Ascension of Our Lord

Ascension Day

FIRST READING: Acts 1:1-11

In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and I taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. When he had been at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. 'It is' he had said 'what you have heard me speak about: John baptised with water but you, not many days from now, will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.'

Now having met together, they asked him, 'Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He replied, 'It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth'.

As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky when suddenly two men in white were standing near them and they said, 'Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.'

GOSPEL: Mark 16:15-20
Jesus showed himself to the Eleven, and said to them, 'Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.'

And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.

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40 days have now passed since the Lord's resurrection at Easter and the Novena of Prayer to the Holy Spirit begins.

The Lord Jesus returns to the Father. His work is accomplished and now His work continues through us in the Church. Where he has gone we hope to follow some day.

Angels appear to spur them and us not to spend all our time staring into the sky. There is work to be done, a mission to be fulfilled.

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Recently I had reason to go to a local airport. It is so small that one only has to take a few short steps from departures to arrivals.

The demeanour of departing passengers, the body language, the sense of anticipation, the queuing and the farewells, the weigh-in, the boarding passes and security are all things we see there.

I suppose it is the closest we can come to in a comparison to heaven. At an international airport there is a heightened sense of  anticipation and excitement at both ends.

Departure scenes are often quite moving.  

One feels drawn for an instant but one looks away as one is invading people's privacy as they say goodbye to one another, especially if there are tears shed, and the uncertainty whether the parties will ever set eyes on each other again. There is a direct comparison to departures from our sight. And yet the one gone from our sight is in the company of others. They are being cared for and they are not alone. They have a definite and pre-planned journey and a set destination. We who remain must somehow continue without them until some day we are all re-united. We too have tasks to return to. The ones who have gone are not forgotten.

At arrivals there is an air of expectation, excitement, and gathering for the eagerly awaited passengers who have made a long journey -there is much catching up to do, and hopefully rest and refreshment. They are welcome home.

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Jesus has departed but will return to take us with Him - one at a time and at an appointed time not of our choosing.

Our immediate task now this week is that of PRAYER for the grace of the Holy Spirit and a renewal and reminder of the gifts that we have received - a sense of being re-commissioned as we will return to Ordinary Time and ordinary tasks now that the joyful season of Easter is drawing to a close. The next few days are the origin of the first Novena. We can pray each day for each gift to be strenghthened in each one of us for the coming year.

They are: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe, right judgement, knowledge, courage, and reverence.

Come, Holy Spirit!

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sunday 13 May 2012

Readings at Mass

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Second reading

1 John 4:7-10

My dear people,

let us love one another

since love comes from God

and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.

Anyone who fails to love can never have known God,

because God is love.

God’s love for us was revealed

when God sent into the world his only Son

so that we could have life through him;

this is the love I mean:

not our love for God,

but God’s love for us when he sent his Son

to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.

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Gospel

John 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘As the Father has loved me,

so I have loved you.

Remain in my love.

If you keep my commandments

you will remain in my love,

just as I have kept my Father’s commandments

and remain in his love.

I have told you this

so that my own joy may be in you

and your joy be complete.

This is my commandment:

love one another, as I have loved you.

A man can have no greater love

than to lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends,

if you do what I command you.

I shall not call you servants any more,

because a servant does not know

his master’s business;

I call you friends,

because I have made known to you

everything I have learnt from my Father.

You did not choose me:

no, I chose you;

and I commissioned you

to go out and to bear fruit,

fruit that will last;

and then the Father will give you

anything you ask him in my name.

What I command you

is to love one another.’

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It is very clear that Jesus command to us today to ‘love one another’ means a sacrificial not a superficial love.

‘We can’t choose our family but we can choose our friends’ the old saying goes.

Jesus, speaking at the last Supper chooses us to be His friends. What have we done to deserve such an honour? Nothing. But that is his desire. And this sort of carefree choice of friends should guide us too. The conditions or characteristics of being a friend of Jesus, simply put, is to follow His commandments, and to go and bear fruit. These are the proofs of love. What fruits (like the vine and the branches in last Sunday’s Gospel) are we producing?

