THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Monday 1 September 2014

THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “In my speeches and sermons that I gave there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit.” (I Cor 2:1-5)

Reflection. If you look at the visible structure of the church with its thousands of bishops, each one representing a diocese with its churches, schools, hospitals, etc., it can be quite impressive, ‘powerful’ in fact. But we know that the ‘power’ of the church does not come from its institutions or numbers or brand name but from something within each person and the whole community. The Greek word is dynamos, a word I first came across as a youngster when it was explained to me that my bike didn’t need a battery for its light. It had a ‘dynamo’, a strange hidden force that was generated by my cycling the bike. Paul insists there is no ’philosophy’ or other force coming from outside that moves his hearers but the inner force that comes from the Spirit of God living in the believer; a force that becomes active when a Christian uses his/or her gifts, peddles their bike, in the course of their daily life.  .

Prayer. Lord Jesus, open our hearts to receive your Spirit and help us believe in the power of your Spirit to transform our lives and our world.. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

A fire burning

A fire burning

‘Passion’ is a word that bridges the two extremes of agony and ecstasy. We say someone has a passion for cooking, tennis or country music. They are drawn to these pursuits, which give them satisfaction and happiness. Further, we describe as ‘passionate’ feelings and expressions of love for another person. So it is a word that draws us out of ourselves towards something else or another person; hence the word ‘ecstasy.’

But the word also conveys the agony of mental or physical suffering in an intense way. This is its primary meaning and we all know people who have either gone through painful illness or watched another do so. We also witness the passion of a whole nation, as with Syria where a hundred thousand have died and more than a million are displaced. The suffering of woman and children is truly a passion.

So the word has these two seemingly opposite meaning but in fact we know the one implies the other. A tennis star has to go through a gruelling routine of training to accomplish her goal. A cook has to burn some cakes before he gets it right. And Jeremiah has to go through fire if he is to be true to his calling. He uses the words of a passionate relationship to describe his mission; ‘You have seduced me, Lord, and I have let myself be seduced.’

Yet his mission is painful, ‘I am a laughing stock and everybody’s butt. The word of the Lord has meant for me insult, derision all the day long. I used to say I will not speak in his name anymore.’ But then comes the passion to go on; ‘There seemed like a fire burning in my heart and the effort to restrain it wearied me.’ Such is the story of a man living on the edges of experience, living the agony and ecstasy of his mission.

Not so Peter, he wanted none of it. Jesus prepared his followers for his inevitable harrowing death. This was to be his passion, not only in the sense of his physical and mental suffering, but far more in the sense of his longing, born of love, to ‘break into the fortress of the evil one and steal his goods’(Lk.11:22). He longed to go through with this battle for our sake. But Peter thought it was madness and said so. He drew a spontaneous and devastating response from Jesus, ‘Get behind me Satan!’ You can feel the anger and intensity of the rebuke.

‘Passion’ is at the heart of what it is to be human. Every parent or teacher knows that the greatest gift they can give is to open up vistas for the young that they may discover where their passion lies and so through their agony come to their ecstasy.

31 August 2014                      Sunday 22 A

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

HE CHOSE WHAT IS WEAK

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Saturday 30 August 2014

HE CHOSE WHAT IS WEAK

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “God chose what is weak by human reckoning, those whom the world thinks common and contemptible.” (I Cor 1:26-31)

Reflection. Paul rejoices in the new church in Corinth which has grown so much since the time he first arrived there. He looks at them and is astonished. They are such ordinary people in a remote corner of the empire. And yet they have proved themselves more acceptable to God than the intellectuals of Athens or the powerful establishment of Rome.. And the roots of the church would be in these small communities among the poor of the cities of the Mediterranean. The gospel is welcomed by the poor and the weak. The community of Israel perceived this in the riddle of Judges 14:14 about the carcass of the lion in which the bees made their home. “Out of the strong came forth sweetness.” The strong one is dead but the humble bee is alive and producing nourishment and sweetness with its honey, Our small Christian communities today are called to be the sweetness of society and give relish and vitality to the world.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you said ‘blessed are the poor in spirit.’ Teach us to rejoice in your choice of the poor and the weak as those who welcome you. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

