Anger and forgiveness
Today’s readings are of a piece and remind us once more of one of the greatest and deeply felt of human passions – anger, rage, hatred, animosity, a desire for revenge, resentment. It is the deliberate harbouring of these emotions that are so un-Christian.
We need examples of forgiveness to inspire us, that it is possible and attainable, and worth letting go of deeply held rage and violations.
The funny thing about anger is that we often fail to recognise that if the world is full of angry people (and if I am one of them) where does all this anger come from, and have I caused other people to be angry? I have to accept and admit to occasions when I have made mistakes. Perhaps I have said and done something tactless (I know I have, and recall being corrected, and rightly so – and remembering the pain of correction can also be embarrassing). I know there are times when I have been misunderstood, that the intention of something I was attempting to say or do was jumped on and exploited, or totally misinterpreted by someone.
Any reasoning with some people is fruitless as sadly there are some people who, for their own reasons, insist in being offended at every turn, or see the worst in everything or are suspicious of other’s motives or are prickly to begin with. We tip-toe around them for an easy life; rather than face up to them, which is actually what they may want or need. They respect people more for facing up to them, and often back off, whereas my knee-jerk response is to avoid conflict; but the day comes when there is a long-awaited and necessary showdown!
I have to accept as a fact of life too that there are just some people I will never fully understand or get along with – we are totally incompatible, and have nothing in common, so the effort to attempt to do so is too much for us, but the best we can do is wish them peace and move along.
However we must try everything that is within our power to forgive and overcome anger.
There are some steps in the 12 step AA programme that are applicable to all and are worth living by. The steps in relation to anger include steps 5, 8, 9 and 10.
THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS : We...
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Is anger always wrong?
There can be righteous anger and indignation over injustice, but I have all too rarely showed it and thought to do something about it. The point is that this anger or energy can be directed for good, to overcome what I perceive to be wrongs and injustices, as well as exerting effort to do something constructive and positive. Not just to forgive, but to create conditions in my life and in my society where seeking forgiveness is not necessary, because I am a force for peace, and grant forgiveness readily.
It is true what they say, ‘to err is human, to forgive divine’. With God, all things are possible. That is why frequent confession helps me not only to be forgiven, but slowly and surely, to be healed where humanly impossible.
The root of so much human unhappiness is pride, which can leads so easily to anger. We also have to forgive ourselves, oddly, and it then becomes easier to forgive others, because we can then identity the faults in them which we also have (or had), and therefore we become more tolerant and understanding. We say to ourselves, ‘I see how that could happen’ or ‘I can see how he/she could come to that wrong conclusion.’ An analysis of our own faults, weaknesses and frailty helps us to be more accepting of these same faults in others. That is the road to peace.
'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us'.
Sixth Sunday of the Year A
Sixth Sunday of Year A
'For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.'
Many of us are familiar with the TV comedy series ‘Keeping up appearances’ and the snob, Mrs Bucket, who tries to hide her common background and circumstances, yet fails miserably to impress those she wants to look good for. We laugh at her vanity, maybe because we can identify with some hint of it secretly in ourselves when we have fallen flat on our faces, or because we know neighbours or acquaintances who think they are fooling us, but are in fact fooling only themselves.
A measure of our maturity or honesty is how readily we can laugh at ourselves and share the joke with others. Blessed are those who do not take themselves too seriously.
We naturally judge people in terms of how they present themselves – for a job interview, for a social occasion, or we admire someone in uniform – and their attention to detail, such as shiny shoes or buttons, does say something about how seriously they take themselves and their role, as well as not letting the side down, as it were, in their profession. We rightly tut-tut at sloppiness in uniform, or someone badly dressed for an occasion. I think of Groucho Marx’s line to a girl who said, ‘I just had enough time to throw on this dress’ to which he replied ‘you nearly missed!’
We judge beauty after a while, however, beyond skin level. Over time as we get to know someone better, appearances simply don’t matter. Friendship, loyalty, reliability, kindness, openness and trust are qualities that tend to endear us to a person over the long haul, much more than what the world might describe as ‘glamorous’.
