent, more than human. Daniel's optimistic visions encouraged 2nd Century BC Jews not to panic in the face of awful treatment at the hands of the Syrian army. They, like we, needed to trust a king whose reign would be endless, victorious and universally welcome.

Responsorial Psalm 92 links our two main readings. 'The Lord is king: he is robed in majesty.' Jesus left Pilate in no doubt as to the origin of his kinship, according to John (John 18:33-37). Unlike worldly authorities, like Pilate, Jesus had not gained his position by violence or election. He had been sent and anointed by God. That's the truth Jesus announced. Pilate, on the other hand, had been appointed by the Roman emperor. He owed his career as much to his ambition as to several protectors. If only Pilate could get Jesus to admit to being, in a political sense, king of the Jews, he could deal with him, control him. But, Jesus, ever alert, would accept the title of King only in the realm of the true kingdom of humanity, where people are in control of themselves, unrestricted by labels applied to them by authorities. To refuse to fall into Pilate's trap was, for Jesus, to stand up and be counted as the One on whom was conferred sovereignty, glory and Kingship of all people's nations and languages. This special Kingship is now celebrated in every corner of the earth.

Sunday, 3 December 2006

1st Sunday of Advent - To you, O Lord, I lift my soul

For Catholics, Advent is the opening of a new year of hearing and experiencing God's saving power at work.

Our first reading today (Jeremiah 33: 14-16) is from the 6th Century BC prophet Jeremiah. He had become mixed up in Jerusalem politics, denouncing the King and government to such an extent that he'd been thrown into prison. But, as a prophetic person, he had the gift from God of being able to see through predicaments. He was able to predict that despite appearances, everything would eventually turn out all right. God had promised as much to David 300 years before, God's promises presumed the cooperation of others. Others had let God down, but the promises stood, waiting for a brave, faithful response from others. Jeremiah, from his own precarious position, predicted that a priest-king sort of person was waiting in the wings, so to speak, to reunite all 'true believers' those who would take God's promise of salvation so seriously as to live their lives totally committed to God's way.

We are the modern inheritors of God's promises. He relies on us to ensure those promises are fulfilled.

Psalm 24 gives us the kind of thoughts about God that David would have had in the many trials he experienced: 'To you, O Lord, I lift my soul'.

These are the same sentiments recommended by Jesus to those about to undergo some ordeal (as his compatriots were at the hands of the Roman army) (Luke 21: 23-28, 34-36). He used the vivid language of the times, the Middle Eastern culture, to warn all who would listen of the catastrophic nature of near future events.

Three years ago, in Iraq, holy men were predicting the awful consequences for Bagdad if the United States launched an attack. They were calling all Iraqi citizens to be alert, to sleep with their eyes open. The end of their world may be near.

We moderns have been warned of the terrible destruction awaiting us. If an earthquake struck a major city, as it did in Newcastle some time ago. Or if a meteorite found its way through earth's atmosphere! Well, what advice had Jesus to offer Jerusalem? He didn't just warn citizens. He reminded true believers living there that God had promised salvation to those who responded to God's promise. The end of Jerusalem would be the beginning of the new, spiritual Jerusalem, not built from stones and mortar but from living stones. Jewish Christians, previously tied to the old ways, would be forced into a strategic alliance with Greek Christians. The church would be forced by the Spirit to obey Jesus' command to spread the 'good news' to all cultures.

That divine task has only just begun.

Sunday, 10 December 2006

Second Sunday of Advent - The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy

Baruch was among the last of the books of the Bible to be written. That was during the last century BC, in one of the Jewish communities outside Palestine. Because it contained some paragraphs written in the venerable Jeremiah's style, this book was attributed to that prophet's secretary Baruch.

Jewish exiles in Babylon needed to hear the encouragement offered by Jeremiah. They must keep faith with God, he preached, and everything would work out all right (Baruch 5: 1-9). Similarly, expatriate Jews, of the 1st Century BC, needed to hear from someone, like a Jeremiah or Baruch, that they would sooner or later return to Jerusalem after God had destroyed their unbelieving enemies. These were the clear expectations of any Jew brought up on a diet of exclusive nationalism so, the Christian inheritor of God's promises, as outlined by the main prophets, has to perform a little spiritual surgery on today's first reading.

