THEY SOMEHOW LISTEN

THEY SOMEHOW LISTEN

Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, in the course of a long interview on the BBC this week, slipped in the phrase, “They somehow listen”, referring to the reception of his work in the context of his government’s official policy of cracking down on any sign of criticism. “They somehow listen” is a phrase conveying the suggestion that, despite official closed ears in many countries on issues of politics, religion, climate, culture and so forth, people have one corner of one ear open.  

It is hard “to teach an old dog new tricks”. It is hard to break down the door of prejudice and complacency of people fixed in their ways. In the film, Selma, about the Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery in the United States in the 1960s, we are led through the stages of resistance on the local level in Alabama and the national level in President Johnson’s White House. We are also led through the steely resolve of Martin Luther King to lever open that little space in the president and the country’s consciousness about the injustice. And “they somehow listened.”

There are many people in our countries today either trapped into endlessly repeating and enforcing current “self-destruct” policies or, on the receiving end, enduring the effects of these policies decade after decade. They appear to be without hope of resolving the issues that enslave them. But they are somehow listening. We saw it in South Africa in the 1990s. We see it slowly looming in other countries – like a huge hippo slowly emerging from the Zambezi. In Uganda, they tussle and come to blows with one another in parliament. In Kenya, they annul an election. Neither of these events may have much effect in the short term. But people are somehow listening.

There is a short parable in this Sunday’s gospel about two sons. The second one says “yes” to what is asked of him but doesn’t do it. Familiar? The first one is more honest: he says straight out, “No! I am not going to do that.” Then he thinks about it and decides to do it after all. He was somehow listening.

1 October 2017                                    Sunday 26 A

Ezekiel 18:25-28                     Philippians 2:1-11                    Matthew 21:28-32  

LET THESE WORDS SINK INTO YOUR EARS

PRAYER PAUSE  

Saturday 30 September 2017, Jerome

LET THESE WORDS SINK INTO YOUR EARS

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let these words sink into your ears: the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.’ But they did not understand.” (Luke 9:43-45)

Reflection. Our first reading today, from Zechariah 2, speaks of a vison: “Sing, rejoice, … many nations will join the Lord on that day; they will become his people.” It is a prophecy of the fulfilment of God’s reign and “the day” is being fulfilled now  (30 September 2017!) as on every day of our lives. We live in this belief and hope. But there is a cost – for Jesus and for all those who follow him, knowingly or unknowingly. The cost is that we are “handed over” into the turmoil, contradictions, obsessions and evasions of our world. Our task is to navigate our way through these with our eyes on the goal. Jesus is with us – even if at times we are not with him. But our hope is steady.

Prayer. Lord, help us to keep our eye on your kingdom; may it come into uour hearts and our world. Amen.

ASCENDING AND DESCENDING

PRAYER PAUSE  

Friday 29 September 2017, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

ASCENDING AND DESCENDING

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “You will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angelsof God ascending and descending.” (John 1:47-51)

Reflection. We can be a little tense about the angels. After all, what is there to say? We have no experience of such creatures and our scientific mind may feel uncomfortable with them. But if we see them as “messengers of God” – which is what they are – continually at work among us, good spirits, helping us to find our way in this complex world, then it seems to me we can make sense of them. The image, in John’s gospel, of them ascending and descending captures this. They help us fight against the bad spirits in us and in our world. And they expand our mind to think beyond the the boundaries of our imagination.  

Prayer. Lord, may your holy angels guard and guide us on pur way. Amen.

ANXIOUS TO SEE JESUS

PRAYER PAUSE  

Thursday 28 September 2017

ANXIOUS TO SEE JESUS

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Herod said, ‘Who is this I hear so much about?’ And he was anxious to see Jesusl.” (Luke 9:7-9)

Reflection. Herod “liked to listen to John the Baptist” and “he was anxious to see Jesus.” It all sounds promising. He is curious and curiosity is a good thing: all our advances in knowledge and understanding comes from it. But for curiosity to lead somewhere it has to be open, honest and unprejudiced. We have to look at our motives for being curious. Sometimes they are not so good. Herod had his own agenda and when he eventually met Jesus - during the Passion – it was clear that he was far from having an open mind. As a result Jesus did not  respond to him.  

Prayer. Lord, teach us to be curious but always with an honest mind and heart. Amen.

