From the Pastor

Fourth Sunday of Easter (“C”) – April 17, 2016

From the Pastor /

When Jesus uses the image of sheep to describe those in His care, He is describing a situation to which His listeners can easily relate. In the Old Testament, priests, prophets and kings failed in their responsibilities to such an extent that God the Father took back the flock into His personal care, and now they are entrusted to Jesus, the good shepherd. Sheep need a shepherd to look after them, to guide them and keep them safe. Just as parents recognize the different cries of their own children, so the good shepherd listens for the cry of His sheep. And just as children recognize the voice of their parents, so those who belong to Jesus listen for His voice and follow Him.

Perhaps we can gather from what we have already said that God’s house as described by Jesus is not some many-roomed country mansion, good to look at but impossible to live in. The church is not a museum to be visited, holding the treasures of a bygone age. The Church is a community of people who care about the world in which we live. The care about the people among whom we live, especially those who are most in need. Today we ask God to help us all to recognize the voice of the good shepherd and to follow Him; to understand, however, that we are not just sheep who follow, but sharers with Jesus in His mission to seek out and save those who are lost. Today is a day for all of us to commit ourselves in such a way that young people from our community will feel that a call to priesthood is a natural and normal way to find happiness and fulfillment for their lives; to be shepherds and not museum guides.

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Third Sunday of Easter (“C”) – April 10, 2016

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The story of Jesus’ appearance by the See of Galilee after the resurrection is one of the great dramatic stories in the New Testament. Most of the disciples had returned to Galilee and were just sitting around until Peter perked them up by suggesting that they went fishing. A man shouts to them from the shore and tells them where to cast the net and find fish. Immediately, the nets are heaving with the catch. When the disciples reach shore, they realized it is Jesus, and He feeds them. On the shores of the See of Galilee they once more find themselves called. Peter especially is asked to reaffirm his love for Jesus 3 times, overriding his denying of Jesus 3 times. What Jesus always did among the disciples He does again – He gives life and hope in abundance.

Being followers of Jesus gives our lives meaning and direction. We are often busy but without a strong sense of purpose and meaning. Mission today includes recognizing our connection in love with the natural world that is God’s creation. As we offer God the “fruit of the earth” in the Eucharist, we are called to respond to the world’s poor people, who are struggling to survive amidst the diminishing abundance of the natural world and ravages caused by climate change. We also reflect that followers of Jesus are called to be people of hope. Amidst the disappointments in everyday life or the violence in today’s world or human abuse of God’s creation, we are to look for the signs of hope and retain a positive vision. Even when we feel unworthy and powerless, God is with us and blesses us.

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Second Sunday of Easter (“C”) – April 3, 2016

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Jesus picked 12. To start with, they were very different. There was a core of fishermen (Peter, Andrew, James, John) but there was also a tax collector (Matthew). They came from different places around the Sea of Galilee, and had strong feelings about other villages. Our Lord took them and molded them into disciples. He taught them to bury their differences and work together, although occasionally this went wrong, as when James and John put in a bid for preferential treatment. He issued them with basic rules for going out to preach the kingdom of God: not to take extra clothes or spare cash, for instance; to accept hospitality where offered; not to hang about where they weren’t wanted, but to shake the dust off their feet and move on. But the time did come when individual character triumphed over training. Judas went off and betrayed the Lord. Peter made bombastic promises, but lost his nerve and denied Jesus. The others made themselves scarce in this of crucifixion. Only John was there at the foot of the cross. After the resurrection, none of them believed Mary Magdalene when she said she had seen the risen Lord. John believed, Peter wasn’t sure what to think. Then the twelve barricaded themselves in the upper room out of fear. Thomas wasn’t there. When Thomas heard that Jesus had visited the ten, he stubbornly refused to believe without physically touching and feeling. A week later he surrendered: “My Lord and my God!”