BRACE YOURSELF FOR ACTION

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Friday 29 August 2014, St John the Baptiser

BRACE YOURSELF FOR ACTION

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Brace yourself for action. Stand up and tell them all I command you … I will make you into a fortified city.” (Jer. 1:17-19)

Reflection. Today we remember the passion and death of John the Baptist with this reading from Jeremiah which continues, “They will fight against you and not overcome you for I am with you.” Herodias though she had overcome him, at last, when she managed to get Herod to behead him. Many of the prophets were ‘overcome’ just as Jesus too ended up crushed by the authorities of his day. So we are seeing here a central message from the scriptures - old and new – about persecution, oppression and injustice. True, they are rampant on the big screen of the news and the little screen of my own experience. But God is active in all these events as he was in the death of John. We Christian put crucifixes on our walls and round our necks. The cross remains the key to understanding our life, our struggle and our joy.

  

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to implant in our lives your words; ‘take up your cross daily and follow me.’ Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

I NEVER STOP THANKING GOD

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Thursday 28 August 2014, St Augustine

I NEVER STOP THANKING GOD

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ.” (I Cor 1:1-9)

Reflection. The largest body of material we have from Paul comes from his letters to the church in Corinth, a relatively obscure city in southern Greece. But the people he met in Corinth had given him a warm welcome and he was able to build a steady church among them. He is full of joy when he thinks of the reception they gave to the gospel and these words of greeting are an expression of his hopes for them. It is not difficult to transpose his message to other churches founded down the years and to our own church in Zimbabwe.  I write this from Masvingo where you could imagine the same words being addressed to the Christians here. In the midst of the present economic and social hardships, they are building their own beautiful new cathedral, mainly from their own resources.  They too ‘are called to take their place among the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ for he is their Lord no less than ours.’

  

Prayer. Lord Jesus, we thank you for all the work you are doing among your people everywhere and ask you to keep us focused and steady in our response to the gospel. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

DEAD MEN’S BONES

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Wednesday 27 August 2014, St Monica

DEAD MEN’S BONES

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones.” (Matt 23:27-32)

Reflection. For three days we have read Jesus’s fierce attack on the religious leaders. They are spoiling his whole mission to bring the fullness of the message of God to his chosen people and through them to the whole world. He is furious and shows it. This confrontation will build up to the climax when they round on him and physically do away with him. It is a skirmish that manifest the larger battle that has been there from the beginning between the enemy of our human nature and God himself. It is a battle that is being waged today in our world and in each of us individually. We experience ourselves as divided: wanting to do the good but finding so often we do the oppositel. The force of Jesus’ attack ends with a flourish: ‘You are the sons of those who murdered the prophets! Very well then, finish off the work that your fathers began!’ What a challenge! He foretells his own death but it doesn’t puncture the hearts of stone that he is up against.

   

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you long for us to turn to you and yet we see so much hardness of heart in our world. Soften us with the dew of your Spirit that we may welcome your gentle presence. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

WEIGHTY MATTERS

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Tuesday 26 August 2014

WEIGHTY MATTERS

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithes of mint and dill and cummin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law – justice, mercy, good faith.” (Matt 23:23-26)

Reflection. Jesus continues his fearless criticism of the religious leaders who concentrate on the formal practices of the law and ignore the spirit of that same law. They buttress their position as leaders by constantly insisting on easy matters they can control and leave to one side the basic issues of society concerning justice and compassion. This is clear enough looking back to Jesus’ time and we say, ‘How right he was!’ But what of our own daily experience where the temptation to preserve the appearances in our religion or in our state  while neglecting the essentials of social justice and mercy? There are areas where authorities can exert their power in trivial things, which harass and frustrate people, while those same authorities avoid the weightier matters that can get society moving.  