PROCLAIM THE KINGDOM OF GOD

PRAYER PAUSE  

Wednesday 27 September 2017, Vincent de Paul

PROCLAIM THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” (Luke 9:1-6)

Reflection. The “Kingdom of God” is one of those concepts we have tamed. We have put it in our “pending” tray and said “that comes later.” But, for Jesus, the proclamation of the kingdom was urgent and ‘immediate’. This last word occurs seven times in the opening chapter of Mark. It is a kingdom of justice where people live now “without fear. ” The twelve are to be the instruments to bring this about. They laboured mightily throughout the Mediterranean lands and every generaion has its “twelve” – down to our own. They are people fired up with the values of the kingdom, intent on bringing this justice and healing “to the nations.”  

Prayer. Lord, help us – each in our own way – to proclaim the kingdom of justice and healing to the people of our time. Amen.

THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD

PRAYER PAUSE  

Tuesday 26 September 2017, Cosmas and Damian

THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” (Luke 8:19-21)

Reflection. With different nuances these words are recorded by all three synoptic writers. They would have shocked his hearers. He was ignoring his mother and family in favour of his disciples. Yet is was a spontaneous response of Jesus. He lived for the new “family” that God was now creating “even as you listen” (Luke 4:21). The old family, tribal, national, racial, religious and other ties that gave people security must now be put in second place. The reign of God has begun. Everything else – even the intimacy of the family – has to give way. We still live in the old ways with our labelling and fear of others. It seems to be so difficult for us to build the sort of new society the gospels describe. People take up the ideals of the gospel - for liberty, equality and fraternity – but find it so hard to put them into practice.   

Prayer. Lord, help us to “hear the word of God” and find the courage and imagination to put itinto practice. Amen.

THE HIDDEN WILL BE MADE CLEAR

PRAYER PAUSE  

Monday 2 September 2017

THE HIDDEN WILL BE MADE CLEAR

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “For nothing is hidden but it will be made clear, nothing secret but it will be made known and brought to light. So take care how you hear.” (Luke 8:16-18)

Reflection. I have the image of the mighty Zambezi starting as a spring and finding its way through obstacles and over rock until it grows into a might river and enters the sea. Nothing can stop it. The truth Jesus has come to announce is unstoppable though people have tried to block it. The gospel invites us to be part of the blossoming of truth or else we will be left in the shallows and may dry up! Human beings have resisted uncomfortable truths for centuries  but they are now being revealed. For instance; we are different – sometimes in profund ways. For example, the sexual orientation of some people is completely different from others. The nationsof the world take up different stances on the issues of homosexuality. But today we recognise the issue will not “go away”. It must be faced. The “secret” is out and the dignity of people is at stake. So, “take care how you hear.”

Prayer. Lord, help us to face the truth we meet each day. Give us the wisdom and courage to to welcome what you reveal to us through others. Amen.

DOING IT MY WAY

DOING IT MY WAY

I have just had a cataract operation and now enjoy the clarity of vision so many report after such a procedure. It is amazing and, in my case, I no longer wear the glasses that have been my constant companion for more than seventy years.

“The eyes of his understanding began to be opened.” These words, from the life of Ignatius of Loyola as he told it to one of his companions, came to me in the days of my convalescence. He heard the same scriptures Sunday after Sunday but now they meant something different. He began to see a greater picture than was available to him before.

The dynamic of study of Scripture over the past 70 years means, that ‘eye opening’, is available to all of us today. Scholars have blazed a path for the rest of us to a much deeper understanding of what Jesus wanted when he tirelessly travelled the roads of Galilee preaching and giving “signs” of the approaching reign of God. This Sunday’s parable, for instance, would find no place in a text book devoted to economics. Workers who only arrived at the eleventh hour receive the same salary as those who sweated all day. It makes no sense.

Yet, for Jesus, this is an unequivocal statement, about the breaking in of the kingdom of God in the world. Those who are last will receive the same blessings as those who arrived long ago. Clearly it is aimed at the Jewish leaders for a start – those who took pride in being children of Abraham. Butr status or title makes no difference in the new era already present in Jesus’ time, Are you doing the will of the Father? That is all that matters. You may not even know you are doing it or you may have only come to it at the last minute. It doesn’t matter. Are you doing it? If you are you are blessed.

