REJOICE, JERUSALEM!

PRAYER MOMENT

Tuesday 1 October 2013

REJOICE, JERUSALEM

Pause.  Rejoice in the presence of God and “the cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1).

Reading. “Rejoice, Jerusalem, beglad for her, all you who love her.” (Is 66:10-14)

Reflection. Meeting people who participated in the 3.8 million gathering on the beach near Rio de Janeiro in July with Pope Francis and hearing how they rejoiced as they prayed and sang together, gives one some idea of what Isaiah has in mind when he writes these words, which we read every year on the feast of Teresa of Lisieux, October 1. The vision is of the new Jerusalem where “the glory of the nations” will be manifest when all the people of the earth will journey to meet their God and they will be comforted. Teresa in her own short life (1873-97) suffered a great deal but she also rejoiced and at the end was able to write in her journal, “Oh! I love him! My God! I love you!” They are the words of a lover and here they are addressed to God.

Prayer. Lord, teach us to rejoice in the heavenly Jerusalem of which even now we can have some idea. Help us to raise our eyes – whatever the present troubles - and be comforted even as we struggle. Amen

WELCOME THE CHILD

PRAYER MOMENT

Monday 30 September 2013

WELCOME THE CHILD

Pause.  Be in the presence of God and “the cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1).

Reading. “Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me” (Luke 9:46-50)

Reflection. Wee Man is the story of a child growing up in Glasgow in the 1970s in a culture of gangs, violence and drug wars. The camera focuses on his eyes as he looks out of his window or his hiding places in the streets and sees people knocked senseless or murdered. He feels no welcome in this world and, for a while, turns to violence himself. To welcome a child is to prepare a world for a child where the child feels accepted and loved, where the child can play and explore without fear and where the child grows uo sensing that people everywhere are struggling to build a better world. It is also to welcome the child in me, to let go of my fears of failure and rejection and to open my eyes in wonder and see the beauty of people and the signs of effort everywhere as people try to build a new world.

Prayer. Lord, in welcoming a little child we welcome you. Teach us to have the freedom, the openness, to welcome a child as you did with wonder and love. Amen

A great gulf

A great gulf

“You have the poor with you always”. These, we are told, are the words of Jesus (John 12:8). They sound like a resigned sigh. We will never be able to get rid of poverty. And it seems so when we look around. Though there are United Nations reports of the diminution of poverty in some parts of the world the evidence all around us is of people trapped in their poverty with no apparent way out.

Meanwhile there are others who can give their children a thousand dollars pocket money and live in exclusive suburbs surrounded by walls. They are not bad people but they often cannot see the huge gulf between their way of life and that of the poor. Or if they do see it they say it is not their job to do anything about it.

Jesus knew about this and he told a story of a rich man who dressed in purple and feasted every day. He was probably not a bad man but he just had his eyes closed to the poverty of the man at his gate. When they both die Abraham is introduced as telling the rich man that there is a “great gulf” between him and the poor man now, who is being comforted “in Abraham’s bosom.”

The gulf in the future life is unbridgeable but the one in this is not. There are countless stories of people realising the outrage of the gap between the rich and the poor and devoting their lives to doing something about it. Despite the poverty trap all around us, there is such mobility in our world today that it is possible – dare I say it – to prove Jesus wrong: we don’t have to have the poor with us always. Information is everywhere and can be communicated instantly to anyone. Democracy and accountability is growing despite starts and stops, starts and stops. There is a report this week of an old (75) priest refusing to leave his community of 75 Christians and a couple of thousand Muslims holed up in Homs (Syria) unable to move more than a kilometre in any direction. They are running out of food and facing the winter cold with blown out doors and windows. It is a desperate situation but they know that the world knows. This gives them hope. Theirs is just one more story that can swell the progress towards peace.  

But what is difficult to penetrate is the human heart which often sets itself to ignore and shut out the knowledge of the poor man at my gate. I just don’t want to know. The prophet Amos said almost 3000 years ago, “Woe to those ensconced so snugly in Zion.” It is a warning stil starkly applicable today.   

29 September 2013     Sunday 27 C

Amos 6:1,4-7              I Tim 6:11-16              Luke 16:19-31

HANDED OVER

PRAYER MOMENT

Saturday 28 September 2013

HANDED OVER

Pause.  Be in the presence ofGod.