To be a (paid) servant by way of contrast is to have fewer rights, to be at the bidding of the Master or Mistress, to stand and wait, to be fully at the mercy and disposal of the will of another. It can be a form of surrender of freedom. Yet Jesus instead invites us to sit at the table with Him. He treats us as equals. His concerns are ours, and vice-versa.

Jesus is about to prove His care and compassion by the ultimate sacrifice – by dying for us. There can be ‘no greater love’ than to die for love. We are moved to tears by the stories, even myths and legends of lovers who die for one another rather than see harm come to the loved one (the beloved) – but Jesus has and is ‘the greatest love of all.’

We are called to imitate this love in everyday occurrences - to ‘love one another’. This is easy for us to do when our kindness is returned, when there is a ‘quid pro quo’. But what are we to do when others ignore us, are insensitive, even to the point of being indifferent or insulting! Now there’s the challenge to love! To love those who have hurt us, injured us, ignored us or were perhaps even deliberately uncaring, bad-mannered, ignorant, or unfeeling. Yes, we can all think of things and people that have hurt us. Can we forgive?  That is a fruit that Jesus wants us to cultivate. It does not come easily. A measure of our love is our willingness to excuse, making allowances for others’ failings, even failings they may not even be aware of. No matter where or who we are there will always be tension, and we may even be the source of it, unknown to ourselves!

Jesus’ words to ‘love one another’ are among His last – they are, if you will, His last will and testament. It is said likewise of John the Apostle, who lay on Jesus’ breast at the Last Supper and who heard these words uttered from the heart of Jesus, that in his elder days, all he could keep saying, even on his own deathbed, was ‘love one another’ to his own followers.

Many books, plays and films have been produced depicting a death scene. If you ever see a movie or play with one – usually towards the end of the movie, the whole audience is reduced to silence, even tears. It does not happen too often but we can remember leaving a performance lost in the drama of it all. Words fail us. It takes time to recover normality.

What would YOU say if you were on your deathbed, to those around you?

 What in contrast, would you have a loved one say to YOU?

 No doubt you would want to utter, or hear uttered, the word ‘love’.

How would you prove it afterwards? How would you give evidence of it? How would you honour the memory of the one you loved? What would make them proud? Let us ask the Lord to help us prove that we love Him – in those around us – in our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions. Let us be living sermons of our love for one another – and then we will truly be what He wants us to be – not just disciples, but friends.  And 'our joy will be complete'.

In memory of my father.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

SUNDAY GOSPEL

GOSPEL John 15:10
Jesus said to his disciples:

'I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that bears no fruit
he cuts away,
and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes
to make it bear even more.
You are pruned already,
by means of the word that I have spoken to you.
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
but must remain part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
is like a branch that has been thrown away
- he withers;
these branches are collected and thrown on the fire,
and they are burnt.
If you remain in me
and my words remain in you,
you may ask what you will
an,d you shall get it.
It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples.'

‘I am the vine and you are the branches’

This time of the year we celebrate Confirmation ceremonies all over the country. As a school chaplain preparing children each year, I must say I am always enriched by the experience and learn more about the beauty and importance of the sacrament and am reminded of, and challenged in particular by, the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, trustfulness, self-control – see St Paul : 1 Corinthians 12:4-13).  I must ask myself to what extent they are evident in my attitudes, actions and conversations on a daily basis.

In the Gospel today – we are the fruit bearers and not only the fruit! We must, as branches, know our place in the growth process in God's Kingdom, the Church.

One of the surprising things about this beautiful passage is the necessity of pruning. Pruning is a seemingly drastic and needless procedure that is damaging to the integrity of the plant, but the vinedresser is experienced and caring in his attention to detail. Much more fruit will result in the long-term, but the effects are in the short term seemingly catastrophic. The plant, however, exists to produce fruit over the long term and not in a single season. Gardeners and horticulturalists will tell you that pruning not only gives shape to a plant or tree, but also RENEWED VIGOUR and growth.

