Twenty second Sunday of Ordinary Time

I heard it said recently that we tend to form a lasting impression on someone within four minutes of meeting them for the first time.

Even though the scripture warns us against judgment, all the same we tend to categorise people much of the time - using many criteria - their manners, how they speak, how they greet us, how they make eye contact, how they dress, how they arrange their hair, their taste in fashion, whether they wear make up and how much, do they colour-coordinate etc. As we engage in conversation we move from talking about the weather and where they are from and  start to develop an opinion of them based on their knowledge of current affairs, tastes in music, teams they follow, books or movies they like, political leanings, and so on. All these form an overall impression and feed into our prejudices on the one hand or preconceived notions or presumptions of what makes for good character as whether they might be someone we might spend more time with and cultivate a friendship.

We often ask about others friendships, relationships and marriages 'I wonder what they see in each other?' It is interesting that we use that phrase 'to see in' . And by contrast we dismiss others because we 'see through them' - we go beyond appearances.

Appearances matter in public - some people can power dress and dress with confidence. People can exude an air of authority and confidence by how they deport themselves. We can be readily impressed and judge their character by the level of practiced care and trouble in how they present themselves. And appearances do matter and can be crucial on formal occasions like a job interview.

But for all that, we can and do overlook a certain level of carelessness or failings in presentation and awkwardness if the person's heart is in the right place - in the long term the person who gets the job done is preferable to the one who is always ready for inspection but nothing else. Punctuality and diligence and keeping their word and fidelity matter more in the long term. Ideally both are present - both style and substance !

But what about our relationship with God?

'Man looks at appearances but God looks at the heart.'
Appearances can be deceiving but God cannot be fooled. Our relationship with God and neighbour is a matter for the heart.

Of all the parts of the body the heart is mentioned most often in the Bible -1000 times. It means much more of course than the body organ and its function. It is about moral decision making. The Lord looks to the heart as the source or arbiter of morality and righteousness.
In today's Gospel, Jesus quotes Isaiah :

'This people honours me only with lip-service,
while their hearts are far from me.'

On the negative side, sinful acts are preceded by sinful thoughts and consenting to sinful desires followed by availing of the opportunity to sin. Virtue is not measured by fidelity to man-made laws but conformity to divine law - even in matters of religious worship. Our desires stem from the the heart. Desires must be purified and channelled as St Augustine learned when he said 'our hearts are restless, Lord, and they will not rest until they rest in you.'
Our desires such as wanting, needing and yearning point to our incompleteness without other things and other people - something we lack, and which something or someone might make up for that is lacking in us.

It is where we place our hearts desire that matters.

Jesus points to twelve ways in which our hearts have the capacity to lead us to sin. Unfortunately, we can make the wrong decisions.

'For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’

What makes us clean? Possessing the opposing virtues to the twelve vices just mentioned ..
Chastity, fidelity, honesty, truth telling, respect for life, goodness, generosity, gratitude, integrity, humility, charity, wisdom.

These are in fact the fruits of the Holy Spirit - obtained through faithfulness to prayer and frequent reception of the sacraments, fidelity to duty, and striving to practice the virtues in our daily life with the help of a regular confessor, spiritual director and like minded people.

So while externals matter they are skin deep. The Lord looks to my heart. I might wonder - What does He see in me ?

He loves me and I want to return that love - from my heart.

Twenty First Sunday of the Year B

The last five Sundays have taken us from the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fishes to the passage from the same chapter of St John, chapter 6. We have come to the climax of the story - we have journeyed from provision to decision.

We have now come to a defining moment, a climax, a denouement, in modern parlance 'a game-changer'.

Everything has led to this focal point and all from now on hinges or turns on what we hear and read in the passage today.

Jesus invites and challenges us - individually, personally, uniquely and collectively as as a people.