Reading. “The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men” (Luke 9:43-45)

Reflection. There is something deeply ominous about the phrase “handed over.” We speak of people being handed over to the police or to the doctors. It means a person is no longer free; they are now in someone else’s power. But this is exactly what God did in sending his Son into the world. He “handed him over” so that he could live among men and women and being in their midst he could lead them back, “hand them over”, to God. But first, the Son had to enter deeply into human life and so he handed himself over to whatever it meant to be among people. Would they accept him or would they reject him? They rejected him. But he did not reject them or back off from the handover he had made. He accepted all the implications and because he was whom he was he overcame everything that men and women could throw at him and so could hand them over to the Father.

Prayer. Lord, teach us to always rejoice in your coming to be one of us, your “incarnation”. You have transformed what it is to be human forever. Teach us to know this, no matter what the troubles are we face. Amen

TO SUFFER GRIEVOUSLY

PRAYER MOMENT

Friday 27 September 2013

TO SUFFER GRIEVOUSLY

Pause.  Take a little time to be in the presence ofGod.

Reading. “The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected ….” (Luke 9:18-22)

Reflection. What was Jesus’ ID number? What was his answer to those who asked, ‘who are you?’ He brought the matter to a head by asking his disciples who they thought he was. Peter’s answer – “the Christ” (Messiah in Hebrew) – was a peak moment of recognition, of identity. But what does “the Christ” mean? “The anointed one” who would set Israel free from the Romans? So they thought. But Jesus tells them straight, “the Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously.” Being the Messiah means that he will enter deeply into the human experience – be it in Syria, be it in Zimbabwe – and he will suffer, just as the people of these places and every place have their share of suffering. But he will triumph. And so will they and so will we.  

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach me to know you in your Passion. Let me not turn aside from your grievous suffering in spirit, in mind and in body.  You entered our human condition. May your life leaven mine and give me and all your people courage and hope. Amen

HEROD WAS CURIOUS

PRAYER MOMENT

Thursday 26 September 2013

HEROD WAS CURIOUS

Pause.  Take a little time to be still and attentive to the Lord.

Reading. “Herod was anxious to see Jesus.” (Luke 9:27-29)

Reflection. St Augustine saw curiosity as a virtue. His whole life was a search for the truth and an effort to explain what he found out. There are two types of curiosity. One is simply wanting to know the latest news, see the latest attraction, follow the latest fashion. Herod was like that. He was intrigued by Jesus and “anxious” to see him. But he was not interested in the truth. He just wanted some new amusement, something new to gossip about with his friends.  The other type of curiosity is when one is genuinely searching for the truth, trying to understand, seeking to build bridges between people, Scientists and peacemakers do this. It is an activity close to prayer where one submits oneself to something far greater than the world we know or touch. Curiosity then places us on the threshold of mystery.

Prayer. Jesus, teach me to be curious. To search out ways of understanding people, discovering what I should do, learning how to “lose my life so that I can find it.” Amen

NOTHING FOR THE JOURNEY

PRAYER MOMENT

Wednesday 25 September 2013

NOTHING FOR THE JOURNEY

Pause.  Be still. You are in the presence of God.

Reading. “He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, ‘Take nothing for the journey’.” (Luke 9:1-6)

Reflection. When Jesus begins to train his disciples in proclaiming the mission he immediately adds instructions on methods. He says, “Take nothing with you, neither staff, nor haversack …” This seems crazy. Anyone going on a mission should be prepared and carry supplies. The early Jesuit missionaries to Zimbabwe (1879) came with loaded ox-wagons.  It seems Jesus was laying down markers. He is saying this is not your mission: It is God’s mission. Don’t ever allow it to slip into being a personal thing, a way of life for me, a job to keep my family going. This is God’s business and don’t forget it. So don’t rely on your own resources and powers. You have to use them, yes, but radically discover that it is “not I who live, but Christ who lives in me”(Gal 2:30). 

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach me that basic truth that you live in me and I live in you. Do not let me drift along thinking I am just doing my job. Help me to risk my life in exploring the boundaries and frontiers, those places and situations where I am not comfortable and I have nothing to rely on except you. Amen.

MY MOTHER AND BROTHERS

PRAYER MOMENT

Tuesday 24 September 2013

MY MOTHER AND BROTHERS

Pause.  Be still in the presence of God.