The pruning is the work of the Father-vinedresser. We are pruned as a result of producing first-fruits. The Father sees our potential to bear fruit, and what happens is that all the good we presently possess or our progress to date - all our capacity - is cut out from under us. Suffering is a pruning of our gains. Often this entails the bruising of our pride, our ego, our seeming self-sufficiency, and the temptation to believe that the good that we have thus far accomplished is the result of our own efforts (alone) , that gets in the way of the harvest. It  must be shorn, to remind us who is at work here and whose work we are doing and who ultimately is in control. We are not the centre of activity, even though our role is indispensable.

We are pruned firstly by means of the Word, a double edged sword. The Word of God, especially the words of our Lord Jesus Himself, must take greater priority as the source of our meditation and inspiration - and by implication, effectiveness.

Pruning of our efforts takes many forms, resulting in a seeming fruitlessness lasts for a time follows immediately after pruning to remind us who it is who is the source of all fruitfulness – and it is not us.  Christ is the source of the flow of spiritual life in us and others.

The metaphor of the flow of sap between the vine and the branches is worth a closer look. That nourishing sap in plants must run through veins in branches containing vessels known as xylem for carrying water principally, and phloem for carrying food nutrients. These vessels also carry mineral salts and hormones respectively, to nourish the branches and leaves and then the fruit in due course.

The sap comes from the vine, and it is us alignment with the centre that causes unimpeded free-flow of the necessary water and nutrients for the fruit and ourselves. The fruit then flourishes only in the measure that the branch does its job effectively in being a conduit from the vine to the fruit at the tips. The fruitfulness from the vine - Christ - is dear to the Father/vinedresser, but it is a patient work of art to produce fruit (us and others) for the harvest. The water can correspond to the grace of our baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit, and the nutrients correspond to the frequent, even daily, reception of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist as well as the nourishment we receive from the Word of God and prayer.  This is what the Lord Jesus means when He wants us ‘to make your home in Me’. The water can also correspond to the water from Christ’s side, the flow of sanctifying and actual grace and the growth in divine love if we are to have any life in us. We cannot, after all, give to others what we do not possess ourselves. We cannot be convincing if we lack conviction.

Life in general and the mission of the Church specifically is not only about us, though we have an indispensable place, as ‘apart from Me you can do nothing.’ We have a role in a higher plan that is beyond our control. We cannot attempt to usurp our role or take the place of the vinedresser or the vine for that matter.

The Lord wants us to bear fruit, fruit that will last. That fruit is the souls of others oriented toward God through repentance as well as an increase in charity and a sense of mission to witness, both in them and us. The fruit is meant to last – forever. The fruit is also ourselves – and in our own lives we must produce the fruits of repentance, charitable works, as well as righting wrongs, correcting injustices, reparation for our neglects, a fuller application of our talents and resourcefulness in the service of others, examination of conscience, mental prayer, charity in speech, and forgiveness of hurts.

Our pruning, the work of God, is ongoing – and necessary. More long-term fruitfulness is to be gained by proper careful pruning. In the end, abundantly more fruit will be harvested but we have to sacrifice ourselves – stripped of what was important to us, pruned back for new and more abundant growth. Let us trust God that He knows what He is doing with us, even though the pruning can be a quite painful, and sometimes public, stripping as well as being deeply personal to each of us.

Contradiction, anger, temptations, criticism, and humiliation – all these forms of suffering puncture our resilient weed of pride which bounces back for more again and again for more of the same.  We have to be re-shaped to be effective in God’s designs. We must also learn to prune ourselves in self-denial, by humility, acceptance of duty, willingness to ask others’ pardon and be prepared to admit that we are wrong and face the consequences to our pride.

Let us then all accept with painful peaceful surrender and resignation the implications of this pruning in the many forms of suffering, sometimes self-inflicted, we experience on a daily basis. It is for the Kingdom, for souls and ultimately God’s greater glory – fruit that will last.