It is very much like a pivotal decision in any relationship. In any couple’s life they decide that ‘this is it’ - this is the person I will marry.  This is the person I will spend the rest of my life with. Or the couple part -their minds are set in opposite directions – this is NOT the person for me, an engagement is broken off. There is heartbreak and tears.

In any friendship however there will be a crisis moment, a challenge to greater fidelity. If the test is all-defining then the friendship will last and deepen or it drifts apart and things are never the same. Friends may even then become acquaintances or colleagues and sometimes even drop out of our lives for good. Situations change and people change.

Jesus and the people who follow Him come to a crossroads, a test; it is an all-defining moment.

As popularity wanes, integrity and identity in friendship and relationships increase. The Jews are in the majority, Jesus remains in the centre, while the disciples - very much in the minority – must decide, must choose one way or the other.

It is one of those key moments, one of the key questions that Jesus asks – maybe one that is the most important of all. It is a decisive issue, a test of loyalty and friendship.

‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’

Someone who stands by you, someone ‘there’ for you, when others fail to pass the test or make the grade.

People can surprise us and disappoint us in equal measure in a time of crisis, be it sickness or bereavement – the people who make an effort and those who couldn’t be bothered. People can be ‘hail fellow, well met’ to our faces but will show their true colours eventually. We will never forget the kindness of those who showed up to visit us in hospital or at our sick bed, or who made contact when they could not be physically present.

We remember with gratitude those who were there for us, and likewise to our pain and disappointment we will never quite view the same way again those who let us down when we had every right to expect them to be there. We take it personally, as a slight that they neglected us, were careless and thoughtless - they failed to take our feelings into consideration, even though we are called by Christ to forgive them, their seeming excuses and justification, where they exist, ring hollow to our ears. They are not true friends. They are great talkers, but it is all empty bluster to ears because they failed to ‘walk the walk’.

Yet to our delight and surprise some people are amazing. They came out of the blue to our aid, helped us financially, took the time to listen, and were genuine and sincere when they did so. We never knew they had it in them. We are gratified by their consideration and thoughtfulness. We excuse a lot of their other faults when we see the trouble they go to on our account on this occasion. The little effort they made is never forgotten – especially those who, on the day of a removal or funeral, make same-day round trips from Dublin or elsewhere.

But when people fail to reciprocate our kindness to them, it can be painful and deeply hurtful. ‘Eaten bread is soon forgotten.’ No truer moment is that proverb than John 6. What grieves us, like Jesus, is that people turn their backs on us when we have been kind to them.

Yes people make mistakes, can be clumsy, awkward, imperfect, inconsistent, maddening. Yet such is the fallen human race, and that too is the Church in its members! Certainly misunderstandings can and do occur through lack of clarity and sometimes explanations and apologies must be made.  The Lord is merciful and is always ready to take us back, but we must accept all that He is and what He stands for.

It is a friendship and relationship like no other because it is about trust and faith, and promises yet to be fulfilled, and sights yet to be seen. We have His word, and we take Him at His word, and He takes us at our word too.

It is the proclamation of the Eucharist that is the defining teaching and moment, the ‘showdown’.

We do fail each other through mutual carelessness, thoughtlessness, clumsiness. But allowing for occasional lapses (in ourselves too), friends generally are the ones who show up, and don’t show us up!

The crowds who have been fed cannot go one extra step towards Jesus. Jesus’ careful and public demonstration of His divine power seems to fail to impress at a faith level.

Peter speaks for the disciples, and come to think of it, speaks for you and me too when he says: ‘to whom else shall we go?

In other words: ‘who can satisfy my (our) deepest longings like you do? Where else, or from who else will I hear the truth? Who else can save me from myself? Yes this is a difficult teaching. The Jews said so – as we saw last week when it is recorded that they asked: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ today is added: ’who can accept it?’

I will - whatever the cost to myself, my image, my popularity, or loss of former friends. I am with Christ in this and in all things He says. It may not be the popular thing, but it is the right thing to do.