Some of disciples inclined to believe, some were skeptical. If it hadn’t been for Pentecost, the would have gone their separate ways, and their time with Jesus would have been just a memory. But God had other plans. Look at our first reading today. There are the old familiar faces, but signs and wonders are being worked through them. The crowds revere them, and thousands are seeking baptism. If we read a little further in the Acts of the Apostles, we find them being sent to jail, we find them taking on opposition for Jesus’ sake, which previously would have made them quake in their boots. That’s why the Holy Spirit did, and does. The risen Christ lives again in His disciples.

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Holy Saturday – March 26, 2016

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Actions, they say, speak louder than words. Today is full of unique actions and symbols that even in silence may touch our hearts. The dancing flames of the new fire were in honor of our Savior. The Paschal Candle leading us into church symbolized our Easter Lord leading us towards heaven. The sweet sounds of Exsultet were the song of the Church rejoicing.

Soon we shall rejoice with those being welcomed into the Church today, and renew our baptismal vows and be sprinkled with holy water, itself a symbol of baptism. We have gathered together, like the women in the Gospel. But our task is not to anoint a dead body: it is to meet our risen Lord in this first Easter Eucharist.

We know that the resurrection is a reality that makes us what we are – an Easter people, a people who amidst the darkness and difficulties of life carry in our hearts a secret joy that nothing can take away. And, please God, we also carry a humble determination to proclaim through our daily living the fascinating, glorious news of the resurrection.

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Good Friday – March 25, 2016

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Jesus of John’s Gospel is indeed a king. He has no need of a Simon of Cyrene to help Him on the way to Calvary; majestically He goes forth, carrying the cross himself, as if it were a symbol of victory. And His final words are, “It is accomplished”. In presenting the passion story in this way, St. John isn’t out to minimize the sickening cruelty, the agonizing suffering, the most monstrous injustice of Jesus’ death. It’s simply that for him the crucifixion of Jesus is, above all, the triumph of love and goodness; for him the cross of Calvary is already bathed in the glory of Easter light. And that insight has never been lost to the Church. Edward Shillito, a Christian poet who lived through the horrors of the WW1, wrote: “The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak;/ They rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne;/ But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,/ And not a God has wounds but thou alone”. Christ, our King, thank You for the precious wounds, Your glory and our way to glory too.

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Maundy Thursday – March 24, 2016

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As Jesus approaches His death He is concerned with what His disciples will make of His legacy. In St. John’s Gospel we are given a long “farewell” discourse. In it Jesus prepares His disciples for what is about to happen to Him, and promises that after He has left them His Father will send the Spirit to help them. This evening we are given the account of how before the feast of the Passover Jesus washes the feet of His disciples and tells them to do the same for each other. The washing of feet that takes place today is not a sacrament but a symbolic act by which we make present the commandment of love.

Those things we inherit from those we love can make them present to us. The scriptures and the sacraments of the Church are the inheritance that Jesus Christ has left for us. Do we hold them with the love and respect that speak of our love for Him? This question can be asked of us individually, but it can also be asked of us as a community. What role does the word of God play in our life? Do we as communities of Christians make God’s word central to all we do? Do we treat the sacraments with reverence and place them at the heart of our Christian communities? Scripture and sacraments are the words and acts of Jesus Christ. Through them He calls each one of us to share in the love that brings us healing and unites us to God. There are times in our life when we fail to place His legacy at the center of our lives, but at such times He calls us to place ourselves in His hands and allow Him to wash our feet. In this way we learn to love as He has loved us, and become living signs of His love.

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Palm Sunday (C) – March 20, 2016

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In St. Luke’s passion, we hear Christ first speaking to His disciples at the Last Supper. He wants to teach them the meaning of the death He is about to undergo. He gives them His body and blood as an act of sacrifice, but this is not what they are seeing. They are arguing about status and who is the greatest among them. Jesus tells them they are not to imitate the ways of the world, where dominating power is the prize. Among His disciples the one who serves is the greatest. But His teaching is hard. Jesus is faithful to His word and suffers the judgment of the world. He is condemned to the horrible death of crucifixion. He is stripped naked and nailed to the wood of the cross between two criminals. As His enemies insult Him He puts His teaching into practice and asks His Father to forgive them.