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

Reflection. What are we to make of the seemingly harsh words of Jesus when told that his mother and brothers are “outside” and want to see him? His response puts a distance between him and his blood family. The only family he is passionate about are those who “hear the word” and “put it in to practice.” It is inconceivable that Jesus is dismissing his mother and relations from his life. But what comes through in the gospels is his utter dedication to announcing the reign of God before anything else. The story of staying in the temple at the age of twelve and his initial response at the marriage feast of Cana, together with this incident point to this radical focus and commitment. It was his daily “food” (John 4:34).  

Prayer. Lord, as I reflect on your all absorbing desire to proclaim the good news of the reign of God, teach me desire above all things that “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Amen.

LIGHTING A LAMP

PRAYER MOMENT

Monday 23 September 2013

LIGHTING A LAMP

Pause.  “Be still and know that I am God.”

Reading. “No one lights a lamp to cover it with a bowl.” (Luke 8:16-18)

Reflection. A few years ago the world held its breath when 30 miners were trapped underground in Chile for 69 days. For the first 17 days no one on the surface knew if they were still alive and the miners did not know if they would ever see the light of day again. Bu then on the 17^th day contact was made and food and fresh water was delivered. Weeks followed before the drilling of a rescue channel was complete and the miners could be lifted to the surface one by one. It is a modern parable of darkness and light, despair and hope. It is a story of reaching out to the lost and enabling them to find their way. It is also the story of stretching modern technology to the fullest in the service of people.

Prayer. Lord, teach us to be sensitive to those trapped in situations they cannot get out of. Help me to offer even a tiny “light” to help them see their way. Help all of us in our country to reach those trapped in poverty or sickness and give them hope. Amen.

A crafty guy

A crafty guy

There is a famous painting by Caravaggio of the Calling of Matthew, the tax collector. Matthew is seen at a table with his friends and he has his hands round a heap of money he has just collected. There is a figure at the side calling him and one of his friends points to him, seemingly in astonishment as if to say, “What! Him?” The force of the picture comes through in the call to a most unlikely person to become a great apostle.

Pope Francis has the gospel words describing this scene as his motto, Miserando atque Eligendo (in compassion he chose him), “which was very true for me,” Francis says. The words come from Bede the Venerable who wrote, “Jesus saw a publican, and since he looked at him with feelings of love and chose him, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’” God looks at the person and whatever his life he sees something there and cuts though all the sinfulness and calls that person.

There is a baffling story in Luke about a steward who messes up his work and is about to be fired. Seeing the blow coming, he reduces the amounts his employer’s debtors owe so as to win their favour when he is out of a job. His master learns of the strategy and seems to commend him for his astuteness and we wonder what place a story like this has in the gospel. One explanation could be that, as with the father of the prodigal son, it is simply saying God is free to act in whatever way he chooses. Another explanation is that, since stewards did not get paid but charged a commission, this steward decides to forego his commission and so he does not defraud his master but the debtors are now in debt to him! Crafty guy!

What I like about the story is the freedom of God. He sees something in the steward that we don’t see – just as he saw something in Matthew that Matthew’s friends did not see - and maybe just as God saw something in Francis that the pope’s fellow Jesuits did not see in his early years. Certainly the elder brother in the story of the Prodigal Son did not see in his young brother what his father saw.

The references to Pope Francis above come from a long interview he gave in August, which has just been released. The interviewer began by asking him point blank, “Who are you? Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis)?” He stares at me in silence. I ask him if I may ask him this question. He nods and replies: “I ​​do not know what might be the most fitting description.... I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.” This is who I am and I know it. That God could have called me, not just to become pope, but to all the lesser posts I have had since I first became a Jesuit and a priest is because of his mercy and compassion. I cannot explain it otherwise.

These are the words of someone who is really in touch with himself. There is no fear about how will people take this. There is no pretence. There is just the truth about himself as he knows it. God can work with such people. Just as he worked with Matthew and the crafty steward.

22 September 2013     Sunday 25 C

Amos 8:4-7                 I Tim 2:1-8                  Luke 16:1-13   

THE CALLING OF MATTHEW

PRAYER MOMENT

Saturday 21 September 2013

THE CALLING OF MATTHEW

Pause.  Recall that we are in the presence of God.

Reading. “I did not come to call the virtuous but sinners.” (Matt 9:9-13)

Reflection. There is a painting of the Calling of Matthew by Caravaggio where Matthew is shown as handsome young man sitting with his friends and holding on to a heap of money he has just collected. A figure on the right of the picture indicates him and one of his friends points to him incredulously as if to say, “What! Him?” We later hear even the Pharisees did not approve. We know little of Matthew’s subsequent career except that his name is associated with the longest and fullest account of the ministry of Jesus. The Lord knew what he was doing when he called this seemingly unpromising character.

