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3rd Sunday, Year A | Prudence and Passion

calling-of-peter-and-andrew-ravenna-mosaic

The Calling of Peter and Andrew, Mosaic, 6th century, Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy.

Calculation and rationality can only take us so far when it comes to following Christ.  Every now and then, Christ calls us to do something which may, to others, seem a bit imprudent.

Consider the disciples in today’s Gospel.  There they were, Simon and Peter, James and John enjoying another humdrum day at the nets, when Jesus summons them to follow him.  And they drop everything and go.  Can this possibly be sensible – leaving the security of their trade, abandoning their family responsibilities?

Surely the prudent person would have been more like the young man in Luke 9:61, to whom Jesus says, ‘Follow me’.

[He] replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’  But Jesus answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’

What about the rich young man in Matthew 19:21-22?

The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these [commandments].  What more do I need to do?’  Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me.’  But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

Jesus is asking him to do what the world might consider foolish and reckless.

Then there’s the widow in Luke 21:1-4:

 … he noticed a poverty-stricken widow putting in two small coins, and he said, ‘I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than any of them; for these have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’

Surely that was imprudent!  Shouldn’t she have kept something aside for herself?

Part of the difficulty in our understanding is that our use of the word prudent in contemporary English has shifted.  It now has overtones of cautiousness, whereas the traditional usage is much richer than that.

Prudence is the ability to decide where an act is on the sliding scale from those acts which are cowardly, over-cautious and self-protective to deeds which are reckless and needlessly risky.  Somewhere in the middle of these two extremes are acts which are courageous.  Too much caution will make you immobile with fear; too little caution and you may end up in hot water.  But Jesus doesn’t seem to mind people making radically incautious choices when it comes to his Kingdom.

prudence

The question is, “What does the Holy Spirit want?”  This is the whole point of the Holy Spirit’s gift of Counsel or Right Judgement – to perfect the virtue of prudence, the ability to choose wisely with this single criterion in mind: “Does it help advance the proclamation of the Gospel?”

So we have to rethink Prudence in the light of an act’s service to the Gospel.  That is why the disciples’ leaving their livelihood, or a person giving his money away to the right cause, or being willing to die rather than renounce his faith, can, in God’s eyes, be supremely prudent.

But prudential decisions are not made merely in a dry, analytical framework.  Today’s readings give us a glimpse of the audaciousness, surprise and joy that accompany a radical decision for Christ.

The people that lived in darkness
has seen a great light;
On those who dwell in the land and shadow of death
a light has dawned.

It’s not easy to describe the inner landscape of a person who has been illuminated by the Holy Spirit.  But it’s as if one now inhabits a mental universe where all things are possible, where the most tricky situations can be entrusted to a loving Father, where self-forgetfulness replaces self-consciousness.  There’s something about Jesus that has enlightened the disciples on this day by the Sea of Galilee and stirred up the courage and the passion to abandon themselves to his plan.

If we look at the lives of holy people, we can get a sense of their joyful, incautious abandonment to Christ.

St Francis of Assisi .. gave up the opportunity to live a life of luxury as the son of a silk merchant, and devoted himself to spreading the Gospel through preaching, living the same life of poverty as the poorest of the poor and restoring several ruined churches.
St John Bosco … had a bold idea to help street children and unemployed boys to find work, safe lodging and a grounding in Christ.  Despite his almost constant lack of resources, he worked tirelessly to establish his Oratory and trusted in God to supply their needs.
St Katharine Drexel … gave up her seven million dollar fortune to join the Sisters of Mercy and found the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, providing schools and missions to native Americans.
St Damien of Molokai … gave up his personal comfort to share his life with the quarantined leper colony in Hawaii, building schools, roads, hospitals and churches to provide for their material and physical needs.
Mother Angelica … despite knowing nothing about broadcasting, had a bold vision to evangelise through television and, starting from small beginnings, went on to develop EWTN, the largest religious media network in the world.

Let’s try having a conversation with God today about his purposes for us – he might be about to inspire us to do something joyfully bold for his Kingdom!

Today’s readings

Word format: year-a-3rd-sunday-2017
Pdf format: year-a-3rd-sunday-2017


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3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A | Jesus Christ: Go where the evidence leads

st-john-the-baptist-in-the-prison-navarette

St John the Baptist in Prison, Juan Fernández de Navarrette, 1565-70, Oil on canvas, 80 x 72 cm, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.