Jesus overturns – not only the money tables in the temple but – all the prejudices and suppositions of his age and of any age. We can turn away from the late-comers, the no-gooders, the “tax collectors and sinners” and all on the margins of our society, but Jesus doesn’t,

There is still so much conscious and unconscious discrimination – they are not “one of us” – in our societies; we have still some way to go before our eyes are opened and we can welcome those who come at the eleventh hour with the same enthusiasm as those who devoted their whole life to the announcing of the kingdom coming among us..

24 September 2017                  Sunday 25 A

Isaiah 55:6-9                            Philippians 1:20-24                  Matthew 20:1-16

A SOWER WENT OUT TO SOW

PRAYER PAUSE  

Saturday 23 September 2017, Padre Pio

A SOWER WENT OUT TO SOW

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Some seed fell on the edge of the path and was trampled on.” (Luke 8:4-15)

Reflection. The parables are images that need thinking about if we are to gain something from them. They are so simple and straightforward they can pass us by. We know of the sower – how his seed fell in different places. The picture is a mirror we can see ourselves in. We can be distracted and not notice. We can have rock-like prejudices that prevent us hearing the word. We can be overwhelmed with work and worries. And sometimes we can be calm and quiet and attentive. The punch line is in the final bit; a hundred fold. It is possible and people do produce amazing results. Padre Pio, for instance, has changed the lives of thousands through his work and words. Jesus is not exaggereating or making empty promises. It is possible to produce astonishing fruit – each of us in our own way.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to trust your words. We really can do things that bring the reign of God alive in our midst. Amen.

A GREAT PROPHET

PRAYER PAUSE (Let me suspend these reflections till I get my eye settled.. I cannot see what I am writing!)

Tuesday 19 September 2017

A GREAT PROPHET

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.” (Luke 7:11-17)

Reflection. You would imagine that such a response from the people would be the biginningof faith and a close following of Jesus. But the accounts in the gospels show how shallow and fickle their engagement with him was. Jesus suspected his ministry in Galilee. He knew the heart of his mission would be in Jeruslame and the cross. Would people then acclaim him? Where would their enthusiasm be?

Prayer. Lord, help us to engage with you at a deep level where you struggle against the forces of evil in our world. Amen.

JESUS WAS ASTONISHED

PRAYER PAUSE (For those who have been following my news, thank you for your support and prayers during my op. All went well and the doc was really caring)

Monday 18 September 2017

JESUS WAS ASTONISHED

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said to the crowd following him, “I tell you not even in Israel have I found faith like this.” (Luke 7:1-10)

Reflection. The centurian is living in Israel and turns to the Jews for help in approaching Jesus.They readily agree because “he is friendly towards our people.” The Gentile centurian has none of the Jewish “baggage” of a man like Nicodemus and is able to go straight to Jesus recognising him as a man from God who can heal his servant. His direct faith astonishes Jesus and there is here a glimpse of the “peace of God’s kingdom” where servant and master, Jew and Gentile, man and God – are all brought together for a moment in a relationship of trust and mutual service.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to welcome moments when your kingdom shines forth – even for a moment. Amen.

A CRAZY BUSINESS MAN

I have been having a cataract operation with its before and after

A CRAZY BUSINESS MAN

This business man is not going far. He calls in his debts and when someone pleads for more time he cancels the debt altogether. Surely this is no way to run a business. He will be bankrupt in no time. So why does Jesus hold up such an impractical ideal for us to follow? The answer has to have something to do with the new values, the new way of thinking, he was announcing under the general heading of “the kingdom of God.”

Cancelling debts and forgiveness do happen in international politics and economics. Sometimes there is no other choice. But among individuals and smaller entities it is rarer. It is even seen as somehow wrong to let people “get away with it.” The correct way is pursue the debt until it is paid.

Jesus is bringing in another dimension: if the person concerned – the debtor - is sincerely sorry and asks for forgiveness there is a new situation. The disciple of Jesus is then bound to take this into account and forgive the debt. Economic textbooks might say, “Wait a minute, you might be able to do that once, but you cannot run a business that way.” Jesus says, “Well, actually, you can!” But he does not explain. He leaves it up to the hearer – who is one of his disciples, one who believes – to accept that, despite the craziness of the economics, a way will be found.

Perhaps a key element will be the sincerity of the one who asks to be forgiven. That will not always be present. There might be many chancers whom the businessman will find others ways of sorting out. He doesn’t have to ruin his business on account of chancers.