      

Prayer. Jesus, our Creator and Lord, you came to bring fire on the earth and became intensely angry with those who blocked the paths of justice and showed no compassion. Help us to seek ways to promote justice and compassion today. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Monday 25 August 2014, St Louis of France

ALL YOUR DESIRES

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “We pray continually that our God will, by his power, fulfil all your desires for goodness and complete all that you have been doing through faith.” (2 Thess 1:1…12)

Reflection. The letters to the Thessalonians are the first writings we have in what we know as the New Testament. Their oxygen is optimism. They breathe hope. Our quotation is typical. At the heart of all human striving is desire. It is a force and an energy that moves us in our work, our loves and in the deepest part of our heart. Desire is that human quality that drives us forward and ultimately it is satisfied in the One who gave it to us in the first place. Our task is to continually purify our desires so that there is less and less of self – pangu, pangu – and more and more seeking the Other. In loving my wife or my husband I am loving them in God and God in them. And so it is with all people and in all my activities. I find God everywhere and in evreything. Many will not explain desire in this way but  whether acknowledged or not it is the fire of creativity that is the source and goal of all.  

      

Prayer. Jesus, our Creator and Lord, you plant in our hearts the desire to succeed in all we do and to love our spouse, our family members and our friends. Open our hearts to the whole world so that we may love and desire as you do. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

The centre cannot hold

The centre cannot hold

What is deeply distressing about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is not that it is so contagious or that there is no known cure or that there is no vaccine. These are bad enough. But what really turns the stomach is the way the families of the victims do not understand. Health workers coming from outside labour to contain the disease and treat those affected, often risking being infected themselves. But these health workers have discovered that they have another task: to educate people about what a contagious disease is. There was a report this week of families of victims in Liberia literally storming a clinic and removing seventeen patients, who were their relatives, and taking them home. Imagine the consequences of that!

Now the Liberian government has to use soldiers to guard the clinics from relatives of patients. So there is an accumulation of pain and frustration on all sides brought about by incomprehension on the part of families as to what is going on, and on the part of health workers with the obstruction of their efforts. How they must be suffering! The lines of Yeats’ much quoted poem come to mind: ‘Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.’

On a moonless night how do we find our way through the forest? I was thinking about the Ebola crisis and feeling so bad about the pain of the families. And it occurred to me that we all need points of reference to give us meaning and confidence.

It is a completely different subject with only the most tenuous connection but I wonder if Jesus’ talk about Peter as the rock was a way of saying, ‘I am giving you (his disciples) some sure ground, some point of reference, on which to build your following of me.’ He introduces this image of solidity to ground their faith in a living visible community, the church, which – with all its faults – is the rock solid custodian of the treasure which is the kingdom, or the rule, of God. This church, or community, is where the Lord himself will dwell giving it absolute assurance for ever. If we believe that God became human in Jesus it is not difficult to go one step further and believe that he lives in the community of which Jesus is the head.

There is a reading in Isaiah (22:23) which accompanies the reading about the rock. It talks not about a rock but a solid peg. The Lord chooses Eliakim as master of the palace and ‘drives him like a peg into a firm place.’ It seems that God’s desire that we build our relationship on him on solid ground has a long history. Let is hope and pray that those suffering from Ebola may also find solid ground on which to build their hope both in medicine and in the Spirit.

24 August 2014                      Sunday 21 A

Is 22:15 ... 23                          Rom 11:33-36                         Matt 16:13-20

BLESSED AMONG WOMEN

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Friday 22 August 2014, Mary Queen

BLESSED AMONG WOMEN

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” (Luke 1:39-47)

Reflection. Eight days after the celebration of Mary’s Assumption the Church wants to draw attention to her beauty and power in the only way our ancestors in the faith knew; to refer to her as ‘Queen.’ A queen was the closest person to the king who was either her husband or her son. This title for Mary evokes the memory of Esther in the Old Testament who saved her people from destruction and the church has always turned to Mary in times of trial as a powerful intercessor. However we need to be cautious in using words like ‘queen’ and ‘power’ and remember that we are talking in analogies and similes. Mary is not distant from us as queens and powerful people are. She is intimately close to us and longs to make her Son better known to us. Generations have turned to her in prayer and especially in the rosary as a simple accessible way of asking her help.

      

Prayer. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

A WEDDING GARMENT

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Thursday 21 August 2014

A WEDDING GARMENT

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” (Matt 22:1-14)

Reflection. This is the story of the wedding feast to which “those who had been invited” would not come. The king sends his servants to confirm the invitation but they still refused making all sorts of excuses and even beating up the servants. Finally the king invites anyone at the crossroads or in Mbare musika. They come but one of them is not wearing a wedding garment and gets thrown out “into the dark.” What are we to make of the story? The feast is not only a future event; it is also now. We quickly think of the Jews as “those who were invited” and refused to come. Jesus may have meant them but he may also have meant all those who are invited through their baptism but neglect to follow up or even turn hostile. Those at the crossroads could be those who really don’t fit into the category of “church people” but their lives show they have all the right values and so they are welcomed. But there is this one guy who has no garment. Who is he?  