In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist has been flung into prison, because he has dared to say that King Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife is adulterous.   Persecution has a way of throwing one’s mind into turmoil and confusion.  It’s reassuring to know that even a person as courageous and committed to his mission as John, is now attacked by doubts about whether he has interpreted his task correctly – or indeed whether Jesus has interpreted his task correctly!  He sends his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?”

This makes us wonder: what was the nature of the long-awaited Messiah that the Jews were expecting?  Was it a King who would bring about the restoration of Israel and liberation from the Roman occupation, or were they expecting God Himself to arrive – or was it a bit of both?

We know that swirling through the air of first century Judaism was a fever of expectation.  That is why ‘all of Judaea’ (Mt 3:5) had been so willing to go out to the desert to see John the Baptist and prepare the way of the Lord.  What made the Jews so convinced about the timing of the coming of the Messiah?

According to the prophecy in the book of Daniel, the kingdom that would be ushered in by the Messiah – the Anointed One – would arrive in the midst of the fourth empire after the Babylonian deportation.  In Daniel’s prophecy the empires are represented by the parts of a statue.

The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet part iron, part clay.  While you were gazing, a stone broke away, untouched by any hand, and struck the statue, struck its feet of iron and clay and shattered them.  Then, iron and clay, bronze, silver and gold, all broke into pieces as fine as chaff on the threshing-floor in summer … and the stone that struck the statue grew into a great mountain, filling the whole world.  (Dan 2:31-36)

These four empires were, successively, golden-headed Babylon, silver-chested Medo-Persia, bronze-thighed Greece and finally, in 63 BC, with Pompey’s capture of Jerusalem, iron-legged Rome marched into the Middle East.  And it is into the Roman Empire that Christ comes, proclaiming the Kingdom.  Yes, the Roman soldiers were clad in iron, but God has a way of using small stones to bring down giants, and the Jews remembered their history.

Not only that, but the Jews could even calculate the approximate time the Messiah was expected.  This is why small communities of Jews such as the Essenes of Qumran had set themselves apart, purifying themselves to hasten the coming of the Messiah.

Daniel 9:25 prophesies:

Know this, then, and understand:
From the time there went out this message:
“Return and rebuild Jerusalem”
to the coming of an Anointed Prince, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks …

The message that the prophecy refers to, is the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.  You can calculate the dates if you understand that the weeks are “weeks of years”, i.e. seven year periods.  Then the seven weeks and sixty-two weeks add up to 69 weeks of years, i.e. 69 x 7 = 483 years.  Jerusalem’s walls were restored by Nehemiah in about the fourth decade of the fifth century BC, “the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes” (Ne 2:1; 5:14).  So, if we use the Babylonian method of reckoning years as 360 days, we arrive at the coming of the “Anointed Prince”, just about at the time of the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in AD 28.

In this fever of expectation, we have John asking in today’s Gospel, “Are you the one who is to come?”

And Jesus says, “Go back and tell John what you hear and see; the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor; and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me” (Mt 11:4-5).

Jesus is saying, “Look at the evidence!  Look at how I am not only doing miraculous things, but simultaneously fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 35!”

In fact if we read the chapters prior to this, Matthew has just spent the whole of chapters 8 and 9 preparing us for this point by describing a series of miracles that Jesus has performed:

The blind see Cure of the two blind men (Mt 9:27)
The lame walk The centurion’s servant (Mt 8:7); The paralytic (Mt 9:2)
The lepers are cleansed The man with the skin-disease (Mt 8:2)
The deaf hear The dumb demoniac (Mt 9:32)
The dead are raised to life Jairus’s daughter (Mt 9:24)

The fact that these miracles occurred long ago, is no reason for them to be deemed unconvincing or just fables.  Jesus’ miracles are well attested even by non-Christians such as Josephus, who said “For he was one who performed surprising deeds” (Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63).  Then there’s the Babylonian Talmud, (a Jewish text and therefore not pro-Christian), which described Jesus thus, “He is going to be stoned, because he practiced sorcery” (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a).  That is, he did things that are, humanly speaking, impossible.

If you’re interested in other ways Jesus fulfills prophecy, Taylor Marshall has come up with a comprehensive list in his book, The Crucified Rabbi.  There’s a list here: prophecies-fulfilled-by-jesus-christ.