Everything to do with the kingdom demands a step into the unknown. That is why the parables pass us by. We have tamed them and made them safe and manageable. But Jesus intended them to shock and shake! Cancelling money debts is tough at times. It may well eat into my own plans and hopes. But cancelling hurts, insults, grudges, may be equally hard. Just imagine if we could do it – all the time! It would make a difference to our world.

The parables remind us that Jesus is announcing a way of life at variance with what many of us consider safe, sane and sensible. While we revere him we secretly feel he lived in a primitive age and his message does not quite fit our time. Most of us have no experience of sowing and fishing – to say nothing of patching and wineskins. But these are merely the externals that carry the message. The message itself can easily be read in our time and in our place.

17 September 2017                         Sunday 24 A

Sirach 27:30-28:7                              Romans 14:7-9                  Matthew 18:21-35  

CONFLICONFLICTING MIND-SETS

CONFLICONFLICTING MIND-SETS

It is rare to learn of a crystal clear clash of mind-sets in the Church in Africa but the ongoing tussle between Rome and the priests and people of Ahiara diocese in Nigeria, over the appointment of their new bishop, is one. Ahiara is not only a diocese, it is a geographical unit of a particular people – tribe, if you like but resist the overtones of the word – the Mbaise people. They felt marginalised by the dominant Igbo society of eastern Nigeria and recall how they were at ease and affirmed by the former bishop, Victor Chikwe, himself a son of the Mbaise soil.

After his death in 2010 it took three years for Pope Benedict to appoint a successor, an Igbo. “There was no consultation or dialogue with the priests or the people of the diocese as to what kind of bishop was needed to continue the legacy of the much-loved Bishop Chikwe.”  (Stan Chu Ilo, Tablet 29 July 2017). Rome had reasons for the decision made but we can only guess what they were. The Mbaise people are “among the most highly educated in Nigeria” and had developed a strong sense of identity over against the dominant culture that surrounded them. Chu Ilo proposes they picked this up by imbibing the mind-set of their Irish missionaries who came from a country dominated and exploited by the English for 700 years. Rome may have been nervous of encouraging the progress of this self-affirmation which the people enjoyed under Bishop Chikwe. To remind them they belonged to a universal Church Rome may have felt it necessary to appoint an outsider.

In the middle ages Archbishops of Canterbury were sometimes from France and at least one of them, Theodore of Tarsus (St Paul’s birth place), came from what is now Turkey. But we are not in the middle ages, a time when people had not yet developed a sense of identity linked to a particular culture and place. Today people are much more aware of themselves as belonging to a nation or – within a nation – a tribe. They want their leaders to be “one of them.”  Tribalism may be affirmative but it can also be divisive. And this is what makes Rome nervous.

So here we have a clash; a clash between universalism and localism, between imposition from outside and listening to the people inside and between a fixed mind-set of centralised authority over against determined resistance at the local level. It is revealing that the local priests protest; “We are not disobeying the pope. What we are saying is that we should not be suppressed. They (presumably the people round the pope) are subverting the truth.”

To judge by news media sound bites it looks like the pope calling to heel some recalcitrant priests. But the more we go into it the more we see this is an issue that cannot be solved by the weight of authority alone. There will have to be dialogue – in this and other cases that are bound to come.   CTING MIND-SETS

SPREADING ALL OVER

PRAYER PAUSE           (Suspended for some days from tomorrow as I have an op)

Wednesday 6 September 2017

SPREADING ALL OVER

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The Good News which has reached you is spreading all over the world.” (Colosians 1:1-8)

Reflection. There is enthusiasm and energy in Paul’s celebration of the Good News and it is an echo of the opening of Luke’s account of the ministry of Jesus, “I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too.” (Luke 4;38-44). Despite the news of narrow politics, displacements of people, hurricanes and threats of nuclear war – all of which fill us with sadness and alarm – God is at work in the energy of people everywhere pushing bak against the evil within and without. There seem to be particularly nasty events happening these days. They call us to respond and to pray. God is with us.

Prayer. Lord, help us to hope, to struggle and to pray in the darkness that seems to envelop us. Amen.

