Happy Easter
There are two questions we can ask about the resurrection of Christ.
How do we know it happened?
Today a simple detail proves that Christ has risen. Think of the people you live with or if you live alone think of the habits of other members of your family as you grew up. We are creatures of habit – how we dress, how we eat, how we keep our rooms, how we present ourselves, what we eat and what we wear, what we say and how we say it – are all habits that are unique to us and known to others. When you live with someone you know how they leave things after them – how they squeeze the tube of toothpaste; how they leave their clothes lying around or not; how they clean up after themselves. A newly married woman complained to me how what annoyed her about her husband was not anything major –it was the little things – like how he would help himself to too much butter on his bread and then scrape the unused butter on the side of the plate. It is little things that can stress us or on the other hand it is the little things that prove that we are considerate, that matter in appreciation as well.
I say this because it a seeming little detail that is crucial in today’s Gospel. The disciples lived and travelled alongside Christ the Lord for three years – and how did Peter know that Christ has risen? The way the cloths in which Christ that been wrapped had been rolled up – Christ did it – it was His trademark way of tidying up after Him that convinced Peter that Christ had been there and had risen indeed.
What does it matter as we celebrate today?
If you were to think of the 5 things we are afraid of - that most people fear, and most Christians should be afraid, they are: fear of pain or sickness, death, sin, Satan, the future.
Sin entered through the world through man Adam, and victory has entered through one man – Christ Jesus. We have all died to sin through Baptism and we rise to new life through Baptism. Today we celebrate and rededicate ourselves -because the day we were baptised we entered into the mystery of Christ’s death and we rose again –we were born again and we were set free. Today is a day of rejoicing!
We are all afraid. But Christ has conquered all. There is no longer any need to be afraid. What we celebrate today is that in Christ we are free indeed.
All over Europe every May, at least in Western countries, V-E Day is celebrated to commemorate the end of World War 2. An end to hostilities, an end to death, and soldiers would be coming home at last.
Today is our victory day celebration. Christ has conquered sin, sickness, death, Satan and He has promised that He will return to take our loved ones and us with Him. We shall be free forever. Alleluia.
4th Sunday of Lent
Darkness and light
The theme of the readings this Sunday quite clearly point to darkness and light, to blindness and new sight.
The readings are given to us on this 4th Sunday in Lent to point out to us that there is imminent danger in Jesus’ mission and that the Pharisees are anxious to destroy Jesus and His reputation, as we will relive the Passion in two weeks time on Palm Sunday.
Darkness/ blindness takes many forms
•The disciples were in darkness because they believed sickness was punishment for sin until Jesus enlightened them. The darkness of IGNORANCE
•There is the obvious cure from blindness from birth.
•The Pharisees are in darkness because they stubbornly refuse to see Jesus as the Son of God the darkness of PREJUDICE
•The blind man was ‘in the dark’ as it were as to Jesus’ identity until Jesus tells Him.
•The blind man’s parents are in the darkness of FEAR of rejection and persecution
St Paul tells us clearly how the analogy of darkness/blindness is comparable with ‘futile works of darkness’ and ‘things done in secret – things that one ought to be ashamed of’.
The worst darkness is that of SIN and GUILT.We bring them to the light by confession of our sins. No-one is proud of their sins, as they are hidden away, secret, confidential, but one’s past un-confessed buried sins done alone or with others need to be named, confronted and brought to the healing light of Christ in Confession and the peace that Christ alone can give is given to us. It is even a resurrection, and a new life of grace that is offered to us.
We also have ‘blind spots’ in our present way of thinking. We may have prejudices, warped thinking. We may be blind to the plight of the poor, and blind to faults that are patently obvious to others.
St Paul reminds his Christian converts that as pagans they ‘lived in darkness once’.
The Pharisees are trapped in the blindness and darkness of guilt.
We need to pray for enlightenment.
Jesus is ‘the light of the world, anyone who follows me will not be walking in darkness but will have the light of life for their guide.’
The theme of the readings this Sunday quite clearly point to darkness and light, to blindness and new sight.
The readings are given to us on this 4th Sunday in Lent to point out to us that there is imminent danger in Jesus’ mission and that the Pharisees are anxious to destroy Jesus and His reputation, as we will relive the Passion in two weeks time on Palm Sunday.
Darkness/ blindness takes many forms
•The disciples were in darkness because they believed sickness was punishment for sin until Jesus enlightened them. The darkness of IGNORANCE
•There is the obvious cure from blindness from birth.
•The Pharisees are in darkness because they stubbornly refuse to see Jesus as the Son of God the darkness of PREJUDICE
•The blind man was ‘in the dark’ as it were as to Jesus’ identity until Jesus tells Him.
•The blind man’s parents are in the darkness of FEAR of rejection and persecution
St Paul tells us clearly how the analogy of darkness/blindness is comparable with ‘futile works of darkness’ and ‘things done in secret – things that one ought to be ashamed of’.
