THEIR OWN SPIRIT

PRAYER PAUSE 

Tuesday 30 August 2016  

THEIR OWN SPIRIT

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “After all, the depths of a person can only be known by their own spirit.” (1 Cor. 2:10-16)

Reflection. Each of us is a mystery: certainly to others but even to our own selves. We know there is this thing called “me” but I do not fully understand it. Sometimes it does (or I do) what really pleases me. At other times I do something stupid. Or something happens and I lose control. I have this image of a train going along nicely and then it hits an elephant crossing the track and it is derailed. We get derailed at times but it need never be for long. The gift of God is his Spirit which dwells within us and comes to our rescue. We simply surrender to the Spirit and, like a mother, the Spirit lifts us out of the mess and we find ourselves on track again.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to listen to your Spirit in our hearts.  Amen

STAND UP!

PRAYER PAUSE 

Monday 29 August 2016, John the Baptist  

STAND UP!

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Brace yourself for action, Stand up and tell them all I command you.” (Jeremiah 1:17-19)

Reflection. John the Baptist did not divide the sea like Moses or slaughter the false prophets like Elijah. He performed no miracles we know of but he did one thing that makes him “the greatest.” He stood up for the truth – not just before Herod – but before all the people. Every other leader in the Old Testament was buttressed by “signs and wonders” but with John “what you saw was what you got.” He announced a new type of leadership; the suffering service of the Messiah and if we look around and see ourselves bereft of leaders it is because we often have our eyes on the wrong image of leadership. It is not about power and status but about service and suffering.

Prayer. Lord, help our leaders to mirror your way and help us to stand up when we are called to witness to your truth.  Amen

INVITE THE POOR

INVITE THE POOR

Jesus says at one point, “When you have a celebration, invite the poor…” It is one of those shock remarks of his. What does he mean? When we celebrate we tend to do so with like-minded people; people we know and can relax with. Jesus understands that but he still poses the invitation. Somehow he is calling us to break down the barriers dividing people.

Stephen Cave wrote an article not long ago describing the questioning today as to whether we really have free will. He records a current view that the notion was dreamt up by theologians and law-makers – the former to explain the reality of sin (breaking the Ten Commandments) and the latter the reality of crime (breaking the laws of the state). The presumption is that people freely choose to offend.

But how many choices are really free? If we imagine a society where there are very few choices we find people just do what they have traditionally done for centuries. They have no other options. In what sense do they have free will? Or how do we explain that there are far more Afro-Americans in US prisons then whites? One obvious explanation is that historically they have enjoyed less educational and economic advantages than whites and have had a hard time breaking out of poverty. Need, or just sheer frustration, leads them into “crime” and so to prison. What, Cave asks, do a deprived person and a privileged person have in common when we say they both enjoy “free will”?

From my little experience in Zimbabwean and Zambian prisons I have often asked myself The same question. How many of the people I meet there committed their crime “freely”? For how many of them was it circumstances that was largely led them to it?

The Church and the state both view transgressions according to their laws but the actual offender may be anywhere on a broad spectrum of “freedom”, from a person who is fully aware of the sin/crime they are committing to another who is such a victim of circumstances they have virtually no choice but to do what they did.

I do not think that anyone would deny human beings can make choices but it can be a rather theoretical statement and many on our planet have virtually no experience of it. So when Jesus says, “Invite the poor” he is appealing to us to open the way to freedom for the many who have little experience of what it means. It is of great interest that this question is being addressed today both by the state and by the Church.

Philosophers are making us aware of the problem and gradually judges will not only apply the law but pay much greater attention to “extenuating circumstances”, mitigating the seriousness of the crime in terms of diminished responsibility. This is widely applied to people judged to be not in their right mind. But there are many in their right mind who, only theoretically, made free choices.

And the whole weight of Pope Francis’ recent letter, the Joy of Love, is to combine law with compassion. We are beginning to heed Jesus’ exhortation.

28 August 2016                    Sunday 22 C            Sirah 3: 17…29                  Hebrews12:18…24                              Luke 14:7-14

STAY AWAKE!

PRAYER PAUSE 

Thursday 25 August 2016  

STAY AWAKE!

