JESUS RESOLUTELY TOOK THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Tuesday 30 September 2014.

JESUS RESOLUTELY TOOK THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road to Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him’” (Luke 9:51-56)

Reflection. I always find this a striking sentence in the middle of Luke’s gospel. Suddenly the shadow of Jerusalem and all that would happen to Jesus there looms up. You become aware that Jesus knew all along that he had to “go to Jerusalem.” His disciples accompany him “in a daze” (Mark 10:32). They have no idea what was happening. But Jesus knew. He knew that he had to confront “the powers.” These powers were first of all the Jewish leaders and the Romans; but at a deeper level it was the powers of darkness. He would confront them and they would do everything to destroy him. But they would fail. And he would triumph. And his triumph would be our triumph. But only if we too “resolutely set our face” towards the challenges of our time. It calls for an act of will, a decision, on our part but it also calls for using our minds to work out what is our Jerusalem, the challenge we face. We cannot be vague about it if are to engage with it.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, help me to know not just the challenges I face but also the ways in which I can engage with them and so, with your grace, triumph over them. Amen..  

David Harold-Barry SJ

AN ANGEL OF THE LORD

PRAYER MOMENT                       

Monday 29 September 2014, Archangels Michael, Gabriel & Raphael.

AN ANGEL OF THE LORD

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “An angel of the Lord stoodover them and the glory of the Lord shone rpound them …, ‘I bring you news of great joy’” (Luke 2:8-14)

Reflection. I suspect most of us are uncomfortable speaking about angels. We prefer talking of things we have some experience of. Even the Scriptures speak of angels only when they want to underline the intervention of God in our world. So we have Gabriel at the annunciation to Mary and the angel announcing the news of Jesus’ birth to the humble shepherds. At the Resurrection too angels appear to reinforce the message. These are images, often captured in art, which symbolise the constant action of God in our lives. He is for ever ‘giving us good news’ and encouraging us if we have eyes to see. On the other hand there are also evil spirits trying to do the exact opposite: to discourage, induce sadness, weariness, boredom and lead us to give up our faith and follow other paths. There is a passage in Revelations (12:7-12) which speaks of the great battle in heaven between Michael and Satan. The battle continues – a luta continua - in our own hearts and in the world.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, help us to be aware of the how your good spirit leads and encourages us and how the evil spirit is for ever harassing us. May we follow the one and resist the other. Amen..  

David Harold-Barry SJ

Are we getting nowhere with climate change?

Are we getting nowhere with climate change?

There is a simple image that Jesus gave of a farmer who had two sons. He asked them to go and work in the fields. One said he would go but did not go. The other said he would not go but thought better of it and went. Which did the right thing?

A huge conference has taken place in New York on climate change. Fine speeches were made but at the end of the day what came out of it? Are we anywhere further along the road of serious action to halt ‘global warming,’ a harmless sounding phrase but one that conveys devastating consequences for our children? Each world conference on this subject has baulked at taking the painful action needed to stop the dangerous warming of our planet. Like the son in the gospel they say they will do something but they don’t do it.

But it seems the other son also comes into the picture.  A well placed commentator has said real action is taking place at the local level. Countries are not prepared to commit themselves on a grand scale but they are doing something at their own level:

“Leaders from the United States to China [have] moved forward [over the past five years] with domestic climate policies despite the absence of a solid international foundation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, announced regulations aimed at coal-fired power plants earlier this year despite no international agreement requiring that it do so.” (Michael Levi, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations).

Levi goes on to explain the many reasons why governments quietly get on with their own programmes while at the same time watching what others are doing. They do not want to be the only ones making an effort. Domestic politics in China, for instance, is pushing the authorities to take action.

“Suffocating pollution is wrecking public health, hurting productivity, and boosting the risk of social unrest. Chinese leaders have responded with a plan that includes a gradual shift toward natural gas and renewable energy and away from coal. A happy by-product of this set of policies is reduced greenhouse gas emissions.”

So there is some good news. If at the global level a consensus to act is painfully slow in emerging, at the local level it is becoming clear that governments must act. Doing the rational thing benefits everyone. Moral behaviour is rational. Sometimes it is hard to act morally. But if it is seen to be also rational, it helps. It does not solve everything because people still like to behave immorally and irrationally. But it is good when examples occur where people “think better of it.”   