As He hangs dying, weak and vulnerable, one criminal ridicules Him but the other turns to Him, asking to be saved: “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” He has seen in the face of Christ the saving power of God and finds redemption: “Indeed, I promise you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”

Today we have welcomed Christ to Jerusalem; when we adore and worship Christ this Good Friday, we will be able to reaffirm our faith, as His disciples, that it is by His holy cross that He has redeemed the world.

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Passion Sunday (C) – March 13, 2016

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We are moving towards the end of lent, a season of repentance traditionally seen as a time for “giving up” something, of fasting, giving away and prayer. In the light of God’s word to us today, we can reflect on how these are all ways of “letting go” of the things that so often ensnare us, of our own needs and appetites, our own self-determination even.

It is a good exercise, at this time of our year, to spend a little time reflecting on what in our past we are still holding on to, in ways that hold us back from following Jesus more fully. There may be sins, long forgiven, but which still shape our thinking and behavior; our routines and disciplines that were once life-giving and helpful, but which are now empty and deadening. For all of us there will be things we are being called to leave behind so as do be freer still to walk with our Lord. To identify some small way in which we could take a step away from these past burdens and towards God’s “new thing” in our life is the Lenten invitation for the coming week. It is such a letting go that will enable us to respond to the freedom Jesus offers us in His compassion and forgiveness: He lets go of our past sins and difficulties, but we are called to do so too. Then we can be free to follow Him into a new life, confident in His companionship.

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IV Sunday of Lent (C) – March 6, 2016

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We see dynamic story at work in the Gospel of the so called prodigal son, though with a twist. The younger son is indeed prodigal – wasteful and dissolute. He has forgotten his father, his family and even his faith as he is reduced to working as a swineherd. It is there, at his lowest ebb, that he “comes to his senses”: he remembers, and the key thing he remembers is his father – his father’s house, his father’s goodness, his father’s love. The twist is that Jesus told this story to the scribes and Pharisees who were grumbling that Jesus was mixing with tax collectors and sinners and eating with them. They are represented in the figure of the elder son who cannot countenance forgiving the younger son. He can only remember the wrong his brother has committed, and so he is unable to forgive.

We are invited to bring resolution to this unfinished story. It is unfinished because we don’t know what the elder son did next. As the camera fades out, we are left wondering what the elder son will do, and importantly: what I will do? Jesus poses this startling challenge to us: will you embrace the way of forgiveness in your own life, and so join the celebration of God’s mercy, or do you prefer to stay outside, clinging to your memory of hurts, anger and offenses?

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III Sunday of Lent (C) – February 28, 2016

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The Gospel leaves some major questions unanswered. How can God allow innocent people to suffer and die? It would almost be easier to understand a god who instantly punishes sins, but Jesus clearly distances himself (and His Father) from any such conclusion. Of course, this is what causes people to ask, “How can God allow innocent people to suffer?” There is some helpful biblical background to this issue in today’s first reading: the conversation between Moses and God via the burning bush. What God says to Moses is, “I have heard the cry of my people in their distress…I mean to respond to their need.” This applies to the distress of God’s people who are slaves in Egypt. God pledges to free them, but there is also the revelation of the name by which God chooses to be known: “I Am” meaning “the one who always is”. We can conclude, then, that God always hears the cry of God’s people in their distress, and always responds. The Good News that Jesus reveals is that He is God’s response to our need. In Jesus, God doesn’t take away human suffering; God shares in it. Every parent knows the impossibility of taking away a child’s pain; like every parent, God our Father shares the suffering of all His children. The death of Jesus guarantees this, and His resurrection points to the total destruction of all suffering, all pain, all sorrow.

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