Surface superficial discipleship is not pleasing to the Lord. To be focussed merely on external appearances, what one looks like. Just as beauty is only skin deep, so can virtue be. We might often ask someone ‘how do I look?’ awaiting praise or an honest comment. That is one thing – to present oneself respectably. It is quite another to do so in an insincere way in a bid to outshine others or to do so that attracts attention and praise for one’s seeming virtue and personal glory as the Pharisees did. The problem for the Pharisees therefore is the cultivated sense of superiority and looking down on others in judgment – usually in a condemning and self-satisfied way - that external emphasis alone can engender, the danger that it is a virtue in itself and is empty show.
Insincerity points to a deep inner flaw that serves as a warning to all of us who desire to keep God’s commandments - lack of integrity, being a hypocrite, ‘looking good’ on the outside, being false and superficial, living a virtuous life that is shallow, merely keeping the rules out of habit and, yes ‘keeping up appearances’.
Even to go to Jerusalem today it is quite striking to note the emphasis on modest dress, on sober colours, on unshaven bearded heads covered in public, with black hats and skullcaps, tassels, and hair in ringlets for men and boys. It is impressive; it is quite public, and therefore the body language is that one is proud to be easily identifiable as a Jew. There is a sense of clarity of identity, expression and belonging. You know when you see these prominent displays of Judaism that you are in the Jewish quarter in Jerusalem or near the Wailing Wall. It is a reminder of the culture and mentality that must have existed in Jesus’ time that emphasised externals.
The Lord condemns the scribes and the Pharisees, however, because they are more concerned about their dress code and parading their observance of rules rather than keeping the commandments in the depths of their hearts and living it out sincerely in practical ways. They miss the wood for the trees, because their adherence to silly human regulations has taken prominence and precedence over the Lord’s own law, or 10 commandments.
The Lord cannot be fooled, even if perceptive people can be for a while. He is described in the First Reading in these terms:
For vast is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is almighty and all-seeing.
His eyes are on those who fear him;
he notes every action of man.
It is quite exhausting to put up a front and be false to others. ‘To thine own self be true, then it follows as night follows day that you cannot be false to any man’ (Polonius farewell advice to Laertes, Hamlet).
But it is quite another thing altogether to live a lie – to be saying one thing and doing another. To do so before the Lord is even more serious.
The word ‘Hypocrisy’ comes from the Greek and it originally meant "play-acting” for those on a stage. It has come to mean living a lie and ‘carrying on an act after you leave the stage, it has come to mean saying a thing without really meaning it. It is ultimately, dishonesty.
How much of my daily Christian life is ‘keeping up appearances’? Is it just a masquerade, or a charade? Or do I mean it? Do I talk the talk’ and ‘walk the walk’?
Or, in the words of the Psalm, is my life ‘happy’ and ‘blameless’ ‘doing his will’, ‘seeking him with all my heart’? Do I know the 10 commandments? Do I examine my conscience often or at all to see if I live them?
Let us take to heart Jesus’ words and examine our consciences:
'For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
'For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.'
Many of us are familiar with the TV comedy series ‘Keeping up appearances’ and the snob, Mrs Bucket, who tries to hide her common background and circumstances, yet fails miserably to impress those she wants to look good for. We laugh at her vanity, maybe because we can identify with some hint of it secretly in ourselves when we have fallen flat on our faces, or because we know neighbours or acquaintances who think they are fooling us, but are in fact fooling only themselves.
A measure of our maturity or honesty is how readily we can laugh at ourselves and share the joke with others. Blessed are those who do not take themselves too seriously.
We naturally judge people in terms of how they present themselves – for a job interview, for a social occasion, or we admire someone in uniform – and their attention to detail, such as shiny shoes or buttons, does say something about how seriously they take themselves and their role, as well as not letting the side down, as it were, in their profession. We rightly tut-tut at sloppiness in uniform, or someone badly dressed for an occasion. I think of Groucho Marx’s line to a girl who said, ‘I just had enough time to throw on this dress’ to which he replied ‘you nearly missed!’
We judge beauty after a while, however, beyond skin level. Over time as we get to know someone better, appearances simply don’t matter. Friendship, loyalty, reliability, kindness, openness and trust are qualities that tend to endear us to a person over the long haul, much more than what the world might describe as ‘glamorous’.