28 September 2014                 Sunday 26 A

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

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING UNDER HEAVEN

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Friday 26 September 2014, SS Cosmas and Damian.

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING UNDER HEAVEN

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven” (Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) 3:1-11)

Reflection. This is a famous passage often used in literature and journalism; ‘a time for planting and a time for uprooting … a time for throwing stones away and a time for gathering them up … a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking … a time for war and time for peace.’ It is a description of human emotions and activities and the wisdom comes in knowing when to ‘throw stones away’ and when to ‘gather them up.’ There is a time for action and a time for keeping quiet. So courage and restraint are both needed. But the weariness of the writer comes out as his underlying question is, ‘what is it all about?’ ‘Why do we have to follow these wearisome alternatives? We have an insight into a changing Jewish world, unsatisfied with answers its heritage seemed to give and longing for something more. For the Christian that ‘something more’ was about to be revealed.

 .

Prayer. Lord Jesus, help us not to grow weary with the ups and downs of life but to keep our eyes fastened on your drawing us to yourself which is the beginning and end of all.  Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

ALL IS VANITY

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Thursday 25 September 2014.

ALL IS VANITY

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “All is vanity! For all his toil under the sun, what does man gain from it?” (Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) 1:2-11)

Reflection. This cry of weariness describes what we feel sometimes! What’s the point of it all? It can become a serious condition leading to drugs and other ‘escapes’ and, saddest of all, it can lead to suicide. In spiritual terms we call it desolation, an experience when God seems absent and we feel empty and down. Nothing has a taste anymore; prayer, the Eucharist, all seem beyond me. Perhaps it is a puzzle why this book found its way into the bible! True, the passage above is not the whole message of the book and there are brighter spots. But perhaps too the writer is deliberately making things sound gloomy so as to set himself up to bounce back. This is not the whole reality. God is at work. There is a meaning to our lives. It may be obscured at times but it is there. It is real.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to live in trust even when we feel down and discouraged. You sometimes withdraw to help us gain greater knowledge of ourselves  Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Wednesday 24 September 2014.

NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Give me neither poverty nor riches, grant me only my share of bread to eat, for fear that surrounded by plenty I should fall away and say, “The Lord - who is the Lord?” or else, in destitution, take to stealing.” (Proverbs 30:5-9)

Reflection. Perhaps we should say Zimbabwe is a good place to live! Though there is great wealth and great poverty it is a country where many experience neither wealth nor poverty. They live a precarious life in between. The writer of the Book of Proverbs knew well in his time what we know today: wealth and power can dull the spirit and leave one saying, ‘The Lord – who is the Lord?’ We turn to the Lord in times of trial and difficulty as we do to a doctor. But otherwise we leave him alone. We don’t need him. And, conversely, poverty and powerlessness can make a person desperate and irresponsible. He will quieten his conscience in an effort to survive. The precarious life on the other hand, where you do not know where you will be this coming Christmas, prompts one to a deeper sense of trust. “Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread” (Luke 9:1-6). We should at least listen to the message behind these words of Jesus even if we do travel with our suitcase packed.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to live in balance; wanting neither too much or too little. Help us to be content and ever attentive to your word. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Tuesday 23 September 2014.

MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

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

Reflection. The abrupt reaction of Jesus to the news that his relatives had come to see him  startles us. He does not drop everything because his relations have come. In fact he seems to view their coming as a distraction. It can be hard for us to grasp the urgency with which Jesus spoke and acted. He wanted people to grasp the imminent coming of God’s kingdom. He wanted then to understand it and live it. He wanted them to know that it meant a break with their former lives and family with all its ties could be a way of drawing them away from the values of the kingdom. Can we understand what that means for us? Obviously he is not rejecting his mother and brothers. He wants to put first things first. The kingdom and its demands and promises must invade family life and transform it. Otherwise what is the point of his mission? As we approach the meeting in Rome next month on the family we hope and pray it will help us come closer to these things.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you long to see us live by the will of the Father. Give us a taste of your urgency that our world may be transformed. Amen  

David Harold-Barry SJ

TAKE CARE HOW YOUR HEAR

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Monday 22 September 2014.

