IN THE BEGINNING

PRAYER MOMENT 

Wednesday 31 December 2014

IN THE BEGINNING

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God and the Word was God, He was with God in the beginning.” (John 1:1-18)

Reflection. We do not read these words of John often now but there was a time when we read them at the end of every Mass. They express an astonishing grasp of who the early chuch believed Jesus of Nazareth to be. Christmas presents this year, at least in the UK, where I am on a visit, include books on the origin of the universe which bring home to us the amazing achievements of science in recent times. Gently we can hold these two together and wait to see where they lead us; the wonders revealed to us by a cascade of research and a faith that, in the words of Julian of Norwich, a mystic in the late fourteenth century, sees all that exists as the size of a hazel nut. We rejoice to live in a an age when both science and the believing community are becoming humbler as they realise the limits of their claims.

Prayer. Lord, we give thanks to you for all we have lived in 2014. With great hope we reach out to the the year that lies ahead. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

THE DELIVERANCE OF JERUSALEM

PRAYER MOMENT 

Tuesday 30 December 2014

THE DELIVERANCE OF JERUSALEM

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Anna came by just at that moment and spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-40)

Reflection. The deliverance of Jerusalem means one thing to the Palestinians and another to the Israelis. But Luke had something quite different in mind when he gave Anna a ‘walk on part’ in the drama of his second chapter. Jerusalem is the ‘holy city’ to Jews, Christians and Muslims. We hope that one day it will be the ‘city of peace’ that its name denotes but in the meantime it is a symbol of the deep aspirations of the human heart. We live in an agony of unfulfilment. We yearn and yet we can never have our yearnings satisfied. Some of us accumulate possesions and power to try to fulfil thse longings but the media is full of stories about those who have never having enough. The truth that Luke points to is that our longings are only fulfilled when we go beyond what we can see and touch and understand.

Prayer. Lord, let us reach for the ‘deliverence of Jerusalem’ in the way ‘we live and move and have our being.’ Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

The Child Grew

The Child Grew

Christmas is a time for the family. Relatives visit or phone. Relationships are celebrated and deepened. Work day eyes are turned to children and they get presents as signs of love and joy.

The family is a place of growth. There are three words in the gospel that remind us of this universal truth; ‘the child grew’ (Luke 2:40). Let’s get away from the idea of the family in Nazareth was a place of perfect peace. The one thing we know about Jesus’ growing years is that he caused his parents a mammoth headache when he was twelve. Growth means friction. Learning means trying things out and seeing how far one can go and making constant mistakes.

The family is also a place of love and security. The one thing a young child knows is that he or she always has somewhere to run to. And as the child grows this sense of a secure home gives him confidence to explore. ‘If things don’t work out I have always somewhere to return to.’ It is so important for parents of teenage children to always welcome their children home, no matter what they get up to. We call it ‘love without conditions,’ which is what God does with all of us.

And the family is a place of prayer. This is a statement about those with religious faith whereas the other two above apply to everyone. Not every family prays together but those who do will tell you how it helped even if the prayers at times seem like a boring distraction from more pleasant pursuits. The essence of prayer is to stretch a person beyond what they might like to settle for. Prayer opens up the divine horizon in the human being and it is nearly always learnt in the family.

All the above is the ideal and we know that there are many families where it simply does not happen. The friction children experience is destructive. There is no security and little love. How a child survives and often overcomes such a childhood is an amazing sign of the human resilience. We know that many do.

Jesus’ becoming one of us was that he grew up in a human family with all the ‘rough and tumble’ that involves .