Surface superficial discipleship is not pleasing to the Lord. To be focussed merely on external appearances, what one looks like. Just as beauty is only skin deep, so can virtue be. We might often ask someone ‘how do I look?’ awaiting praise or an honest comment. That is one thing – to present oneself respectably. It is quite another to do so in an insincere way in a bid to outshine others or to do so that attracts attention and praise for one’s seeming virtue and personal glory as the Pharisees did. The problem for the Pharisees therefore is the cultivated sense of superiority and looking down on others in judgment – usually in a condemning and self-satisfied way - that external emphasis alone can engender, the danger that it is a virtue in itself and is empty show.
Insincerity points to a deep inner flaw that serves as a warning to all of us who desire to keep God’s commandments - lack of integrity, being a hypocrite, ‘looking good’ on the outside, being false and superficial, living a virtuous life that is shallow, merely keeping the rules out of habit and, yes ‘keeping up appearances’.
Even to go to Jerusalem today it is quite striking to note the emphasis on modest dress, on sober colours, on unshaven bearded heads covered in public, with black hats and skullcaps, tassels, and hair in ringlets for men and boys. It is impressive; it is quite public, and therefore the body language is that one is proud to be easily identifiable as a Jew. There is a sense of clarity of identity, expression and belonging. You know when you see these prominent displays of Judaism that you are in the Jewish quarter in Jerusalem or near the Wailing Wall. It is a reminder of the culture and mentality that must have existed in Jesus’ time that emphasised externals.
The Lord condemns the scribes and the Pharisees, however, because they are more concerned about their dress code and parading their observance of rules rather than keeping the commandments in the depths of their hearts and living it out sincerely in practical ways. They miss the wood for the trees, because their adherence to silly human regulations has taken prominence and precedence over the Lord’s own law, or 10 commandments.
The Lord cannot be fooled, even if perceptive people can be for a while. He is described in the First Reading in these terms:
For vast is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is almighty and all-seeing.
His eyes are on those who fear him;
he notes every action of man.
It is quite exhausting to put up a front and be false to others. ‘To thine own self be true, then it follows as night follows day that you cannot be false to any man’ (Polonius farewell advice to Laertes, Hamlet).
But it is quite another thing altogether to live a lie – to be saying one thing and doing another. To do so before the Lord is even more serious.
The word ‘Hypocrisy’ comes from the Greek and it originally meant "play-acting” for those on a stage. It has come to mean living a lie and ‘carrying on an act after you leave the stage, it has come to mean saying a thing without really meaning it. It is ultimately, dishonesty.
How much of my daily Christian life is ‘keeping up appearances’? Is it just a masquerade, or a charade? Or do I mean it? Do I talk the talk’ and ‘walk the walk’?
Or, in the words of the Psalm, is my life ‘happy’ and ‘blameless’ ‘doing his will’, ‘seeking him with all my heart’? Do I know the 10 commandments? Do I examine my conscience often or at all to see if I live them?
Let us take to heart Jesus’ words and examine our consciences:
'For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
Fifth Sunday of the Year A
The light
Remember the story of a boy who was taken to Mass every Sunday and he was always looking attentively at the stained glass windows? He was asked at school if he knew who or what a saint was, and he answered simply and profoundly – ‘a saint is someone the light shines through.’
I recall meeting (soon to be Blessed) Pope John Paul II quite by accident in 2002, if there is such a thing as ‘accidents.’ My one recollection is that he seemed to be luminous. Yes, there was strong lighting in the indoor auditorium at the Vatican, but as I knelt and kissed his ring, in those short moments I got the distinct impression that I was in the presence of a saint – and he seemed to glow a shimmering light. I have had this impression confirmed by a Polish woman I met in Krakow in 2009 who saw him on more than one occasion. She agreed that he appeared to shine.
The word ‘light’ is mentioned 7 times in the readings of today. But it is not an abstract idea – we are given concrete, practical ways in being a ‘light’ to others. There is a very clear link between being a light and the performance of good works.
