From the Pastor

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

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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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III Sunday in Ordinary Time (“A”) – January 22, 2017

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Everything that the Lord does has relevance for our salvation. The very act of casting nets and gathering in speaks of the role of the apostle. Our Lord is also sanctifying the work of the disciples, and, on a practical level, He is choosing men who were physically tough, used to dealing with sudden storms on the Sea of Galilee.

Whatever our line of work, whatever our skills we have, whatever talents we have, we can recognize them, first of all, as gifts of God. These are, at the same time, our own works and our own gifts and talents.

When we see Jesus choosing the humble Galilean fishermen, and the despised tax collector Matthew, we can be encouraged that all of us have a part to play in building up the kingdom of God. God loves everything God has created, and holds it lovingly in being. God also gives the great privilege of sharing in God’s own redeeming power.

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II Sunday in Ordinary Time (“A”) – January 15, 2017

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The baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, which John the Baptist speaks of to his followers in today’s Gospel, was a moment when the world was changed for ever. Elsewhere the Gospels tell us that John the Baptist didn’t think it was necessary – or even appropriate – for him to baptize Jesus, who was more powerful than himself. John’s baptism required confession of sins and Jesus was without sin. Jesus was baptized in solidarity with the people, taking on the life of the people for the purpose of redemption.

As followers of Christ we share in the baptism of Jesus, the ministry of Christ, the death and the resurrection of Christ. That means that, just as God said to Jesus, “You are my beloved,” God says to each one of us, “You are my beloved.” This is amazing. God loves us and affirms us. God has chosen us too. What does all this mean for the world? God loves each one of us personally, individually and globally with an unconditional love. So if each one of us is a beloved son or daughter of God, like Jesus, that means each one of us is the beloved brother and sister of all God’s children, which means every human being on the planet is our beloved sister or brother, whether a child playing somewhere in China, or a woman making breakfast in Brazil, or a goat herder in the Sudan, or a family in the Philippines, or children in Iraq. Everyone is our sister or brother, so we are called never to hurt anyone. We are God’s beloved, so like Jesus, we are called to treat one another as God’s beloved. Life is good and precious and wonderful, so why waste it on negativity, resentment and cruelty?

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Baptism of the Lord (“A”) – January 8, 2017

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Baptism leaves no visible marks. It is impossible to tell if someone has been baptized, just by looking at that person. This makes baptism a social sacrament. To be baptized and to keep our memory of baptism alive, we are called to keep the life of the Church alive in us. We keep records of baptism, in books and on certificates, but it is more important to be living the life of a baptized person. We are called to make our baptism visible not just to other people but to ourselves, by the way we live our life. After His baptism, Jesus went off to pray alone in the desert, but this was to prepare for the life lived for others, which He was now to begin. The temptations that He was to endure from Satan show this, as they are temptations to force the kingdom of God on humanity by power. Instead Christ calls each human being to an intimate sharing with Him in His work of redemption. How do we answer that call?

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Circumcision of the Lord (“A”) – January 1, 2017

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“The feast of the Circumcision of Christ commemorates the Holy Family’s fulfillment of Leviticus, which required a male child to be circumcised on the 8th day after his birth.

The symbolic significance of circumcision as a sign of the Old Covenant seems to be two-fold. First, it required the shedding of blood, which reminded Israel that sacrifice was required to fulfill the covenant. Second, it marked the organ of reproduction, which reminded Israel that the covenant was with Abraham and his “seed.”

The point of circumcision was to mark off the male children until the arrival of the one particular child who would fulfill the covenant.

Baptism is the sign of the New Covenant that replaced circumcision. Circumcision was an external sign. Baptism points to an inward renewal. This is the main distinction between the Old Covenant and the New. The Law of Moses was written on tablets of stone. Through the Holy Spirit, the Law is now written on our hearts. This fulfills the prophecy of Deuteronomy, which said, “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live”.

The day of circumcision was also when the Jewish people named their children. Our Lord is named “Jesus,” which means, “God saves.” Baptism is when we “Name this child”. Christians typically name their children in advance of baptism. The significance of naming in baptism is not the meaning of the name. Rather, the Christian name is the name by which God knows us, since we become His adopted children in baptism.