The worst darkness is that of SIN and GUILT.We bring them to the light by confession of our sins. No-one is proud of their sins, as they are hidden away, secret, confidential, but one’s past un-confessed buried sins done alone or with others need to be named, confronted and brought to the healing light of Christ in Confession and the peace that Christ alone can give is given to us. It is even a resurrection, and a new life of grace that is offered to us.
We also have ‘blind spots’ in our present way of thinking. We may have prejudices, warped thinking. We may be blind to the plight of the poor, and blind to faults that are patently obvious to others.
St Paul reminds his Christian converts that as pagans they ‘lived in darkness once’.
The Pharisees are trapped in the blindness and darkness of guilt.
We need to pray for enlightenment.
Jesus is ‘the light of the world, anyone who follows me will not be walking in darkness but will have the light of life for their guide.’
Lent
Lent: the half-time whistle!
We are at the half-way point in Lent and it is always a good idea to take stock of how we are doing so far.
I think that we are like a team of players at the half-way mark during a soccer game. We go into the dressing room for a review of our first-half performance. The team talk is partially a pep talk as well as a critique of where things have been going wrong – especially if we scored an own goal!
I SUSPECT FOR MANY OF US Lent so far has been a mixture of success and failure. We started off with many ambitions and motivations as well as resolutions to do penance as well as almsgiving and prayer we had a winning formula. Yet somewhere along the way we took our eye off the ball and the opposition, (the world, the flesh, the devil) took possession (as it were) and started running the show again. We are on the run. We are no longer playing the game as the coach told us before the game started. Pride, laziness, complacency, discouragement, and bad habits have not been weeded out and have reared their ugly heads again. Our coach/manager (confessor/spiritual director) has been looking helplessly on from the sidelines as we failed to heed his warnings about things to watch out for on the field (the battleground of virtue vs sin). So much for all the plans I had for Lent this year! How many resolutions broken? How soon did I cave in? I hope I won’t be substituted at half-time, and that I will be given another chance to prove myself in the second-half. Be nice to me, coach!
So I head off to confession at half-time with my head bowed. My coach pulls me aside with a personal word. He has observations and recommendations, motivates me, and he goes easy on me! He talks to the whole team and puts the game plan in focus. The game is far from over. Winning is within reach. ‘With God, all things are possible’. (Luke 1:37); ‘I am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5)
At confession therefore this weekend for the First Friday/First Saturday I get some extra help, a booster shot of grace to resume the battle. I have learned a few things about my limitations and weaknesses in my strategy– the game will be different now. I am more clearly focussed on Christ – His Passion, Death and Resurrection, and my position, or role as a member of His Body, the Church. He has chosen me since my baptism, I will not be dropped. I am rested in prayer and recollection; I have quenched my thirst from the side of Christ in the sacraments, and resume my place.
The second half is on. The clock is ticking. Three weeks to the Easter Triduum. Let's go all out to win!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is a possible pep-talk for this Lent.
We need to put back into focus those for whom we have been asked to pray and do penance.
This Lent too is during the Year for Penance as recommended by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI in his letter to the Catholics of Ireland dated March 19th, 2010. This Year of Penance, which began formally on the First Sunday of Advent 2010 and concludes at the end of November, highlights the need to pray and do penance for the well-publicised notorious sins of some clergy in particular, and others, that did lasting harm to our children, as well as to bring about healing and renewal in Christ’s Body, the Church.
Friday has long been a day of remembrance of the Passion and Death of Our Lord on Good Friday and Christians are not only asked to remember the Good Friday event but to enter into the spirit of its meaning in real and practical ways of participation. Mortification of the body, such as in fasting, is an external sign of interior renewal: ‘‘The Sacred Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teach that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it’ (Pope Benedict XVI, in his Lenten Message 2009, on fasting).
To perform acts of penance in a spirit of love and reparation is one of the great calls and challenges of Fatima. It was a ‘vocation’ as it were, of the three shepherd children, Lucia, Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco to embrace a life of voluntary mortification for the conversion of sinners, for peace in the world, as well as in particular way for the Holy Father.
The apparition of the angel to the children at the well in 1916 includes the appeal of the angel: ‘What are you doing? Pray a great deal and make sacrifices for sinners. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have great designs of mercy for you.’ ‘How are we to make sacrifices?’ Lucia asked. ‘Make everything you can a sacrifice’ was the angel’s reply. ‘Offer everything to the hearts of Jesus and Mary.’
In the May 13th apparition, Our Lady asked the children: ‘are you willing to offer yourselves to God to bear all the sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and of supplication for the conversion of sinners?’ The children imaginatively and heroically responded to the heavenly call.
After months of having endured lengthy interrogations, insults, doubts and temptations as well as private mortifications, the children were consoled when Our Lady smiled and said to them: ‘God is pleased with your sacrifices’ (13th September, 1917). [She also urged them to prudence and temperance in their mortification.] Peace in the world, Our Lady tells us, depends in large part on true repentance for sin as well as prayer and sacrifices performed by a ‘sufficient number who do as I ask’ (13th October, 1917).