Prayer. Lord, if we could see with your eyes we would be surprised by all the gifts and talents hidden from us in the midst of your people. Help us to believe in people even in those who at first look so unpromising. Amen.

AS WELL AS CERTAIN WOMEN

PRAYER MOMENT

Friday 20 September 2013

AS WELL AS CERTAIN WOMEN

Pause.  Be still and remember you are in the presence of God.

Reading. With him went the Twelve, as well as certain women who had been cured. (Luke 8:1-3)

Reflection. Different writers of the gospels have different emphases and biblical scholars have shown us how this enriches our portrait of Jesus. One of Luke’s themes is the presence of women throughout the life of Jesus. They were in his company and they were in his stories (parables). We have only to think of his visit to the house of Martha and Mary and the woman who lost a drachma. There is much reflection on the role of women in the church today and we hope that as time goes on this will be no more of an issue than the role of women in the family. In other words, their role is central and needs to be fully acknowledged. It does not take much imagination to realise what an enrichment their presence brings in every human activity.

Prayer. Lord, in a culture which gave little place to women in public life, you invited them to accompany you on your mission and you were nourished in their presence. Help our church today to overcome reservations which prevent us growing accustomed to their presence in the life of the church. Amen.

YOUR FAITH HAS SAVED YOU

PRAYER MOMENT

Thursday 19 September 2013

YOUR FAITH HAS SAVED YOU

Pause.  Recall how Jesus is aware of your day and all that makes up pour life. Acknowledge this in gratitude and love.

Reading. He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:36-50)

Reflection. This is the account of the woman who pours out her feelings in tears and kisses at the feet of Jesus. Simon, Jesus’ host, is shocked by this display which disturbs custom and “right order.” Jesus sees right through the whole situation. He understands how he has rocked Simon’s boat, his “comfort zone.” But he is moved and thrilled by the response of the woman. She has broken down all the barriers in society and, more importantly, in herself to reach out to Jesus. She knows her own awful situation yet, with amazing courage (faith) she ignores all her misery and just rushes to Jesus and throws herself at him. The result is total newness, a total transformation of her life. We do not know if she was Mary of Magdala but if she was the story of her grasping Jesus’ feet at the Resurrection would be totally consistent.

Prayer. Lord, it is beautiful to see your joy in the repentance of one sinner. I know that I too am one such. Help me to deeply acknowledge how you have changed my life and long to go on doing so, creating within me, each day ever greater capacity to receive your life. Amen.

YOU WOULDN’T DANCE

PRAYER MOMENT

Wednesday 18 September 2013

YOU WOULDN’T DANCE

Pause. Take a moment to recall that you are in the presence of God.

Reading. “We played the pipes for you but you wouldn’t dance.” (Luke 7:31-35)

Reflection. You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. We have had the experience of preparing a talk or a class, or preparing a meal or a gift, and there has been no response – no sign that what we did with such effort was appreciated. Jesus expresses his frustration with “this generation” because they do not respond to the good news of the reign of God that he is announcing. They are like children in the playground: one group plays pipes but the others just sit and refuse to dance. They won’t play the game. It is a cry from the heart of Jesus that people are simply not seeing the signs all around them. They are locked up in their own world.

Prayer. Lord, teach me to see you at work everywhere in your people and in our world. Open my eyes to see the signs of your presence. Help me to respond with gratitude and love. Amen

A DEAD MAN, THE ONLY SON AND HIS MOTHER A WIDOW

PRAYER MOMENT

Tuesday 17 September 2013

A DEAD MAN, THE ONLY SON AND HIS MOTHER A WIDOW

Pause. Take a moment and be still in the presence of God.

Reading. “When Jesus was near the gate of the city it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother and she was a widow.” (Luke 7:11-17)

Reflection. Is this a news bite on the situation in Syria today? It could be, or it could be a scene anywhere in our country or any country. Suffering can get multiplied – a dead man … the only son ... a widow – it is a list of sorrows. How Jesus longs to do something for her! How he wants to reach out to everyone who is suffering. The gospels are descriptions of “signs”. Signs of the way God really wants to act, wants to heal and give life. Jesus’ dramatic act in raising the young man and “giving him back” to his mother is a sign. God cannot do this sort of thing all the time, interfering wherever there is sorrow. But he can heal and bring life ALL THE TIME

Prayer. Lord, teach us to draw closer to you when we too are visited by sorrow and trouble. Help us to see how your work through and in all things to lead us all to the Father. Amen

JESUS ASTONISHED

PRAYER MOMENT

Monday 16 September 2013

JESUS ASTONISHED

Pause. Is there a moment in the day when, with our families, we can gather and be still in the presence of our God?