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Stay awake! Because you do not know the day your master is coming.” (Matthew 24:42-51)

Reflection. The difficulty with many gospel texts is that they can become too familiar. We have to break them open time and again to discover their freshness. God sent his Word into the world to give life to every person and every situation – whether it is apparent or not to the people involved. To be open to that newness we are called to what the Eastern religions call ‘enlightenment’. This is a constant awareness of the promise of new life in every situation. The Word of God came to ‘quicken’ (an old English word) the drooping spirits of people and of all creation.

Prayer. Lord, help us to be alert in every situation to your promise of “life to the full.”  Amen

FROM NAZARETH?

PRAYER PAUSE 

Wednesday 24 August 2016, Bartholomew  

FROM NAZARETH?

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “From Nazareth?” said Bartholomew, “Can anything good come from that place?” (John 1:45-51)

Reflection. Bartholomew, or Nathaniel, is introduced to us in a brief conversation, is listed with the others and then disappears. We know nothing more about him. But the brief words are packed with implications. He makes this scathing remark about Nazareth; Philip humours him with “come and see” and then Jesus blows his mind open with a revelation about heaven and earth now being connected by a kind of Jacob’s ladder. John uses a lot of conversations in his gospel; with the woman of Samaria, the Jews, Martha and Mary and finally with his disciples at the last supper. There is always revelation; an opening up of the mind to grasp that God has visited his people.  

Prayer. Lord, help us in our conversations that we may build up and not pull down; that we may open doors and not close them.  Amen

WEIGHTIER MATTERS

PRAYER PAUSE 

Tuesday 23 August 2016  

WEIGHTIER MATTERS

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “You have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith.” (Matthew 23:23-26)

Reflection. “Alas for you…!” This is one of the angrier scenes in the gospel where Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees they have twisted the Law to suit their own purposes, emphasising outward religion while neglecting its central message: justice and mercy. We read it nodding approval but we also know we are surrounded by compromises where justice and mercy are skimped. We can do what we have to do but we fail to think of the other person. Just yesterday I heard of a hospital where the food is cooked, but so badly the patients can’t eat it - and there is no redress.. In big or small ways that is our world.

Prayer. Lord, help us to live the justice, mercy and good faith of the gospel.  Amen

BELIEVED IN THE PROMISE

PRAYER PAUSE 

Monday 22 August 2016, Mary Queen  

BELIEVED IN THE PROMISE

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:39-47)

Reflection. To call her Queen is to exhaust all the human titles we can think of to honour Mary. It gilds the title of Mother which stands out as the most astonishing of all: Mother of God. She believed the promise of the messenger sent to her and in doing so stretched our human capacity beyond our limits. Through Mary the human touches the divine. She believed. As we try to take this in we realise we too are called to reach beyond the limits we are so conscious of in our lives. I am not just talking of eternity – that too – but of the projects we set ourselves each day. The Olympic moment gives a taste of this but we are all athletes in our striving.   

Prayer. Lord, help us to “stretch beyond our reach” as Mary did.  Amen

THE GATHERING OF THE NATIONS

THE GATHERING OF THE NATIONS

I was once in Greece – and it occurs to me that it was exactly 50 years ago – and, with fellow students, romped around an athletics track dating from the ancient Olympic Games. The “modern” games date from the last years of the nineteenth century. The ancient games were only for Greeks but the modern ones are open to the whole world. Huge nations, like the USA which leads the medal table, compete with tiny nations, like the Bahamas which has just won its first ever gold.

Despite the tears and the shenanigans the games is a marvellous celebration of universal brother and sisterhood. Nations drop their political and economic rivalries to compete in a sporting festival that transcends every barrier. The peak moment for me in the 2012 games was a physically disabled runner from Djibouti who took five times as long to complete a race as all the other runners. The whole world watched for seven minutes as he relentlessly completed the course.

The twentieth century was the time when the whole world met. Nations emerged from the shadows and a forum was created where they could each take their place. Universal declarations were agreed that, at least in principle, asserted the dignity, equality, rights and duties of every man, woman and child on the planet. And that forum, the United Nations, has prompted searches for global solutions to global problems such as weapons of war and climate change.

These are remarkable achievements and are a real fulfilment of the poetic language of Isaiah about the “gathering of the nations.” The examples the prophet gave were “Tarshish, Put, Lud, Mosheck, etc.,” – names that mean nothing to us though some can be identified as modern Spain, Libya and parts of Turkey and Greece – countries that represent three continents. The dynamic of our modern “gathering” is now unstoppable despite the challenges of “difference” highlighted by the migration of millions over recent years.