The children were also taught by Our Lady to recite this prayer when making a sacrifice: ‘O Jesus this is for love of you, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’
The final part of the Secret of Fatima, in the October 1917 apparition, depicts an angel with a flaming sword, directed at and exhorting the world, if it is to be saved from further punishment, uttering the words: ‘Penance, penance, penance!’
The call to penance is not an end in itself but directs us all, as it directed the ‘tres pastorinhos’, to a greater awareness of our irreplaceable role in God’s Church, the Body of Christ. At Baptism we become members called to intercession, and like St Paul, we are called ‘to fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church’ (Colossians 1:24)
Finally, and most importantly of all, the call to penance, which includes the sacrament of Penance, directs us to the Eucharist, the ‘source and summit of the Christian life.’ (Vatican II). As the children were trained by the angel to pray and do penance, they were, unknown to themselves, being purified and prepared for Holy Communion which they then received in the third appearance of the angel. Their ‘schooling’ in a spirit of prayer, penance and reparation throughout 1916, found its completion in adoration and reception of Jesus’ Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. This prepared them in turn to readily accept the calls of Our Lady in 1917 to them personally to reveal a message destined for the whole world: God’s plan of peace and the means to obtain it.
Their vocation to love, by immersing themselves in praying for the conversion of sinners, is our call too. The Year of Penance - and Lent - is a call to every member of Christ’s Body, the Church, to personal lasting change and renewal.
We are at the half-way point in Lent and it is always a good idea to take stock of how we are doing so far.
I think that we are like a team of players at the half-way mark during a soccer game. We go into the dressing room for a review of our first-half performance. The team talk is partially a pep talk as well as a critique of where things have been going wrong – especially if we scored an own goal!
I SUSPECT FOR MANY OF US Lent so far has been a mixture of success and failure. We started off with many ambitions and motivations as well as resolutions to do penance as well as almsgiving and prayer we had a winning formula. Yet somewhere along the way we took our eye off the ball and the opposition, (the world, the flesh, the devil) took possession (as it were) and started running the show again. We are on the run. We are no longer playing the game as the coach told us before the game started. Pride, laziness, complacency, discouragement, and bad habits have not been weeded out and have reared their ugly heads again. Our coach/manager (confessor/spiritual director) has been looking helplessly on from the sidelines as we failed to heed his warnings about things to watch out for on the field (the battleground of virtue vs sin). So much for all the plans I had for Lent this year! How many resolutions broken? How soon did I cave in? I hope I won’t be substituted at half-time, and that I will be given another chance to prove myself in the second-half. Be nice to me, coach!
So I head off to confession at half-time with my head bowed. My coach pulls me aside with a personal word. He has observations and recommendations, motivates me, and he goes easy on me! He talks to the whole team and puts the game plan in focus. The game is far from over. Winning is within reach. ‘With God, all things are possible’. (Luke 1:37); ‘I am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5)
At confession therefore this weekend for the First Friday/First Saturday I get some extra help, a booster shot of grace to resume the battle. I have learned a few things about my limitations and weaknesses in my strategy– the game will be different now. I am more clearly focussed on Christ – His Passion, Death and Resurrection, and my position, or role as a member of His Body, the Church. He has chosen me since my baptism, I will not be dropped. I am rested in prayer and recollection; I have quenched my thirst from the side of Christ in the sacraments, and resume my place.
The second half is on. The clock is ticking. Three weeks to the Easter Triduum. Let's go all out to win!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is a possible pep-talk for this Lent.
We need to put back into focus those for whom we have been asked to pray and do penance.
This Lent too is during the Year for Penance as recommended by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI in his letter to the Catholics of Ireland dated March 19th, 2010. This Year of Penance, which began formally on the First Sunday of Advent 2010 and concludes at the end of November, highlights the need to pray and do penance for the well-publicised notorious sins of some clergy in particular, and others, that did lasting harm to our children, as well as to bring about healing and renewal in Christ’s Body, the Church.
Friday has long been a day of remembrance of the Passion and Death of Our Lord on Good Friday and Christians are not only asked to remember the Good Friday event but to enter into the spirit of its meaning in real and practical ways of participation. Mortification of the body, such as in fasting, is an external sign of interior renewal: ‘‘The Sacred Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teach that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it’ (Pope Benedict XVI, in his Lenten Message 2009, on fasting).
To perform acts of penance in a spirit of love and reparation is one of the great calls and challenges of Fatima. It was a ‘vocation’ as it were, of the three shepherd children, Lucia, Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco to embrace a life of voluntary mortification for the conversion of sinners, for peace in the world, as well as in particular way for the Holy Father.
The apparition of the angel to the children at the well in 1916 includes the appeal of the angel: ‘What are you doing? Pray a great deal and make sacrifices for sinners. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have great designs of mercy for you.’ ‘How are we to make sacrifices?’ Lucia asked. ‘Make everything you can a sacrifice’ was the angel’s reply. ‘Offer everything to the hearts of Jesus and Mary.’
In the May 13th apparition, Our Lady asked the children: ‘are you willing to offer yourselves to God to bear all the sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and of supplication for the conversion of sinners?’ The children imaginatively and heroically responded to the heavenly call.