Reading. “When Jesus heard these words of the centurion he was astonished and said, ‘I tell you not even in Israel have I found faith like this.’” (Luke 7:1-10)

Reflection. Sometimes we can pull the curtain aside for a moment and look out and glimpse the great and universal plan of God. Jesus understood his mission as primarily to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel.” But he kept meeting Syro-Phoenician women, Greeks and, here, Romans, who responded to him and showed signs of faith that astonished him. And he was filled with consolation to think of the day when people would come from the east and the west, the north and the south, to the banquet in the kingdom of heaven. This is all biblical language but it points to the world we live in today. The traffic roars by as I write but hidden in all this rush and roar is the great plan in which we are all drawn towards God and astonishing things are happening all round us if we have eyes to see.  

Prayer. Lord, teach me to rejoice that you are at work in this world of ours. At times it looks pointless and futile and full of vanity. But in truth you are there with your shepherd’s staff leading us on to green pastures and life to the full. Amen

He came to his senses

He came to his senses

How many people are there who still rejoice over some decision they made, perhaps years ago, that changed their lives? If I had not done such and such where would I be now? I know one who told me he was within an inch of becoming “a street kid” since there seemed to be no hope. But someone or something intervened and he was able to set himself on a new path and is now married with his own home and family.

On the other hand there are many who deeply regret some decision they made which also changed their lives for ever? They slipped or took a wrong turn and now see no way back. In their case neither friends nor others who tried to help could reach them at that point where they could make a life changing decision. The person becomes trapped in unhappiness which he or she feels powerless to alter.

The story of the “Prodigal Son” is known far beyond the confines of religious usage or biblical knowledge. It graphically sums up the tragedy welded to our human nature.  We are drawn to opt for immediate satisfactions no matter what the hurt to others or to ourselves. We abandon our power to think and surrender to impulses and instincts without reflection. How often we are driven by these instincts!

The beauty of the Prodigal Son story is the phrase “he came to his senses.”  He suddenly realised things do not have to be as they are. I have the power to change. He makes a decision. He is a little fearful of what his father will say but he has some confidence he will be accepted back, at least as a hired servant. What he had no idea of was the cascade of welcome he would receive when he reached home. The Father showers him with signs of welcome and love and we have the distinct feeling that the young man is now twice the person he was before he left home.

He has dishonoured his father, yes, but now his eyes are open and he realises the broad picture of the compassion and love that the Father longs to show. His “joy is so great he cannot believe it” (Luke 24:40). Countless people have lived in this joy: Mary Magdalene, Paul, Augustine and Ignatius of Loyola are just some of the better known names. Someone who does not know what forgiveness is will show little love (Luke 7:47). It is part of the beauty of the Christian message – and the message too of the great religions – that it is in our weakness that we are strong (2 Cor. 11:10).

15 September 2013     Sunday 24 C

Exod. 32:7-14             I Tim 1: 12-17             Luke 15: 1-32

LIFTED UP

PRAYER MOMENT

Saturday 14 September 2013

LIFTED UP

Pause. In our families, is there a moment when we can take ten minutes amidst the cooking and eating in the evening, the TV and the home work, when we can gather and be still in the presence of our God?

Reading. “The Son of Man must be lifted up … for God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.” (John 3:13-17)

Reflection. Stat crux dum volvitur orbis. So goes the motto of the Carthusians, “The cross stands (firm and immovable) while the earth revolves on its axis (evolving, blundering and progressing). Forty days after the church celebrates the Transfiguration, the momentary revelation of glory on the mountain, she now celebrates the lifting up of the cross on another mountain, Calvary. This day calls us to remember the solid eternal purpose of God, reaching through the ages, to crown the long evolution of humankind from its earliest origins to its final glorious purpose in Christ. We call it “salvation.” It is a source of endless gratitude: we could – and people have – so easily taken a wrong turn.

Prayer. God our Lord, as we look up to the Cross of Jesus on this day, a cross which hangs in our homes and in our hearts, teach us to be filled with thanks for the way you have intervened in each of our lives to save us. Amen

LISTEN!

PRAYER MOMENT

Friday 13 September 2013

LISTEN!