When we are surrounded by so much darkness, the light shines all the brighter, and stands out more. The readings tell us that Jesus is the light of the world, but so are we called to be in practical ways.
Taking pity and lending, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless, not turning our backs on our own family, generous and persevering, being open-handed instead of a clenched fist – the fist of violence and the fist of meanness, ‘grasping’, unjust, and doing away with wicked speech. We are to do all this by being a good example – not hypocritically but with a pure intention, so that God might be praised and not us. A light of the world is someone who is just and merciful in all their dealings with others, who selflessly does good works – perseveringly, consistently and not sparingly or infrequently. The praise is for God not for ourselves. We must be motivated by being a sign, not a destination or cul-de-sac.
Our faith in Christ must have a knock-on effect, as it were. We think of Blessed Mother Teresa, who was light and yet mysteriously suffered so much interior darkness. Her book describing her incredible years of darkness (depression?) is entitled ‘Come Be My Light’. Christ was her light – and like the lighting of one small tea light to another – we too are called to pass on the light we have received. All energy in the planet comes ultimately from the sun. All spiritual energy comes from the Son of God.
It’s amazing how we tan ourselves and yet we know we must be exposed to the right kind of light. The same is true for us spiritually – there is a certain glow of radiated joy in a holy, saintly, self-sacrificing person, who smiles and acts out of genuine Christian joy because they have been exposed to Christ in prayer. We too are called to be like them. We benefit and feel better and maybe even challenged to be better Christins, even saints ourelves (imagine!), as a result of being in their company. But as we might try hard to get a great skin colour (even from a tanning salon which is an imitation of the working of the sun's UV rays) we should be more anxious to go to the source of all light – Christ – who is THE light – of the world.
We must draw close by prayer – especially before the Blessed Sacrament – as well as imitating the kind of life he lived, which was not for Himself alone, but for others. It was the life that Pope John Paul II called living according to ‘the Law of the Gift’ – complete self-giving and God cannot be outdone in generosity. Mother Teresa lived this kind of life, that the more you give, the more you get back. The reading and the Psalm give us the formula of this kind of life.
We are called to examples of light to one another. How do we measure up? How do we score? How bright are we?
Third Sunday of the Year A
Has anybody ever said something to change your life, to alter the path which you were on, to wake you up, and make you come to your senses? Has there been a significant person, place, event, conversation or even an invitation that you can recall that changed your life around? Is there a date that you can say to yourself, ‘yes, such-and -such a thing happened to me on that date, ‘what he or she said changed my life’, ‘that thing I saw opened my eyes.’
During the week I read in the life of the foundress of the Presentation Sisters, the Corkwoman, Nano Nagle. She spent 10 years in Paris to finish her schooling. As a teenager she had the opportunity to attend all night-balls and parties. Coming back from one in the early hours of the morning in her carriage, she spotted a number of people waiting outside unopened doors of a church, waiting for morning Mass. This was the first time she began to contrast her comfortable life with that of the less fortunate, as well as the fact that they were more devoted to God than she was. It was some time later living in Dublin that she asked her sister Ann to make a dress from some silk that she ordered from Paris. Ann confessed that she had already cut up the silk and used it for clothes for the poor. This came as a surprise to Nano but she wasn’t upset by it. But it was Ann’s death shortly afterwards and Nano’s reflection on the charity of Ann that changed her and she dedicated her life to the relief and education of the poor, especially children. It was what we might describe as a ‘wake-up call’.
Every saint has a moment in their life, or a series of small seeming insignificant steps that change their lives. In the 20th century there are two people the whole world heard of:
For people like soon to be ‘Blessed Pope John Paul’, who was so multi-talented as a young man, but whose love for the stage made him aspire to be an actor by profession, it was the deaths in turn of his mother, father and older brother that led him into deep prayer and reflection about his true vocation and purpose.
For Blessed Mother Teresa it was a fateful train journey in India as a Loreto Sister when the Lord revealed to her directly that He wanted her to dedicate her life to the poor of India and found the Missionaries of Charity.