We no longer look for a return to Jerusalem in Palestine. Others, unfortunately for the world, do!

We ourselves are the spiritual HQ, on earth, of God's kingdom. Devoid of nationalism, Christians do not look for the destruction of secular systems or ethnic groups. The authenticity of our membership of the Kingdom is measured by how valuable a part we play in secular society. Our only prophetic struggle is against injustice and poverty, whenever and wherever it flourishes unopposed.

Responsorial Psalm 125 sings: 'The Lord has done great things for us we are filled with joy'. In musical terms God's plan of salvation can be described as 'Variations on a Theme'. That theme is Universalism. Luke was a universalist: salvation is offered to all, woman and man poor and rich. Samaritans and Romans will accept the plan, according to Luke, even before priests and temple attendants. God had promised that Abraham would be 'father of the nations'. That can be dated at the start of the second millennium BC. The theme had been strongly struck. Variations on the theme had emerged many times even as God's chosen people retreated into protective nationalism. During the 600 years of Jewish monarchy, Jeremiah, Isaiah and other leading prophets had clearly restated the theme of Universalism.

John the Baptist was Jewish to his sandal-straps but, as we hear in today's Gospel according to Luke (Luke 3: 1-6), he launched an initiation procedure for all who were brave enough to realign Judaism with God's original plan of salvation, embracing all humanity. Jesus personified that plan. He developed a band of true believers who would eventually be forced to go and find God at work in every culture and period of time.

We moderns are called to further develop the theme.

Sunday, 17 December 2006

3rd Sunday of Advent - Cry with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel

Around the year 630 BC, Zephaniah's voice broke the silence of seventy years during which the Jews had not heard a word from God. Isaiah had concluded his mission in 690 BC and, after that, faithful Jews went through more than 50 years of persecution during the reign of Manasseh, a very corrupt king of the Jews.

The first part of today's reading (Zephaniah 3: 14-18) from Zephaniah is full of foreboding. The Assyrians were still on the prowl. Their superstitious practices were observed by Jews in preference to orthodox worship of the God of Abraham. In the second part of our first reading, Zephaniah brightens up! The Assyrians were retreating from Palestine. 'Good' king Josiah had succeeded Manasseh. Someone found a book of reforms lying around in the plundered Temple precinct. We know it as the book called 'Deuteronomy'. Isaiah accepted this book as a direct revelation from God. He made it his charter for reform of all Jewish civil and religious institutions. For Zephaniah, Josiah was like the promised Messiah. So, the second part of our Advent reading is a call to joy directed at Jerusalem. There will be a great celebration says the prophet, with nothing but dancing joy and exultation!

To link our two main readings, we have today, not a psalm, but several verses from chapter 12 of Isaiah: 'Cry with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel'.

Those prophetic verses, written 700 years earlier, came true with the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth. But, someone had to alert the Jews to the appearance in their midst of the promised Messiah. Such a person was John Baptist. Today's reading, according to Luke (Luke 3: 10-18) shows John doing his job, preparing people for conversion.

So far, so good. But, you and I should be spiritually mature enough to detect the hint of a later event, the Annunciation, when the festival will no longer be centred on a city but a person. People, anxious to obtain God's forgiveness, came to John from every group, even the social (and, therefore religious) outcasts - prostitutes, tax collectors and soldiers of the Roman occupation force. John rejected none, but he did demand a personal commitment from everyone to justice. John invited his listeners to share, that is, to build a society which cared and was concerned about giving to everyone, what was necessary. John's listeners appear to have reacted immediately -'what should we do?' In reply, John could not approach the height of virtue later preached by Jesus. He called simply for a decision to remove 'self' from the central position in one's living. That would be a good, first step towards, the Kingdom.

Sunday, 24 December 2006

4th Sunday of Advent - Lord make us turn to you; let us see your face and we will be saved ...

Micah was Isaiah's contemporary (700s BC). He spoke about the same hostile political environment and yet it is easy to see a striking contrast between the two: Micah a man from the 'bush', Isaiah distinguished and learned. Micah was from a village at the edge of the lowland through which all the armies of Assyria and Egypt passed. He was well acquainted with the suffering and destruction of war and also with the accompanying exploitation of peasants. One day God called him and gave him strength, justice and courage to go and denounce Israel's sins of infidelity to God's way. He was the spiritual heir of Isaiah and, as did Isaiah before him, announced a drastic judgement from which a select 'remnant' would emerge, in whom God's promises would be fulfilled.