We each have a faith decision to make. No matter what others say – even in my family. We live in times that challenge us, when people leave church in large numbers – to be identified as Catholics publicly. This manifests itself most of all in Mass attendance. It is easy to turn away, God knows, the Church I some if her members has given ample evidence of failing to represent Christ in the mission and calling in their lives. We are faced with a decision today as well. Pope John Paul II said more or less the same thing in 1979 –‘Ireland must choose’.

Christ feeds us with Himself on our earthly journey. It is the mystery of faith par excellence.

Consciously, unconsciously we have made the decision to ‘hang in there’.

What we are saying today is ‘Yes, I accept’, once more, on Christ’s terms, even when it is difficult to be identifiable as His friend and follower, against the grain of so called popular opinion that is media-generated, no matter what the elusive ‘they’ say in opinion polls.

Like Joshua – a name that prefigures and in fact is a variation of the name Jesus which means ‘God saves’ – we say once more, even if it is difficult, but ever mindful of the Lord’s past dealings of mercy on us:

‘As for me and my House, we will serve the Lord.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twentieth Sunday or Ordinary time Year B

At this time of the annual trauma of Leaving Cert results and hand-wringing to discuss whether there is another better way to evaluate pupil learning and effect entry to college places we often look back (and shudder at the length of time that has passed since our own Leaving Cert). It brings back memories of school-days as well.

Every teacher has a catch-phrase. Some of our secondary teachers had a nick-name and a catch-phrase – some amounted to the same thing! If you recall teachers you had at school, some of whom were excellent, no doubt, we remember things they said and how they said them. One teacher my brother had has a whole blog, devised by past pupils, of comments he said often, which are quite hilarious if you knew him and understood the context. One of his memorable phrases to correct whispering or murmuring at the back of the classroom was ‘who’s hearing confessions down the back?!’

Whether drilled into us by fear or method some phrases or information from our learning sticks with us. It is a salute to the effectiveness of the teaching method, whether it was a justifiable technique accomplished through force or fear is another matter! But the best teachers loved their subject and it showed. They never had to resort to discipline. It just wasn’t an issue. They were so clear and focussed that we hung on their every word.

One of our English teachers had a memorable expression ‘repetition for emphasis’.

Often a difficult topic was one that would have to be revised more than once.  We would be told that it was a difficult exam question if we were to attempt it – not for the faint-hearted. Afterwards, we might be asked, ‘how did you get in that question?’

It is an important teaching technique to repeat information that is difficult at first hearing to process. A phrase might have to be examined, re-worded, and studied in depth. Especially important were definitions to be learnt off – eventually they might stick inn our minds.

Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you cannot have life in you.

FIVE TIMES Jesus unequivocally refers to His flesh and blood, not just once or twice, not in the symbolic sense. Like any parent or teacher he must repeat Himself –a total of five times in case they - and we - don’t get it!

See in the Gospel today how often Jesus repeats Himself, without changing his statement (see John 6:51-58):

 

1. The bread that I shall give is my flesh,

for the life of the world.’

1. if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you will not have life in you.

1. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood

has eternal life,

and I shall raise him up on the last day.

1. For my flesh is real food

and my blood is real drink.

1. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood

lives in me

and I live in him.

 

The Jews question this saying ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’

And we will return to this point next week.

 It is an important and crucial question that we should pause to recall often and consider for ourselves, repeating   ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ – But can there be any room for doubt when Jesus says it five times and adds ‘I tell you most solemnly?

Let us pray over it, asking God to help us to accept even without ever fully understanding that this is a fact and a core doctrine of our faith Jesus gives me - us - His very flesh and blood to drink in the Eucharist. That this is something Jesus desires for us, to share in His very life, in order to obtain eternal life. What does it mean for me? How do I respond?