Fourth Sunday of Easter - Vocations Sunday

Vocations Sunday

I am a bit a movie buff and watch all sorts of movies (except horror). Since the late 1950s the emphasis in heroes in movies has changed from the reliable virtuous uncompromising character played by a John Wayne, Gary Cooper or Spencer Tracy where the hero could be relied upon to deliver the goods, and where concepts of good and evil were clearly defined, perhaps influenced by the very clear boundaries and principles fought over in World War II.

This all began to change in the late 1950s to the ‘Rebel without a Cause’ type of anti-hero with the tragic, flawed, angst-ridden character in a leading role. Gritty determination, foul language, womanising and the end-justifying-the-means to track down the villain became the characteristic ‘values’ of a new generation of ‘good guy’ actors in the moral free-fall of an America represented by a James Dean, Clint Eastwood or Gene Hackman. Good and evil became blurred.

Since the late 1970s the modern movie industry has discovered that there is a ton of money to be made by putting fantasy action heroes in the big screen. Superman, Spiderman, and Batman have each been on the screen in two different franchises each. Coolness, one-liners and special effects and computer graphics characterise the mostly family-friendly modern action hero movies. Good and evil are back, even if the heroes are now superhuman.

What is it with the world’s enduring fascination with these heroes and superheroes?

Part of the attraction is that these movies of course contain simple stereotypes that have universal appeal. We men want women to swoon and faint at the sight of the hero, we (men) want women to be needy, vulnerable, in distress and we want them to be saved – by us! Women want a muscular, handsome, rugged, scarred and proven, faithful hero. They want to be saved, and they will stand by their man! Women want to be cherished and feel safe and protected.

Men, on the other hand, want to be the ones to win over, and be favoured by, the beautiful damsel. Men want to be valued, looked up to, admired, and singled out, needed and valued for their heroism, integrity, principles, courage, risk-taking, perseverance. In all of the action though men - deep down - need a plan and a quest, an adventure and a meaning and overall plan and purpose in life in which they and their role seem to make sense, that there is a meaning to all of this.

Action hero movies, while a mostly innocent form of escapism, have appeal therefore to these basic needs and drives in all of us that there is a higher plan, a marvellous story, and secretly we all want to engage in one.

Do we realise however that we are all the heroes and heroines in our own stories, that God has an over-riding plan for you and me? That he wants us to be saints, possessing heroic virtue with His help. You and I may not be much to look at, but inside we are!

We all have a story, and I think that it is what is most fascinating to me about people and life generally. We all struggle to make sense of it, as we cannot see what lies ahead, and we cannot undo what has led us to this point. We are capable of, if not always open to, change in our path where it is necessary. We may not have as much drama or action, but we have turning points, fateful days and crunch decisions to make that will determine our fate.

The author, John Eldredge has written much on this topic. It is the departure from the quest and the plan of life that God has set out for each of us that is the source of so much unhappiness and cynicism. Why, if there is no game-plan, do we get out of bed in the morning? We are unique, none of us is replaceable, and there will never be anyone quite like you or me! We all have a unique vocation in life, from the day of our Baptism and Confirmation to be God’s witnesses in the world. As Pope Benedict XVI has put it: ‘each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.’

Reading the lives of the saints - the best stories of all – can be an inspiration to us in our morally confused world and the uncertainty of so many in their misdirected unending quest for lasting notoriety and the cult of celebrity. These ordinary men and women on the other hand stuck by their principles in the face of adversity, and won the (unsought) admiration of all.

Who could not be struck by the drama of the life of Blessed John Paul II? His biography is worth reading. Or Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St Maria Goretti, St Francis of Assisi, and so many more. What we all yearn for is ultimately love, meaning, and a sense of direction.

All of these are summed up in one word –‘vocation’.

Yes, you and I have one. They are different, but they are complementary – in the married, single, priestly, or religious state of life. Christ calls us and chooses us to this. So it is our relative nearness to Him and willingness to be guided by Him in ongoing continuous daily habits of mental prayer that helps us to make sense of every day, of ourselves, of our world, and to expand our horizons to see our role in it.

That, to me, is what Vocations Sunday is all about.