28 Dec 2014                            The Holy Family    

Sir 3:2-6, 12-14                       Col 3:12-21                             Like 2:22-40

WE ARE TELLING YOU

PRAYER MOMENT 

Saturday 27 December 2014, St John

WE ARE TELLING YOU

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “What we have seen and heard we are telling you so that you may be in union with us, as we are in union with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1;1-4)

Reflection. As with Stephen  yesterday we woinder why we suddenly get John so close to Christmas. Well, we can see immediately John has a different way of describing the origins of Jesus. He tells us Jesus is the Word of God born before the ages, Light from true Light. We are more comfortable with Luke and the Bethlehem story than with John’s moving Jesus back, as it were, into the timeless ages. John’s emphasis is not so much the birth of a baby as the arrival of God in our midst; ‘He made his home among us.’ John’s gospel and letters centre on the revelation of God himself in our midst. Awe surrounds every moment. Where else in the gospel do we get a woman dropping her waer pot, forgetting her disgrace and running back to the village to ‘tell everyone’ about the man she has just met?

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you are God among us. We rejoice at your birth and ask you to help us welcome the ‘sharing in your divinity’ you came to give us. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

THEY WERE INFURIATED

PRAYER MOMENT 

Friday 26 December 2014, St Stephen

THEY WERE INFURIATED

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “They were infuriated when they heard what Stephen said, and ground their teeth at him.” (Acts 6:8-10)

Reflection. I have often wondered why we get so quickly out of the Christmas mood into the martyrdom mood with Stephen coming in on 26 December. Stephen is stoned to death in a way that echoes the death of Jesus. He even repeats the words, ‘forgive them for what they are doing.’ Perhaps whoever made the decision to put Stephen on this day had in mind that the birth of Jesus would lead to the birth of a community we call the church, the People of God. There was no room in the inn for Mary and Joseph and there was no room in the hearts of the Jewish leaders for the birth of the new community after Pentecost. The Holy Father’s message on Christmas Day to the city and the world hinged on the suffering and martyrdom of Christians and Muslims in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and other places. Jes us was indeed a ‘sign of contradiction’ and he still is.

Prayer. Lord, we rejoice at your birth. Help us to know the cost of discipleship and accept it. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

FREE FROM FEAR

PRAYER MOMENT 

Wednesday 24 December 2014, Christmas Eve

FREE FROM FEAR

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant us, free from fear, to be delivered from the hands of our enemies, to serve him in holiness and virtue in his presence, all our days.” (Luke 1:67-79)

Reflection. What an incredibly beautiful thing it is to see a community lifted out of fear! John wrote that Christians were to be known by their love for one another but we can also say that Christianity often lifted people out of their fear. Many might disagree and I am not interested in arguing the point here. I would just simply claim that when you see the erstwhile scared apostles standing up before the Jewish leaders, in Acts, and speaking their minds you see a transformation from fear to freedom. That is what faith does. Many today enjoy the freedom but have forgotten the ladder they used to get there. Christmas is that moment when we rejoice in freedom gained by the coming of God to dwell among us.

Prayer. Lord, as we rejoice in your coming, deepen within us the joy and confidence freedom brings. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

WHAT WILL THIS CHILD TURN OUT TO BE?

PRAYER MOMENT 

Tuesday 23 December 2014

WHAT WILL THIS CHILD TURN OUT TO BE?

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered.” (Luke 1:57-66)

Reflection. Volcanoes erupt. Hope irrupts. Hope breaks in on a person, or a nation, when some event dramatically changes their perspective. Two days before Christmas we read of the birth of John which causes a stir. First, Elizabeth was ‘well on in years’ when one is supposed to be past childbearing. Second there was his naming. He was supposed to be named after his dad but he wasn’t. And then there was the little matter of Zechariah being dumb and then not dumb. These were all signs. People did not know what they were signs of but they filled them with hope. Something was about to happen. That irruption was in one time and one place, yet we know it has now been extended to all time and every place. We live in a profound hope that God is at work in our world. That does not mean we sit around waiting but that our actions, our engagement with our world, is spiced with hope.

