THE BIRDS OF THE AIR CAN SHELTER

1 February 2019

THE BIRDS OF THE AIR CAN SHELTER (Mark 4:26-34)

Jesus uses a variety of parables to illustrate the different ways we can visualize the kingdom of God.  Here it is the mustard seed which, small as it is, grows into ‘the biggest shrub of them all.’ And the ‘birds can shelter in its shade’.  The people of God have started many works down the ages, preaching, teaching, exploring, nursing the sick.  The list is long.  They have provided an impetus which has been followed up by many others, some of whom have a loose – if any at all – connection with the Church.  This is not a claim seeking acknowledgement.  It is simply saying, to use another of Jesus’ parables, the leaven has done and is doing its work. What is clear is that it is a constant challenge to discover how the Church can provide that same impetus today.     

THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN

31 January 2019, John Bosco

THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN (Mark 4:21-25)

‘For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed.’  Despite what is often a hostile tone, the media has done a great service in exposing the sexual abuse of children and the ‘cover up’ by Church leaders who often thought the right way of proceeding was to protect the good name of the Church rather than to acknowledge openly the harm, sometime irreparable, done to the vulnerable. We can now see that, painful as it is, the end result will be a humbler more honest Church. The waves of revelation have hit a number of countries and will certainly continue until there is a full exposure throughout the world. There are still many who would like to ‘put the lamp under a tub’ and keep the truth hidden; but all ‘will be brought to light’ and we will be much the better for it.     

ON STONY GROUND

30 January 2019

ON STONY GROUND (Mark 4:1-20)

‘Some seed fell on stony ground.’  How can you expect seed to grow on stony ground? There is little soil and it sprouts quickly and then withers in the sun.  We become enthusiastic about a person or something we have heard or read. Many things draw us but often just for a while.  How do we acquire depth?  It is one of the longings of our time. Where do we find the resources, mental and physical, to work on our enthusiasms and make them our own?  Where do we find the patience to believe that it is the process, not the achievement, that counts.  It is 100 years since Shackleton’s ship was swallowed up in Antarctic ice. He failed in his goal but he is celebrated for the way he dealt with the crisis. He did not lose a single man.   

THEY ARE OUTSIDE

29 January 2019

THEY ARE OUTSIDE (Mark 3:31-35)

‘Your relatives are outside asking for you.’  This message was brought to Jesus as he was speaking to a group of disciples and it prompted a spontaneous response from him; ‘Who are my relatives?’ And he gives the answer, ‘Anyone who does the will of God.’ They are words that create an ‘inside’ and an ‘outside’, a division between those intent on doing the will of the Father, as Jesus did, and those who have other agendas.  Perhaps we experience that divide today as fuzzy.  There are so many of us who are trying their best.  And the best of us are often trapped in personal goals that seem remote from the common good.  Yet here we are reminded there is a divide.  It may be fuzzy to others but to each of us it should be clear.  And our conscience is our guide.   

BEELZEBUL IS IN HIM

28 January 2019

BEELZEBUL IS IN HIM (Mark 3:22-30) Thomas Aquinas

The opposition to Jesus reaches the point where they say he is possessed of an evil spirit.  It is painful to read.  Yet we remember that twisting of the truth pursued Jesus throughout his ministry.  And we know that even today many an innocent person has been hounded and killed on the suspicion of being ‘a witch.’  You hear dreadful stories of ‘witchdoctors’ going around ‘smelling’ witches and it is often a poor old woman who has no defence and people are afraid to help he for fear they too will be implicated.  And so the spiral of fear increases.  It was to break this spiral ‘once and for all’ (first reading today from Hebrews 9) that Jesus came and shared our life, our fear and our weakness and led us through them to faith and courage.

KICKING AGAINST THE GOAD

KICKING AGAINST THE GOAD

It was a heavy shower and now it was evening and the sun made its final appearance.  As I looked I saw a flock of storks flying past in formation.  The sun caught their white apparel and they looked like a pearl necklace streaming in the sky.  As I watched a second necklace appeared and then a third and a fourth. Then it was all over.  I stood and wondered at this gift of nature given without introduction, without purpose and without price.