      

Prayer. Lord, fill us with longing to “share in the feast” in your kingdom. Help us to hear your gentle invitation each day..  Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

WHY BE ENVIOUS BECAUSE I AM GENEROUS?

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Wednesday 20 August 2014, St Bernard (1090-1153)

WHY BE ENVIOUS BECAUSE I AM GENEROUS?

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Have  I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?” (Matt 20:1-16)

Reflection. This is the parable of those who came at the “eleventh hour.” They received the same wages as those who had done “a heavy day’s work in all the heat.” It is a story of God’s freedom. He springs surprises. “It is precisely the parts that seem the weakest that are the indispensable ones” (2 Cor 12:22). It was a little captured Jewish slave girl who started the train of events that led to the cure of Naaman, the Syrian with leprosy (2 Kgs 5:14). God exercises a beautiful freedom in calling the weak, the handicapped, the poor, the late, the foreigners and “them” to witness to the powerful, the chosen, the qualified, those with status and “us”. It is a parable that foretells the fruitful mission to the Gentiles and it is also a parable that calls us to notice the signs of the God’s coming today in the most seemingly unlikely places.  .      

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to be alert to your presence in the people and events of our day. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear.  Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

WHAT ABOUT US?

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Tuesday 19 August 2014

WHAT ABOUT US?/

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “What about us? We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have?.” (Matt 19:23-30)

Reflection. What do we get out of it? What a normal question! Something that would arise in anyone’s mind. Jesus knows that and humours them by telling the disciples they will be well repaid. But it does not show the disciples up in a good light. When it comes to truth we are not to look for reward. When you read about writers and artists generally you find their passion is to write truthfully or to paint the truth as they see it. Even if no one sees it or understands. How many artists died in poverty and were recognised only after their death? Vincent van Gogh died in “sadness and loneliness” but now his paintings of sunflowers sell for millions. To work – or do anything – simply because of the pay is inadequate although many do just that. Surely our struggles should be for what is right and truthful and the good of others whether we get paid or not. A person has to live and care for their family. But somehow reward should not be the main motive.

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to seek for no reward except that of knowing we seek the truth..  Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

A MAN OF GREAT WEALTH

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Monday 18 August 2014

A MAN OF GREAT WEALTH

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “When the young man heard these words he went away sad for he was a man of great wealth.” (Matt 19:16-22)

Reflection. We were no sooner in the novitiate when the novice director rolled out this passage by way of helping us understand what we had chosen. A young man wanted to be a follower of Jesus but he just could not give up his wealth. Few of us had anything resembling wealth so it all sounded a bit unreal. Yet two things can be said. The passage applies to anyone who wants to follow Jesus - not just priests and religious. And also there are types of “wealth” which have nothing to do with money. I can construct a world for myself which has “walls” and “security guards.” I can develop ways of managing my life which do not threaten my comfort and sense of order. In a word, I can design a life for myself where I am in charge. What Jesus asks is that I do not hold on to my security in the sense that I do not turn away from the challenges that come to disturb my life and threaten to break down the walls I have built. I allow myself to answer unwelcome knocks on the door of my heart.  

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to open our hearts  and “give away” all that hinders us from hearing what your are saying to us each day.  Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

Why are we here?

Why are we here?

It was tea break and Samantha, a mentally handicapped teenager at the community workshop asked, “Why are we here?” One of the assistants answered her, “To make crafts for sale so as to raise some income for the house.” But Samantha wasn’t satisfied. “I know that. But why are we here?” The assistant, beginning to be irritated said, “Well, you’re a funny one. Anyone for more tea?”

It is strange that we evade questions about the purpose of life. For many, life itself is such a struggle there is no time or energy to think beyond the immediate. We get caught up in the flow and just hope things will work out. “The future will look after itself.” I know someone quite well who is highly intelligent. He says he is an atheist and – if I understand him correctly – all human effort contributes to the common good of all people and gradually builds a just and prosperous world society.

