From the Pastor

Resurrection Day (“A”) – April 16, 2017

From the Pastor /

​The mystery of Jesus’ empty tomb has continued to fascinate throughout the centuries. Mary Magdalene is the first to discover that it is empty. When Peter and John get to the tomb, John hesitates. He stands on the threshold of the tomb. Peter goes straight in and also sees the evidence, though we are not told what he makes of it. However, when John symbolically crosses the threshold of the tomb, something happens within him. Even without seeing the risen Jesus, it suddenly makes sense for him: he sees and he believes. It’s not the risen Lord that he sees, just the clues of His resurrection. Mary had seen those same clues and naturally assumed the body had been taken away – it’s only when she actually meets the risen Lord that she comes to believe. But John is able to intuit this awesome truth simply from the fact of the empty tomb, from the fragments of Jesus’ burial cloths – and so surely from the fragments of his memory of Jesus’ teaching on the resurrection from the dead.

“They have taken my Lord and I don’t know where they have taken Him.” Mary is every woman, every man. There are inevitebly times in our life when we feel the desolation of loss – loss of loved ones, loss of hope, even loss of faith, when the Lord himself does indeed seem to have been the dynamics of how we come to faith. Peter sees the empty tomb, but says nothing. He needs more time, more experience before he can come to full faith. But he remains open to the possibility. John is able to cross the threshold of faith by holding his sense of loss and his experience of the emptiness of the tomb on the one hand, and bringing it into connection with his memory of the Lord on the other. An empty tomb is not proof of resurrection. Religious scholars may argue over it, like archeologists quarreling over king Tut’s tomb, but our faith does not rest on physical proof. „The time life you have is hidden with Christ in God,” St. Paul tells the Colossians. It’s not the tomb, but our faith does not rest on physical proof. „The life you have is hidden with Christ in God,” Paul tells the Colossians. It’s not in the tomb that we will find the proof we seek. The resurrection – our encounter with the risen Lord – can actually happen within the hidden chamber of our own hearts. That is where we meet Him today – in our searching, in our prayer, in our pain and in our persevering love.

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Passion Sunday (“A”) – April 2, 2017

From the Pastor /

Today Jesus talks about death not in cosmic apocalyptic events but in close loving relationships. Martha and Mary inform Him about their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus loves. At first Jesus seems indifferent and delays going to help then reassures them that the illness will not end in death. Jesus speaks powerful words, which we often hear at funerals: “ I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in Me, even though he dies he will live.” Jesus is moved to tears by the grief of those He loves and angry at the reality of death in His friend. But then He performs the greatest sign of His ministry as He calls Lazarus from the grave. And Lazarus is freed from death.

The raising of Lazarus is the greatest sign Jesus performs but, like the other signs we have seen in Lent, the giving of “living water” to a thirsty woman and sight to a blind man, it points to the greater reality of the resurrection, which we celebrate at Easter. Lazarus was raised from the dead but he had to die again. He would need again the funeral clothes that are cast aside when Jesus rises on the third day. At the resurrection Jesus conquers death. On the last day we believe that Christ will come again in glory to bring His creation to share fully in His resurrection.

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IV Sunday of Lent (“A”) – March 26, 2017

Frackville, From the Pastor /

In the ancient Jewish world, blindness was not just a physical ailment. In popular thought it carried a terrible stigma. This arose from a false interpretation of the Law of Moses, which stated that people who were blind or lame could not fight in the army of God’s people. There was good reason for this: soldiers who cannot move fast or see the enemy are not going to be much help to their comrades. However, an extreme interpretation of the rule concluded wrongly that anyone who could not fight in God’s army could never enter God’s kingdom. The next step was to class them as sinners, and that in turn led them being refused word and reduced to begging. Jesus denies that the man’s blindness was caused by anyone’s sin: on the contrary, this man will make God’s works visible. This passage is long and complicated, but we hear of a formerly blind man – notice how briefly the miracle itself is described: over and done with in a couple of sentences – who becomes increasingly full of life and who very soon teaches the Pharisees the ways of God. They become more obsessed about how a sinner could possibly open the eyes of a man born blind. They furiously insist that they are disciples of Moses.

