Ordinary Time

Sunday in the Octave of Corpus Christi (“A”) – June 18, 2017

From the Pastor /

When life begins for any of us those first gifts are the ones we need. We need the presence of those who love us. We need the daily nourishment of food so that w emay grow stronger. And we need the joy and the interest and the stimulus of others, wider family and friends to introduce us to the world. When the Lord began to form His own family, His community of disciples, His first gift to them was His very presence. They lived with Him night and day. Each day they grew in their understanding of Him and of who He was. His presence inspired them and gave them joy and hope for life. He fed them with every word He said and the people flocked to hear what He would say. This word was truly nourishing to their lives. A new company was born into the world, the followers of Christ, and it was the word of Jesus and the presence of Jesus that nourished and formed this family. His presence among us would now take the form of a sacred and sacrificial meal, a sacramental gift to bind His Church. Present in these sacred signs, in His word and in bread and wine, the Lord would preserve and nourish His Church throughout the ages. His followers, now called His friends, indeed His brothers and sisters, would become the living presence of the Lord in the world.

By receiving the Body and Blood of Christ into ourselves we can become part of that living Lord in this world. The first manifestation of this is our human presence to others. To be present to others is a simple and powerful act of self-giving. To be present to others in an attentive and kindly manner is to allow the grace of the Lord to be there at work in the world. The second manifestation of Christ is in our speaking. Whenever our words are kind and thoughtful, patient and understanding, then the word of God is alive and active through us. People’s lives are nourished by the words they hear from us. The third gift of Christ to the world comes through the sharing of love and affection, kindness and consolation. The company of the Lord, His friends, live by this spirit. And so the feast of Corpus Christi is the feast of life’s fullness. The presence of the Lord among us, the gift of Himself in the holy Sacrament, and the joy of being part of His company, the Church, is what we celebrate today: gathered together, fed by His word and sent out into the world.

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Most Holy Trinity (“A”) – June 11, 2017

From the Pastor /

We cannot actually know God fully. Our attempts to get a grasp on God by natural reflection are better at telling us what God is not rather than what God is. The Church always taught there is no contradiction between the God of reason and the God of faith, but our faith takes us into realms of perception and imagination that reason struggles with. The mystery of the Holy Trinity emerged gradually in the Church’s thinking and teaching, and there have been many different ways of reflecting on it. What God reveals to us is always for our salvation. That is why God the Father sends His Son into the world. The Son has come not to condemn the world but so that through Him the world might be saved. We, His followers, are the ones who proclaim that message and who try in our lives to live out the pattern of truth and love expressed in the mystery of His own life which God has shared with us.

When things go wrong in our lives, when we lose our jobs, fall ill or have any sort of trial or tribulation, we need those who are close to us to hold us and help to offer each other excitement and adventure, risk and new horizons, challenge and inspiration.

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Pentecost (“A”) – June 4, 2017

Frackville, From the Pastor /

On the day of Pentecost the disciples, likewise, were afraid of what might happen to them. The huddled together in an upper room with locked doors, waiting for something to happen. The Lord had promised them that the Spirit would come and so they waited. Now the room shook and the sound of the wind could be heard, and the vision of tongues of fire came upon each one of them. Each individual and the whole group together were gifted with the coming of the Spirit. It didn’t take long for the effects of that Spirit to be seen and heard.

This day is known as the „birthday” of the Church. We were born on this day. The Spirit came and enlivened a group that had almost died. The risen Lord sent His living Spirit to be our life. Each oen of us, as well as the whole Church together, receives the gift, and the gift is to be used. We begin with a gift of peace. Not the world’s peace, initially, but our own. We seek to grow in the gift of a peaceful mind and heart, and peaceful relationships in our life. The second gift is the mission. You are sent out from this church into the world around you. You are able, with the Spirit’s help, to be outgoing and to help bring a gift of peace into the lives of those you live with and work with. You have a responsibility now. It is a grace given to you. Do not let it go for nothing. Finally, the third gift is the grace to reconcile people who are at war with one another. There is the power to forgive others and the power to call people to justice. Do you believe this? Do you accept this? Come, Holy Spirit.

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

From the Pastor /

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

From the Pastor /

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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Thirty Third Sunday (“C”) – November 13, 2016

From the Pastor /

The Church invites us to think about the end of things. Our world, in which we spend so much time planning and securing our worldly future, is only temporary. Our own lives in this world will not last for ever, but, while on earth, we have a duty to be faithful witnesses to the message of peace and love given by Jesus. Jesus warns that His followers will be manhandled, persecuted, summoned before synagogues and imprisoned because of their faith. Some will be betrayed by family, relatives and friends. Jesus asks His followers to remain committed to Him in an often hostile environment. He counsels them not to be frightened but to be faithful. Each follower is encouraged to accept whatever persecution or rejection may come as an opportunity for witnessing to that commitment.

The Gospel challenges us to get involved in the world, working for the common good, justice and peace. Jesus urges His followers not to be passive, complacent or apathetic, but to be willing to take a stand to promote God’s kingdom, regardless of cost. We are called to remain steadfast in our faith in God’s reign. In our times, we are seeing terrible famines, wars and environmental crises, which are threatening life as we have known it, and they frighten us. Jesus promises that good will triumph over evil, love over hate, justice and peace over injustice and war, life over death. However, for many of us, the problem is not anxiety about the end of our world but living as if there were an eternity of tomorrow. The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel are ignored. Yet the readings remind us how short and precious life is, calling us to reflect upon our lives, urging us to look ahead to see where we are headed and ask ourselves: What do we need to go to get ready for Christ?

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Thirty Second Sunday (“C”) – November 6, 2016

From the Pastor /

Today’s readings confront us with the question of what death is – and what comes after. And that question is important because it helps us to shape how we live in the present. In the first reading, those 7 brothers were able to endure terrible hardship because of their faith in God’s ability to raise them up after death. Their belief in the resurrection enabled them to remain true to their identity, to their values, to their God. In the Gospel, the Sadducees, who believed there is no afterlife, dragged up a little-used law about marrying your dead brother’s wife in order to ridicule Jesus’ belief in the resurrection of the dead. Jesus says that for those who belong to God, there is no need for such devices to try to cheat death. Those who have died and “are judged worthy” are living with God, where there is no need to think of marrying and having children to try to preserve your name or to carry on the human race. Why? Quite simply, because there is no more death. Jesus is crystal clear: this life is not the end. God wants us to live in God’s presence for ever.

Our belief in the resurrection shows us that to God, life is absolutely important. God created us for life, not death. God is God of the living, Jesus tells us, and what we do with our life determines our future life with God. Faith in the resurrection led the 7 brothers to resist an evil king. It led Jesus to the cross. For Christians, it leads us to cherish life in the here and now and to defend life for all – especially those whose quality of life is most threatened.

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Thirty First Sunday (“C”) – October 30, 2016

From the Pastor /

For many people in Jericho, Zacchaeus was a write-off, a selfish waste of space. He was beyond the pale and beyond redemption. Many people in the world believe this to be true of others. The selfish behavior of human beings can lead us to conclude that this world is beyond saving. Certainly the extremes of violence that we see and hear of every day tend to make us feel somewhat hopeless about the prospects for a brighter future. Recent scientific studies by the Common Cause Foundation have turned up surprisingly positive results about human beings. The first says that we are far more unselfish than we are given credit for. The second conclusion is that others are thought to be more selfish than in fact they are. Science is coming to the same conviction that our faith already teaches us. Human kindness is greater than human wickedness. Salvation can come to this house. Followers of the Lord live by this conviction.

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