These challenges are real and make us apprehensive. Can we really accept “others” and not just tolerate them? Racial killings in the USA, Brexit in Europe and war in Syria and South Sudan – this time four continents - all tell us how reluctant we can be to accept people who are not “one of us.” My own biggest hurdle was accepting people living with intellectual disabilities. I preferred they stayed away in some place they would be looked after. They had no place in my life – until, that is, I met them and discovered a whole new world I was unaware of which has enriched my life.  

21 August 2016          Sunday 21 C

Isaiah 66:18-21           Hebrews 12:5…13                  Luke 13:22-30 

TO BE A SERVANT

PRAYER PAUSE 

Saturday 20 August 2016, St Bernard  

TO BE A SERVANT

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The greatest among you must be your servant.” (Matthew 23:1-12)

Reflection. Religion had become corrupted by the time of Jesus. Many of its leaders had become a self-serving closed elite. This can happen among any group that loses sight of its purpose. Jesus did not challenge the law and the temple in themselves but in the way they were used. The bible and the Christian faith today can also be used as tools for self-promotion and money making. The test of true religion is service. And we are seeing it today. The only “status” that really counts with our contemporaries is the example of service, a self-giving even to the point of giving one’s life.  

Prayer. Lord, may we learn the way of true service of our brothers and sisters.   Amen

A CLATTERING OF BONES

PRAYER PAUSE 

Friday 19 August 2016  

 A CLATTERING OF BONES

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “There was a noise, a sound of clattering; and the bones joined together.” (Ezekiel 37:1-14)

Reflection. Ezekiel has this astonishing vision of a valley of dry bones. He is called to prophesy over them and they take on flesh and have life breathed into them.. It is a drama expressing the longing of God to breathe life into Israel and, by extension, into us. He longs to give life to the full. We touch that hem of his garment when he are fully engaged in creative activity, bringing life though our teaching, farming, relationships, whatever. This is the great gift God has given us: We are alive and we bring life to others. I have a cousin who has been passionate about theatre all her life. Heaven knows how many people she has breathed life into and what dry bones she has rattled.

Prayer. Lord, may we rejoice in the life you give to us and may we long to share life with others and with all creation.   Amen

A HEART OF FLESH

PRAYER PAUSE 

Thursday 18 August 2016  

 A HEART OF FLESH

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead.” (Ezekiel 36:23-28)

Reflection. God sounds excited about his plans. He sounds like one longing to get more deeply involved in the human drama. He wants to come close to us and pour out his life into our hearts, like the water pouring over the Victoria Falls which I saw, once again, this week. Despite all our failures, documented in the Old Testament, the Lord is eager to proclaim the new way, the new kingdom, which will transform human hearts. We see seeds of this everywhere; people reaching out to one another; in sport, in art, in development – even in politics. But the heart of stone is hard to remove. It persists.

Prayer. Lord, give us this heart of flesh. We long to see our world transformed. And – for instance – the Syrian people at peace with one another   Amen

AGAINST THE FLOW

AGAINST THE FLOW

We are relaxing by the edge of the mighty Zambezi above Mosi Oa Tunya. the Victoria Falls, looking across to Zimbabwe 400 meters away. Helicopters and “microlites” constantly pass overhead polluting the peace though giving their occupants a bird’s eye view of the scenery. My mind’s eye goes back 137 years to the first Jesuits who passed up this stretch of river to meet the Litunga and seek permission to found a mission among the Lozi.

The eleven Jesuits who ventured up from the south at the speed of 15 kms a day and started the Zambezi Mission met a string of disasters. They were ill prepared for the climate, the diseases and the politics. They succumbed to frustration, exhaustion and early deaths. It all became too daunting and they withdrew to reflect and try again another day. Despite their failure they prepared the way for others of their companions who would follow them.

They had “sunk into the mud” like Jeremiah (18:4-10). But they had made a daunting commitment to leave home and family and face into an unknown world. Jeremiah was tempted to run away and we know from their diaries that those early Jesuits had many misgivings about their mission. As the number of disasters mounted they blamed their leader and there was an inquiry. But there was no turning back from the basic decision to reach out the people of the Zambezi basin.

As the climax of Jesus’ life approached he insisted that decision time had come for the people of Israel. Were they going to accept the kingdom, the reign, of God in their lives or not? It was a choice of life or death. It would divide families: fathers against sons, children against parents and married couples against their in-laws. Ever since the day the man born blind, who received his sight and then witnessed for Jesus before the Jewish leaders, was thrown out of the synagogue, there has been a price to pay for being a disciple.