Down through the centuries it was the same: something changes a life forever:
For St Patrick, it was a dream; For Francis of Assisi it was a chance encounter with a leper; For others it is a sermon (St Antony of Egypt), a book (St Ignatius), an inspiring talk, good example(martyrs), even an inspiring TV programme, good advice from a friend. For some of us it is a challenge to our conscience that turns us around – the example of someone else who in their charity, kindness, or patience or forgiveness in a given situation challenges us to better than we are, to be ‘all that we can be’. Finally, it can be the untimely diagnosis of illness or the death of someone we know that wakes us up to the shortness of our lives and the resolve to seek out what God wants of us.
We may even have forgotten the exact moment our lives changed, all we know is that we are here in church today because it matters, it is important, and I know that God wants it and He has a plan for me.
Today (coincidentally in the English translation of Scripture), Jesus invites people with 10 words. There are only two statements of Jesus; what he does is more significant, it seems (that leaves a deeper impression) than what he does.
Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand (10 words)
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (10 words)
Matthew is keen to point out the fulfilment of Scripture: the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light’ . Jesus is the light. Sometimes we use the phrases like: ‘it dawned on me’ or ‘I saw the light’.
To change direction, to stop going in this direction, to do a U-turn because I am going down a blind alley, one word sums it all up – repent. Why? Because God is near, and to follow His will rather than my own all the time, is important right now.
What or who in my life has changed me?
What in my own life needs change and improvement?
What am I leaving out? What should I be doing that I am not already doing, that God may want of me?
These are questions worth reflecting on. The four fishermen left everything at once not knowing where their paths would take them, but the fact that Christ was doing the asking was all that mattered. What does Christ want of us and me now, today?
Let us take the time to ask Him.
During the week I read in the life of the foundress of the Presentation Sisters, the Corkwoman, Nano Nagle. She spent 10 years in Paris to finish her schooling. As a teenager she had the opportunity to attend all night-balls and parties. Coming back from one in the early hours of the morning in her carriage, she spotted a number of people waiting outside unopened doors of a church, waiting for morning Mass. This was the first time she began to contrast her comfortable life with that of the less fortunate, as well as the fact that they were more devoted to God than she was. It was some time later living in Dublin that she asked her sister Ann to make a dress from some silk that she ordered from Paris. Ann confessed that she had already cut up the silk and used it for clothes for the poor. This came as a surprise to Nano but she wasn’t upset by it. But it was Ann’s death shortly afterwards and Nano’s reflection on the charity of Ann that changed her and she dedicated her life to the relief and education of the poor, especially children. It was what we might describe as a ‘wake-up call’.
Every saint has a moment in their life, or a series of small seeming insignificant steps that change their lives. In the 20th century there are two people the whole world heard of:
For people like soon to be ‘Blessed Pope John Paul’, who was so multi-talented as a young man, but whose love for the stage made him aspire to be an actor by profession, it was the deaths in turn of his mother, father and older brother that led him into deep prayer and reflection about his true vocation and purpose.
For Blessed Mother Teresa it was a fateful train journey in India as a Loreto Sister when the Lord revealed to her directly that He wanted her to dedicate her life to the poor of India and found the Missionaries of Charity.
Down through the centuries it was the same: something changes a life forever:
For St Patrick, it was a dream; For Francis of Assisi it was a chance encounter with a leper; For others it is a sermon (St Antony of Egypt), a book (St Ignatius), an inspiring talk, good example(martyrs), even an inspiring TV programme, good advice from a friend. For some of us it is a challenge to our conscience that turns us around – the example of someone else who in their charity, kindness, or patience or forgiveness in a given situation challenges us to better than we are, to be ‘all that we can be’. Finally, it can be the untimely diagnosis of illness or the death of someone we know that wakes us up to the shortness of our lives and the resolve to seek out what God wants of us.
We may even have forgotten the exact moment our lives changed, all we know is that we are here in church today because it matters, it is important, and I know that God wants it and He has a plan for me.
Today (coincidentally in the English translation of Scripture), Jesus invites people with 10 words. There are only two statements of Jesus; what he does is more significant, it seems (that leaves a deeper impression) than what he does.
Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand (10 words)
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (10 words)
Matthew is keen to point out the fulfilment of Scripture: the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light’ . Jesus is the light. Sometimes we use the phrases like: ‘it dawned on me’ or ‘I saw the light’.