I realise now that I haven’t really answered my original question, which was about whether the expected Messiah was understood to be divine.  In fact, he was, and if you want more on this, please read Brant Pitre’s, The Case for Jesus.  (I have a copy of this and The Crucified Rabbi if any of you would like to borrow them.)

In this science-obsessed age, it’s a wonder that more people don’t bother to ‘go where the evidence leads’ where Jesus is concerned.  Blessed indeed are those who do not find Him a cause of falling.

Today’s readings:
Word format: year-a-advent-3rd-sunday-2016
Pdf format: year-a-advent-3rd-sunday-2016

 

 


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3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C |Repent! What me? How dare you.

Christ in Synagogue

Christ preaching in the synagogue, fresco, ca 1350, Visoki Decani Monastery, Kosovo, Serbia.

Funny how the world seems to divide itself into two camps: those who are open to repentance and those who are closed.  Pope Francis talks about this in his new book, The Name of God is Mercy, which he has published to coincide with the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  In our Gospel Reading today, Jesus is also proclaiming a Jubilee Year: “He has sent me … to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.”

On the one hand we have Jeffrey Tayler in Salon Magazine excoriating the Pope for – oh no!  – having the audacity to write a book.   I add my comments in red:

Not two weeks into the new year, the frocked and beanied capo dei capi of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, chose to impose upon humanity this a book of his own authorship, “The Name of God Is Mercy.” [That’s just stupid.  You might as well say that anyone who writes anything is imposing it on humanity.  The Pope isn’t forcing anyone to read it.  Are you suggesting that anything the Pope writes should be put on the List of Forbidden Books?]  The title alone should have given reviewers cause to dispatch the tome, unopened, straight into the waste bin. “Mercy?” From a purportedly omnipotent Lord who chose to sire a kid whom He subjected to ghastly tortures culminating in execution? [1.  God didn’t “choose to sire a kid” as if God (the Father) preceded Jesus.  Jesus co-exists eternally as the ‘Son’ of God.  Son just happens to be the best word we have to describe the relationship between the First and Second Persons of the Trinity.  If you’re going to criticise the Bible, at least criticise an intelligent interpretation of it.  2.  God the Father did not subject the Son to anything.  Read the Gospels and you will see that it was humans who killed Jesus.  And it was out of love for us that Jesus paid the debt that we owed God for our sins.]  Who battered and abused poor Job on a whim? [Hello-o, read the text!  It was Satan who abused Job, not God.]  Who ordered a patriarch to knife his own long-awaited son? [You’re missing the point.  The story of Abraham and Isaac is about Trust and Obedience. If you bothered to read the whole story, God actually tells Abraham not to sacrifice his son.]  The name of God, were God to exist, would be anything but mercy.  [Sigh.  Can this writer not hear his own vitriolic tone?  He could be describing himself when he talks about ‘lack of mercy.’  But then that’s hypocrisy for you.]

On the other hand, what does Pope Francis actually say?

The Church condemns sin because it has to relay the truth: ‘this is a sin’. But at the same time, it embraces the sinner who recognises himself as such, it welcomes him, it speaks to him of the infinite mercy of God. Jesus forgave even those who crucified and scorned him.  To follow the way of the Lord, the Church is called on to dispense its mercy over all those who recognise themselves as sinners, who assume responsibility for the evil they have committed, and who feel in need of forgiveness. The Church does not exist to condemn people, but to bring about an encounter with the visceral love of God’s mercy.  I often say that in order for this to happen, it is necessary to go out: to go out from the churches and the parishes, to go outside and look for people where they live, where they suffer, and where they hope. I like to use the image of a field hospital to describe this “Church that goes forth”. It exists where there is combat. It is not a solid structure with all the equipment where people go to receive treatment for both small and large infirmities. It is a mobile structure that offers first aid and immediate care, so that its soldiers do not die.  It is a place for urgent care, not a place to see a specialist. I hope that the Jubilee [The Holy Year of Mercy] will serve to reveal the Church’s deeply maternal and merciful side, a Church that goes forth toward those who are “wounded,” who are in need of an attentive ear, understanding, forgiveness, and love.