WITH AUTHORITY

PRAYER PAUSE          

Tuesday 5 September 2017

WITH AUTHORITY

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.” (Luke 4:31-37)

Reflection. “With authority.” The phrase comes twice in our reading from Luke today. It is a slightly tainted word – “authoritarian, the authorities” – but its basic meaning is a way that resonates with truth. Someone “with authority” touches something deep within us and releases our energy to understand and to act. True authority helps us to grow. The Latin, augere, means to grow and I have heard it said our word authority has its roots there.  Those in authoritry have the task to help us grow – at home, in school and in the state.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to follow you and so relate to others that they feel good about themselves and free to develop all their gifts. Amen.

FULFILLED TODAY EVEN AS YOU LISTEN

PRAYER PAUSE          

Monday 4 September 2017

FULFILLED TODAY EVEN AS YOU LISTEN

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.” (Luke 4:16-30)

Reflection. Our reading of Luke begins with Jesus’ announcement in his home town of the good news: the Lord’s favour for all the people. And “he won their approval.” At least at first. They could not hold on to the vision. They baulked at the price of their own freedom – as people have done ever since. “My yoke is easy and my burden light” but it is still too much to take on and they turn away. Their enthusiasm wanes and they reject him. We face the same “today” every day: the choice to receive the good news or turn away from it. What makes us so hesitant?.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to welcome your promise with joy and unite our minds, hearts and strength to yours. Amen.

WE CAN HANDLE ANYTHING

WE CAN HANDLE ANYTHING

Do we take heed of warnings? It is a mercy that we are often given notice of a tough call coming. From time immemorial people have searched the skies for indications of the weather. Today satellites dance round the globe telling us what is about to happen. They knew a hurricane was coming to Texas. They prepared and prided themselves on the efficacy of their response. “Texas can handle anything,” said President Trump.

What they do not seem to do is ask why the rainfall was the “worst ever recorded” causing damage that will take $400 billion to repair. This is not the first catastrophe to hit the United States and it is unlikely to be the last. These are warnings of far greater catastrophes to come. The United States can take measures to prevent such events but, officially, they ignore them because taking steps to combat climate change is “bad for jobs.”

Other countries also suffer but cannot call on $400 billion. They do not have the capacity to “handle anything.” They just suffer.  

Churchill entitled the last volume of his History of the Second World War, Triumph and Tragedy, How the Great Democracies Triumphed, And So Were Able to Resume The Follies Which Had So Nearly Cost Them Their Life. This ironic verdict fits neatly on the shoulders of those who say they can “handle anything.” We can’t handle everything. If we are to survive we have to change our way of thinking.

The hurricane hit a city in Texas called Corpus Christi. This name stops us in our tracks. It is a Latin name given by early Spanish missionaries who may have arrived there on this Catholic feast of the Eucharist, The Body of Christ. To see that body lacerated again, this time by storms, evokes a powerful picture of the One who is with us in all our adversities. The Body of Christ has always been associated with the Eucharist but the Church has widened its meaning to the whole body of the people of God.

Jesus faced the hurricane of Calvary but Matthew tells us Peter advised him to avoid it. He wanted a Jesus who smoothed over the painful choice. The response he got was the hardest, sharpest and among the most authentic of Jesus’ words. “Get behind me Satan!” If we want to save our planet for our children we have to make hard decisions. It was not easy for Jesus to “set his face towards Jerusalem” when he knew what would happen there. Jeremiah (20:9) had an inkling of this when he spoke of a “fire burning in his bones.”

This Sunday we celebrate Care for Creation Day. We can be part of this celebration of creation by caring for our planet and doing all we can – even if it is only thinking about where we dispose of our plastic. We can handle anything but not through hubris and avoiding hard decisions.

3 September 2017                           Sunday 22 A

Jeremiah 20:7-9                                                Romans 12:1-2                                  Matthew 16: 21-27

WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT

PRAYER PAUSE          

Saturday 2 September 2017

WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small hings, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.” (Matthew 25:14-30)

Reflection. There is an urgency about the parable of the talents – or, as it is sometimes called,  the parable of the money given in trust - that we can miss if we think it is just about using our gifts. The parables do not just confirm us in doing what is obvious and reasonable. They shock us. They call us to “go for bust!” They call us to make an all out effort to make the reign of God visible and felt in our time and place. It is not enough to set our sights on a good moral life – admirable as that is. Jesus calls us to “be perfect”, that is, to stretch ourselves like a athlete who goes for the greater.

Prayer. Lord, help us to reach beyond our grasp and be restless until we rest in you. Amen.