To change direction, to stop going in this direction, to do a U-turn because I am going down a blind alley, one word sums it all up – repent. Why? Because God is near, and to follow His will rather than my own all the time, is important right now.
What or who in my life has changed me?
What in my own life needs change and improvement?
What am I leaving out? What should I be doing that I am not already doing, that God may want of me?
These are questions worth reflecting on. The four fishermen left everything at once not knowing where their paths would take them, but the fact that Christ was doing the asking was all that mattered. What does Christ want of us and me now, today?
Let us take the time to ask Him.
Second Sunday of Year A
Second Sunday of Year A
Friends of mine recently, who have difficulties, like many couples today, in conceiving a child, told me how excited they were on hearing the heartbeat of their baby at 8 weeks in the womb. What a miracle, and what a gift it is to be alive, to have come into this world. What a cross for those who cannot conceive; what a joy and privilege for those who have conceived. Yet for all of us what a wonder it is for us to have been conceived, to be alive.
Throughout the scriptures, God is seen as the author of life, and particularly of unborn life. This is the first lesson of today’s readings: that from the womb He knows us and has a plan for us. He knew us before we were born. The prophet Isaiah in the first reading today from the Old Testament was called by God and known from the womb. We should reflect on the greatness of our existence and what a gift it is to be alive. Throughout the Scriptures God is seen to be the Author of Life – for Jeremiah (‘before I formed you in the womb, I knew you’), for John the Baptist; and for Jesus (we recall the words of Gabriel to Mary: ‘you are to conceive and bear a son and you must name him Jesus’).
The second lesson of today’s readings is that Jesus is the Lamb of God. John, God’s chosen prophet even before he was conceived in his mother, Elizabeth, is crucial in preparing people for the reception of the coming of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who meets us, now today, and heals and nourishes us in the sacraments.
Every time we come to Mass we hear those words of John the Baptist: ‘this is the Lamb of God’. We respond with a prayer of welcome and healing. We acknowledge our sinfulness and weakness at the beginning of every Mass.
Jesus is ‘the Lamb of God who takes away our sins’ in Baptism, and does so again in Confession, in Confirmation He baptises us in the Holy Spirit, and in the Holy Eucharist He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper’ – ultimately to the heavenly banquet - to eternal life.
We respond: “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and I shall be healed’.
Jesus is here to help us along our journey, to heal us, to strengthen us and to meet us in the sacraments we receive. Let us turn to Him for healing: whether it be mental, physical, emotional, relational, spiritual. While each time taken to receive Jesus should be a time to examine our consciences as to whether we have striven to be worthy to receive Him through the avoidance of sin, let each encounter with the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion be real and not out of mere habit or ritual, but also a time taken for a prayer for healing, in heartfelt prayer. Ask for healing today, wherever that be necessary for you in your life.
God’s plan for each of us therefore, planned from eternity, is to be happy in love with him forever in heaven where we will behold the Lamb of God face to face, as we only see him now with the eyes of faith in the Eucharist. That is the meaning of our being called into existence by God who knew us even before we were conceived or born. This is the reason for our Sunday Eucharist, the foretaste and promise and pledge of our eternal life, and the fulfillment of all our yearnings for love, peace and happiness.
Friends of mine recently, who have difficulties, like many couples today, in conceiving a child, told me how excited they were on hearing the heartbeat of their baby at 8 weeks in the womb. What a miracle, and what a gift it is to be alive, to have come into this world. What a cross for those who cannot conceive; what a joy and privilege for those who have conceived. Yet for all of us what a wonder it is for us to have been conceived, to be alive.
Throughout the scriptures, God is seen as the author of life, and particularly of unborn life. This is the first lesson of today’s readings: that from the womb He knows us and has a plan for us. He knew us before we were born. The prophet Isaiah in the first reading today from the Old Testament was called by God and known from the womb. We should reflect on the greatness of our existence and what a gift it is to be alive. Throughout the Scriptures God is seen to be the Author of Life – for Jeremiah (‘before I formed you in the womb, I knew you’), for John the Baptist; and for Jesus (we recall the words of Gabriel to Mary: ‘you are to conceive and bear a son and you must name him Jesus’).