TAKE CARE HOW YOUR HEAR

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Take care how you hear; for anyone who has will be given more; from anyone who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away.” (Luke 8:16-18)

Reflection. ‘Anyone who has will be given more.’ It sounds unfair, as unfair as giving someone who comes at the eleventh hour the same wage as one who worked all day in the heat. Jesus often uses these paradoxes. He says unexpected things. He wants to disturb us like a good teacher who comes out with provocative remarks in his class. He wants people to think. ‘Take care how you hear.’ As we move towards the end of the year we will have more of these ‘stay awake’ parables and sayings. It is so easy for us to drift, to cruise, to live on ‘automatic’ in our ‘comfort zone.’ The gospels are full of the unexpected. The important thing is not to become used to the gospel. To read it always afresh. ‘Take care how you hear!’ It all comes down to what we want. What are we looking for? . The Christian journey is a journey inwards, into our own depths to discover our deepest longings.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, do not allow me to drift along, unreflective, unaware, just reacting to events as they come. Teach me to be alert and attentive, ever seeking. Amen  

David Harold-Barry SJ

Rosetta and the hazelnut

Rosetta and the hazelnut

For four centuries science and religion have wrestled with one another. Galileo’s claim that the earth went round the sun was declared contrary to scripture in 1615. His condemnation has remained axiomatic in a war where the church felt faith was threatened by the ‘new learning’ while the advocates of science saw church authorities as obscurantist and hostile to enlightened thinking. It was not simply an intellectual debate but had political implications which came to divide people broadly into traditional and progressive camps.

The heat has gone out of this struggle as believers no longer feel threatened by science. In fact, they feel energised by each new discovery. And the scientific community is far less confident today in the claims of its forerunners that science can answer all the questions of life. As they probe deeper into the workings of the brain and the depths of the universe they have become more humble in their claims and more open to what the church has long called ‘mystery.’

Such thoughts come as we ponder in amazement the ten year six billion kilometre voyage of the Rosetta space probe to comet 67P, Rosetta carries a craft that will land on the comet in a few weeks and, it is hoped, will provide hard information about the universe and our own planet. The tough and exciting work of science continues. We long to explore and understand. But our discoveries, we now realise, don’t have to ‘fit’ with what the bible says historically, geographically or scientifically. The bible reveals the covenant of God with his people. It cannot be relied on for much else.

Julian of Norwich (England) was a fourteenth century hermit, possibly Jewish, possible physically disabled. In 1373 she received a series of ‘Showings of Love’ from God which she reflected on and wrote down. Early in her account she describes being shown ‘a little thing the quantity of a hazelnut in the palm of my hand. I thought, “What may this be?” And it was generally answered, “It is all that is made.” I marvelled how it might last for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nought for littleness. And I was answered … “It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it.”’ 

If Julian were alive today she would be thrilled by the Rosetta probe. But equally I suspect there are renowned scientists who would read her text with excitement. We live in a wonderful age where we can hold these two approaches to ‘all that is made’ together rejoicing in both the knowledge and the mystery. There are passages in Scripture which describe the contrast between human thought and God’s thoughts (Is 55:8). The parable of the men who came to work at the eleventh hour (Matt 20:1-16), and received the same payment as those who had sweated all day, is another instance. We are invited to raise our awareness to enjoy the bigger picture.

21 September 2014                 Sunday 25 A

Isaiah 55:6-9                           Philippians 1:20-24,27                        Matthew 20:1-16

STUPID QUESTIONS

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Saturday 20 September 2014.

STUPID QUESTIONS

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Someone may ask, ‘How are dead people raised, and what sort of body do they have when they come back?’ They are stupid questions.” (I Cor 15:35 ff))

Reflection. Paul has little time for such questions because they show a mentality that has not grasped the total transformation that takes place at death. People have speculated for 2000 years about what ‘resurrection of the body’ might mean but they are no nearer an answer. All we know is that when we pass from this life we will be totally transformed while keeping our individuality. Paul speaks of seeds: the seed of an oak or a cedar or a baobab is so insignificant and yet look at what it can become! The seed of animals and humans; look what it can become! Each tiny seed carries the individuality of its origin and also the potential for being something entirely new. But Paul says such language hardly scratches the surface of what the resurrection means. ‘The thing that is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious.’.      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, the day will come when we ‘will stay with you for ever (and we can) comfort one another with such thoughts as these’ (I Thes 4:18). Help is to have such faith. Amen  

David Harold-Barry SJ

CERTAIN WOMEN

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Friday 19 September 2014.