Pause. In our families, is there a moment when we can take ten minutes amidst the cooking and eating in the evening, the TV and the home work, when we can gather and be still in the presence of our God?

Reading. “Imagine a sower going out to sow.” (Mark 4:1-9)

Reflection. Nazareth was a small town, hardly more than a village. There would have been much contact with the rural area in which it was situated and Jesus, as a child, would have observed farmers at work. He often saw how they sowed and where the grain fell. So he develops this picture of the sower to teach us. Sometimes I am distracted and do not notice important events happening around me; sometimes I am hard and obstinate like rock and refuse to listen; sometimes I am  overwhelmed by worries and cares and become impatient and irritable; and sometimes I am at peace and attentive to the Lord.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach me not to lose heart in my changing moods. Help me to be rooted in you, so that when I am distracted or fail to listen or feel overwhelmed and irritated  I will not lose heart. Teach m to trust that you are always there and peace will return. Amen

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

PRAYER MOMENT

Thursday 12 September 2013

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

Pause. Be still before the Lord.

Reading. “I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.” (Luke 6:7-38)

Reflection. In 1976, in the worst time of apartheid in South Africa and while we were in the midst of our struggle, Dr Manas Buthelezi came to visit our Justice and Peace Commission. I remember him telling us of the effect it had of his jailers when he literally told them, “do you know that I love you?” He took today’s reading as it is and the officers were perplexed and embarrassed! In Jesus’ words today there is a cascade of teaching on the theme of breaking down the barriers of hate and oppression through love, prayer and forgiveness. He is telling us to move beyond the normal. “If you (only) love those who love you, what thanks can you expect?” Everyone does that. But you are to go beyond that, to break thorough everything that separates us, one from another. Not easy, but the heart of the gospel.   

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you love us and want all your people to be one. Help me to move beyond the comfortable mutual relations of life to reach out to those I normally would not like and would want to avoid. Help us all to break down the barriers that separate us so that we may be one as you and the Father are one. Amen.

HE PREFERRED THE POOR

PRAYER MOMENT

Wednesday 11 September 2013

HE PREFERRED THE POOR

Pause. Be sill.

Reading. “How happy are you who are poor; yours is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20-26)

Reflection. “Happy the poor?” How can Jesus say that? We struggle in our development programmes to help people raise themselves out of poverty. We lament the 90% of Zimbabweans out of formal employment. They are “trapped” in poverty. Poverty has been the lot of most people in every age. Jesus is not happy that people are poor but he is saying their state of life, their poverty, makes them the people for whom God is especially concerned. The Father knows how they struggle and their struggle can open them up to the God who struggles with us, Emmanuel. Jesus is saying they are the people who are most likely to know their need for God. As people get richer the crucifix and pictures of the Sacred Heart disappear from the kitchen wall.  

Prayer. God our Father, we know that you have a special love for the poor, the handicapped andthose in prison. You are close to those who struggle day after day to care for their families. Teach me to be poor, at least in spirit, so that I may be one with you in your struggle in our world. Amen.

INTO THE HILLS TO PRAY

PRAYER MOMENT

Tuesday 10 September 2013

INTO THE HILLS TO PRAY

Pause. Enter into the stillness within you.

Reading. “Jesus went out into the hills to pray: and he spent the whole night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12-19)

Reflection. Jesus went to extraordinary lengths to make sure his life was in tune with the Father. Before he even began he spent time in the desert searching within for the will of his Father. And before his Passion he had that terrible time in the garden of Gethsemane. Now, right in the midst of his work, he takes time in prayer to discover how his mission is proceeding and who will carry it on after him. I participated in the celebrations for the Jubilee of the Diocese of Hwange last week-end and I was touched by the message of the Bishop. He spent no time in listing the achievements of the past fifty years but he simply called on people to go deeper into their lives. “Come to know Jesus,” he said, “not in an academic way, but deeply, interiorly, in the heart.”

Prayer. God our Father, you call us to take part, each in his or her own way, in the great mission of bringing life to the world, “life to the full.” Help me to take time to go deeply within in order to know Jesus, the One you have sent, the One who reveals you to the world. Amen.

A man’s reach

I will be away for three days but here are some thoughts for Sunday

A man’s reach

“Oh, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,

or what’s a heaven for?”