Prayer. Lord, teach us to ‘treasure in our hearts’ the hope you give us at this time. May it sustain us as our daily bread. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

MY SPIRIT EXULTS

PRAYER MOMENT 

Monday 22 December 2014

MY SPIRIT EXULTS

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my Saviour.” (Luke 1:46-56)

Reflection. We take a moment to exult in what is happening. There are songs and psalms of joy in the Old Testament, as when Hannah gives birth to Samuel. And here in the New there are similar canticles in the mouths of Mary Zechariah and Simeon. They are moments when we stand back and realise what is really happening; the actual narrative ceases for a moment, the film freezes, and we stop to say, ‘What is happening is wonderful. This is great!’ God is intervening and opening the door for men and women so that they can achieve what they are striving for all this time. Justice and peace are on their way, not as miraculous acts of God which have no realationship with human effort but as the fruit and harvest of all the longing and striving of people everywhere. This is what we are living each day and this is why we take a moment to rejoice.

Prayer. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my Saviour. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

The Wisdom of Restraint

The Wisdom of Restraint

Nearly forty years ago I was in Detroit and I remember an old priest beginning his Christmas homily with the words, ‘the world is a far better place than it was on that night when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.’ It struck me at the time and it strikes me still. We are not used to hearing good news; that the world is getting better. The cycle of wars in Arab lands, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, the outbreak of new deadly diseases and the dangerous warming of our planet all feed into a view that the world is getting alarmingly worse.

Yet two anniversaries recently do support the view of the old priest. 2014 is the anniversary of the outbreak of the greatest war in history that involved every continent and which one renowned historian, Eric Hobsbawn, believed only ended in 1945. So this year is a sombre centenary but we can say with a high degree of confidence that war on that scale is unlikely to ever happen again.

The other anniversary was the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, twenty five years ago. Through the restraint of the president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, this event was allowed to trigger a succession of events which led to the collapse of the ‘iron curtain’ and the independence of all the republics then under Soviet rule. We hardly noticed it at the time, so occupied were we with our own affairs, but it was a truly astonishing series of events all unaccompanied by bloodshed.

And today, everywhere you look people are straining for greater freedom in their countries; they hunger for justice in economic activity, accountability in financial institutions, a level playing field in elections, freedom of access to information, respect for minorities and so forth. The list is long but people are passionate about the agenda. There is a colossal momentum for improvement.

There is a shadow side of this optimism with many dark influences and threats and much evidence to suggest that even in ‘developed’ countries the quality of life is falling. The rapid abandonment of traditions, built over centuries, has left a vacuum in people’s lives no amount of IT can fill. But the overall verdict has to be that the old priest is still right.

Nothing can prevent Zimbabwe being caught up in this momentum. People may hold congresses and do much talking and rearranging of the places at the top table but there is an energy moving in our society that is unstoppable. The becalmed nature of our society cannot last indefinitely. What we can pray for this Christmas is that when the moment comes there will be some Gorbachevs around who will exercise restraint and not try to stand in the way of history.      

Christmas 2014

NO END

PRAYER MOMENT 

Saturday 20 December 2014

NO END

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.” (Luke 1:26-38)

Reflection. The angel Gariel’s message to Mary describes the reign of the Messiah as ‘for ever,’ which raises our mind above the time frames we can handle. But the phrase ‘no end’ can also do the same for our space frame. It is not simply that the Lord knows and is with us in every moment of our day but he is present in every place. I was thinking of this yesterday in the doctor’ waiting room. Each person moving in and out, each nurse and all the files and computers – all are part of the ‘reign’ of God. Everything is charged with ‘God’s grandeur’ as the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote. People may not advert to it but God is present there in our surgeries and hospitals, schools and universities, in every place, everywhere. He has come to ‘be with us.’ Everywher is ‘a sacred place.’

Prayer. Lord, Emmanuel, God with us, raise our minds and hearts to know your presence everwhere and to find you n all things. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

THE PEOPLE WERE WAITING

PRAYER MOMENT 

Friday 19 December 2014

THE PEOPLE WERE WAITING

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were surprised that he stayed in the sanctuary so long.” (Luke 1:5-25)

Reflection. Waiting is what the Old Testament is all about. Sampson’s parents waited for a child and when he was born he as one of those signs in the OT about extraordinary births that also introduces the New Testament. And waiting is not over yet now that the Saviou is born. We are still waiting for the world to catch up with the good news that he has proclaimed. And in our own personal lives we are normally given much time to realise and welcome what God is doing. Like in the OT we get really distracted and, in cricketing terms, fail to keep our eye on the ball. These days of Christmas are a personal invitation to me to focus on what God is doing in my life.  