CERTAIN WOMEN

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “With him were the twelve as well as certain women.” (Luke 8:1-3)

Reflection. “Certain women!” It is a brief recognition of the place of women in the ministry of Jesus but we know that they played key roles both as here in his daily journeys and also in the infancy stories and in the final climax at the cross and the tomb. I heard recently that women are playing a wonderful part in proclaiming the gospel in modern day China. Seemingly they are seen as less of a threat by the authorities than men and can move around more freely. Recently I have been reading of Julian of Norwich, an amazing fourteenth century English mystic whose teachings are deeply inspiring. She lived under threat and some of her colleagues were even burnt for their beliefs. And, on top of that, she was probably of Jewish ancestry and may have been disabled. I suppose it is rather a condescending thing for a male to talk about women and praise them. But sometimes it just seems good to celebrate our mothers and sisters.      

Prayer. Lord Jesus, we thank you for Mary and all the women in our lives. May they be respected and honoured today in a world that often treats them cruelly.Amen  

David Harold-Barry SJ

HER TEARS FELL ON HIS FEET

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Thursday 18 September 2014.

HER TEARS FELL ON HIS FEET

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses. Anointing them with the ointment.” (Luke 7;36-500

Reflection. This woman was so moved by her feeling of being liberated, freed from all the burdens of her life, that she has no hesitation in showing her emotions whatever the circumstances and whoever is present. She breaks through all ‘protocol’by going straight to the point and delighting the heart of Jesus in the ptocess. Here is someone who responds with all her being, all her love. That was exactly what the kingdom of God was all about; liberating people. There were lots of ‘respectable’ people at Simon’s house that evening but only one knew what it was to experience the depths of pain and the height of ecstasy and joy.   

 

Prayer. Lord Jesus, we want love but we do not want the price of love. Teach us to dig deep and see the cost of love and embrace it. Amen  

David Harold-Barry SJ

LOVE DELIGHTS IN THE TRUTH

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Wednesday 17 September 2014.

LOVE DELIGHTS IN THE TRUTH

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and it is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth. (I Cor 13:1-13)

Reflection. Paul’s hymn to love is chiselled out of his life experience. He mentions all the common attitudes of jealousy, selfishness and resentment, we meet every day, and says it is none of these. Love goes behind all the stances people take; it goes to the heart of what it is to be truly alive. It is to search for the truth in any situation, uncover it and live accordingly. Love is that passion that looks through, looks beyond, looks deep. We are so bound up in surface reactions of resentment and jealousy and the rest. Love frees us of these and urges us to look hard, ‘What is the truth of this situation?’ In our daily lives we constantly come across people who are resentful, bitter, prejudiced or simply complacent. None of them are living the truth. They are avoiding it. And we have to look in the mirror. What about me? Do I too ‘slip off’ facing the truth? ‘The truth will make us free’ (John 8:32)

  

 

Prayer. Lord Jesus, we want love but we do not want the price of love. Teach us to dig deep and see the cost of love and embrace it. Amen  

David Harold-Barry SJ

JESUS GAVE HIM TO HIS MOTHER

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Tuesday 16 September 2014.

JESUS GAVE HIM TO HIS MOTHER

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: Jesus said, ‘Young man, I tell you to get up.” And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother.” (Luke 7:11-17)

Reflection. Jesus enters ‘a town called Nain’ and meets a funeral procession. He pauses, goes up to the body on the stretcher and tells the young man on it to get up which he immediately does and Jesus ’gives him’ to his mother. All the people are overwhelmed and recognise ‘that God has visited his people.’ It is an awesome story in its simplicity and for a moment the people grasp what has happened. If God has raised up this one man can he not raise up every person and all creation too? This is one of the many ‘signs’ that Jesus gave. Our problem is that we read it, hear it, wonder at it and then move on to the next thing in our lives. We cannot hold the mystery to which we are called. We can’t make the connection between this divine ‘visit’ and what I am going to do today, at work, in a meeting coming up, in my family, in politics. We just don’t connect. The struggle we have each day is to let our faith in. It knocks on the door but it is less disturbing for me to keep it a little at a distance..