But to receive mercy, one has to realise that one is a sinner in the first place.  Pope Francis continues:

Corruption is the sin which, rather than being recognised as such and rendering us humble, is elevated to a system; it becomes a mental habit, a way of living. We no longer feel the need for forgiveness and mercy, but we justify ourselves and our behaviours. Jesus says to his disciples: even if your brother offends you seven times a day, and seven times a day he returns to you to ask for forgiveness, forgive him. The repentant sinner, who sins again and again because of his weakness, will find forgiveness if he acknowledges his need for mercy. The corrupt man is the one who sins but does not repent, who sins and pretends to be Christian, and it is this double life that is scandalous. The corrupt man does not know humility, he does not consider himself in need of help, he leads a double life. We must not accept the state of corruption as if it were just another sin. Even though corruption is often identified with sin, in fact they are two distinct realities, albeit interconnected.  Sin, especially if repeated, can lead to corruption, not quantitatively — in the sense that a certain number of sins makes a person corrupt — but rather qualitatively: habits are formed that limit one’s capacity for love and create a false sense of self-sufficiency.  The corrupt man tires of asking for forgiveness and ends up believing that he doesn’t need to ask for it any more. We don’t become corrupt people overnight. It is a long, slippery slope that cannot be identified simply as a series of sins. One may be a great sinner and never fall into corruption if hearts feel their own weakness. That small opening allows the strength of God to enter.  When a sinner recognises himself as such, he admits in some way that what he was attached to, or clings to, is false. The corrupt man hides what he considers his true treasure, but which really makes him a slave and masks his vice with good manners, always managing to keep up appearances.

In the reading for today from Nehemiah, the people of Israel are overcome with repentance.

For the people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law.

They realise how far from the Lord they have been, and are overwhelmed with sorrow when this knowledge comes upon them.  But Ezra tells them, “Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.”  It is only after we experience that metanoia, that we can participate in the Jubilee that flows out of it.

Prayer: Father God, help us to avoid the pride that makes us justify our self-sufficiency.  Help us to develop habits of humility and self-examination.  Help us to turn towards you daily and find peace and communion with you.

For a scripture study on today’s readings – including the historical background – read Dr John Bergsma’s commentary at The Sacred Page.

Bishop Barron takes this from a different angle – the importance of building our religious identity – in Walls and Bridges.

Also watch scripture scholar, Dr Brant Pitre’s Youtube video on this Sunday’s readings:

Today’s readings:

Word format: Year C 3rd Sunday 2016

Pdf format: Year C 3rd Sunday 2016

 


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3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B | They stood there dumbfounded

The Resurrection, showing Christ raising Adam and Eve, Greek Orthodox Byzantine Icon, egg tempera on wood panel.

The Resurrection, showing Christ raising Adam and Eve, Greek Orthodox Byzantine Icon, egg tempera on wood panel.

Why do people change their minds?  In today’s readings the apostles are dumbfounded to realise that Jesus’ resurrection is right here, right now and not at some vague time ‘at the end of the age’.  Matt Nelson writes about the reasons atheists change their minds about God and and more specifically, about Christ.  An extract from his latest article:

The Word of God is living. It has power beyond human comprehension because it is “God-breathed.” God speaks to man in many ways; but especially through prayer and the reading of the inspired Scriptures. When curiosity (or even interest) of non-believers leads to experimentation with prayer or reading the Bible the results can be shocking, as many converts attest.

One former atheist who was profoundly affected by prayer and the Scriptures is author Devin Rose. On his blog, he describes the role that God’s Word played in his gradual conversion process from atheism to Christianity:

“I began praying, saying, “God, you know I do not believe in you, but I am in trouble and need help. If you are real, help me.” I started reading the Bible to learn about what Christianity said…”

Once Rose began to read the Scriptures and talk to God, even as a skeptic, he found himself overwhelmed by something very real:

“Still, I persevered. I kept reading the Bible, asking my roommate questions about what I was reading, and praying. Then, slowly, and amazingly, my faith grew and it eventually threatened to whelm my many doubts and unbelief.”

And the rest was history for the now rising Catholic apologist and author of The Protestant’s Dilemma.

Similarly, renowned sci-fi author John C. Wright distinctly recalls a prayer he said as an adamant atheist:

“I prayed. ‘Dear God, I know… that you do not exist. Nonetheless, as a scholar, I am forced to entertain the hypothetical possibility that I am mistaken. So just in case I am mistaken, please reveal yourself to me in some fashion that will prove your case. If you do not answer, I can safely assume that either you do not care whether I believe in you, or that you have no power to produce evidence to persuade me…If you do not exist, this prayer is merely words in the air, and I lose nothing but a bit of my dignity. Thanking you in advance for your kind cooperation in this matter, John Wright.’”