Prayer. Lord, may this time of Christmas be a time of focus, when we ponder hat you are doing in our world and in our own lives. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

FOUND TO BE WITH CHILD

PRAYER MOMENT 

Thursday 18 December 2014

FOUND TO BE WITH CHILD

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18-24)

Reflection. Matthew is brief about the birth of Jesus; his emphasis is on Joseph, who like his namesake of old cooperates in an awesome way with the will of God. Joseph adopted Mary’s child; he was not his father. By his astonishing faith he accepts the child is born of the fatherhood of God. Mary gave birth even though she was a virgin. Both Matthew and Luke insist on this and it became part of the belief of the church from the earliest times. And this becomes the source of the formulation of the church in the fifth century that Jesus was one person with two natures, human and divine. Some flinched at this awkward definition and could not take it. But it was the best description that poor humans could come up with of a mystery that is both beyond us and yet the very essence of our own destiny.

Prayer. Lord, as we rejoice in the birth of Jesus lead us into a deep joy and reverence for the great mystery of ‘God with us.’ Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

UNTIL HE COMES

PRAYER MOMENT 

Wednesday 17 December 2014

UNTIL HE COMES

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The sceptre will not pass from Judah, nor the mace from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, to whom the peoples shall render obedience.” (Genesis 49;2…10)

Reflection. We enter the final stretch before Christmas and read the passages in the nativity narratives immediately leading up to the birth of Jesus. The gospel of Matthew tries our patience with a long list – 42 names – of the ancestors of Jesus. The ancients didn’t have passports and identified people by their ancestral lineage. The point of the long list is to give  human roots to Jesus, the Son of God. We have this image of humanity’s long evolution, 200,000 years we are told, narrowing down to this particular tribe of Judah and a further focus that comes down to one man. And then God comes to meet humanity in this person who is born as human and divine. This drama is lived out in each of us. We develop and grow to the best of our ability and God comes to meet us, as we are, and touches us – as in the great picture of Michelangelo in the Sistine chapel – with his finger.

Prayer. Lord, in these final days before Christmas, fill us with a knowledge of your coming into our lives, in a unique way for each of us. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

A HUMBLE AND LOWLY PEOPLE

PRAYER MOMENT 

Tuesday 14 December 2014

A HUMBLE AND LOWLY PEOPLE

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people, and those who are left in Israel will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.” (Zephaniah 3:1…11)

Reflection. Old Testament readings colour the time of Advent because it is when the longings of humanity and their fulfilment is celebrated. As we move forward towards the last days before Christmas the focus narrows down to ‘a remnant’ of the people who held faithful to the promises. They will be represented by Zachariah and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna, Mary and Joseph. Talk of a remnant brings us right up to today when the treasure of the gospel is held and celebrated by a relatively small group even though we can say there are many who ‘anonymously’ live its message. We sometimes speak of the millions of Christians  but it seems there will always be a core – that is not to say they are an elite - who hold the treasure firmly and live it faithfully.

Prayer. Lord, we ask for a humble and lowly spirit to hold firm to the message of the gospel in the turbulence around us. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

THE MAN WITH FAR SEEING EYES

PRAYER MOMENT 

Monday 13 December 2014

THE MAN WITH FAR SEEING EYES

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The man with far seeing eyes … sees a hero arising from their stock … not in the present … not close at hand.” (Numbers 24:2 …17)

Reflection. As we go through Advent we suddenly get the story of Balaam, a gentile in the time of the Judges who knows the God of Israel and refuses the request of Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel. Instead Balaam, whose donkey talks to him and nudges him in the right direction,  blesses Israel and sees in the distant future a ruler arising from the their stock who will rule ‘countless peoples.’ The story cautions us to realise that it takes time for us individually and as the people of God to accept and understand and own the coming of God into our world. The Jews looked for a Messiah but many did not recognise him when he came. We look for God to solve our problems but we do not recognise him when he is in our midst. We too need those ‘far seeing eyes.’