There is another aspect to this light/darkness scenario, exemplified by the parents of the blind man. They’re asked if this is their son, if he was born blind and, if so, how he can now see. They reply “yes” to the first two questions, but refuse to comment on his new sight. “He is old enough: let him speak for himself,” they say, because they fear being expelled from the synagogue if they are perceived to be followers of Jesus. In the Gospels people either accept Jesus as the light, or they reject Him, remaining in darkness. There is no middle road. Later, Jesus will insist that there is only one sign for those who claim to be His disciples, who follow His light: they love one another in the same way that He loved us.

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III Sunday of Lent (“A”) – March 19, 2017

From the Pastor /

We don’t know her name, but the Samaritan woman in today’s Gospel has the longest conversation recorded between Jesus and any person. It was noon on a hot day. Jesus, tired from traveling, chose a rest stop – Jacob’s well, outside the town of Sychar – while waiting for His disciples to fetch food. The woman who joined Him at the well was an outcast, looked down upon by her own people. She came alone to draw water from the community well when, during biblical times, drawing water and chatting at the well was the social highpoint of many women’s day. But this woman was ostracized and marked as immoral woman living openly with the sixth in a series of men. Jews weren’t supposed to speak to Samaritans. Men weren’t permitted to address women without their husbands present. Jesus was willing to ignore the rules, but the woman reminded Him. She focused on the laws of respectable society; Jesus focused on grace. To this woman Jesus revealed that He was the Messiah, offering the living water. She forgot about her own need to fetch water, and ran to tell others about Jesus. She became a powerful evangelist.

The story of the woman at the well teaches us that God loves every one of us, especially those of us who feel ourselves undervalued and even worthless.

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I Sunday of Lent (“A”) – March 5, 2017

From the Pastor /

The story of the Fall, which we heard in today’s 1st reading, endlessly fascinates us because it is also the story of Everyman and Everywoman, of each one of us. We are like our first Adam and Eva, who chose to go against God and to be satisfied by eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The effects of sin bring about the downfall of others. The result are disastrous; the relationship with God is broken, their own relationship is damaged and they feel shame. They find it hard to look at each other, and will need to work for their living and experience the suffering of hard labor and toil. Remarkably God doesn’t not forget them and is abundant to them because God wants them to find a way back into God’s love. God is always planting new seeds in our hearts. The Lord forgives us when we return to Him in the sacrament of reconciliation and our hearts are cleansed.

Lent is about the expansion of the heart so that it becomes more loving and generous. First, prayer opens the heart and helps us to listen to God’s word. Second, the invitation to fast expands our hearts so that we become more aware of the ways that we so often focus on satisfying our own needs and desires rather than being willing to open our hearts to our neighbor. Fasting can make us more grateful for what we have received and more generous to others in their need. Third, we can develop our Lenten exercises by giving to others, especially through almsgiving and charitable works. By the end of Lent, with plenty of exercise, our spiritual heart will be in better shape and more ready to resist temptation and place its trust in God.

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Quinquagesima Sunday (“A”) – February 26, 2017

From the Pastor /

Many people live very stressful, busy rushing from place to place, trying to make ends meet and worrying about the future. There are many things to worry us if we let them, genuine concerns over health, housing, hope for the future – all these things are real enough and can bear heavily upon us. The Lord is aware of these issues of anxiety and He does not take them lightly. He addresses them directly. We worry about food for the table and clothes for our children and a roof over our head and security for our future. Life is about these things, but as the Lord reminds us today life is also about much more than these things. Life is about where you set your heart. If your heart is centered in the right place, if you focus your energies on right living and on God’s honest truth, then worry will fade away. Our place in the world is to be the children of God and to live according to the spirit of God’s kingdom. When that happens the power of worry fades and faith grows strong. The issues of life are always there for us but now they no longer loom over us as a threat or dark cloud. We will negotiate life on God’s terms, and God’s ways are peace.

