Month: March 2019

Dear Friends in Christ ,

3rd Sunday of Lent 2019

In today’s Gospel Jesus comments on two hot topics of discussion – two tragic incidents that had recently occurred. The first of these concerned the killing of some Galileans while there were offering sacrifice, probably in the Jerusalem temple at Passover. Pilate was notorious for his brutal attitude towards the Jewish people and the practice of their faith. The second incident was probably a construction accident at the Siloam reservoir at Jerusalem, resulting in the death of eighteen people.

Sadly, then as now, such random and tragic events were interpreted as divine retribution. People of a religious fundamentalist persuasion often claim God’s judgement in a way that is cold, callous and erroneous – be it the terrible outbreak of AIDs in the early 1980’s or the attack on the World Trade Centre Towers in New York in 2011. Terrible human tragedies are interpreted to suit people’s poor theology.

This all has its roots in the Old Testament. In the book of Job for example, Eliphaz, in a wonderful spirit or self-righteous condemnation, says to poor Job: ‘Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plough evil and those who sow trouble reap it. At the breath of God they perish…’

Jesus rejected this teaching and sought to correct it. On one occasion, on encountering a blind man he was asked by his disciples, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? But he immediately corrected this heresy: ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents…’ Jesus taught that good fortune or disaster, blessing or curse, success or failure is no indication or our spiritual state before God because God causes the sun to shine on all of us, the righteous and the unrighteous. Today isn’t the time to cast aspersions or to accuse or make assumptions about how God thinks or acts because today is the time for repentance. God’s mercy and kindness gives us time to repent and change, but one day we will be required to give an account of our lives to the living God.

BRITISH SUMMERTIME BEGINS NEXT WEEKEND

CLOCKS GO FORWARD ONE HOUR ON SUNDAY 31^st MARCH

Dear Friends in Christ,

2nd Sunday of Lent 2019

On a number of occasions in his ministry Jesus chose to take only Peter, James and John with him. One of those was the healing of Jairus’ daughter, and another was his last visit to Gethsemane. They were also with him when, as we read in the Gospel today, his human body was transfigured and glowed with divine life of a glorified and resurrected body. The disciples were granted, if you like, a glimpse of heaven. Peter, vividly recalled the event: ‘we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honour and glory form God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Messianic Glory “This is my Beloved Son, with who I am well pleased,” we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain’.

We believe in the resurrection of the body – it is always important to be clear on this point. We believe in the hope that on the last day our bodies will rise and be resplendent and illuminated with the life of God, just as Jesus’ body was at the Transfiguration. What a hope! What a future! What a destiny! What kind of body it will be we don’t know. Our own bodies are subject to death, decay and corruption but we live in hope of resurrection.

Paul poses the question we all ask: ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? There will always be an element of mystery about this – how can we know for sure what kind of body it will be? The Apostle explains that there are earthly bodies and there are heavenly bodies, and they both have their own beauty and splendour. However, whereas the earthly body dies, the heavenly body is not subject to corruption, and that is our hope. What we do know for sure is that just as we have borne the likeness of Jesus on earth, so in heaven we shall bear the likeness of the heavenly transfigured Jesus.

‘For by the sacrifice of his own body, he(Jesus) did two things. He put an end to the law of death which barred our way; and he made a new beginning of life for us, by giving us hope of resurrection (St. Athanasius).

Dear Friends in Christ 

1st Sunday of Lent 2019

The Spirit led Jesus into the desert for forty days to be tempted and tested. During Lent we too are let by the Spirit into the mystery of Jesus’ sojourn in the desert. ‘By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church united herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.’ We too, during this holy season, can expect to be tempted.

The name Satan means ‘adversary’. In the book of Job we are given a vivid picture of Satan in God’s heavenly court, along with all the other angels, where he has the role of accuser or prosecutor. The Scriptures identify Satan as the serpent in the Garden of Eden who tempted Adam and Eve, and therefore, as the origin of sin and temptation. What the Scriptures and tradition make clear is that humankind has a mortal enemy who, although a finite being created by God, is in a desperate struggle to overthrow God’s reign, usurp his Lordship and lead his creation into darkness and death. On Easter Sunday each of us will recite our Baptismal promises and in doing so renew them. Bear this in mind as we move through Lent, because as you will be aware, a renewal of our baptismal promises involves us actively, freely voluntarily rejecting Satan.

Lent is also a time for us to discover anew and afresh the Gospel, the ‘Good News’, which Jesus began to proclaim immediately after his time of testing. What is the Good News? The Good News is a message of two parts. The first part is to repent and the second part is to believe in the Gospel. We walk together on this road marked out for us by the Church and take up our call to stand firm and resist the devil, and knowing that he will flee, and embrace freely and with love the Gospel, which is Christ with us and in us, the hope of Salvation.

‘In these days, therefore, let us add something beyond the wonted measure of our service, such as private prayers and abstinence in food and drink. Let each one, over and above the measure prescribed for him; offer God something of his own free will in the joy of the Holy Spirit.’ (St. Benedict).

Dear Friends in Christ 

8th Sunday of the Year 2019

Today’s gospel from St. Luke follows immediately upon his beautiful explanation of unconditional love whereby we are to love even our enemies. This kind of love is not natural.  It can come only with the grace of God and as a result of much work and effort.  But this is precisely the challenge of today’s gospel for each one of us.   To be so positive of all other people that we can accept them for who and what they are, that we can overcome those occasions when we tend to misjudge others, that we can stress the good in others and hope they can do the same for us.

The blind cannot lead the blind. And a disciple cannot be a good disciple unless he or she has learned from the teacher. Everyone who is fully trained is like the teacher who knows how to cure the blind. Before you can be a good disciple and teach others you must take care of yourself. Do not try to take a speck out of your brother’s eye until you have taken the board out of your own. Finally, only when you have purified yourself can you produce the good works that the teacher requires. Discipleship asks us to produce good deeds. But to produce them requires the integrity and purity of heart found in the teacher. When people see your good deeds they will know that this is because you have a good heart. 

It sounds like a kind of Christian utopia, doesn’t it?  But Christ came to change the work, to transform the world according to the will of His Father.   Today’s gospel is a challenge, a bold challenge for each one of us followers of Jesus.

The final parable, which we do not read today, is about building on the solid foundation of rock and not on sand. This is the only way to face the difficulties a disciple will encounter and survive!