Many today would go along with that and just get on with life as it presents itself but a Christian would call such a view impoverished. It is true we are working for a better world but it is also a world in which each individual finds fulfilment both here and hereafter. There is a dimension to human life that cannot be fully satisfied in this life because our capacity is limited while our desire is without boundaries. Death is an entrance into a new way of living where my desires can be finally and fully realised.

Paul knew this. It was the implication of the incarnation of the Son of God who became flesh in Jesus to push the boundaries of human life to their limit. Having reached that limit he died. But his death then opened that door to the new life where there would be no limits. “He has let us know the mystery of his purpose, according to his good pleasure which he determined beforehand in Christ, for him to act upon when the times had run their course: that he would bring everything together under Christ as head” (Eph 1:9-10). The Greek word means ‘recapitulation’: everything will be fulfilled in Christ. In him personally, first of all, and then in every person who ‘cleaves’ to him.

This week-end we remember the one dear to his heart, his own mother, Mary. The Church honours her and ascribes to her this fulfilment in body and spirit. The Church in the East and the West have long held that she “was taken up” (assumed) wholly into heaven at her death. Among the earliest beliefs of the Church was the ‘resurrection of the body’ – something that people have tried to explain ever since. But though we cannot get our mind around it it is an expression of fulfilment. And it has always been held to be fitting that this state was enjoyed by Mary.

This means that the answer to Samantha’s question takes us into our future where all our longings will be fulfilled and our hearts will be finally at rest.         

17 August 2014                      The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Rev 11:19, 12:1-1`0                                1 Cor 15:20-26                        Lk 1:39-56 

TO JUDGE EACH OF YOU

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Saturday 16 August 2014

TO JUDGE EACH OF YOU

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “In future I mean to judge each of you by what he does.” (Ezek. 18: 1 … 32)

Reflection. The Old Testament reached a high point in this passage from Ezekiel where God says he is now going to hold each person responsible for his or her actions. Up till then one could hide behind the group or the tribe or even “the whole House of Israel.” But no longer! The point has come in the evolution of the people, a point of growth, where each one is held accountable. It is not hard for us to apply this to our experience. I have often noticed how people say “we”. “We haven’t been told.”  “We don’t know what is happening.” “We will just wait and see.” “This is the way everyone does it.” These sentiments are understandable but they indicate a basic avoidance of personal responsibility. I hope Germans will pardon me for speaking of them. They used to be known as an obedient people, always ready to follow a strong leader. Well, that no longer applies. The trauma of unquestioning obedience landed them in two catastrophes in the twentieth century and they are now intently conscious of personal responsibility.      

      

Prayer. Lord, help us to grow in responsibility pofr our own lives and for those of others. Help us to engage in the issues that we face. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

TO WHOM IT IS GRANTED

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Friday 15 August 2014

TO WHOM IT IS GRANTED

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted.” (Matt 19:3-12)

Reflection. The Catholic Church is often seen as having lots of rules. But rules are there to support the spirit of a person. Our passage from Matthew today speaks of marriage – “he made them male and female” – and the Pharisees wanting to trap Jesus in a discussion about rules. Jesus proposes the ideal, which “not everyone can accept,” as that to which everyone is called – married or (by implication) celibate.- as God’s plan “from the beginning.” The church’s rules should be seen in the context of this ideal. They are there not to torture people but to support those who try to live the ideal. Currently, under Pope Francis’ leadership, the church is searching for ways of making the compassion of God more manifest in the daily life of Christians who find many of the rules out of harmony with what they find within their hearts. There is a meeting in Rome in October on this very subject.     

      

Prayer. Lord, help us to strive for the ideal in our married or celibate life. Help your church to proclaim both the ideal and the mercy of the gospel. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

WERE YOU NOT BOUND?

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Thursday 14 August 2014

WERE YOU NOT BOUND?