The second lesson of today’s readings is that Jesus is the Lamb of God. John, God’s chosen prophet even before he was conceived in his mother, Elizabeth, is crucial in preparing people for the reception of the coming of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who meets us, now today, and heals and nourishes us in the sacraments.
Every time we come to Mass we hear those words of John the Baptist: ‘this is the Lamb of God’. We respond with a prayer of welcome and healing. We acknowledge our sinfulness and weakness at the beginning of every Mass.
Jesus is ‘the Lamb of God who takes away our sins’ in Baptism, and does so again in Confession, in Confirmation He baptises us in the Holy Spirit, and in the Holy Eucharist He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper’ – ultimately to the heavenly banquet - to eternal life.
We respond: “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and I shall be healed’.
Jesus is here to help us along our journey, to heal us, to strengthen us and to meet us in the sacraments we receive. Let us turn to Him for healing: whether it be mental, physical, emotional, relational, spiritual. While each time taken to receive Jesus should be a time to examine our consciences as to whether we have striven to be worthy to receive Him through the avoidance of sin, let each encounter with the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion be real and not out of mere habit or ritual, but also a time taken for a prayer for healing, in heartfelt prayer. Ask for healing today, wherever that be necessary for you in your life.
God’s plan for each of us therefore, planned from eternity, is to be happy in love with him forever in heaven where we will behold the Lamb of God face to face, as we only see him now with the eyes of faith in the Eucharist. That is the meaning of our being called into existence by God who knew us even before we were conceived or born. This is the reason for our Sunday Eucharist, the foretaste and promise and pledge of our eternal life, and the fulfillment of all our yearnings for love, peace and happiness.
The Baptism of the Lord
The Birthday of Christ begins the season of Christmas and now this Sunday the Baptism of Christ brings an end to the season.
For each of us our physical birth to our mother and father begins a close relationship of dependency, of nurturing and love as well as membership of a family and taking our rightful place in the family home.
Baptism is a spiritual rebirth, we belong to Mother Church and are nurtured by the sacraments, and we are at home in the Church with our spiritual kinship to our brothers and sisters. St Augustine said "he will not have God for his Father who would not have the Church for his mother."
Our obligations and responsibilities towards the other members of our own human family are mirrored by the relationship and responsibilities to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
But baptism involves so much more.
Through the waters of Baptism we are washed clean of Original Sin and made a new creation. It is through the threefold washing of water our closer relationship to God begins and it is only the beginning of a journey to Him. We can remind ourselves often of our great dignity and calling through Baptism, by utilising each of the letters of BAPTISM to help us to realise the implications of the Sacrament.
B is for Beloved. God the Father describes Jesus at His Baptism as His ‘beloved’ Son. We too are beloved of the Father through our Baptism and this is an unfathomable mystery that God takes the initiative to love us who are so undeserving. Sometimes we wonder what a woman might ‘see’ in a man she loves, and vice-versa. They may seem to us to be ill-matched, but through the lens of love they see themselves as ‘made for each other.’ It remains a mystery. There are no real satisfactory human comparisons to God’s love for us. God’s Love has no reasons ‘why’ but it is worth reflecting on His generous Love for you and me.
A is for Adopted as sons and daughters of God the Father. This is a spiritual adoption. Adoption has legal implications, giving the adopted person the same legal rights of inheritance as biological children. Through baptism we are adopted by God as His children, and become brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and of one another and are given the ‘right’ to the inheritance of heaven, something which is again God’s loving initiative. Every man is therefore my brother in Christ, and every woman I can call my sister. If only I would begin to treat them accordingly and as they deserve!
P is for People of God – on a pilgrimage through the wilderness of life. We are no longer individuals, isolated, rudderless, without meaning or identity. We truly ‘belong to each other’ and are called, in the words of Pope John Paul II, to build ‘a civilisation of love’. We have a collective identity. We are a people.