  

 

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you ‘stand at the door and knock’ (Rev 3:20) and I prefer to keep you waiting outside. Help me to open the door of my life that you may enter and be with me.  

David Harold-Barry SJ

NEAR THE CROSS STOOD HIS MOTHER

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Monday 15 September 2014, Feast of the Compassion of Mary.

NEAR THE CROSS STOOD HIS MOTHER

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clophas and Mary of Magdala.” (John 19:25-27)

Reflection. ‘Compassion’ is the word that sums up the whole work of God towards us. When we ask what was Jesus doing when he walked the roads of Galilee and heals the wounds of the nations, we can simply say he was expressing the desire of God to ‘suffer with’ his people in their struggles. There are momentous occasions for compassion in our world today. To take just two; the beheading yesterday of a young aid worker in Iraq and all the suffering there of which this event is a sign. And then there is the Ebola outbreak which leaves hundreds dead and whole populations in dread. Jesus is there with us. And Mary shows us our place; it is to ‘be with’ people in whatever way we can. We cannot rush off to Iraq or West Africa but we can open our eyes and our hearts to the suffering around us. We may be able to ‘do’ something, but perhaps even more important, we can be with people with our hearts and minds. Mary could not ‘do’ anything at the foot of the cross. But she was wholly there with all her being, suffering with her Son.   

  

 

Prayer. Lord Jesus, give us compassionate hearts to reach out to those who are suffering – both those close to us and those far awaya. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

Ascending to where we belong

Ascending to where we belong

Chinobhururuka chinomhara. What goes up comes down. This is true of birds (except for swifts which live their whole lives – and even mate - in the sky!) and planes. But it is the other way round for humans. They have to go down if they are to go up. The successful person is the one who knows their gifts and the knowledge only comes from digging deep within.

True, our language seems to put us with the birds. We speak of ‘high flyers’ and ‘peak experiences’, climbing the ladder and being top of the class. And we speak of the reverse; being ‘low’, ‘down in the dumps’, being a failure, depressed and desolate. But, if we go into it, the real high flyers are those who have experienced terrible low moments. Is there an artist or a writer who has not struggled to find their way? And is there a saint who has not first wrestled with their own demons? Augustine did. So did Ignatius.

John’s gospel has one over-arching theme; God came down to dwell among us so that we might rise and dwell with him. ‘Ascending’ and ‘descending’ appear early on (1:51). In Paul’s words, ‘He emptied himself and became as humans are … even accepting death … But God raised him high.’ We say the words easily enough – ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us’ – but is this not astonishing, even for the person of faith, who tries to hold onto this statement?

The descent of God to live with us and for us has only one purpose; that we might ascend with him so that all the seeds in our humanity come to full flower. This beautiful earth, that we are so close to destroying, is the ground, the stage, where our whole engagement with our humanity is played out. And the only way it can be played is by following the way the Son of Man has mapped out for us.

We have to empty out all the debris in our lives – ‘blessed are the poor in spirit’ – and make room for what is truly human which is what we call the divine. And what is this? Well, again John introduces his ascending theme but this time it is the ‘lifting up of the Son of Man as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert.’ (3:13). The cross is the key to the ascension of human beings. There is no other way. And it even seems to be written into nature. I saw a video clip recently of a buffalo being killed by lions. It was horrible. And I pondered. Why? Why? Why is the natural world so full of suffering? Mysteriously we seem to have left our mark on everything around us and Paul talks of ‘creation having frustration imposed upon it’ (Rom 8:20). It is all highly disturbing.         

14 September 2014                  The triumph of the cross

Numbers 21:4-9                       Philippians 2:6-11                                 John 3;13-17

suspension

PRAYER MOMENT                      

I have to suspend these daily reflections for six weeks as I am unable to continue them with my new schedule of duties. My apologies! David Harold Barry

THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Friday 12 September 2014.

THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Can one blind man lead another? Surely both will fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39-42)

Reflection. Jesus has just been talking of compassion. Can someone who has no idea about compassion lead others? How true it is that whenever we set about correcting others, or responding to them, we have to be in touch with our own spirit, If I am angry, bothered or have had a bad day it easy for me to pass on my frustration or anger to others – especially if they are vulnerable people, like children or disabled people. What harm un-reflected responses can do! It is like the story of the man shouted at by his employer who goes home and shouts at his wife. She feels so hurt she shouts at the children who cannot answer back and go out and kick the dog, which feels the injury and goes and chases the cat. A ‘blind’ person is one who is not in control of his/her emotions and just reacts instinctively and spreads injury around. A compassionate person breaks the flow of violence and creates a new situation of hope and freedom.  

  

 

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to be compassionate as our Father in heaven is compassionate. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Thursday 11 September 2014.

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good. And lend without any hope of return.” (Luke 6:27-38)

Reflection. The call to ‘love your enemies’ is one of those ‘hard’ sayings in the gospel, like ‘turning the other cheek.’ In an unreflective life, in a life which reacts instinctively without thinking, it makes no sense. Yet, to ‘love your enemies’ is to halt the spiral of violence when a person reacts to violence with more violence, leading to yet more violence  and so it goes on. To interrupt this cycle of violence with love is to wrench the situation on to a whole new level. Suddenly the atmosphere changes as it did in Jesus’ passion when he refused to react and thus caused confusion among his accusers. Further, this reaction of love calls for a proactive, not a reactive, way of responding. What I mean is, it calls for me to be in charge of my own response. I don’t just respond predictably to a situation. I create a new situation. Jesus was ‘supposed to’ ignore Zacchaeus (Luke 19) as one of those oppressive tax collectors. But he didn’t. He made the first move towards Zaccheus and looked at him with love. It changed Zacchaeus’ whole life.  

   

Prayer. Lord Jesus, help us to respond with love and patience when we are provoked.. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

BEST TO STAY AS YOU ARE

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Wednesday 10 September 2014.

BEST TO STAY AS YOU ARE

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Well then, I believe that in these present times of stress this is right; that it is good for one to stay as they are. If you are tied to a wife do not look for freedom; if you are free of a wife, then don’t look for one.” (I Cor 7:25-31)

Reflection. What are we to make of this “gender insensitive” and seemingly outrageous sentiment of Paul? This section of his letter centres round the theme, “our time is growing short.” Paul and the first three evangelists and Jesus himself appear to have expected the final gathering of God’s people and the coming of “the Son of Man” to happen soon. So there was an urgency to prepare. There was no time for getting married or whatever. It was like a hurricane warning today in the Philippines or the Caribbean. Were they wrong? Well, certainly they got their time frame wrong. We are two thousand years down the line. But they were telling us the times were urgent. And in this sense they were far from wrong. The tension between the demands of the kingdom of God, the reign of God, and the head in the sand way human affairs are often conducted is as sharp as ever.

   

Prayer. Lord Jesus, help us top have a sense of urgency in our daily tasks. We have indeed little time and it will all be over soon. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

OUGHTN’T YOU TO LET YOURSELVES BE WRONGED?

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Tuesday 9 September 2014, St. Peter Claver.

OUGHTN’T YOU TO LET YOURSELVES BE WRONGED?

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “It is bad enough for you to have lawsuits at all against one another: oughtn’t to let yourselves be wronged, and let yourselves be cheated?” (I Cor 6:1-11)

Reflection. As Paul gets into the body of his letter to the Corinthians he turns up the heat: “How dare one of your members take up a complaint against another in the law courts!” Can you not settle your differences among you without parading yourselves before pagans? Surely it follows from belonging to Christ in the new community that you should build peace among yourselves? And then he goes further and says: “And can’t you see that you should allow yourselves to be wronged so as to better imitate the One who was wronged continually in the courts of Annas, Caiphas and Pilate? If you are truly filled with the Spirit of Jesus you would be happy to suffer as he did. In this way you will become like him. Yet we know ourselves how we boil internally when we are wronged and want to hit back and get the better of the one who wrongs us. All our defensive instincts rise up. Sometimes we are far from the mind of Christ.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to have your mind (Phil 2:5) so that we may become like you in all things and so witness to the truth. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

SHE WHO IS TO GIVE BIRTH

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Monday 8 September 2014, The Birthday of Mary, Mother of God.