We wonder at the commitment of the athletes of Rio. And we will wonder even more at the courage of the para-athletes, especially the blind and limbless. We look in that mirror – that “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb12:1) – and we wonder at our own choices – giving thanks for what God has been able to do through us (be it ever so little) and seeking grace to paddle up stream when tempted to go with the flow.  

14 August 2016                                  Sunday 20 C  

Jeremiah 38:4-10                                Hebrews 12:1-4                                  Luke 12:49-53

LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN

PRAYER PAUSE (I may be out of reach of internet for the next week) 

Tuesday 9 August 2016  

LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:1…14)

Reflection. This is one of those sayings that we can become too familiar with. Slavery still exists in Mauritania but I heard yesterday of a man who was emancipated while still in his mother’s womb. Life starts battering at our door even before we are born and from then on we are formed by all the influences that come our way. The child, however, has a quality of openness, curiosity and wonder that an adult can quickly lose as he or she settles for a set of prejudices they think will serve them to get by. Perhaps these are the qualities Jesus is pointing to.

Prayer. Lord, may we retain or recover a sense of wonder and openness in your presence.  Amen

FOR ME AND FOR YOU

PRAYER PAUSE

Monday 8 August 2016. Dominic  

FOR ME AND FOR YOU

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Take the first fish that bites, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for you.” (Matt 17:22-27)

Reflection. The idea of the Lord of the universe paying the half shekel in tax comes close to being some kind of joke. But there is serious point too. Jesus gives an example of tolerance and respect. He does not break the crush reed. He works within the structures that he finds and reaches out to people. Many centuries later we struggle with the idea of tolerance. There is much radical intolerance among us. Dominic did not approach the Cathars with violence as many in the Church at the time advocated. He reached out to them in his preaching and in his way of life.

Prayer. Lord, help us to build bridges and break down the barriers that divide people.  Amen

HEARTH OF THE WORLD

HEARTH OF THE WORLD

Dr David Nott was operating on a Palestinian girl in Gaza when people burst into the room and said the hospital was about to be bombed; everyone should flee. He paused, gripped by fear, and thought: I don’t have family responsibilities right now but I do have this little girl here critically ill. He turned to his anaesthetist and said, “I am going to stay.” The anaesthetist said, “I will stay too.” They continued working. The attack did not happen and the little girl survived.  

Many would be touched and inspired by such a true life incident when perhaps they would not stop to turn a page of the gospel. Years ago Simon and Garfunkel sang that famous line; ‘the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls!’ The ‘scripture’ texts that nourish many today are not read in churches but in the news, sport and the arts. People, like Dr Nott, live by the values of the gospel though they may never actually read it.

And the gospel in its turn reaches into daily life for images to express its values. The readiness of that doctor is the readiness of the man who is “awake … in the second watch … or in the third.” And Jesus concludes; “You must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:32ff). The traditional view of this text is that it refers to our death or the last days. But it is stronger than that. It refers to a constant awareness at all times.

There is, though, a tendency to view optimistically every reaching out of people to others as an expression of the gospel. We have to beware lest we blunt the sharp sword of the scriptures. Not every act of kindness to another has the purity of Dr Nott’s. We can be the victims of subtle deceits and mixed motives. We can act generously with hidden agendas.

I have this image of the Christian community at its best when it is acting as a hearth giving out warmth and life to all those who are reached by its fire. There are many on the periphery who feel the heat without knowing where it comes from. They may not be religious but they live by Christian values. It has long been prophesised that ours would be an age of “religionless Christianity.”

This age is certainly upon us and it means that those who claim to stoke the fire at the hearth take on their task ever more passionately because dark cold forces are waiting to stamp out the fire should it ever be reduced to embers.

7 August 2016                        Sunday 19 C

Wisdom 18:6-9                       Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19                         Luke 12:32-48   

HIS ASPECT WAS CHANGED

PRAYER PAUSE

Saturday 6 August 2016. The Transfiguration  

HIS ASPECT WAS CHANGED

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightening.” (Luke 9:28-36)

Reflection. It’s an odd word ‘transfiguration’ but it is traditional and we have to live with it. The curtain was drawn aside for a moment and the disciples saw the reality which we live every day but we cannot see. St Ignatius calls it ‘consolation’ where we are suddenly given a clear view for a moment of things unseen and it fills us with joy and courage. The disciples would need this strength for they would soon see him in agony in the garden and then another aspect of the reality we live would be revealed. All this is for us as we hold the two aspects together in the tension of our daily lives.