After months of having endured lengthy interrogations, insults, doubts and temptations as well as private mortifications, the children were consoled when Our Lady smiled and said to them: ‘God is pleased with your sacrifices’ (13th September, 1917). [She also urged them to prudence and temperance in their mortification.] Peace in the world, Our Lady tells us, depends in large part on true repentance for sin as well as prayer and sacrifices performed by a ‘sufficient number who do as I ask’ (13th October, 1917).
The children were also taught by Our Lady to recite this prayer when making a sacrifice: ‘O Jesus this is for love of you, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’
The final part of the Secret of Fatima, in the October 1917 apparition, depicts an angel with a flaming sword, directed at and exhorting the world, if it is to be saved from further punishment, uttering the words: ‘Penance, penance, penance!’
The call to penance is not an end in itself but directs us all, as it directed the ‘tres pastorinhos’, to a greater awareness of our irreplaceable role in God’s Church, the Body of Christ. At Baptism we become members called to intercession, and like St Paul, we are called ‘to fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church’ (Colossians 1:24)
Finally, and most importantly of all, the call to penance, which includes the sacrament of Penance, directs us to the Eucharist, the ‘source and summit of the Christian life.’ (Vatican II). As the children were trained by the angel to pray and do penance, they were, unknown to themselves, being purified and prepared for Holy Communion which they then received in the third appearance of the angel. Their ‘schooling’ in a spirit of prayer, penance and reparation throughout 1916, found its completion in adoration and reception of Jesus’ Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. This prepared them in turn to readily accept the calls of Our Lady in 1917 to them personally to reveal a message destined for the whole world: God’s plan of peace and the means to obtain it.
Their vocation to love, by immersing themselves in praying for the conversion of sinners, is our call too. The Year of Penance - and Lent - is a call to every member of Christ’s Body, the Church, to personal lasting change and renewal.
Second Sunday of Lent
Second Sunday of Lent
There comes a time in all our lives when ‘we need to get away from it all’.
We need to find an escape when and where we can think, catch up, reflect, remain silent, un-distracted and uninterrupted.
Lent is a good time to take a day away in prayer somewhere for silence, reflection, confession and new purpose, a place like Mt Melleray for example.
Today’s reading from the Gospel is about the Transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus and His closest friends take some time out together. For a moment they see Him as the Son of God in glory.
What is that reading doing in the middle of Lent you might ask? Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham points out the relevance importance and necessary contrast between the reading for the event today and that of Good Friday.
The mountain of Tabor explains the hill of Calvary and vice-versa.
The transfiguration event recalled today can only be fully understood when we pair it with Good Friday.
Here Jesus’ clothes are dazzlingly white, on Calvary He is stripped of his garments
Here He is flanked by the great Moses and Elijah, there He is flanked by two thieves
Here He is surrounded by the brightness of the cloud; there He is covered in darkness
Here He is seen in glory, there He is in agony and flecked with blood
Here He is surrounded by some faithful men when all is well, there by faithful women when all is at its worst – how often women are the ones who are silently faithful as men suffer but men-friends cannot cope and are cowards in the face of pain
Here Peter has faith; there he is in hiding and in doubt
Here God the Father’s voice declares ‘This is my Beloved Son’; on Calvary there a pagan soldier says ‘truly this man was a son of God’
Here on Tabor, all is silence and solitude, there on Calvary all is clamour, violence and crowds and noise.
The point is both are important events: and that just as joy and sadness fill our lives, God is present not only when things are brightest but also when things are dark – in loneliness, pain, suffering and tears. God is with us not just when things are going well and all is calm; God is equally with us when all is chaos and even seemingly meaningless.
We are urged today to Listen to Him.
Let us take time apart sometime in Lent to listen to His voice in the silence.
There we might be able to make sense of things and also face the future with faith and trust and not fear.
There comes a time in all our lives when ‘we need to get away from it all’.
We need to find an escape when and where we can think, catch up, reflect, remain silent, un-distracted and uninterrupted.
Lent is a good time to take a day away in prayer somewhere for silence, reflection, confession and new purpose, a place like Mt Melleray for example.
Today’s reading from the Gospel is about the Transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus and His closest friends take some time out together. For a moment they see Him as the Son of God in glory.
What is that reading doing in the middle of Lent you might ask? Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham points out the relevance importance and necessary contrast between the reading for the event today and that of Good Friday.
The mountain of Tabor explains the hill of Calvary and vice-versa.
The transfiguration event recalled today can only be fully understood when we pair it with Good Friday.
Here Jesus’ clothes are dazzlingly white, on Calvary He is stripped of his garments
Here He is flanked by the great Moses and Elijah, there He is flanked by two thieves
Here He is surrounded by the brightness of the cloud; there He is covered in darkness
Here He is seen in glory, there He is in agony and flecked with blood
Here He is surrounded by some faithful men when all is well, there by faithful women when all is at its worst – how often women are the ones who are silently faithful as men suffer but men-friends cannot cope and are cowards in the face of pain
Here Peter has faith; there he is in hiding and in doubt
Here God the Father’s voice declares ‘This is my Beloved Son’; on Calvary there a pagan soldier says ‘truly this man was a son of God’
Here on Tabor, all is silence and solitude, there on Calvary all is clamour, violence and crowds and noise.
