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Solemnity of Pentecost “C” – June 9, 2019

Frackville, From the Pastor /

Pentecost Sunday is traditionally called the birthday of the Church, so perhaps today is a good day for the whole Church, once again, to take stock and reflect on the story of the last 2000 years. Hopefully, too, we will be able to recognize that it is not only the good times but even the bad and difficult times that help to shape us and to realize the truth of St. Paul’s teaching that God can turn everything to good.

The Gospel reading today is from what is known as the “Last Supper discourse” in John’s Gospel. Jesus was soon to be arrested and suffer His passion and death. He would not leave apostles orphans; He would come back to them; the Father would send them the Holy Spirit. Clearly the apostles failed to understand. But when the day of Pentecost arrives, everything changes. Dramatically they are transformed. Full of courage, they go out and proclaim the message of Jesus’ resurrection and His message of salvation.

Today provides us as individuals and the Church as a whole with a wonderful opportunity to pause and the stock. It may be that you have been faced in your own life with challenges and doubts that have tested your faith and left you hesitant and uncertain. The body of Jesus has faced huge challenges down through the centuries. It has had to endure the persecutions, the Dark Ages and the Reformation and much else besides. The message of today’s feast is that all of this is redeemable in Christ. If we allow the Spirit of God to open our hearts and remind us of all that Jesus has taught us, then we will speak the language of love and Christ will redeem our lives and the life of the Church. We will see again that the gifts of the Spirit – wisdom, knowledge, understanding, courage, right judgment, awe and reverence – enable us to put everything into God’s perspective. The Lord can indeed turn everything to good. He is with us, as He always has been.

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V Sunday of Easter “C” – May 19, 2019

Frackville, From the Pastor /

Today’s Gospel begins with a summary statement: “When Judas had gone…” Four words which are so poignant. We know exactly what Judas is going to do, even though it is not spelled out for us: he goes to complete the process whereby he will betray Jesus to the authorities. The next time Jesus and Judas will meet is when Judas leads the guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees to the place where he knows Jesus would be. In four words, our Gospel passage reminds us of the role Judas will play in this narrative. Those same four words also prompt us to recall what has already happened in the room that Judas just left. After the meal was concluded, Jesus scandalized Peter by wanting to wash the feet of all present. In the ancient world washing the feet of another was a task for all the lowliest of slaves. That’s why Peter is so scandalized at Jesus’ behavior: his Lord wants to degrade himself totally by washing the feet of sinners. Judas was one of those whose feet were washed by Jesus. Jesus then announces that one of them will betray Him: the one to whom He will give the piece of bread that he shall dip in the cup. This has clear Eucharistic implications. When He gives Judas the piece of bread, He says: “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Judas goes out into the dark. Judas leaves the light of Christ to go into the dark of Jesus’ enemies. But Jesus has demonstrated His total love for every human being who ever did exist or ever will exist. His double outreach to Judas makes it plain that no one is excluded from Jesus’ love.

The Son of Man, who came not to condemn the world but so that through Him the world might be saved, will make His ultimate, total and infinite act of love when He is lifted up on the cross. The story does not end there, however. Jesus issues a commandment – for His disciples to love one another as He has loved us. But how can love be commanded? If love is only seen as emotional, then it cannot be commanded, but God’s love is total God’s commitment. When we love as Jesus has loved us – by total commitment to any and all children of God – we make God’s love visible. We show ourselves to be Jesus’ representatives on earth – His disciples.

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III Sunday of Easter “C” – May 5, 2019

Frackville, From the Pastor /

Peter lived by fishing is the Sea of Tiberias, sometimes called Lake Galilee: in his wildest dreams he would never have imagined that one day he would travel widely. Meeting Jesus – recognizing Him as the Messiah, the Son of God – utterly changed and opened up his life. This man, who would have expected to spend his lifetime in Galilee, a fisherman like his father John probably was, found his vocation to travel widely as an apostle of Jesus, a preacher of the Gospel and the leader in the Church. Jesus asked Peter three times whether he loved Him. Three times Peter answered that he did. In Greek, there is more than one word for love. Agapeis self-sacrificing love; philiais friendship. Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him with a self-sacrificing love. Peter replies he loves Him with friendship. Second time was the same… The third time, Jesus lowers His demand. He asks Peter if he loves Him with friendship.