SHE WHO IS TO GIVE BIRTH

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “The Lord is therefore going to abandon them until the time when she who is to give birth gives birth.” (Micah 5:1-4)

Reflection. In respectful recognition of the law of nature the feast f the Annunciation comes exactly nine months before Christmas. And the feast of the birth of Mary comes nine months to the day, after the Immaculate Conception on December 8. These unnoticed events herald the whole hidden, fragile story of God’s way of working among us. It is all so quiet and simple, ‘like dew in April, that falleth on the grass’, as the old English carol puts it. God comes in weakness, ‘born of a virgin’, to transform our world from within. It is so silent and seemingly precarious that people hardly pay attention. Yet in our midst a new creation is coming to birth. Yesterday I passed through Chivhu and was struck by the hundreds of people just moving around. What were they doing? And what will they do again today? They live from hand to mouth ‘struggling to survive.’ This seems far away from the great plan of God ‘to make all things new’. Yet that is what the Lord is doing and he invites us to give all our energy to work with him in the task.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you work among us quietly - hardly noticed. Help us to give our energies to work with you in all things.. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

Is there no other way?

Is there no other way?

The mother of one of the American journalists beheaded by the Islamic State in northern Iraq, while understanding President Obama’s dilemma in responding to IS, pleaded with him, ‘Is there no other way’ (except military force)? Cruel and indifferent to life as IS is there is always a reason behind every ‘terror’ movement. The difficulty seems to be that addressing the issues which drive people to violence and terror is more complex and demanding than simply bombing them. Rather than listening to grievances and struggling to address them, the choice is made to send in drones. They don’t risk American lives and they keep the war far from America’s shores. 

The word ‘drone’ has a harmless, even friendly, sound about it. A drone is a male bee which has no other job besides fertilising the queen. It came to stand for any idle fellow. Yet drone is no idle threat. It is the word chosen by the US military for lethal pilotless planes guided by someone at a computer thousands of miles away in a Washington office. The targeted person may live in a house with 30 other people so that to kill that one person 31 have to die.

‘Interviewees describe emotional breakdowns, running indoors or hiding when drones appeared above, fainting, nightmares and other intrusive thoughts, hyper-startled reactions to loud noises, outburst of anger or irritability and loss of appetite and other physical symptoms … A father of three said: “drones are always on my mind. It makes it difficult to sleep. They are like a mosquito. Even when you don’t see them, you can hear them, you know they are there.”’(A report quoted in the LRB 4.7.13)

The enmity created by this type of response does exactly the opposite to what is intended. Instead of eliminating extremists it multiplies them. It is hard at times to see why the most powerful country in the world does not follow simple logic and do what is obvious; take time to understand what drives the bully in the playground.

“If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you …” This advice of Jesus continues until he says, “If he still refuses to listen, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector” (Matt 18:15). And we know how Jesus treated pagans and tax collectors – with endless compassion.

We have made huge advances in technology but have our advances in morality kept pace? In a way, yes! The world is a far more caring place today than in the time of Pontius Pilate. But the courage to reach out to “enemies” and try to see their point of view still eludes us.   

7 September 2014                   Sunday 23 A

Ez 33:7-9                                 Rom 13:8-10               Mt 18:15-20

CURSED, WE ANSWER WITH A BLESSING

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Saturday 6 September 2014.

CURSED, WE ANSWER WITH A BLESSING

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “When we are cursed we answer with a blessing; when we are hounded, we put up with it; we are insulted and we answer politely.” (I Cor4:6-15)

Reflection. Paul is teaching his new Corinthian community what it is to belong to Christ. He says, in effect, that living in conformity with Jesus means living as he did. Jesus was hounded, persecuted and insulted and how did he respond? If the Corinthians are really to be ‘like Christ’ in his sufferings and so enter his glory they have to at least desire to imitate him. When was the last time I was insulted, misunderstood or put dpwn? It is a test of my sincerity when I say I am a Christian. Do I fight back? Defend myself? Or do I try to absorb the insults without bitterness and indeed with a prayer in my heart for the person concerned? Pedro Arrupe, General Superior of the Jesuits in the nineteen sixties and seventies, was imprisoned by the Japanese on suspicion of being a spy in solitary confinement without trial for a month. When he came out he astonished his captors by going round thanking them.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to have you mind and heart. Teach us to be patient when we feel hurt. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

NEW WINE, FRESH SKINS

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Friday 5 September 2014. This is the day John Bradburne was killed at Mutemwa 35 years ago.