The point is both are important events: and that just as joy and sadness fill our lives, God is present not only when things are brightest but also when things are dark – in loneliness, pain, suffering and tears. God is with us not just when things are going well and all is calm; God is equally with us when all is chaos and even seemingly meaningless.
We are urged today to Listen to Him.
Let us take time apart sometime in Lent to listen to His voice in the silence.
There we might be able to make sense of things and also face the future with faith and trust and not fear.
First Sunday of Lent
First Sunday of Lent
If you ever had the experience of having your house burgled or of having property stolen, you know that one of the questions you ask yourself is: ‘how could I have been so casual or foolish about my property?’ ‘I was asking for it’. We give out to ourselves for letting our guard down. We were not vigilant and pay the price.
You might next ask: ‘how did they (the burglars) know I was out?’ It is scary, and a further violation, to think that a stranger was on the watch, watching our movements in and out of the house for some time.
That’s how the devil operates. He knows our weaknesses and vulnerability. He is patient, and then he pounces. We are tempted, but never beyond our means. On one occasion he is compared to one.
The Lord Himself is tempted by the devil on three occasions when he is at his weakest in body. He survives and succeeds in these mysterious trials and is strengthened for the ministry He is about to undergo. Lent commemorates this 40-day trial, and reminds us of our ongoing life-long battle (or what used to be called spiritual combat' with the ever-present realities of sin, temptation and of Satan.
There is great and, sometimes, unhealthy interest in Satan. The reality that there can in 2011 be commercial films about exorcism points to curiosity but also to the fact that the Church has been too shy or overly cautious (or too embarrassed) to remind us of the dangers of the Evil One. But we are not preaching the Gospel in its entirety if we neglect the many references of Jesus to the Tempter as well as the many exorcisms Jesus and His followers performed.
Temptations differ because we are different in our tendencies to sin. Self-indulgence opens the way to sin, and therefore fasting as one of three remedies – the others being prayer and almsgiving - is recommended. Pope Benedict said in 2009, that the practice of fasting is the means by which we can avoid and overcome sin. We may recall, or it may be recalled for us, that fasting and abstinence was a lot stricter in the past than today. Yet fasting has not lost its power and value, despite the fact that its relevance has not been understood, or the fact that we are still obliged to do penance every Friday, once we have reached our fourteenth year has not been taught sufficiently. This year 2011 is also a Year of Penance, as directed by Pope Benedict and we are called to do penance for our own sins but this year too for the sins of clerical sexual abuse – see the Irish bishops website.*
I am not sure that dieting was a familiar term until recently. A wise bishop once said that what the Church drops, the world picks up in a secular manner. Fasting was abandoned, but the world picked up fasting and turned them into ‘diets’ and commercialised it.
If you want a day to go slowly, fast. Fasting is not meant to end in a splurge of gluttony at Easter, but rather the season helps us to attain moderation and appreciation as well as a certain measure of self-control. Fasting and abstinence helps us to remember to give thanks for what we have received as well as what we ought to do to provide for others who hunger out of poverty - out of a sense of solidarity helping to address the imbalance in the world. We atone too for our personal sins of waste and gluttony as individuals and as a society. We can fast from food, but more importantly we must always strive to fast from sin.
The Lord has a number of names for the devil in the Gospels as ‘a liar, a murderer from the beginning’. We will see him referred to again because in Holy week he enters Judas.
And yet on this occasion in the wilderness he does not call him by his name(s), but counter-argues the Scriptures with him. This is a reminder that we too conquer evil with the Word of God. Knowledge of scripture is knowledge of Christ (St Jerome). We ought to realise that familiarity with Scripture is also a safeguard from ‘the wickedness and snares of the Devil’.
*I now invite all of you to devote your Friday penances, for a
period of one year, between now and Easter 2011, to this intention. I ask
you to offer up your fasting, your prayer, your reading of Scripture and your
works of mercy in order to obtain the grace of healing and renewal for the
Church in Ireland. I encourage you to discover anew the sacrament of
Reconciliation and to avail yourselves more frequently of the transforming
power of its grace.
Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and
in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted
to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and
monasteries to organize periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have
an opportunity to take part. Through intense prayer before the real
presence of the Lord, you can make reparation for the sins of abuse that
have done so much harm, at the same time imploring the grace of renewed
strength and a deeper sense of mission on the part of all bishops, priests,
religious and lay faithful. I am confident that this programme will lead to a rebirth of the Church in Ireland in the fullness. [From the Pope's letter, March 2010]
If you ever had the experience of having your house burgled or of having property stolen, you know that one of the questions you ask yourself is: ‘how could I have been so casual or foolish about my property?’ ‘I was asking for it’. We give out to ourselves for letting our guard down. We were not vigilant and pay the price.