It is the weakness of Peter that appeals to us; the fact that he was honest enough to tell Jesus that he loved Him, but not to extent of sacrificing his life for Him. Very soon Peter did grow to love Jesus in the deepest, self-sacrificing way. It is the humanity of Jesus, His understanding of the frailty of human nature that gives us hope. Far from being angry with Peter, or washing His hands of him for his failure, Jesus simply asked for his love, and was willing to accept the little Peter honestly felt he could offer. Jesus knew that Peter would learn from his denials. His very sin would make him stronger. We may have broken a vow or failed to follow up our good intentions, like Peter did.

Through God’s grace, good can come from failure. Through forgiveness, damaged relationships can be renewed and be even better than they were before, as happened with Peter. Having learned the hard way that it is impossible to live the Christian life in his own strength, his trust and faith in God was deepened. When he was arrested in Nero’s purge of the Church in Rome, like many persecuted Christians since, even in our day, he found that he would in the end choose to die rather than deny the One who loved him.

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Low Sunday “C” – April 28, 2019

Frackville, From the Pastor /

Today we are the recipients of 2000 years of faith-filled witness in the life of the Church. We, too, believe not just because we have been told. We have seen the difference that faith makes in people’s lives, in our own lives. We touch wounds of Jesus as we respond with compassion to the needs of the world around us. We believe that whatsoever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for Christ. We believe that He reveals Himself to us in the love that we receive from others and the love that we are able to give to others.

The truth is: Jesus Christ in risen from the dead. He continues to live and love, to bring healing and peace through the lives of His faithful disciples. Jesus so identifies with our broken humanity that the wounds of those who suffer today are His wounds. Whenever we reach out in compassion and kindness to touch and heal those wounds, our faith comes to life, so that we can pray with Thomas: “My Lord and my God!”

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Passion Sunday “C” – April 7, 2019

Frackville, From the Pastor /

There’s a great deal of making rushed judgments and demanding immediate answers in today’s Gospel. Only Jesus seems to take the time carefully to read the whole situation. He bends down and starts doodling in the dust, pondering, reflecting, seeing the wider picture. The woman is merely a means to an end; they have no interest in her – they just want to trap Jesus. Is He going to agree with the law, thereby sacrificing the woman’s life and undermining His reputation as a man with a message of the boundless compassion of God for all, even sinners? The Pharisees want a “yes”or “no”answer to a question of moral law, as if they were dealing with a math problem. But when it comes to people’s lives, things are seldom so clear-cut. We know nothing of the woman’s circumstances, nothing of the man she was with, or why she was with him. Context is everything. Jesus is aware of their motives. But also, He is aware of the person involved. They separate her from the rest of the people. It’s easier to judge and condemn someone who is singled our as different, other, not one of us. They isolate the woman. Jesus doesn’t the exact opposite; He connects her to them. Whatever the reason for the woman’s adultery, whether she was victim or wrongdoer, Jesus’ response, “If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone.” For who has not committed sin? Who doesn’t stand in need of the mercy of God? Once that connection is made, it becomes impossible for anyone to condemn the woman, for in doing so they would be condemning themselves. Jesus reminds them – us – of what unites us as human beings; and when that happens, compassion and mercy become not just possible, but the only options left open.

Mercy is life-giving and transforms us so that, like the woman in the Gospel, we cease to live in isolation, held captive by our history. When we truly experience God’s mercy, it’s not just our view of ourselves that is transformed, but our understanding of humanity and our place in it. Judgment and condemnation are replaced by compassionate awareness of our solidarity and communion with the whole human family.

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IV Sunday of Lent “C” – March 31, 2019

Frackville, From the Pastor /

Today’s parable is one of the best-known stories in the Bible. While it is generally called the parable of the prodigal son, the focus is not only on the prodigal son and his repentance but on the father and his mercy. Incidentally, the story could be called the parable of the resentful brother, since it is also about a brother who was very indignant about his younger brother’s self-indulgence and angry with his father for showing mercy towards him. Resentment has stolen his joy. He has been loyal to his father and his estate, an upright member of the community, and feels he deserves to be the sole inheritor of his father’s wealth. The father’s mercy and love encompass both sons. He wants not only his younger son back, but his elder son as well. This is not a story that separates the 2 brothers into the good one and the evil one. It is only the father who demonstrates goodness. He wants both to participate in his joy. The father’s unreserved love is offered wholly and equally. He doesn’t compare the 2 sons.