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” (Matt 18:21-19:1)

Reflection. “It is harder for a camel to pass though the eye of a needle…” Jesus had dramatic imagery when he wanted to make a point. In today’s reading he is saying it is so hard for people to think of others, to imagine what it is like for others. They may receive great benefits but when they have the opportunity they refuse to share those benefits with others. Far away we can think, for example, of the Israelis who were persecuted for centuries and suffered genocide . But when they eventually got their own country they started to persecute the very people who were living there. And even within our own borders people were oppressed for eighty years. But when the country became free they started to oppress their fellow citizens who had been victims with them of oppression. Why is it we cannot see? When will we change our way of thinking? We look at others; ‘why don’t they change?’ But I know that either change begins with mysel or it does not begin at all.

      

Prayer. Lord, help us to see things as you see them. Teach us to be compassionate as you are compassionate. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

GO AND HAVE IT OUT

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Wednesday 13 August 2014

GO AND HAVE IT OUT

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “If your brother or sister does something wrong, go and have it out with them alone, between your two selves.” (Matt 18:15-20)

Reflection. How often we hear the words, ‘I just kept quiet.’ We have great difficulty in speaking about a problem to the person concerned. We fear for our relationship with that person or for our job. Yet we know that unresolved issues boil beneath the surface and burst into the open. Take South Sudan, for example. But we do not have to go to such enormous tragic events. Unresolved conflicts fester in our families, communities and our nation. In today’s gospel reading Jesus almost implores us to take the courage to settle our differences before they get out of hand. Ezekiel, in the first reading (Ch. 9) describes the horror of unresolved issues but even in the lifetime of many of us such things happened. “Children were torn away from their parents’ hands by the force of the hurricane and whirled into the fire.” This is not referring to some natural disaster but to a bombing raid by the British on Hamburg in 1943.

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, give us the courage to settle our differences with other people “before the sun sets.” Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Tuesday 12 August 2014

LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:1-14)

Reflection. There was a time when children were routinely given the name ‘Innocent’. Around a dozen popes took the name. But perhaps there is a slight embarrassment about the name today. Who, after all, is innocent? But it is a name that perhaps captures Jesus’ meaning. There is an age when children are most delightful. They are full of wonder and interest and ask endless questions. They have not learnt to hate or to bully. They are somehow poised in a balance before making choices. Soon the world, with all its nastiness, impinges on the child and he or she decides ‘this one is a friend, that one an enemy.’ And we can carry these dawning sentiments into adulthood with terrible consequences for ourselves and others. Jesus is appealing to us to take up that wonder and openness of childhood. We are called to break with the ‘survival mechanisms’ of making quick judgements about people and events and approach everyone and everything with an open mind and an open heart.  

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us the wonder and openness of children. Help us to welcome people and events with attention and hope. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

A GREAT SADNESS

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Monday 11 August 2014

A GREAT SADNESS

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: Jesus said to them, “the Son of Man will be handed over … put to death ... and on the third day rise again.“ And a great sadness came over the. (Matt 17:22-27)

Reflection. The Vatican Council, in one of its documents, asks, “What is this great sorrow” that people feel? There is a context to life in which we become aware of impermanence, a sense that everything we do is provisional. It may work. It may last. But we cannot be sure. The Council goes on to proclaim what the Church sees as permanent and unchanging; that is, God’s love for his people and his desire that they respond to the relationship he offers and so fulfil the purpose of their existence. So in the midst of his mission, when the disciples are getting used to being with him and are enjoying the “status” of being close associates of the famous prophet, Jesus suddenly reminds them of the reality. This adulation, this frenetic activity, will not last. People will grow tired and drift away. The authorities will find a way of getting rid of this troublesome fellow who is disturbing us. No wonder “a great sadness came over them”

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, deepen within us a sense of the beauty of life and of our world and at the same time a sense that it will all pass and it is only the threshold of something far more wonderful that we can only glimpse.  Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

Acorns

Acorns

It is an extraordinary juxtaposition to put Elijah finding God “not in the wind”  but in a “gentle breeze” (1 Kings 19:9) next to Jesus walking on the lake towards the disciples “in a headwind” (Matt 14:22). Do we find God in gentleness and silence or in the roar of a mighty wind? The simple answer is: both.