So wrote the poet Robert Browning and the words serve well to remind us that life is all about striving for the more, the greater. Sports people and artists show us constantly the peaks of human effort. We see the near perfection of their performance on field or stage or on the screen but we pass over the hours of training and striving that went before. Any achievement costs “fishing all night and catching nothing” and then an occasional haul in the morning.

Jesus used hyperbole to jolt us into knowing what he was calling for: “unless a person hates his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, they cannot be my disciple.” What could be more radical than turning your back on your closest relatives? It sounds outrageous if you take it literally but, of course, Jesus did not mean “hate” in the way we mean it. For him it was making the Father the total centre of his life. We have glimpses of this when he stays behind in Jerusalem at the age of twelve, much to his parents annoyance, and when he replied to the man who said his mother and brothers were outside and wanted to talk to him, “who is my mother and brother? Anyone who does the will of my Father is mother and brother and sister to me.”

These are the words of one who puts a radical choice before us. Are you prepared to reach for the stars in your ambition? Or do you just vaguely want to succeed in a general non-taxing kind of way? What do you really want? Are you prepared to strive and sweat for it? Or do you just hope that soon everything will be OK if I have patience and wait? If history and politics teach us anything it is that change does not just happen like the rainy season follows the dry. We know it doesn’t work that way. In human affairs there has to be a striving, a struggle, for the better to emerge. We see this in nature. We see it everywhere.

We are a peaceful people and we laugh a lot. It is our way of coping with setbacks and disappointments. And there is a place for patience and waiting. But I know in my own life how easy it is to do that to excess; to avoid any sort of confrontation and pain and just go with the flow. That may make for my comfort but it will not bring about change.

8 September 2013       Sunday 23 C

Wis 9:13-18                 Phlm 9-10, 12-17        Luke 14:25-33 

NEW WINE, FRESH SKINS

PRAYER MOMENT

Friday 6 September 2013

NEW WINE, FRESH SKINS

Pause. Be still in the presence of God

Reading. “Nobody puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and then run out, and the skins will be lost.” (Luke 5:33-39)

Reflection. As a boy Jesus had often observed how wine was stored in specially prepared containers made of animal skins. Every new harvest of wine had to be stored in new skins. It was an apt image for his message about the reign of God coming into the world. To be a Christian one cannot hold onto the old ways; the traditional beliefs and practices that do not fit with the new wine of the kingdom. Something new, “something greater than Solomon is here.” Jesus who is “the image of the unseen God and the first born of all creation” (Col 1:15-20)  calls me to a totally new way of thinking and acting.

Prayer. Almighty Father, it is wonderful to reflect on the new world you are making through the words and actions of your people, formed in the image of your Son and living in your Spirit. Teach us to rejoice in your activity and bend our minds and hearts to your work. Amen

COMPLETELY OVERCOME

PRAYER MOMENT

Thursday 5 September 2013

COMPLETELY OVERCOME

Pause. Recall that you are in the presence of God

Reading. “Peter and his companions were completely overcome by the catch of fish that they had made.” (Luke 5:1-11)

Reflection. Peter and his companions had “worked hard all night and caught nothing.” Now they caught so many fish that their nets began to tear. Peter is overwhelmed. He instantly realises that something beyond the world we know has happened; God has dramatically shown his hand just as he had to Moses in the burning bush. He falls on his knees overcome. We quickly say that Jesus is teaching Peter that he is to become a “fisher of men” and that is true. But we can also say that God reveals himself to us in our work. We try our best but the results can be beyond our own making. We have a sense that, yes, I did what I could but the results of what I did are far beyond what I expected. They are pure gift.

Prayer. Father, teach us to do our bit, to put our hands to the plough. But teach us to too to know that it is you who make things grow. You crown our efforts beyond our imagining. Help us to be ever expectant, ever thankful. Amen

HE CURED THEM

PRAYER MOMENT

Wednesday 4 September 2013

HE CURED THEM

Pause. Remember that you are in the presence of God

Reading. “At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one sort or another brought them to him and, laying his hands on them he cured them.” (Luke 4:38-44)

Reflection. The early ministry of Jesus is filled with energy and enthusiasm on the part of the people. Jesus starts in the family, the family of his closest follower, Simon Peter, He cures his mother-in-law. Then he moves out to meet and cure the people of the town and district. Finally he moves beyond to the “other towns.” There is an ever widening circle of his activity which will eventually embrace the “whole house of Israel” and ultimately the whole world. When he rises from the dead Jesus is no longer restricted by the limits of a human body here in this life. He is able to reach and cure every person in every age. He started in Capernaum, which I once visited – it is now a ruin, but he now has a “cosmic” outreach to all creation. And so have we. Our life and our prayer start in our family and grow as we meet more and more people. When we come to die our capacity to reach others will expand to an unimaginable extent. We will share in the divine embrace of all creation. It would be good to get used to it now.    