Prayer. Lord, in the midst of the sufferings of this world and in our own lives may we always remember the reality we live, even if it is hidden from us for now.  Amen

 PRAYER PAUSE

Saturday 6 August 2016. The Transfiguration  

HIS ASPECT WAS CHANGED

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightening.” (Luke 9:28-36)

Reflection. It’s an odd word ‘transfiguration’ but it is traditional and we have to live with it. The curtain was drawn aside for a moment and the disciples saw the reality which we live every day but we cannot see. St Ignatius calls it ‘consolation’ where we are suddenly given a clear view for a moment of things unseen and it fills us with joy and courage. The disciples would need this strength for they would soon see him in agony in the garden and then another aspect of the reality we live would be revealed. All this is for us as we hold the two aspects together in the tension of our daily lives.

Prayer. Lord, in the midst of the sufferings of this world and in our own lives may we always remember the reality we live, even if it is hidden from us for now.  Amen

ANYONE WHO LOSES THEIR LIFE

PRAYER PAUSE

Friday 5 August 2016, Mary Major  

ANYONE WHO LOSES THEIR LIFE

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Anyone who loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matt 16:24-8)

Reflection. “Holy Mary, Mother of God …” The words trot off our lips easy enough but the Church took 400 years to decide it was appropriate to call Mary ‘Mother of God.’ She did so at Ephesus in 431 at one of the last great Councils when all the churches were still one: Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople and Rome. Cyril of Alexandria gave the keynote speech to which all assented. Pope Sixtus built the first church ever dedicated to Mary in Rome, Mary Major, to mark the occasion. To achieve such unity many had to “lose their life” in the sense of holding back their own opinion and listening to others. It was a moment of intense harmony – and all because of Mary.  

Prayer. Lord, may we seek unity with one another through listening.  Amen

DEEP WITHIN THEM

PRAYER PAUSE

Thursday 4 August 2016, John Vianney  

DEEP WITHIN THEM

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Deep within them I will plant my law, writing it on their hearts.” (Jer 31:31-34)

Reflection. This passage from Jeremiah – easy to remember 31:31 – is the high point of the Old Testament. At last God’s purpose can be revealed: His plan is to enter into a deep communion with his people as soon as they are able to receive this new relationship. They had been like children growing up for centuries. But the time of maturity was at hand when they would be able to welcome the full promise and impact of the covenants. Jesus would reveal this fully through the new community he was to found.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to hear your offer of a deep relationship with you. May be have the grace to receive it! Amen

A REMNANT

PRAYER PAUSE

Wednesday 3 August 2016  

A REMNANT

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Proclaim! Praise! Shout: The Lord has saved his people, the remnant of Israel!” (Jer 31:1-7)

Reflection. The mention of “a remnant” that creeps into the later Old Testament writings is deeply troubling. Only a remnant? Is that all that is left after the hundreds of years of preparation? The Church was born of that remnant. In the history of Germany in the 1930s it seems there was only a remnant of Christians who stood up to Hitler. And in our own day there are many, politicians and ordinary people who cry, “Lord! Lord!” and yet pay little attention to what the Lord really wants; a courageous witness to truth and a deep compassion and love for others, especially the poor.

Prayer. Lord, help us to dig deep into our hearts and find you in others. Amen

THE MEN IN THE BOAT BOWED DOWN

PRAYER PAUSE

Tuesday 2 August 2016, Peter Faber, first companion of Ignatius  

THE MEN IN THE BOAT BOWED DOWN

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God’.” (Matt 14:22-36)

Reflection. There is a storm on the lake and Jesus comes to them walking on the water. Peter tries to walk but sinks. The wind drops and they realise who he is. Once we get past the familiarity of the scene it astonishes us. It seems more appropriate to the time after the resurrection. Yet there is only one Jesus – before the passion and after the passion. He doesn’t become God at the resurrection. The key to our faith is that, “God has visited his people.” He is there in all circumstances and to be found at all times. Our hearts are restless till they rest in him.

Prayer. Lord, help us to find you in all things. Amen