You might next ask: ‘how did they (the burglars) know I was out?’ It is scary, and a further violation, to think that a stranger was on the watch, watching our movements in and out of the house for some time.
That’s how the devil operates. He knows our weaknesses and vulnerability. He is patient, and then he pounces. We are tempted, but never beyond our means. On one occasion he is compared to one.
The Lord Himself is tempted by the devil on three occasions when he is at his weakest in body. He survives and succeeds in these mysterious trials and is strengthened for the ministry He is about to undergo. Lent commemorates this 40-day trial, and reminds us of our ongoing life-long battle (or what used to be called spiritual combat' with the ever-present realities of sin, temptation and of Satan.
There is great and, sometimes, unhealthy interest in Satan. The reality that there can in 2011 be commercial films about exorcism points to curiosity but also to the fact that the Church has been too shy or overly cautious (or too embarrassed) to remind us of the dangers of the Evil One. But we are not preaching the Gospel in its entirety if we neglect the many references of Jesus to the Tempter as well as the many exorcisms Jesus and His followers performed.
Temptations differ because we are different in our tendencies to sin. Self-indulgence opens the way to sin, and therefore fasting as one of three remedies – the others being prayer and almsgiving - is recommended. Pope Benedict said in 2009, that the practice of fasting is the means by which we can avoid and overcome sin. We may recall, or it may be recalled for us, that fasting and abstinence was a lot stricter in the past than today. Yet fasting has not lost its power and value, despite the fact that its relevance has not been understood, or the fact that we are still obliged to do penance every Friday, once we have reached our fourteenth year has not been taught sufficiently. This year 2011 is also a Year of Penance, as directed by Pope Benedict and we are called to do penance for our own sins but this year too for the sins of clerical sexual abuse – see the Irish bishops website.*
I am not sure that dieting was a familiar term until recently. A wise bishop once said that what the Church drops, the world picks up in a secular manner. Fasting was abandoned, but the world picked up fasting and turned them into ‘diets’ and commercialised it.
If you want a day to go slowly, fast. Fasting is not meant to end in a splurge of gluttony at Easter, but rather the season helps us to attain moderation and appreciation as well as a certain measure of self-control. Fasting and abstinence helps us to remember to give thanks for what we have received as well as what we ought to do to provide for others who hunger out of poverty - out of a sense of solidarity helping to address the imbalance in the world. We atone too for our personal sins of waste and gluttony as individuals and as a society. We can fast from food, but more importantly we must always strive to fast from sin.
The Lord has a number of names for the devil in the Gospels as ‘a liar, a murderer from the beginning’. We will see him referred to again because in Holy week he enters Judas.
And yet on this occasion in the wilderness he does not call him by his name(s), but counter-argues the Scriptures with him. This is a reminder that we too conquer evil with the Word of God. Knowledge of scripture is knowledge of Christ (St Jerome). We ought to realise that familiarity with Scripture is also a safeguard from ‘the wickedness and snares of the Devil’.
*I now invite all of you to devote your Friday penances, for a
period of one year, between now and Easter 2011, to this intention. I ask
you to offer up your fasting, your prayer, your reading of Scripture and your
works of mercy in order to obtain the grace of healing and renewal for the
Church in Ireland. I encourage you to discover anew the sacrament of
Reconciliation and to avail yourselves more frequently of the transforming
power of its grace.
Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and
in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted
to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and
monasteries to organize periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have
an opportunity to take part. Through intense prayer before the real
presence of the Lord, you can make reparation for the sins of abuse that
have done so much harm, at the same time imploring the grace of renewed
strength and a deeper sense of mission on the part of all bishops, priests,
religious and lay faithful. I am confident that this programme will lead to a rebirth of the Church in Ireland in the fullness. [From the Pope's letter, March 2010]
Ash Wednesday
This Lent we need to make SPACE for God
I find the acronym SPACE helpful as a programme of renewal in my own spiritual life for Lent. The suggestions below are not exhaustive (but may be exhausting!)
S is for Self-denial or Spiritual reading
Lent is the great test of our character and our commitment to self-discipline. We succeed or fail in it, and in doing so we see the true measure of our attachment to the Lord (and our detachment from earthly worldly things) by not only our willingness but our measure of consistency in keeping our Lenten resolutions. Fasting from food is difficult but rewarding. It can mean a significant reduction of food intake, for a prolonged period. We can abstain from certain foods, or eat less than usual. We can abstain from snacking. It can help us to appreciate the food that we eat as well as reminding us of those who are hungry without choice, and to remind us of our duty to provide for them. Fasting and abstinence on Fridays and Wednesdays have always been part of the Irish Christian tradition.
Spiritual reading is also a necessary part of spiritual growth. Particularly recommended to all Catholics is ‘a growing familiarity’ with Sacred Scripture. 'I remind all Chrsitians that our personal and communal relationship with God depends on our growing familiarity with the word of God'. Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 124)
P is for prayer and penance
Time given to prayer and penance is a particular characteristic of Lent. It may comprise of earlier arrival before and/or later departure after Mass; time spent alone in one’s room in quiet reflection; a day of recollection away for a while in a monastery or retreat centre. Prayer focussed on the Lord’s Passion is extremely beneficial – the Stations of the Cross, the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the Seven Sorrows of our Lady, the divine Mercy chaplet.