T is for Temples of the Holy Spirit, called and commanded to keep the temple of our bodies undefiled, by sin. True self-love respects the body of oneself, as well as therefore treating the bodies of others with dignity. We do great harm to ourselves by sin, and if we involve another in a sin, do great harm to them also. This should give us pause for thought, to meditate often on our true worth and value, as well as by implication, the worth of others for their bodily and spiritual integrity.
I is for Intercessors for one another – we ought to take seriously the invitation to pray for one another. We ought to believe that our prayers can and will be heard even if they are answered in ways and at times that we do not expect. I wonder if I have always taken this call to intercession seriously enough and if I have had the requisite faith to believe in it.
S is for Sanctified and called to be a saint, and able to receive the other Sacraments. Without Baptism, the other sacraments have no meaning and no value if we have not been baptised. The Church has always taken great care to record the event of a baptism. The sacrament changes us interiorly and invisibly to make us holy and acceptable in God’s sight. We are to take seriously the baptismal call to holiness. Persevering prayer is the key to holiness.
M is for Members of the Body of Christ, members of the Church and on a Mission. We have a collective purpose, calling and vocation by word, and by example to lead others closer to God. We cannot keep to ourselves the ‘secret’ of Christ, what He means to us, and what He does for us. We should desire this happiness for others. As Pope John Paul II said ‘those who have come into genuine contact with Christ cannot keep him for themselves, they must proclaim Him’. Membership of the Church should make us consider seriously becoming members of an apostolic or missionary organisation, concerned with spiritual and charitable works for our neighbour. We prove we are Christians by our love, especially for those whose need is greater than our own.
So let us remember who and what we are as baptised Catholics:
Beloved-Adopted-People-Temples-Intercessors-Sanctified-Members
The Solemnity of the Epiphany - January 6th
The Epiphany
While reading once again the familiar account of the journey of the three Magi, it struck me that their last stage of their journey was their shortest, but was too long for Herod and the Jews because they lacked faith.
Having travelled hundreds of miles across the wilderness of the Middle East, the distance for the Magi from Herod’s palace to the lowly manger in Bethlehem was only 6 miles. Yet it is not recorded if any of the scribes or Pharisees bothered themselves to make the journey for themselves. They had the requisite knowledge, but not wisdom. Herod was too proud and sceptical to go there. But the Magi did go there and fell on their knees; and their faith was rewarded.
There were four stages to their journey –
Firstly, based on their human calculations and assisted by the star but also on their wits and logic, yet somehow still unsure, they made their way to the place where an earthly king could be expected to be found – in Jerusalem.
Secondly, based on the accumulated and collective wisdom and Revelation to the Jews, they made their way - correctly - to Bethlehem.
Thirdly, they fell down and worshipped Christ – the Messiah and the King of Kings, seen with Mary His Mother. They offered what they had.
Fourthly, they were guided by divine intervention in a dream, and made their way home by a different, safer route.
This journey of faith, hope, and expectation of the Magi is our journey too and an example to each Christian.
The Magi remind us that we too make our way through life amidst uncertainty, unsure of what lies ahead in the future. They crossed the wilderness, and eventually through their own perseverance and with the right guidance, they found Christ, the goal of their quest and long searching.
We are often left uncertain and anxious of the road ahead, but like the Magi, our journey is marked out for us. The star was not there for them at all times to guide them continuously, but arose again when they were near their goal. They availed of the wisdom of the Jews. The Old Testament - and the New Testament Revelation - the Word of God - is at our disposal.
We know that Christ will guide us but He respects our free-will and expects us to make an effort by ourselves to persevere and not give up in prayer.
We encounter Christ in the sacraments – and adore Him, falling on our knees in the Eucharist. The more time and sacrifice (required of us) in our efforts to give honour, praise and adoration in the Eucharist, and the more we offer ourselves and our lives to Him and His will, the more freely He acts in us and guides us to where He wants us to go. His will becomes clearer to us in proportion to prayerful, persevering effort in prayer.
The Magi’s journey home was far more secure and certain after their encounter with Christ and His Mother. Jesus, with Mary also, can guarantee us safety and right direction as we continue the earthly pilgrimage to our heavenly home.
May we be truly wise and may Jesus and Mary be with us every step of the way in 2011.
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