Prayer. Father, you love your creation and you sent your Son to heal us, one by one, and lead us back to you. Teach us to respond in love and thanks and open pour hearts to our brothers and sisters. Amen

A DEEP IMPRESSION

PRAYER MOMENT

Tuesday 3 September 2013

A DEEP IMPRESSION

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

Reflection. In the early days of Jesus’ ministry the people are astonished. “He speaks with authority.” And what particularly struck them was his power over evil spirits. A real engagement, a battle, with the forces contrary to God had begun. And the evil spirits knew it and were alarmed. “This is the beginning of the end for us.” But for Jesus the battle would have to take place in the heart of every person and would not be so simple. The evil spirits would not give in easily and would  try to spoil his progress - and ours - at every step. For the people of that time, and of ours, the struggle would be continuous and hidden.  

Prayer. Lord, teach me to struggle against the evil within me and in the world. The wheat and the weeds grow together. Teach me to be alert to the urgings of the good spirit and of the evil one. Amen

FULFILLED TODAY

PRAYER MOMENT

Monday 2 September 2013

FULFILLED TODAY

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

Reflection. Today we start our annual readings from Luke’s synopsis of the public life of Jesus. He begins with this word “today” in his home town and announces that the prophecies of Isaiah – good news to the poor, liberty to captives, new sight for the blind, relief for the oppressed and a time of favour for all – are to be fulfilled “today.” It is a theme rooted in the psalms – “O that today you would listen to his voice” (Ps. 95) – and reminds us that that is all we have. We do not have yesterday, we do not have tomorrow. We just have today and indeed just this very moment – now! And this is the moment God is acting in my life and in the world, bringing good news, freedom, new sight, relief and favour – if I can but recognise his presence.

Prayer. Lord, teach me to recognise your presence in my life today where you gently “draw” me (John 6:44) to yourself through the people and events of my day. Give me “new sight” to see you in my life today. Amen

Break down the barriers

Break down the barriers

If you are from the country you can feel out of place in town. If you are from Bulawayo you can feel out of place in Harare. If you are from Zimbabwe you can feel out of place in Paris or London. The first time you leave home can be unsettling. We like to be where things are familiar and we feel secure.

So when Jesus says, when you have a celebration invite the poor, the lame, the blind and the handicapped it is a disturbing call. Many societies bar such people from full citizenship.  Scrolls of the strict Jewish community that lived in Qumran in the desert about the time of Jesus were discovered in a cave in 1947, and they excluded the deformed, the lame, the blind and the deaf – even those with defective eyesight (which applies to me!) – from the banquet in the kingdom of heaven.

Margaret Thatcher used to bluntly ask the question, “is he one of us?” when she was told someone wanted to see her. We can smile but in one way or another we do the same. We like to be with people who are like us.

This is understandable but it doesn’t actually open us up to the prayer of Jesus “that they may all be one.” When the English first came to Ireland they built a wooden wall of posts (pales) around their settlement in Dublin, which became known as the Pale. So the Irish were “beyond” the Pale while they were “within” it. That was 700 years ago. The Israelis have done the same today. They want the Arabs to stay “beyond” them and our history in Southern Africa is riddled with similar feelings and actions. We have not yet learnt to accept each other and let the barriers down between us. We find it so hard to listen to the words of Jesus: “do not be afraid of people who are different. Invite them into your life and listen to what they have to say. Do not reject them because they do not share your views or they come from another place or have voted differently from you in the election.” Do not build walls. Do not put others “beyond the pale.”

When the Americans say “get real” they mean many things, but it  is an attractive expression. Ben Sira says, “the greater you are the more you should behave humbly … there is no cure for the proud man’s malady.” That is being real. To be humble is to be real, to have your feet on the ground. The poet Hopkins has a line, “generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
and all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
and wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.”

“Nor can foot feel, being shod.” Maybe when we started wearing shoes we lost touch with mother earth! At any rate it is an apt image of division creeping into society. We lose touch with reality when we close our doors to others.

1 September 2013                   Sunday 22 C

Eccl 3:17-20, 28-29                 Heb 12: 18-19,22-24               Luke 14 1, 7-14