Let us therefore be open to Christ, or in the words of Blessed Pope John Paul II: – ‘Open wide the doors to Christ’. If we could just let Him in, and then watch what happens....

Third Sunday of Easter

The road to Emmaus is referred to only briefly at the beginning of today's Gospel, but I cannot resist reflecting on it in more detail.

The Emmaus journey can serve as a template and guide to prayer: The road is an encounter with the Lord Jesus, and provides the basis for each prayer encounter....there are 4 steps

STEP ONE

'What are these things you talk about on the way?'

False expectations

Did you ever feel let down by someone or feel an anti-climax after a much anticipated event that did not, after all, live up to expectations?

 We live in an era as well of media hype around certain events as diverse as a royal wedding and a soccer tournament. The amount of hype on the airwaves and excitement generated is met by the reality that only one team can win.

A priest I know goes to the Cheltenham Racing Festival every March. He says the first night before the first race is the best for atmosphere– everyone’s a winner that night!

This time of year family events such as Communions and Confirmation each have their own excitement – but as we have seen the focus has been taken off the sacrament received – which is priceless - and more on the material aspects of the day, such as the communion dress or outfit, the function, and worst of all how much money the child receives.

It is a different kind of excitement and expectation or even trepidation when we are about to meet someone for the first time.

Or the disappointment when someone we have get to know has let us down – they did not measure up in our estimation of what we expected of them. It must be very painful in marriage when one spouse expresses disappointment in the other in word exchanges like: ‘You’re not the man I married’ - ‘well, actually I am.’ ‘You’ve changed’ - ‘you haven’t changed with me’. Marriage counsellors have their work cut out for them as couples wound each other deeply where it hurts. We all fail to live up to others’ expectations through miscommunication, misunderstandings, forgetfulness, insensitivity, and inevitable lurking character faults that surface at some stage. When the honeymoon is over, the real work of marriage begins. Much of the work that spouses need to do on themselves is to become more realistic about what is realisable and what can be accomplished in marriage. But also in working relationships among colleagues there can be spats and disputes. A fabulous job interview and hiring of a new employee cannot prevent inevitable tensions between an employee and employer, and between employees. In most relationships, family, community, workplace, voluntary organisation or parish, there are inevitable tensions and disagreements over policy and the allocation of work assignments.

Worst of all is the sense that the overarching vision and sense of joint or communal purpose is lost sight of, and tedium and tensions are the order of the day. Cynicism has been described as 'disappointed idealism.’

Such is the feeling of the two disciples in the Gospel passage today – a feeling that Jesus and His message was one big let-down. Having invested their time and energy into Jesus and His teaching and having perhaps witnessed some of His miracles and being moved by the strength of His personality, all ended in seeming disaster. He was not what they had made Him out to be (‘our own hope had been...’), a political liberator. Furthermore the notion that He had risen from the dead has astonished them. They don’t believe it – their body language gives it away – they are leaving Jerusalem –walking away from where it all happened. They are going home. It is all over for them. ‘Their faces are downcast'.

‘He explained the Scriptures to them’

The disciples are about to embark on the journey of their lives, a journey that no doubt will ultimately lead them to Jerusalem and to their true home –the early Christian community, the Church and their heavenly home. They must unlearn their mistakes. They were ‘foolish and slow to believe’ – they lacked true wisdom – were thinking in truly solely political terms ‘as men think’, according to the prevailing opinion even among Christ’s followers. They were hesitant and not convinced, and not prepared to make an act of faith. The journey now becomes an intellectual and spiritual journey – challenging and clarifying their woolly understanding as God’s plan as revealed in the Scriptures which is now made clear to them. The journey begins with Moses 1200 years before and goes through all the prophecies about Jesus Himself. It is a gradual realisation of who Jesus is – as it a gradual deepening for us over a lifetime to unearth ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’ . They reach a point where they say: ‘stay with us’ .

STEP TWO

'He explained to them everything ...'