Prayer. Lord, give far seeing eyes to know how you work actively in each of us and in all of us as your people.. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

Docking in the Wilderness

Docking in the Wilderness

‘Docking with the spacecraft.’ The phrase gives a sensation of relief, arrival, security. Imagine this frail vessel sailing through the heavens and then suddenly connecting with ‘a mother ship’ out there in the emptiness! The actual physical ‘docking’ is followed by locking in with no possibility of disconnecting. It’s home.

Religious experience is one of coming home, arriving at the place you belong, coming to something familiar and knowing it anew, seeing it with fresh eyes. The words of the prophets are attempts to describe this experience. The coming of the Messiah will mean the deepest needs of the people will be met. He will bring ‘good news to the poor and bind up hearts that are broken; he will proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to those in prison.’ In other words the deepest longings of the human heart will be met.

In a variety of images tumbling out, one after the other, integrity, wholeness, will come to the nations. It all begins in the wilderness; the wilderness of Judea and the wilderness of our own lives. A voice appears in that wilderness calling for ‘the straightening of the ways.’ The task of John the Baptist is the task of every mother who opens the way for her child with a tender mixture of guidance and waiting. It is the task of every father who shows the way by his own life but then stands back and allows the child to find his/her own.

John the Baptist had this unique role; he was an usher, opening the door so we could walk into the presence. But it is a role we can all play. Normally by our lives, but maybe sometimes by our words, we can introduce people to God. It won’t be anything dramatic and it might be in a wilderness of doubt or pain. But that simple task is always there. If I think over my own life and the people who have had an influence they are many. Let me mention one.

Mary was old and the ulcers on her legs wouldn’t heal. She was in hospital and the bandages were changed every day. I can’t imagine the pain of it as the wounds never dried. I went to see her and she was clearly happy. ‘The hospital is wonderful. The nurses are great.’ You’d imagine she was on holiday! I was deeply touched and somewhat baffled by her peace and joy. She died not long after. It was like going home. Her pain must have been a wilderness for her but she found her way. She never preached a sermon in her life but her life itself was a sermon.   

‘I exult for joy in the Lord. He has clothed me in the garments of salvation, like a bride adorned in her jewels.’ (Isaiah 61)

14 December 2014                  Advent Sunday 3 B

Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11                1 Thessalonians 5:16-24          John 1:6-8, 19-28                                

CHARIOTS OF FIRE

PRAYER MOMENT 

Saturday 13 December 2014, St Lucy

CHARIOTS OF FIRE

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Elijah, taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot of fiery horses … to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and to restore the tribes of Jacob.” (Sir:48:1…11)

Reflection. John the Baptist looms over Advent: his fiery language was intended to announce the time of judgement had come. He was the new Elijah. Though he did not do the signs of Elijah, shutting up the heavens so that there was a drought and bringing down fire and even raising the dead, he was in the same tradition of fierce judgement of Israel. This theme of rousing words and dramatic signs is associated with ‘pentacostalist’ prophets down to our time. But there is another tradition which emphasises that conversion is not necessarily going to happen because of external words and signs but is more an inner response and process that is more lasting. Jesus used this way and we can see it as a fulfilment of Elijah’s approach and that of John.

Prayer. Lord, teach us during this Advent time to respond deeply to your coming and rejoice in your working in our hearts and those of others each day. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

HAPPINESS LIKE A RIVER

PRAYER MOMENT 

Friday 12 December 2014

HAPPINESS LIKE A RIVER

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “If only you had been alert to my commandments your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48:17-19)

Reflection. Blood flows through our veins naturally but happiness doesn’t. God proposes happiness and our task is to choose it. Not that we choose it directly; we make life choices, big and small, and happiness, or its opposite, results. Jesus has the image of children playing: one side plays pipes but the other side refuses to dance. This may sound a bit remote to a person in their daily life, but in Advent we are reminded that God comes to us in every moment and we can either pay attention or ignore him. When I say, ‘comes to us,’ I don’t say it is always easy to recognise his footsteps. That is the challenging part. We may think God calls us this way or that, but does he? Only reflection and prayer in a daily examination of our consciousness will help us answer that question.