Faced with persecution in their own country at the end of the seventeenth century, French Protestants sailed to join the Dutch, who shared their Reformed religion, in the Cape of Good Hope. Thinking ahead they brought with them vines together with acorns from which to grow oak trees needed for the wine barrels. So majestic were the oaks grown in Franschhoek (French Corner) at the Cape that acorns were brought back to France in the 1920s to adorn the South African memorial to the dead of World War I at Delville Wood.

It is, perhaps, a parable of mutual enrichment and the fruit that can come both from violence and gentleness. Teilhard de Chardin said that there is no reality that is only profane for those who know how to look. There is nothing that is outside the realm of the sacred, whether life itself or all the doings of men and women.

In the depths of the agony of the people of Gaza, recorded day after day on our screens (a blessing on them!), we see Gethsemane once more. Israel sees only the iniquity of its opponents. It fails to see that it has driven a people to the brink of despair. Israel has been dealing with God for four thousand years. How come they have not learnt of his compassion, of his “suffering-with” his people? The Jewish people themselves have suffered so much. How is it they can then bomb to smithereens a people who are weak and almost defenceless? “My sorrow is so great,” Paul told the Romans, “my mental anguish so endless, I would willingly be condemned and cut off from Christ if it could help my brothers of Israel.”

Homo sapiens, we are told, has been around for 200,000 years but only moved out of Africa 50,000 years ago. Africa’s gift to the world was people, who migrated and spread over the whole planet. Some of these people, many millennia later, returned to Africa to enslave and colonise.

Our world is full of contradiction, mighty winds and gentle breezes. It is our task “to look”, as Teilhard says, and see what is going on and what we can do where we are to make acorns into oak trees.

10 August 2014                      Sunday 19 A

1 Kings 19:9-13                      Romans 9:1-5              Matt 14:22-33

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LITTLE FAITH

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Saturday 9 August 2014

LITTLE FAITH

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Why were we unable …?”  “Because you have little faith …” (Matt17:14-20)

Reflection. The little word ‘faith’ slips off our tongues easily and, if we are not careful, we pay little attention to it. What is faith? What is my answer to that question? We live in an optimistic time when people seek answers to the questions of life in science and techniques and that is surely good. Yet the word ‘faith’ represents the human desire to go beyond science to something deep in our being; our stretching out to what is beyond our reach. I like the word ‘beyond’. ‘Beyond the horizon’ means we are not there yet. In the early days of Zimbabwe’s independence we used it a lot; ‘Pamberi!’ It is a slogan that contains a way of seeing faith. We do not hear it much these days because people are tired of slogans. But we cannot grow tired of faith. It is that astonishing quality of life that makes us truly human. It is that aspect of our being that is the key to our sharing in the divine. It expresses what we have and what we do not yet have – at the same time. It is our crown and glory/

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, deepen our desire to live by faith, to reach out to you beyond the daily tasks and hopes we have. “You excite us, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” (St Augustine)..  Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

RENOUNCE YOURSELF

PRAYER MOMENT   Note. I will be away from today for four weeks and am not sure if I will have internet where I am going.                             

Friday 8 August 2014,  St Dominic

RENOUNCE YOURSELF

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him or her renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt 16:24-28)

Reflection. Paul describes love in 1 Cor 13 as patience and in Gal 5 he adds self-control. Tough neighbourhoods produce tough people and tough language. And the flow of words between people who are struggling to survive can be quite harsh and  hurtful. A spiral of violent words can lead to a spiral of physical violence and a person can die for the sake of five dollars quarrelled over. Self-control is not easy. It is that ability to be in charge of my emotions and my words so that I do not speak in a way that makes matters worse. We often hear the words of Jesus about carrying our cross but – if it is to be anything more than a religious slogan quickly forgotten – we need to let it sink into our consciousness and live his words each day in small encounters as well as big.  

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us self-control in all our dealings with one another so that what we do or say may build up rather than pull down other people.  Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

DEEP WITHIN THEM

PRAYER MOMENT                                  

Thursday 7 August 2014,   Today, 200 years ago, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) was restored by Pope Pius VII after having been suppressed by Pope Clement XIV forty years earlier.