The prodigal son is that part of us which is rebellious and irresponsible with the gifts God has placed in our lives. Perhaps we are takers who gather everything we can to ourselves, or squander what we have. Perhaps we don’t show appreciation for our parents and families. Today’s parable teaches that God offers people a second chance. God doesn’t give up on us when we do things that are wrong and will always forgive us if we truly repent. And what can we learn from the older brother’s jealousy? Are you carrying a resentment that is stealing your joy? Have you tried to be less judgmental? How willing are you to reflect on this story for the rest of Lent, and do something about it so that Easter joy can be yours? Lent is an opportunity for new beginnings for ourselves and perhaps we should take the opportunity to give one another a second chance, to show mercy, learning from the father in the story.

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III Sunday of Lent “C” – March 24, 2019

Frackville, From the Pastor /

In the Old Testament the early encounters with God are based on the promise that the Lord who has revealed himself to His people will always be faithful to them. When God says to Moses, “I Am who I Am,” He is declaring that He is the one who will always be beside His people, leading and guiding them. It is this fidelity that sustains the people of Israel in their journey to the promised land. The people, of course, were not always faithful to God. Sometimes God seems to be willing to destroy them and needs to be persuaded otherwise by human representatives such as Moses and the prophets. At other times God declares that He will always be with His people, no matter how unfaithful their behavior. St. Paul wants us to take the events of the history of Israel as a warning as to what may happen to us Christians if we are not faithful to God and do not keep to God’s ways. Disasters, whether caused by nature or people, aren’t signs of God’s punishment. But when things go wrong, they are signs to us to reflect on our lives and ask ourselves whether we are producing the fruit that is asked of us.

One of the early Greek Fathers of the Church said that out three greatest temptations to sin are laziness, forgetfulness, and thoughtlessness. If thoughtlessness might be deemed the temptation of youth,  forgetfulness is certainly the habit of old age, and perhaps laziness belongs to both.

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I Sunday of Lent “C” – March 10, 2019

Frackville, From the Pastor /

At the beginning of Lent we are presented with the familiar text of the temptation of Jesus. Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit and led by the Holy Spirit, moves into new territory. This new space will be challenging but ultimately rewarding. The wilderness is a place where there are few signposts; the terrain is often monotonous and difficult to navigate. This is serious stuff, requiring commitment and spiritual preparation. Jesus is being sharpened and honed for the short and trying public ministry which lies ahead. Jesus encounters the old adversary, the devil, head-on. Tempted to misuse His power, Jesus has to think on His feet and be resolute in standing up against the father of lies. Worship of God alone; not putting God to the test; being satisfied solely with the bread of God’s word – these are the fundamental lessons that Jesus has learnt and will stand Him in good stead for the future. Because Jesus is strong in these areas, the devil has no way in and leaves Him.

This is 1st Sunday of Lent and so we have the opportunity once again to enter into the wilderness space that the Church opens up for us in her liturgical calendar. Lent gives us the chance to be adventurous and try something new. Decisions about prayer and being nourished by the word of God will need to be made. A firm resolve is always helpful in ensuring that we stick to our plans. So today is the day, if we have not done it already, to commit ourselves to stepping away from the familiar and onto this Lenten journey. Of course, all this is done with faith that blessings will be received. It might not be the physical lifting of a trophy, but it could be the ability to raise our hands aloft at the forthcoming feast with a renewed sense of all that God has done is doing for us in Christ.

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Sexagesima Sunday “C” – February 24, 2019

Frackville, From the Pastor /

When Jesus started out on His preaching career in the years before His trial and suffering, He gave people this strange teaching about love for enemies. It stops us in our tracks. Can it possibly be done? In little things we find it easy to forgive one another, to forgive those we love, but to be kind to our enemies seems to be beyond our abilities. Why should we be good to those who hate or hurts us? The answer is because the Lord is asking us to become something very different. We are being asked to become children of the living God. We cannot presume to be God’s children if we do not listen to what the Lord is asking us to do. God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. We are being asked to be like this, to be like God. We are not being asked to give in to others or to their wickedness. Remember Jesus and the man who struck Him in the face.

The Lord seeks for the sinner to repent, and for those who can, to help in the work of rehabilitation, of bringing a person back to life. For loved ones who have been wickedly hurt by the actions of others, the pain of loss can bring on the even worse suffering of unending hatred or deep depression. For example, so many lives are blighted by the loss of loved ones in car crashes. Some of these events are tragic accidents; but others are the result of human carelessness. By ourselves these traumas are too great for us to bear. We need God’s grace to help us cope with the evils that are done under the sun. We are not meant simply to let things go. In the end Jesus was put on a cross and prayed that people be forgiven because they do not understand the terrible things they do. A soldier listening nearby was moved to say, “in truth this man was a son of God.” Compassion is the power that heals. Do we have it?

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