Prayer. Lord, ‘you comer, come, ever come,’ (Tagore). Help us discern your coming and make good choices. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

CEDARS IN THE WILDERNESS

PRAYER MOMENT 

Thursday 11 December 2014

CEDARS IN THE WILDERNESS

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “In the wilderness I will put cedar trees, acacias, myrtles, olives. In the desert I will plant juniper, plane tree and cypress side by side.” (Isaiah 41:13-20)

Reflection. Our readings from Isaiah abound with images of life and fruitfulness in unlikely places and that is the Advent message.  Cedar trees are enormous and last for centuries. Their wood went to build Solomon’s temple. The variety Isaiah hints at reflects the variety of life and imagination we see everywhere today. The twentieth century theologian Karl Rahner saw the multitude of good people in the world doing their best day by day as ‘anonymous Christians.’ They didn’t like to be called any kind of Christian if they were not believers and that is understandable. But from the point of view of faith the world abounds in good people trying to live responsibly and honestly and that gives delight to their creator. He owns them too as his children, whether they like it or not!

Prayer. Lord, help us to see you at work everywhere in your people and help us all to stretch forward in ever greater generosity towards the welcoming og your kingdom in our midst. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

STRENGTH TO THE WEARIE

PRAYER MOMENT 

Wednesday 10 December 2014

STRENGTH TO THE WEARIED

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “He gives strength to the wearied, he strengthens the powerless. Young men may grow tired and weary, youths may stumble, but those who hope in the Lord renew their strength.” (Isaiah 40:25-31)

Reflection. Who does not get weary? Even Jesus did. He cried out ‘How much longer must I put up with you?’ I sometimes fantasise Obama going before the camaras and saying, ‘I am fed up with the lot of you. A pest on both your houses!’ We get tired and weary and our Advent readings recognise that.  We get tempted to give up. ‘What’s the point? No one is listening.’ We know too that this is a hazard. Weariness means we are reaching our limits. It calls us to step back; to rest, review and recuperate. We need to distance ourselves from the daily round and look at it from outside, as it were. The Sabbath and Sunday are institutions that remind us of this need. When we turn to the Lord he gives us ‘rest.’

Prayer. Lord, let us not be so involved and driven that we never stand back and look at our lives. Help us to review and gain strength from you to always see things anew. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

ALL FLESH IS GRASS

PRAYER MOMENT 

Tuesday 9 December 2014

ALL FLESH IS GRASS

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “All flesh is grass and its beauty like the wild flower’s. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on them.” (Isaiah 40:1-11)

Reflection. There is no grass on the moon. There is no life there. Grass is a sign of life and source of life. But it doesn’t last. For Isaiah it is a sign that life passes quickly and we fade. I have in mind a family with attractive children and grandchildren. You look at the photos of past years and say, ‘How beautiful!’ And then you look at the grandparents, worn by age and illness, bearing up well but struggling. Advent is that time when we root our hope in what lasts. God is forming us for life with him. He is gathering his lost sheep, every one. Yes, we are to relish the present and its joys and challenges. But this is also a time to raise our eyes to our destiny and hear the words of Isaiah, ‘Say to the towns of Juda, “Here is your God!”’   

Prayer. Lord, give us that passion to relish life and all its moments while at the same time knowing that it is a journey to you. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

MOTHER OF ALL THE LIVING

PRAYER MOMENT 

Monday 8 December 2014, The Immaculate Conception

MOTHER OF ALL THE LIVING

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all the living.” (Gen 3:9…20)

Reflection. We have two stories today to celebrate ‘Mother Mary’ – the title given her by Mehmet, a Muslim guide who once showed a group of us round the ruins of Ephesus. The first is ‘the Fall’ - how the evil spirit tempts Eve and she leads Adam into taking the fruit and landing us all in trouble ever after. The second is of Mary led by the good spirit into the choice that brings ‘life to the full’ to all the living who make that choice their own. Our focus is on Mary and how God prepared her from her conception to be the mother of his Son. We must not remove her from the rough and tumble of daily life as we know it, as if she was not touched by ordinary life. She experienced all the joys and anxieties of our mothers, even to the pain of watching her Son die. What makes her different is how she lived the fullness of life God offers from the beginning. We call her ‘Mother’ and her desire is to lead us to her Son and help us live that life too to the full.