Penance may be a more prompt and faithful diligence in the performance of one’s daily duty; patience in dealing with others as well as patience in coping with the sacrifices demanded of us that come with inconveniences to our plans. It may entail the performance of jobs we have delayed or procrastinated for a long time.
A is for Almsgiving
The Queen of France asked St Vincent de Paul what she could be doing for the poor, and he answered her with one word: ‘more’. The Catechism teaches us that love for the poor comes under the remit of the seventh commandment. The paragraphs numbered 2443-2449 of the Catechism are worth looking up to see our obligations and the proper motivation of Christians in regard to love for the poor.
C is for charity, especially in conversation; and Lenten confession
We need to close our mouths to desserts and fancies and excess, but also to close our mouths (and ears) to gossip, slander, detraction and hearsay. To fast from lack of charity is pleasing to the Lord.
Always associated with Lent is time taken to examine our consciences and to go at least once to confession.
E is for the Eucharist – Mass and adoration.
If the other practices mentioned above are, as it were, the flesh and bones of the practical ways of commemorating the Lord’s 40 day fast in the wilderness, it is renewed and prolonged adoration of his Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist that comprises the heart of Lent. There we renew and deepen our love for Him and come to a greater awareness of understanding His love for us. There we learn how to respond to His love (as well as to see Him) in our neighbour, especially those whose need is great.
‘Lord may be accept from your hands this day of Lent, may we make it yours by deeds of love’(from the Breviary)
I find the acronym SPACE helpful as a programme of renewal in my own spiritual life for Lent. The suggestions below are not exhaustive (but may be exhausting!)
S is for Self-denial or Spiritual reading
Lent is the great test of our character and our commitment to self-discipline. We succeed or fail in it, and in doing so we see the true measure of our attachment to the Lord (and our detachment from earthly worldly things) by not only our willingness but our measure of consistency in keeping our Lenten resolutions. Fasting from food is difficult but rewarding. It can mean a significant reduction of food intake, for a prolonged period. We can abstain from certain foods, or eat less than usual. We can abstain from snacking. It can help us to appreciate the food that we eat as well as reminding us of those who are hungry without choice, and to remind us of our duty to provide for them. Fasting and abstinence on Fridays and Wednesdays have always been part of the Irish Christian tradition.
Spiritual reading is also a necessary part of spiritual growth. Particularly recommended to all Catholics is ‘a growing familiarity’ with Sacred Scripture. 'I remind all Chrsitians that our personal and communal relationship with God depends on our growing familiarity with the word of God'. Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 124)
P is for prayer and penance
Time given to prayer and penance is a particular characteristic of Lent. It may comprise of earlier arrival before and/or later departure after Mass; time spent alone in one’s room in quiet reflection; a day of recollection away for a while in a monastery or retreat centre. Prayer focussed on the Lord’s Passion is extremely beneficial – the Stations of the Cross, the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the Seven Sorrows of our Lady, the divine Mercy chaplet.
Penance may be a more prompt and faithful diligence in the performance of one’s daily duty; patience in dealing with others as well as patience in coping with the sacrifices demanded of us that come with inconveniences to our plans. It may entail the performance of jobs we have delayed or procrastinated for a long time.
A is for Almsgiving
The Queen of France asked St Vincent de Paul what she could be doing for the poor, and he answered her with one word: ‘more’. The Catechism teaches us that love for the poor comes under the remit of the seventh commandment. The paragraphs numbered 2443-2449 of the Catechism are worth looking up to see our obligations and the proper motivation of Christians in regard to love for the poor.
C is for charity, especially in conversation; and Lenten confession
We need to close our mouths to desserts and fancies and excess, but also to close our mouths (and ears) to gossip, slander, detraction and hearsay. To fast from lack of charity is pleasing to the Lord.
Always associated with Lent is time taken to examine our consciences and to go at least once to confession.
E is for the Eucharist – Mass and adoration.
If the other practices mentioned above are, as it were, the flesh and bones of the practical ways of commemorating the Lord’s 40 day fast in the wilderness, it is renewed and prolonged adoration of his Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist that comprises the heart of Lent. There we renew and deepen our love for Him and come to a greater awareness of understanding His love for us. There we learn how to respond to His love (as well as to see Him) in our neighbour, especially those whose need is great.
‘Lord may be accept from your hands this day of Lent, may we make it yours by deeds of love’(from the Breviary)
Eighth Sunday of the Year A
This Sunday‘s Gospel challenges us to trust God
The readings clearly tell us what kind of God we have, and how we are to respond to the God of love. The imagery used to refer to God today crosses all religions and faiths and expressions of God. It goes back to basics.
Nothing can happen without trust. All human relationships, friendships, contracts, agreements and terms of employment are based on trust.