Our first reading from Micah (Micah 5: 1-4) reveals that the Messiah would come from the line of King David whose roots were in Bethlehem. David's father Jesse was a Bethlehem man. So was his famous ancestor Ruth a Bethlehemite. It is not clear that the Messiah must be born in Bethlehem, in spite of the fact that Micah seems to contrast this peaceful, shepherd-king, born in the 'bush', with the useless kings from the capital, Jerusalem. Later, many believed that the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem, not just come from there. Thanks to Micah, we feel more comfortable with the descendant of the king-shepherd of Bethlehem as future guide of his people than with a descendant of the glorious King David of the royal city.

Responsorial psalm 79 links our two main readings: 'Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

And we are allowed to see the true 'face' of the Messiah in today's second reading (Luke 1:39-44) as we trace the steps of a humble, pregnant young woman, Mary, as she visits her older, cousin Elizabeth, wife of a priest rostered for duty in the Temple of Jerusalem. Luke's whole Gospel is like a commentary on Jesus' life as if it was mainly one long journey to Jerusalem. So today's Gospel language, in the ear of anyone versed in Old Testament images, clearly compares Mary with the Ark of the Covenant and, even, with Jerusalem itself! Mary can be seen, in today's Gospel, as the woman who assures her people of final victory over evil, and inaugurates the messianic era in which sin and unhappiness will be no more. Mary is assuredly the dwelling place of God among men and women. Luke has shown her to be such by comparing her with the Ark and with Jerusalem (Zion) itself. No more does God live in a temple of stone, but in living persons. After the example of Mary, every Christian is a sign of God's presence in secular society: his or her attitudes and involvements build the dwelling place of God on earth.

Here is the root of lay spirituality.

Sunday, 31 December 2006

Feast of the Holy Family - How happy are they who dwell in your house, O Lord

The Book of Samuel divided in two, marks the third stage of what we call sacred history after Genesis and Exodus. In the Book of Samuel we are able to discover the work of God in human hearts and how people cooperate with God as ruler. Here we are shown, in a very calm manner, the good and bad behaviour of King David; his life, similar to that of any of us, seems mysterious. (I'm reminded of a book I saw in the Catholic Bookshop entitled: 'How good are we expected to be?') At the end of his life, though, we find that God was present in everything that happened to David who established among the Israelites something that would not perish. We know of two famous people who preceded David - Samuel and Saul. In today's first reading (Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28) we hear of Samuel's remarkable birth (reminding us of John Baptist's birth).

Samuel was the last of the governors of the nomadic Hebrew tribes. These leaders were called Judges. He was also the prophet who would anoint Saul and then replace him with David. His mother, Hannah was certain God gave Samuel to her in response to prayer. That's why, with her husband, she made him over to the service of the Lord. The same would happen over a thousand years later at the birth of John the Baptist. In the case of Mary and Joseph, Jesus would reveal that his true home is with his Father, God.

Christian parents take their children to church for re-births as children of God and the Church.

Responsorial Psalm 83 links our two main readings: 'How happy are they who dwell in your house, O Lord'.

All true believers form an extended spiritual family. Indeed they are the living stones, with Jesus as keystone, out of which God's house is built. This is the other family sought after and served by men and women of deep faith. Of course, the human family of mother, father and children is a blessing to people fortunate enough to have such a family. There the minds, hearts and bodies of all members are best nurtured. Samuel owed a lot to his mother, Hannah, and father, Elkanah. They encouraged him to spend his life in the service of God's extended family. John Baptist, likewise, was blessed with a mother, Elizabeth, and father, Zachary, spiritually mature enough to identify him as the special servant of God's kingdom on earth. In today's reading, according to St Luke (Luke 2: 41-52), twelve years old Jesus of Nazareth paid his respects to God in the Jerusalem temple. But, there he showed his understanding, limited as it was, of his calling to serve his Father, God, in building another Temple, not made by human hands. This journey by Jesus to Jerusalem foreshadows, as always in Luke, the final one. In the Jerusalem temple, where Israel sought to discover the face of God, Jesus revealed the nature of his own search. In him humanity will be aligned, absolutely with God's plan. But, not without anxiety and confusion for all.