February 2020

Sexagesima Sunday in Ordinary Time “A” – February 16, 2020

From the Pastor /

In today’s Gospel, from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus brings us back to the basics of our faith: love of God and love of neighbor. He is opposed to the legalistic type of religion the scribes and Pharisees have built, full of petty rules which have little to do with God’s Law. “If your virtue goes no deeper than that of scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven,” He warns. Jesus healed on the sabbath, which was against the Law. He spoke to woman in public, which was taboo. Jesus says that the Pharisees had defined the Law in their own terms and that they missed the point. And so He begins to expound the Law as it pertains to six subjects: murder, adultery, divorce, oath-taking, retaliation, and love for one’s enemy. Instead of a litany of more commandments, Jesus looks to the spirit of the Law. We are called to love like God loves. It is the challenge presented by the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ life is the kind of life we are called to live.

Being a Christian is more than following the rules, including simply attending liturgies. Jesus is getting us free to make choices that support, sustain, grow and nurture life for ourselves and one another. We choose life when we care for those who are poor, respect the dignity of every human being and protect God’s creation. We choose life when we are generous with our time, compassion, money and resources. Would anyone looking at us and listening to us know that God is at the centre of our lives? Jesus says we should love others as God does. We are to be compassionate and passionate – not lukewarm people. The Beatitudes call us to humility, simple living and peace, which often oppose prevailing values in the world. Our human lives are capable of transformation when we reflect something of God’s glory and love in our daily lives.

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Presentation of the Lord “A” – February 2, 2020

Frackville, From the Pastor /

In our tradition today marks the end of Christmastide: indeed the continental custom of leaving the crib in the church until this feast day is becoming more widespread. The Church reinforces the message of today’s Solemnity by using the prophet Malachi to help us see the significance of Jesus entering the Temple, and the letter to the Hebrews prepares our minds for the ultimate sacrifice, culminating in the passion and death which is the destiny of this child.

One way in which this Solemnity can come alive for us personally and as community of faith is to focus on Simeon and Anna, aged people who were in right place at the right time by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Simeon is exemplar of someone who has learnt to be patient, living in the hope that God will fulfill the ancient promises. Anna passes by at the key moment, like Simeon, prompted by the Spirit. They seized the opportunity to proclaim the truth and they point us in the direction of God’s saving presence among us. Like Simeon and Anna we can learn to be patient and attentive and wait for the promptings of the Spirit. We live in the wake of the 1st coming of Christ and continue to wait for His 2nd coming. Meanwhile, there is surely enough going on in our lives and the world around us for us to be able to recognize that, in the midst of all the pain and confusion, God continues to make God’s presence felt.

The theme of light has always been at the heart of today’s Solemnity, which is why from time immemorial Christians have celebrated it by processing with candles; hence its other title, Candlemass. Our parents and godparents were entrusted with a candle and the hope that we would: “keep the flame of faith alive.” Jesus reminded us, His followers, that we too are to be the light of the world! It will be sufficient if you and I, like Simeon and Anna, be attentive to be the promptings of the Spirit, recognizing the signs of God’s abiding presence and gently pointing these out to others.

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