Wright soon received the answer (and effect) he did not expect:

“Something from beyond the reach of time and space, more fundamental than reality, reached across the universe and broke into my soul and changed me…I was altered down to the root of my being…It was like falling in love.”

Wright was welcomed into the Catholic Church at Easter in 2008.

Read more here.

Today’s readings:

Word format: Year B Easter 3rd Sunday 2015

Pdf format: Year B Easter 3rd Sunday 2015

And for a scripture study on today’s readings go to Dr Michael Barber’s commentary here.


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3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B | Jesus, the Embodiment of the Law

Pope Francis, Penance and Reconciliation during 24 Hours for the Lord

Pope Francis, Penance / Reconciliation during 24 Hours for the Lord

Are The Ten Commandments still relevant for us?  I have friends who claim the Bible is nothing special – just a man-made unenlightened compilation of Bronze Age writings, and certainly not inspired by the Holy Spirit.  If that were the case, Jesus would not fulfil so many prophecies from the Old Testament.  In today’s Gospel, for example, we see Jesus fulfilling prophecies from Isaiah 56:6-7, Jeremiah 7:1-11 and Malachi 3:1-3, to name only a few.

Mass Readings Word format: Year B Lent 3rd Sunday 2015

Mass Readings Pdf format: Year B Lent 3rd Sunday 2015

John Bergsma gives a great analysis of the readings here.

I have to conclude that my friends who denigrate the Bible are too used to thinking of themselves as ‘good people’ and find it too confronting to consider themselves as sinners, so they are compelled to ‘shoot the messenger’.  Getting down to practicalities, Pope Francis has called all Christians to make 13th and 14th March “24 Hours for the Lord”.  He wants us to go to Adoration, examine our consciences (take some time about this – perhaps spend an hour in Adoration asking the Lord to reveal your sins to you) and receive the sacrament of penance / reconciliation / confession during this time.  To prepare for this, why not listen to Fr Barron’s homily on the Ten Commandments here:

Click-here-to-listen

 

and do a thorough examination of conscience.  You can download these as a guide:

Word format: Confession and Examination of Conscience

Pdf format: Confession and Examination of Conscience

By the way, these lists of sins are not exhaustive – they are just meant as a guide.  If you take time to examine yourself and listen to the Holy Spirit, you’ll find many imperfections that aren’t even on the list.

For those of you in the Perth Northern Suburbs, you can attend 24 hours for the Lord events here:

  • Joondalup Holy Spirit Chapel: Adoration and Confession from 00h00 (midnight) Friday until midnight Saturday.  Mass: 12:10 Friday.   Please put your name on the adoration roster in the front porch.
  • Our Lady of the Mission, Whitfords: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament: Friday 09.30 a.m. to 7.00 p.m., Mass Friday 9 a.m, Saturday 08.30.  Confession: Saturday 12.00 to 13:00and 17:30 – 18:00.
  • St Simon Peter, Ocean Reef: Blessed Sacrament Adoration Friday 9:00 to 18:50.  Mass: Friday 19:00, Saturday 8:30, Reconciliation: Friday 18:30-18:50, Saturday 17:00-17:45.
  • St Andrew’s, Clarkson: Mass: Friday and Saturday 08:00, Reconciliation: Saturday 17:00 to 17:30, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction: Friday 15:00 to 17:00.

Wishing you joy and grace this Lent!


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3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B | Make a straight way for the Lord

Baptism of Christ, altarpiece, triptych, oil on wood, Gerard David, ca 1507, Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium.

Baptism of Christ, altarpiece, triptych, oil on wood, Gerard David, ca 1507, Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium.

Apologies for not posting last week: Saturday was spent preparing Christmas Cards!  The readings for this weekend can be downloaded here:

Word format: Year B Advent 3rd Sunday

Pdf format: Year B Advent 3rd Sunday

Need some inspiration for Advent?  Listen here: Click-here-to-listen

 

And what exactly is the Good News or εὐαγγέλιον (Greek: euangélion)?  Jesus is not just a ‘wise teacher’ or a guru.  Find out more here …