Prayer. Mary, our Mother, we rejoice in you today and ask you to help us to live to the full the life your Son offers. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

Sea never still

Sea never still

SEA NEVER DRY was a sign I once saw on the back of a Ghanean Kombi. I am by the sea as I write and I would also suggest ‘sea never still’ would be a good message for the road. The sea is a restless wonder, filled with hope and threat. The Book of Revelations ends with the prophecy that ‘there will be no more sea’ as though that would be a good thing but I would not be happy to see it go.

‘Sea never dry’ is a message of hope, like the Zimbabwean proverb, ‘the bush always gives something to the tired person.’ Sango rinopa aneta. The trouble is to say something about hope that carries meaning. Love we know about and faith we understand even if we have little of it. But hope? It is no use confining it to expressions of hope as in, ‘I hope the operation is successful’ or ‘we are hoping for rain.’ It is more solid than that.

The hope we celebrate in these days before Christmas, which we call Advent, is a looking forward to something that definitely WILL happen. ‘The calf and the lion cub will feed together’ (Isaiah 11;1-10). This may be metaphor and poetry but it conveys a firm truth of a cosmic peace to come. If we don’t believe that we don’t believe anything about the revelation of God brought to us in Jesus.

To only focus on Christmas in Advent is to empty the scriptures of their dynamic intent. This is a time of announcement – ‘go up on a high mountain, joyful messenger to Zion. Shout with a loud voice’ – of the victory God is bringing. It is absolutely certain that God will bring joyful fulfilment to creation and not just creation as a general concept but to each of us individually who long for, and reach out for, his coming.

This may still sound woolly and vague but we can put a little topical flesh on hope. Just this week we heard of a new book (The Great Reformer) on Pope Francis which researches his troubles with the Jesuits in the 1970s and 80s. There was much division of opinion at the time over his policies. But it is now becoming clear that the painful misunderstandings he then endured, and the patience he had in dealing with them, trained him for holding the present divisions in the worldwide church in a creative tension.

We can be certain that the church will come through its present ‘bad’ patch. That is one instance of hope. The sea is never still.

7 December 2014                    Advent Sunday 2 B

Isaiah 40:1…11                       2 Peter 3:8-14                          Mark1:1-8   

SALTED FODDER

PRAYER MOMENT 

Saturday 6 December 2014, St Nicholas, ‘Santa Claus’

SALTED FODDER

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Your cattle will graze, that day, in wide pastures. Oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat a salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and fork.” (Isaiah 30:19…26)

Reflection. The scriptures are full of sharp images, keys to a store room for us to visit. Those of us who have not totally cut our ties to our rural roots know the value of fodder and can appreciate what salted fodder could mean to a weary animal. The ancestors had to travel to the Dande valley in search of salt. There were no SPARs in those days. Jesus too uses the image to describe his disciples and to call someone, ‘the salt of the earth,’ is the highest compliment. Yesterday was the anniversary of Mandela’s death and he was one such. Isaiah’s metaphors in today’s reading pour out in describing the new Messianic age of nourishment and plenty. Even nature and the animals will benefit from the overflowing bounty of the Lord. Our task is to bring this home to our lives this Advent.