We are now ready to hear Jesus -his 'take' on what we are concerned about - which in the great order of things are only trifles, slight. He corrects our mis-perceptions of reality, of a given situation and brings us fresh perspective. He helps us to see things in a new way, and shows up our blindnesses, that Jesus is everything and in everything, and wants to be part of every aspect of our lives.

'...that was in the Scriptures about Himself'

We learn something new about the identiy and relevance of Jesus in the darkness of our situation. Praying with the SCRIPTURES, whether Old Testament - the Book of the Promise, or the New Testamnet, the Book of Fulfilment, we find answers to our questions. 'Ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ' (St Jerome).

STEP THREE

The Lord made as if to go on...' Stay with us Lord, the day is almost over'

We enjoy His Company, we bask in His loving presence, and we feel moved, changed, transformed, and loved. This is a true encounter with Him. We do not want Him to leave.

How often have we felt we did not want a particular day, event, an encounter with someone, and all the feelings associated with it, to come to an end? We want the moment to linger, this inner peace, a feeling of blissful harmony – we think to ourselves - ‘oh if it could always be like this.’ But in our heart of hearts we know it can’t. At least not yet. At such rare moments there is no lingering in past, any longing for the future, just now – joy-filled, thrilled, exuberant, and happy. We realise that we have tasted a bit of heaven, moved to the depths of our being. We are truly living in the moment. There are no words, because no words are necessary to explain such ecstasy.

These rarities in life, which are so elusive, which people search for - often fruitlessly - and vanish all too quickly, do happen also in prayer. These are the rare glimpses of heaven that the Lord wants us to savour, and they make all the darker moments worthwhile. These consolations do not last very long and are the effects of persevering prayer, and most importantly they are not sought for their own sake. All holy men and women experience them, but they come from God as a pure gift. Moses and Elijah experienced them, Peter at the Transfiguration ‘did not know what he was saying’ he was in such joy, we think of Mary at the birth of Jesus, Elizabeth when the child, John, leapt in her womb, Simeon at the sight of Jesus. Such moments lead us to praise of God. This was the experience of the disciples at Emmaus – and like them we want to say ‘stay with us’.

STEP FOUR

'While at supper Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it..’

At the breaking of the bread at Emmaus the Lord is now at last recognised. He had been there all along, in their midst though they did not know it! Now He disappears from sight and they must spread the word. They reflect to each other: ‘were not our hearts burning within us at as He spoke to us on the way?’ He came to them in their misery, and changed their hearts slowly into joy and love.

POST-SCRIPT: AFTER PRAYER COMES PROCLAMATION

‘They made their way back’

So therefore they MUST share their experience together with the other disciples – they journey back from where they came, no doubt with the physical landmarks of the journey back, recalling to mind words, phrases, impressions. So that, by the time they got to Jerusalem they had a refined - though undoubtedly excited and exciting - narrative account of all that took place.

What a wonderful narrative account. Are we not all on a similar journey at present? Where are you and I now? Which of the stages have we experienced? And what have we yet to experience? Is the Lord with us though we do not see Him, though we do not ‘know’ it, i.e. without any physical evidence? Like Thomas last week, ‘happy are those who have not seen and yet believe!

For a second time the Lord rebukes the disciples for not believing the authoritative factual testimony of the other disciples, perhaps because the latter were women and they were prejudiced towards them, but above all because they lacked faith in the message. Now all together they must admit; ‘Yes , it is true’. May we now believe likewise!

It is all true. The Lord has risen!

Divine Mercy Sunday

It’s about Divine Mercy today - and mercy with one another – it’s about forgiving one another as we are called to live with one another in love - as a faith community, and as a church community.

As Jesus said: ‘Peace be with you’ - and among you – peace is not about the absence of conflict, it’s the forgiveness - it’s about being able to forgive the small things in a relationship that annoy – that can make or break a relationship – and to not mention them again – the things that drive you or me nuts – the minor grievances that we allow to accumulate, we are tempted to hold on to them – withholding forgiveness and bearing grudges.

In a family or marriage we constantly need to go beyond the little things: - the love you have and are shown, the reason for the relationship - be it a marriage, a vocation, family, a friendship, the 'why' of why we are together must be invoked again and reflected upon to pick up the pieces and see the bigger picture and start over.