NEW WINE, FRESH SKINS

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Nobody puts new wine in old skins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins, and then run out, and the skins will be lost. No, new wine must be put into fresh skins.” (Luke 5:33-39)

Reflection. While growing up Jesus had observed the practical things of life in Nazareth and drew his images and parables from them. Here it is in the “bottling” of wine before the age of bottles. He gives us an image of the newness of his message. The Pharisees and scribes want to control his message and connect it with their  legal approach. But Jesus says, ’No’. Here is something new. We feel the pull to conform our life to the ways of people around us. ‘Everybody does it!’ Well, maybe they do! But the call we receive is to bring a new light to our daily situations; not to accept ‘what everyone does’ but to bring that light, that salt, of the gospel. It is not easy to go against the current. But we are called to listen to our inner selves where the Spirit of God dwells and calls us..

Prayer. Lord Jesus, help us to know the newness of the gospel; how it can transform situations. Teach us to examine our spontaneous reactions to events to see if they are in conformity with your Spirit. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

DEEP WATER

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Thursday 4 September 2014

DEEP WATER

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:1-11)

Reflection. Shallow water rushes along in a stream while deep water seems so still and silent. You can sit and look at a lake for a long time allowing its depths to soothe your soul. Jesus inviting his disciples to ‘put out into deep water’ is a parable in itself. They will catch a great quantity of fish but they will also go deep into their own lives. Peter is overwhelmed by the experience which brings him instant self-knowledge. ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ The going out into the deep with the boat was accompanied by a going into his own depths – and he did not like what he saw. The catch of fish revealed who Jesus really was – and showed up who Peter really was. It was a distinctly uncomfortable experience. Yet, we sense that it is a step in Peter’s growth as a disciple, a step in knowing himself and so coming to know his need for God.’

Prayer. Lord Jesus, help us to follow St Augustine who ‘entered into my own depths, with you as guide’ and came to know Truth and to know himself in the light of truth. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

BEHAVING LIKE ORDINARY PEOPLE

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Wednesday 3 September 2014, St Gregory the Great

BEHAVING LIKE ORDINARY PEOPLE

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “You are still not ready … Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling among you, from the way you go on behaving like ordinary people?” (I Cor 3:1-9)

Reflection. Paul started his letter with words of joy and congratulations. But now he is getting to the hard part. All very diplomatic! Having made them feel good about themselves – and genuinely so – he reminds them of a few home truths. They have welcomed the gospel but they have not got rid of all the petty rivalries that are common among “ordinary people.” And they are not going to make progress in the way of the Lord until they forget about, ‘I am for Paul’ or ‘I am for Apollos’ and concentrate on ‘only God.’ When we concentrate on a goal and hesitate for a moment to see what others are doing we lose focus and our energy is drained. Destructive rivalries develop in politics, student campuses, zvita, religious congregations, etc,. We are behaving like ‘ordinary people.’ We are more influenced by the surrounding culture than by the gospel.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, give us the wisdom to reflect on our unconscious reactions. Am I thinking before I react to this or that person? Or am I so ‘used’ to behaving one way or another that I do not reflect. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ

WITH AUTHORITY

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Tuesday 2 September 2014

WITH AUTHORITY

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

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

Reflection. What does it mean to ‘speak with authority’? Clearly there was something new about the way Jesus spoke. We can imagine that people were not being lectured at, shouted at, spoken down to or hooked by being entertained. Rather they were nourished because the speaker was touching nerves in their own experience. He was ‘connecting.’ He was in a dialogue with the people – not in the sense that it was an question and answer session. The people probably rarely spoke, but they sensed that what he was saying touched their own experience and drew them forward. Jesus excited people. He astonished them by his ability to touch what was deepest in them. Pope Francis says, ‘the proclamation of the word of God is a dialogue between God and his people’ (EG #137). ‘The preacher has the wonderful but difficult task of joining loving hearts, the hearts of the Lord and his people’ (EG #143). ‘Authority’ comes from the Latin word meaning ‘to grow.’  Jesus enabled people to grow.. .  .

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you spoke with authority. Open our hearts to hear your word so that it links up with our own experience and nourishes us. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