Prayer. Lord, we thank you for your overflowing kindness to us. Help us to lay hold of the gifts you offer. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

IN A VERY SHORT TIME

PRAYER MOMENT 

Friday 5 December 2014

IN A VERY SHORT TIME

             

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “In a short time, a very short time, shall not Lebanon become fertile land and fertile land turn into forest?” (Isaiah 29:17-24)

Reflection. Isaiah gives us his message in poetry and metaphor. But what is this ‘short time’? We have been waiting many years. How can you give a message to people who struggle every day and say, ‘In a short time your problems will be solved’? The ‘signs’ in today’s readings are of the blind seeing and the deaf hearing, but they are only a signs. The message is about hope and Isaiah could be commenting on the Congress in Harare. Hope is not an uncertain wish – ‘I hope the operation will succeed. I hope the rains will come.’ It is a certainty built on faith. It will happen. But since it is built on faith it stretches the human heart beyond the confines of daily chat. It goes deep down into the place where God lives within. There we can find surety and we find it ‘very soon.’

Prayer. Lord, as Advent unfolds, lead us into the ‘sure hope’ that you promise. Help us rise above petty aspirations we cherish to the vision you offer. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

THE EVERLASTING ROCK

PRAYER MOMENT 

Thursday 4 December 2014

THE EVERLASTING ROCK

             

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Trust in the Lord for ever, for the Lord is the everlasting Rock; he has brought low those who live high up in the steep citadel.” (Isaiah 26:1-6)

Reflection. I am now by the sea and it is constant motion; it attacks the rocks and recedes eternally. They remain unmoved no matter the force of the waves. No wonder the rock was dear to the psalmists and the prophets, and was taken up by Jesus with the image of the man building his house on rock and the new name he chose for Simon. But the image deepens when we have Jesus asleep in the boat and the waves breaking over the side and the disciples terrified. ‘Why did you doubt?’ ‘Well, why not when there was nothing solid beneath us?’ Jesus calls us to go deeper and find that solid foundation within where he dwells. It is easy to say but here it is: Unemployment, poverty, illness or political woe – nothing can disturb such faith. True, you cannot tell a poor man to go and pray and do nothing to help him. But the call remains; ‘trust in the Lord’ whatever our circumstances.

Prayer. Lord, help us to build on rock even when we ache with pain. Help us to reach  deep within to find where you live in us. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

A BANQUET FOR ALL PEOPLE

PRAYER MOMENT 

Wednesday 3 December 2014, S Francis Xavier

A BANQUET FOR ALL PEOPLES

             

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines.” (Isaiah 25:6-10)

Reflection. On the plane I met a Swazi who told me that only in Canada did he feel he was truly accepted. I understood him to mean that wherever you are in Southern Africa, or the USA, there is always this lingering question from our segregationist past. ‘Who are you?’ Are you one of us or one of them? It is never articulated, of course, but it remains like a film on the surface of stale soup. Isaiah speaks eloquently during Advent of a new age when ‘the mourning veil covering all peoples will be destroyed for ever.’ And Jesus goes beyond words to actions when he actually feeds the multitude with a few loaves and fish. They did not understand at the time no more than Peter did when his feet were washed but we should be beginning to understand by now. We have had many ‘advents’ and many words. It is time to remove all that divides us, one from another.   

Prayer. Lord, we pray this Advent that you help us remove the veil between us; that you lead us into the unity, the community, to which you call us. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

WHAT YOU SEE

PRAYER MOMENT   (This has not appeared for a few days. Apologies. I have been on the move.)

Tuesday 2 December 2014

WHAT YOU SEE

             

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see , and never saw it to hear what you heard and never heard it.” (Luke 10:21-24)

Reflection. We kick off Advent with this amazing reflection of Jesus. He tells his disciples “in private” that what they are experiencing has never been seen before in the history of the world. We have entered a new era. This is the time when God is being revealed and it will change things forever. They didn’t get it, of course, and they were - and are – not the only ones. But the process is happening in big ways and small. I link this even to little incidents yesterday at Jo’burg airport where a plethora of signs suddenly gave way to no signs at all. I was lost until a woman, a traveller like me, noticed my quandary and asked if she could help. She couldn’t. So she asked someone else. Then the two of them eventually pointed me in the right direction. A tiny incident of being aware of others! But let such things grow and grow and we will have a new heaven and a new earth.  

Prayer. Lord, as we enter Advent, teach us to wonder and keep our eyes open to everyone around us. In welcoming them we welcome you and we build a new world. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