 

19th Sunday of the Year

RECIPEOne of my hobbies is baking and cooking. Parishioners are pleasantly surprised when I tell them this. They are even more surprised to eat what I make. It is a very satisfying experience to have someone eat – and enjoy -what you make them. In the course of conversing with people about it, inevitably the subject turns to comparing recipes. People’s tastes and preferences differ, e.g. using butter as opposed to margarine or oil, for example. Still, baking in particular requires the same basic ingredients or recipe. At first a recipe appears difficult and challenging. But with practice and witht a few personal touches and adjustments, satisfaction is the result.
Is there a recipe for salvation?
A usual for those who know me I like to summariser things by acronyms or abbreviations. So the latest one in fact, is ‘ RECIPE’.
All of the following 6 ingredients make for the authentically lived Christian life.
R is for Repentance
This is first and foremost. It is the first word uttered by the Lord Jesus in the Gospel according to Mark. It means a change of direction, attitude and way of life, a renunciation form sinful habits and tendencies, a recognition that we have gone astray and, like the Prodigal Son, ‘come to our senses’ and change. This is hard and slow, especially with ingrained, resistant compulsive habits, but it is possible, and above all, necessary for our salvation.
 In his letter to the Ephesians in this Sunday’s reading, for example, there are 5 types of behaviour that are completely incompatible with the Christian life. They have to do with the area of anger – ‘no more bitterness; shouting (raised voices); no more name-calling or insults; bad temper, or anger – every kind of malice must be removed from you.’ (Eph 5:31). Instead our lives must be marked by generosity, sympathy, and ready forgiveness. (5:32)

E is for Eucharist

To receive the Eucharist worthily we must ‘leave our sacrifice at the altar, and go and be reconciled with [our] brother first. That is why reconciliation must precede the second ingredient. Then we can offer a sacrifice pleasing to God. That is why we have the sign of peace at Mass before receiving the Lord in Holy Communion.’
The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’, the Church tells us.
It has been the theme of these Sundays at Mass in John chapter 6. We read this Sunday: ‘I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.’ (John 6:51)

C is for Charity
As the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin reminded us – ‘communion with Christ, communion with one another.’ The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity. It pre-supposes unity of mind and heart. We must build up unity. It is the sacrament of Christ’s love. A priest I knew once said  that he dismissed the congregation at the Mass with the words ‘go in peace to love and serve the Lord and to love and serve each  other.’ The Mass must be lived out in the same sacrificial and self-abnegating love of Christ for us on the cross. We are called to be charitable in thought, word and deed, beginning at home and the workplace, and then, extending to others in the community, through charitable donations as well as participation in works of service.

I is for Intercession –

This is also an apt reminder that we belong – inextricably - to others, and they to us, in the Body of Christ, in the communion we call the Church. In prayer we are linked by a bond of love and this acts as a consolation as well as a strength – a mutual bond that strengthens our resolve and confidence that we pray for and are prayed (and therefore cared) for. Intercession pushes me beyond my own cares and worries to a selfless commitment to persevere even when - maybe especially when - prayer becomes dry and difficult. There are others less well off materially and spiritually - lacking these resources and strength in times of trial and temptation. My prayers can help them.

P is for Penance

This is to be done in moderation and yet it is God’s will. Think of the children of Fatima asked by Our Lady – ‘are you willing to offer up all the sacrifices God may send you’? When they replied in the affirmative, Our Lady instructed them: ‘You will have much to suffer but the grace of God will be your comfort.’ St Paul reminds us not to give up when trials come. Penance begins with the proper lived out commitment and not shirking from the sacrifices my daily duty requires. Frank Duff, in ‘Can we be saints’ went so far as to say that these daily tasks must be met even when religious devotions beckon. He said it in these or similar words: ‘Stay at home and do the dishes rather than be running off to Benediction.’ Penance comes in many forms in outing up with others, forgiving them, being silent when we would rather have the last word, and so on. It can even be the weather and the traffic going against us. ‘Make everything you can a sacrifice’, the angel at Fatima advised the children regarding its efficacy.
E is for Evangelisation