DEEP WITHIN THEM

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

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

Reflection. This text from Jeremiah can be seen as one of the high points in the Old Testament. It expresses the relationship God wants to have with each person, allowing each one to respond to him as, for instance, Peter did (in today’s gospel, Matt 16:13-23) where he recognises Jesus as he really is, “the Son of the living God.” It is thrilling what Rosetta is discovering about a comet millions of miles away in space. It is even more thrilling to know the One who is the origin and maker of space. But there is a shadow side. No sooner has Peter expressed his belief in who Jesus is than he falls into seeing Jesus’ future in his, Peter’s, terms, prompting one of the most severe rebukes in the gospels: “Get behind me, Satan. You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.”  

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you invite us to know you, the source of life, and you long to fill us with your life. But we stagger about drawn this way and that. Give us steadiness of purpose and love for what you propose. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

IT IS WONDERFUL TO BE HERE

PRAYER MOMENT                                  

Wednesday 6 August 2014, The Transfiguration  

IT IS WONDERFUL TO BE HERE

Pause. Be there on the mountain.

Reading: Peter said to Jesus, “It is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (Matt17:1-9)

Reflection. It is an awkward word but the “transfiguration”, kept on 6 August forty days before the Triumph of the Cross (Sept 14), is a moment when Jesus removes the veil for a moment and reveals something of who he is to three chosen disciples. Ignatius of Loyola would call this “consolation” – a moment when a person is flooded with a joyful sense of the divine presence. I feel sure we have all had such moments, even if for an instant. The trouble is it did not prevent those three disciples running away at the passion and leaving Jesus alone and, we have to add, Peter even denied he ever knew him. So there is something in our make-up by which we quickly forget the inspirations and gifts we receive from God and we slip back into something more comfortable and less threatening.

      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you showed yourself to the disciples for a moment in a glorious way. Help us to cleave to you even when we do not feel your presence. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

WHO WOULD RISK THEIR LIFE?

PRAYER MOMENT                                  

Tuesday 5 August 2014, St Mary Major  

WHO WOULD RISK THEIR LIFE?

Pause. Be still in the presence of God.

Reading: “I will let him come freely into my presence and he can come close to me; who else, indeed, would risk his life by coming close to me? – it is the Lord who speaks, and you shall be my people and I will be your God.”  (Jer 30:18-22)

Reflection. In Matthew’s gospel for today (14:22-36) we see those who were “close to him” terrified and Jesus calling out to them, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” The reading from Jeremiah had long ago warned that ‘coming close’ to God was a risky business. He himself had complained about the cost and wanted to resign. But he found a fire burning within when he thought of running away. Somewhere there is a text which says, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’ To take risks – any risk – is scary. And yet we know that life is experienced in its fullest when there are risks. People sail the seas in small boats or climb the highest mountains. They take huge risks with their lives – just for the sake of stretching themselves to the limit. So why should it be different with God. Also, today, we celebrate the moment when the Church, in Ephesus, in 431, found herself declaring her faith that Mary could be called ‘Mother of God’ since she is the Mother of Jesus.

   

Prayer. Lord Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, may we risk to give ourselves fully to your mission in our daily lives. Amen

David Harold-Barry SJ

GIVE THEM SOMETHING

PRAYER MOMENT                                  

Monday 4 August 2014, St John Vianney  

GIVE THEM SOMETHING

Pause. Be still in the presence of God.

Reading: “There is no need for them to go; give them something to eat yourselves.” (Matt 14:13-21)

Reflection. We read Sunday’s gospel again and ponder further the sign that Jesus gave. A sign is different from an explanation which describes an event fully, like, “Jesus boiled some water and had a cup of tea.” That is clear enough. But “Jesus raised his eyes to heaven, said the blessing, broke the bread and hand it to the disciples who distributed it,” is far more than an explanation. It points way beyond the simple action of taking bread and giving it out. It has layers of meaning that is only revealed by taking time in reflection and owning the words. It opens out to the Eucharist, the sharing in Jesus’ own life, death and resurrection. And it opens out into the “messianic banquet” which is our poor way of talking about life with God forever. Today also we remember John Vianney who struggled to get through the studies to become a priest and spent 40 years in a poor parish in France sometimes spending 14 hours a day hearing confessions.  

Prayer. Lord Jesus, help us to cherish the words  and actions you left with us in our scriptures. Help us to ponder and draw out the treasures hidden there. Amen..

David Harold-Barry SJ