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Sexagesima Sunday (“A”) – February 19, 2017

From the Pastor /

In the Sermon on the Mount, which has formed our Gospel readings over the last few Sunday’s, Jesus is explaining what the Beatitudes mean in practice.

When faced with words such as “holiness” or “perfection”, our first reaction may be to distance ourselves from them. Such terms belong to saints. They don’t come into the orbit of our everyday world. It is true that we are not required to live at these heights every moment. Jesus asks us to consider that, if we are His true followers, we all have the potential to respond at this level. We can all follow in His footsteps. The times when we are asked to give ourselves so utterly are few and far between. But we prepare ourselves for such challenges by the way we live through the day-to-day moments of our lives.

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Septugesima Sunday (“A”) – February 12, 2017

From the Pastor /

The character that emerges from the Gospels is both gentle and strong, peaceable and forthright, calm and courageous. Never in His dealings does Jesus act in a violent manner, nor does He say things to provoke people to riot or revolt. Yet His every word is challenging and demanding. His call asks for nothing else than everything by way of commitment to Him. In His words that we hear today, part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus will not settle for outward observance or superficial fulfillment of God’s commandments. It is not enough not to kill your enemy; you must seek actively to be at peace with the enemy. It is not enough to avoid adultery; you must live a sexually honest life. It is not enough to avoid the big sins; all sins are damaging. There is no need to swear oaths; just use honest and straightforward speech. These are the deep roots of true life, of good life, and nothing less will do, says the Lord. The great wisdom that we are asked to learn calls us to love one another.

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V Sunday in Ordinary Time (“A”) – February 5, 2017

From the Pastor /

Reading the prophet Isaiah, we find that when God enlightens our mind and heart, we begin to see things differently. We discover our responsibility for the life and welfare of others, especially those who are poor and oppressed. Enlightened by grace, we are moved to share our bread with those who are hungry, care for those who are homeless and oppressed; when we do this, we bring light and hope into the darkness of their lives. By the light of God’s grace, we see and we are seen. In the Gospel, Jesus lets His disciples know that He hasn’t shared the light of His love with them so that they can keep it to themselves. He wants His light to shine in them and through them for all the world to see.

When we think about all the issues that face our world today, we can be overwhelmed and wonder how we can possibly make a difference. The lives of millions of people across the globe have been disrupted by war and violence. Wherever we look, the darkness is closing around us. We need a light to help us navigate through this hopeless prospect. Jesus has enlightened us with a Gospel of love. He has sent us to bring the light of His love to others. With the light of Christ, we ourselves can see and we will be seen helping the world to avoid the greatest catastrophe of self-destruction.

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IV Sunday in Ordinary Time (“A”) – January 29, 2017

From the Pastor /

The Gospel gives a summary of Jesus’ activity. He preaches in synagogues, He heals sick people; this does begin to sound like Good News for those involved. Today’s passage consists of the most familiar of all Gospel text, covering a surprising range from ordinary Sundays and weekdays to major seasons, from funerals to weddings, and on a variety of commemorations, sacramental ceremonies and saints’ days. The one who proclaims the Good News assumes the guise of an authoritative teacher. In New Testament times, teachers simply sat down in an open space and began to teach. In the Beatitudes, Jesus makes plain what the Good News consists of: it is the possession of the list: the kingdom of heaven.

The Good news is that the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus turned word into action when He cured sick people, cleansed lepers, forgave sinners; that is when He made the words of Beatitudes a concrete reality for those whose lives were broken. In Jesus’ final sermon in Matthew, in the last judgment parable, He tells His followers that whatever they behaved towards the least of His brothers and sisters is the way they behaved to Christ himself.

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