This begins with the example we set in speech and behaviour. We must never underestimate the power of good example. People are always watching us believers for the level of consistency in what we profess in belief and how we act out that belief – in conversation – i.e. our verbal treatment of others as well as our physical treatment of them.
Then we are called to evangelise – and I recommend the Legion of Mary as the chief ready means by which we can enter into the Lord’s mission to ‘spread the Good news of salvation to every creature’.
We received a call to mission at baptism. The Church is by its very nature, missionary (Vatican II). That means that every member must have a universal global understanding of the Church’s mission, and continue to ‘think globally, act locally’,

This is my proposed recipe!
While there are basic ingredients for bread – and without any one of them the bread made for example, is not satisfying tasty or nutritious, there is more to a successful outcome. There are certain external factors the like shape and depth of container, the type of oven you prefer and the length of time for baking etc. but without the proper ingredients there will be no chance of a successful outcome.

 Each of us, likewise, has the recipe but each of us is a different vessel within which to live out the Christian recipe. The fire of the Holy Spirit comes down upon us and gives us life and causes our spiritual lives to grow. ‘The Holy Spirit comes to us in our weakness when we do not know how to pray as we ought’. And the fire that is the love of Christ, urges us on.

Nineteenth Sunday of the Year

GRANT forgiveness

'The Lord has set his seal on us' in Baptism and Confirmation 

This is another way of looking at the Epistle from St Paul to the Ephesians, by using the acronym GRANT

Grudges-constant, permanent, reminder every time we see that person we think of something they said or did that colours everything they say in the future and we are biased towards them, minimising any good they may do or esteem we have for them

Raising your voice – hard not to do with a class of young fellas, but presumably this is when someone loses it as it were. While it is their problem we have to deal calmly, but if it is us who are raising our voice we have already lost the argument as well as perhaps being in danger of losing our dignity.

Allowing Spitefulness – implies that we make a conscious decision to say or do things or refrain to help out of spite – a form of revenge served cold, a calculated, studied coolness

Name calling – categorising people, a  nickname that is nasty that can stick – at our school we had nicknames for teachers but you would be put to the pin of your collar trying to remember their actual names.  Unfortunately we had hurtful names for one another

Temper – some people have a short fuse, others are blessed with a more patient disposition but keep away from them when they blow their top! Why and how do I ‘lose it’?

All of these are forms of active or passive aggression and all tell one thing – we are not at peace in the present or with our past - we might project or blame our forgotten buried aggression and something or someone causes us to have our feathers ruffled and we go ballistic! What have we taken out on others? How was temper taken out on us – unfortunately it is a vicious cycle – it poisons us and poisons the community at large..

We are not at peace with God or ourselves- and hence we are less likely to be at peace with others. We must seek ongoing healing and learn to forgive from the heart. Buried anger will manifest itself. Therefore there must be an acknowledgment  on my part of hurts that I have caused through thoughtlessness if not malice – be it in word or action, anger others, and anger too that I have instigated, and buried guilt and shame. Only God can give us the grace we need.

Then we can present a sacrifice at the altar – hence the importance of the sign of peace if for no other reason than to take the next best step in the right direction to seek healing and reconciliation with others and to make serious effects at reconciliation and avoiding inflicting hurt in the future.

We always begin Mass by calling to mind our sins, ands accept our own share of the blame or sense of responsibility. Before receiving Jesus in Holy Communion we pray 'GRANT us peace!'

18th Sunday of the Year

The journey across the lake

The theme and concept of journey is significant throughout the Scriptures. It is worth noting that of every single person of significance in the Bible, a journey is required.

There are three specific journeys in the Readings today – all across bodies of water.

In the Old Testament today, Moses and the people have journeyed from Egypt to the wilderness and are not far from the margins of the Promised Land. The whole People of God – the Church – is on a pilgrim journey mirroring that of the People of Israel described in the Book of Exodus today.