God asks the same of us – a relationship based on our trust.
Do we trust Him? How much does it take? How many proofs do we need? Just as human relationships take time to build on trust in small things to begin with until greater and greater trust develops – with confidence and discretion. It CAN happen that we hit it off with someone instantly. It CAN happen that there is love at first sight. But it is more often the case that we only gradually build up a friendship over time.
God’s relationship of love is unqualified, spontaneous and unconditional. But we object that we can’t see him, so...it requires faith. God does act and speak to us in situations and people and in answered prayer. There are too many coincidences to suggest otherwise. But over time He does gradually let go of the immediate supports and ready answers to prayer and slowly wants us and allows us to stand on our own two feet and not get everything instantaneously our own way or on our terms.
In the unlikely situation of a breast –feeding or expectant mother forgetting her child for a moment, (as we read in the First Reading) God will never forget us for an instant.
But we forget:
• To put God’s will first
• To put God’s concerns first
• That God is two steps ahead of us
• He clearly sees what lies ahead
• Nothing is to be gained by worry
• We are not in full control
• Worries and concerns are real
• Not to serve 2 masters
• While Clothing and food are the two most basic needs, we are not to worry, be anxious, or afraid
• This day is all we have, to act
Perhaps there is another veiled challenge – given our long experience of Fatherly provision and care in God’s hands, which often comes through the support of others, can we not likewise co-operate in God’s plan by providing shelter and food to those in want, to pass it on, carry it forward, as one good turn deserves another?
If I am not to be consuming and wasting time on food and clothing, and to rest assured that they are going to be looked after, well then, what must I do? God’s will. Jesus said ‘my food is to the will of the Father’. What does God want? Do I ask Him? When did I last ask Him what HE wanted instead of what I wanted? What does he want me to do to co-operate with His loving plan for me and how can I make it easier for Him to ‘get His way’, as it were? What am I afraid of letting go?
Jesus is clear: the more I put God and His will (‘thy Kingdom come, thy will be done’ –are one and the same petition really) first in my life, the more all the other details are looked after.
Try it and see.
It has been my experience as a priest that the more time I give in prayer and doing what I ought to be doing in my pastoral duties instead of what suits me at every given moment, the more the everyday concerns are cared for by God or they take care of themselves. The more time I make for God and others, the more time I seem to have and everything works out better than if I had done things solo.
I am amazed I am such a slow learner.
The readings clearly tell us what kind of God we have, and how we are to respond to the God of love. The imagery used to refer to God today crosses all religions and faiths and expressions of God. It goes back to basics.
Nothing can happen without trust. All human relationships, friendships, contracts, agreements and terms of employment are based on trust.
God asks the same of us – a relationship based on our trust.
Do we trust Him? How much does it take? How many proofs do we need? Just as human relationships take time to build on trust in small things to begin with until greater and greater trust develops – with confidence and discretion. It CAN happen that we hit it off with someone instantly. It CAN happen that there is love at first sight. But it is more often the case that we only gradually build up a friendship over time.
God’s relationship of love is unqualified, spontaneous and unconditional. But we object that we can’t see him, so...it requires faith. God does act and speak to us in situations and people and in answered prayer. There are too many coincidences to suggest otherwise. But over time He does gradually let go of the immediate supports and ready answers to prayer and slowly wants us and allows us to stand on our own two feet and not get everything instantaneously our own way or on our terms.
In the unlikely situation of a breast –feeding or expectant mother forgetting her child for a moment, (as we read in the First Reading) God will never forget us for an instant.
But we forget:
• To put God’s will first
• To put God’s concerns first
• That God is two steps ahead of us
• He clearly sees what lies ahead
• Nothing is to be gained by worry
• We are not in full control
• Worries and concerns are real
• Not to serve 2 masters
• While Clothing and food are the two most basic needs, we are not to worry, be anxious, or afraid
• This day is all we have, to act
Perhaps there is another veiled challenge – given our long experience of Fatherly provision and care in God’s hands, which often comes through the support of others, can we not likewise co-operate in God’s plan by providing shelter and food to those in want, to pass it on, carry it forward, as one good turn deserves another?
If I am not to be consuming and wasting time on food and clothing, and to rest assured that they are going to be looked after, well then, what must I do? God’s will. Jesus said ‘my food is to the will of the Father’. What does God want? Do I ask Him? When did I last ask Him what HE wanted instead of what I wanted? What does he want me to do to co-operate with His loving plan for me and how can I make it easier for Him to ‘get His way’, as it were? What am I afraid of letting go?
Jesus is clear: the more I put God and His will (‘thy Kingdom come, thy will be done’ –are one and the same petition really) first in my life, the more all the other details are looked after.
Try it and see.
It has been my experience as a priest that the more time I give in prayer and doing what I ought to be doing in my pastoral duties instead of what suits me at every given moment, the more the everyday concerns are cared for by God or they take care of themselves. The more time I make for God and others, the more time I seem to have and everything works out better than if I had done things solo.
I am amazed I am such a slow learner.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)