The all-encompassing mercy of God is what we are celebrating today, and the extent to which we 'get it' ie understand it, is the extent to which we allow it to spill over into our relationships with one another.

We must choose to accept forgiveness from God and the people we are in a relationship with. Forgiveness is a CHOICE - a decision to seek and to accept and be prepared to let go.

St Thomas had doubts about faith. We too have doubts and uncertainty - but in the area of forgiveness - that God can actually forgive me this hidden sin, this terrible thing I said or did. Jesus’ wounds revealed today remind us the price He paid but also of His willing forgiveness and mercy

Peace or shalom - the Jewish understanding was more than a simple greeting like a 'hello' or 'good day' -it was the desire that the person receiving the blessing might be whole in body, mind and spirit. Jesus then follows His peace greeting with the theme of forgiveness.

Peace is crucial. Being at peace with one another and being at peace with God are pre-requisites to living a full and free Christian life - only then will you have peace with yourself – it is hard work and a deliberate choice.

THERE IS NO PEACE WITHOUT THE EXPERIENCE OF THE JOY OF FORGIVENESS.

We all experience the feeling that we are not really deserving of forgiveness. This is worth bearing in mind in our hesitation to forgive others in turn. Power in a relationship does not lie with the person who has control (there is no real love where there is control anyway)but with The person who grants forgiveness. There are no relationships without conflict or misunderstanding.

'Peace I leave with you' are the words we hear before the Sign of Peace and these are linked with Jesus' words: 'a peace the world cannot give, that is my gift to you. Peace is also mentioned at the end of Mass : 'the Mass is ended, go in peace'

Jesus wishes PEACE at all levels of our being, and the power He confers on His Apostles today after breathing the Spirit on them is the authority to forgive in His Name.

Let us flee then to the ocean of Divine Mercy and experience once more the joy of beinig forgiven everything from our past. Then we will experience a peace the world cannot give.

Let us share that peace joy and forgiveness with the whole world.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday – Christ is risen alleluia

It has been said that if you want to get to know someone, live with them for a while or go on holidays with them. They get to know you too! After a while all the quirks show up, and we get to know one another’s habits, from the way we dress, wash, clean up after ourselves and so on. It is always a source of amusement to hear of married couple’s experiences, and the unexpected things that tend to get under their skin about each other’s behaviour. One couple I know soon found themselves annoyed with how they squeezed the tube of toothpaste – one squeezed the tube in the middle to the annoyance of the other who felt it should be squeezed evenly and uniformly form the end! This I have heard called ‘weatherproofing’ – some call it ‘nagging’!

Another couple I know spoke of the annoyance of the wife - of how, in this case, the husband scraped excess unused butter from his knife back on the side of the butter dish!

It is the everyday things, the seemingly small things that grate, not the major crises that one would expect to challenge the relationship! One does not have to be married though to experience the petty annoyances that aggravate. Think of the things that our mothers used to drill in to us, hanging up our coats, bringing our dishes to the sink, doing our homework, going to bed, making our bed, and so on.
I labour the point because there is an extremely important detail, a clue, as it were, to the disciples’ final realisation that Jesus would – and did – rise from the dead. The disciples Peter and John, two of the three closest disciples to Jesus, are the first of the Apostles to see the empty tomb, undisturbed. What do they see that convinces them that Jesus had truly risen? The way his clothes were left after Him!
What do we read?

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

The rolling up of the head cloth by itself is the ‘giveaway’. Jesus tidied up after Himself as He did in life in the three years that the disciples had got to know him.

So now, in the minds of the disciples, Jesus ‘pulls it off’ as it were. The trademark astonishment of the disciples, in this His greatest miracle, their failure to understand, now gives way to complete realisation –and most importantly faith, faith in who Jesus is.

The ultimate teaching today is that there is resurrection for all of our dead and for ourselves. The key to eternal life for us too is faith in the Risen Lord. As for our beloved dead are with God, and God is very near.