Jesus himself makes many journeys within the confines of Israel and along its borders. It is also worth noting and the Evangelists make clear that Jesus is depicted in His ministry on His way somewhere or has arrived from somewhere else. Today Jesus is in Capernaum – a name meaning ‘border’. The border is the place of decision – whether to stay or to cross over. It is the place of decision for Jesus as the Bread of Life in this chapter of John 6 which is the Gospel this and every third summer.

This is also very true of the followers of Jesus in today’s episode. They make a journey across the Sea of Galilee in boats. But what and whom are they looking for? That is the big question. And that is a question we have to pose to ourselves – who is Jesus Christ for you and me at this point?

A response in faith is in this way offered to us who are bystanders – it is a unique opportunity, and a life-changing one - a response to join our journey to His, at whatever stage we are in life’s journey. The journey towards JESUS in the Gospel today becomes not only a personal journey of education and self-discovery but one of inner transformation for the follower of Jesus..

It is often challenging, and like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus purifies and clarifies our vision. Often we must return to this sense of journey – and indeed mission –as there is a temptation to stay ‘where we are’ – static, comfortable, passive, unchallenged – and therefore we might turn back –back to complacency and even the ‘former life’ we lived, life without Christ.

This is the temptation that Paul warns His followers among the people of Ephesus in the Second Reading today – the old self which gets corrupted by following ‘illusory desires’. There is the temptation among those who have crossed the waters of baptism to hearken back to the predictable ‘safety’ of enslavement to sin, to journey back to paganism. The illusory desires are the fake promises of lasting happiness – of pleasures and worldly attachments that promise everything but are worthless and even harmful to salvation.

This is a life lesson to all of us who have had perhaps false or unduly high expectations and disappointments. We know that the joys of life are not forever – that they do not last. The joys of life prepare us, strengthen us and sustain us as a counter-balance to withstand and endure the bitterness, inevitable disappointments and anti-climaxes of life.

The disciples today change from a spirit of excitement and enthusiasm and the certainty that Jesus is their king – in earthly terms. They feel that Jesus having miraculously fed them will continue to do so and moreover, without any effort on their part.

They misinterpret the significance of the bread miracle that has just taken place as recounted in the Gospel last Sunday.
Crossing the lake – what happens? Their hopes are dashed –they might even feel disappointment, frustration, even a sense of anti-climax. This kind of bread miracle is a ‘one-off’.

Now instead of being changed utterly after this miracle – they want more, they even demand more of Jesus. As if Jesus hadn’t done enough for them they ask: “what sign will you give us?” Never could it be more truly said of a people that ‘eaten bread is soon forgotten’!

All of us have desires and needs. But when Mother Teresa was alive she spoke of the greatest hunger in the world today – not that of poverty but that of love. She fed and clothed many street children and orphans. Often they would have a glazed far-away look on their eyes having been abandoned by their parents and left alone. The sense of rejection could be read in their eyes. The sisters would kiss, cuddle, hug and speak lovingly to these children until the light in their eyes would return. When journeying through the Western world she saw the same look of hunger for love among the well-off and comfortable.

Our problem very often is that we look for answers in the wrong places. Christ alone can satisfy the longings of the human heart. While we physically hunger and thirst and be filled today, we will be empty again tomorrow. Jesus alone satisfies in a continuous way the longings and hunger pangs of the heart.

Jesus will now set out to teach that He is the bread of life. We will return to that theme next Sunday.

The true bread that gives life to the world: The Eucharist. In prayer in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, in receiving Jesus in the Eucharist we will slowly be transformed by the sacrament of love, and we will learn to say, like the disciples were later taught: ‘give us this day our daily bread’, but also like the disciples in the Gospel today as we grow in Eucharistic love:  we will make their plea our own: – "Lord, give us that bread always".