This all gives us some perspective with which to approach the New Year. Today is, after all, also New Year’s Day. In the light of the truth that Jesus has fulfilled the Law for us and that we are sons of God and heirs of the covenant promises through baptism and faith, we ought to resist the temptation to approach the New Year the way the world does, with the pattern of bold resolution destined for failure.

Part of our inheritance “in Christ” is freedom from captivity to the pattern of behavior that characterizes the world. Life in Christ begins with success. God makes us His children by grace. He forgives us and accepts us as we are. Then, by grace, God begins to do His will in our lives.

Christ has come. He has fulfilled the Old Covenant. God’s gift to us, given in baptism and received through faith, is that we are now the sons of God of and heirs of all His covenant promises. Thus, for the New Year, resolve, as the epistle says, to “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).”

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Christmas Day (“A”) – December 25, 2016

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St. John’s prologue, opening his Gospel, tells us that Jesus is the light that enlightens all people. It is a powerful statement. In our time the word “enlightenment” is most often used to refer to the great growth of scientific knowledge and enquiry during the 17th and 18th centuries, which sought to understand the world by the sole means of human reasoning and intelligence. God has taken steps to make himself known to us and in a way that is at once humbling and magnificent.

In order to know Jesus we are called to listen to Him and speak with Him. This is what the disciples did in their lifetime, coming to know this special person very well. When the Lord was crucified it looked like a disaster, but the resurrection opened their eyes to the dawning truth. Jesus is the Son of God. He is the living Lord. This is amazing gift of Christmas. Not only that God became a child for us, but that by God’s grace now we may become children of God in this broken world.

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Fourth Sunday of Advent (“A”) – December 18, 2016

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Joseph was a man of deep faith who listened to the voice of God. He struggled to make sense of the message that Mary had given him. Sometimes Joseph heard God speak to him through his dreams, at other times in a moment of quiet prayer, sometimes at the end of the day when he looked over the events of work, relationship and family. He knew that God is a God of mystery and that in history God had always called people to take risks and live with the unpredictable nature of life. Joseph wandered why God was testing his faith. He thought the the easiest thing would be to abandon Mary and start again. However, he loved her and knew that she was honest, true and had great integrity. He asked himself why life was so complicated, just when all had seemed so good as he prepared to marry Mary. He struggled with God in prayer during the night and eventually went to sleep. Joseph needed to accept this fact, care for Mary and support her at this strange but wonderful time. How mysterious are the ways of God.

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Second Sunday of Advent (“A”) – December 4, 2016

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St. John is pointing us to Christ, just as He did for the people who came to hear him preach in his day. He tells us to repent that we may be saved. St. John convicts and Jesus absolves. And so the Church urges us in Advent to seek out the Sacrament of Confession, or reconciliation, for it provides the healing we need. It gives us the opportunity to examine our lives and so see what is keeping us from Christ this Advent. And so although Jesus teaches us that we are not to judge other people, we can use this opportunity to judge our own lives so that we may accept God’s forgiveness and healing. We acknowledge those things weigh us down and keep us from God so that we may be liberated. Then when we are absolved we shall be ready to welcome our Savior when He comes to us at Christmas.

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First Sunday of Advent (“A”) – November 27, 2016

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Advent is a time when we are called to reflect upon the things in our lives that make us less human. Such reflection can be painful when it brings to mind those things that we have done – or that have been done to us – which have damaged our humanity. In order to find peace and healing it is important to see there is no one who cares for us and loves us no matter what we have done and cooperate with his transforming love. This doesn’t mean that all the effects of our damaged humanity will be healed overnight. We are complex creatures and the healing of our wounds and emotions takes time, and perhaps will never be complete in this life. Nor does it mean we should not find appropriate human help for our problems whether through professionals or through friends and family. But at the deepest level of our being the coming of Jesus Christ into this world enables us to live in hope that humanity will be healed and transformed through His love.

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