‘The world is charged with the grandeur of God,’ Hopkins tells us, ‘it will flame out, like shining from shook foil.’  The poet goes on to wonder why ‘men do not reck his rod.’ Why do people not draw lessons from the sufferings of so many of our contemporaries?  We have a beautiful world, filled with resources for the livelihood of every person and yet we do not see it.  We do not take action so that all can find their place at the banquet of life.

I have lived in and out of Zimbabwe for 53 years.  I still remember the stunning beauty of the colours when I first arrived.  After the grey skies of Europe we stepped into the clear blue world of Africa.   And though it was the dry season, there was colour everywhere: trees, shrubs, flowers.   It was also the dry season of politics, less than a year after UDI – the act that severed the country from the community of nations then painfully seeking a shared new identity after the horrors of World War II.  Made the way I was, I thought I would receive a cold reception at the school where I was to teach, but the warmth of the welcome seemed in tune with the bright colours of the land.

But it was quickly apparent I was living in two nations: one governing and hiving off the bulk of the resources for its own benefit, the other governed and without a voice to demand an equitable share of those resources.  The inequalities were not resolved even after a terrible war of our own and to this day the inequalities persist.  The governing and the governed are still far apart.  It has become a habit to live that way.

Yet, as milk oozes back into a drained udder, so the strength of people to insist on what they want is constantly renewed.  When Ezra read from the Book of the Law ‘the people were all in tears’ for they recognised the gap between what the Law taught and what they lived. When Paul fell off his horse outside Damascus he realised he was ‘kicking against the goad’, he was resisting what he knew in his heart he ought to be doing.

This drama, of ‘push’ on one side and ‘resistance’ on the other, is being played out on the streets of Harare.  Alex Magaisa has likened the whole process to slow rather than micro-wave cooking.  It has certainly been a long time since the cooking began.  Meanwhile the storks raise our eyes to see that our struggles are in a world charged with God’s presence.    

27 January 2019                      Sunday 3 C

Nehemiah 8:2…10                  1 Corinthians 12:12-30                       Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21    

CROWDING FORWARD TO TOUCH HIM

24 January 2019

CROWDING FORWARD TO TOUCH HIM (Mark 3:7-12)

Mark tells us people started coming from all the provinces of Palestine and the gentile lands beyond.  They were drawn to Jesus, his message and to his healing. But when you read other literature written at the time there is hardly a mention of Jesus.  The Roman colonial authorities seem to take no notice.  While people today are aware of the Christian faith, for many it is something that passes them by.  It does not touch their lives.  Even among those who go church and read the scriptures it is hard to relate what they live with what they believe.  The culture we inhabit pays lip service to the message of Jesus and when public figures call for prayers they tend to do it in a formal way without much expectation that prayer will have an impact.  

GRIEVED AT THEIR OBSTINACY

23 January 2019

GRIEVED AT THEIR OBSTINACY (Mark 3:1-6)

Jesus was ‘grieved to find them so obstinate’ in their refusal to open their minds to what he was doing.  Could they not see that here is a new thing; here is the beginning of opportunity to change everything, to build a better life for themselves and for everyone.  The possibilities were endless.  At least they could ‘want’ to change.  But, no, they preferred to stick in their old ways, to stay where they were, to cling to their ‘comfort zones’.  We today have all the language of change.  We have heard it so often.  We know what we should do.  Our problem is to discover within ourselves the deep desire to change and to pray ‘in holy dread’ (Julian of Norwich) for the grace to do so.    

THE SABBATH IS FOR MAN

22 January 2019, Vincent

THE SABBATH IS FOR MAN (Mark 2:23-28)

Jesus’ saying, ‘the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’, throws into confusion the accepted way of thinking of that time and of any time.  The world and its institutions are to be set up ‘for man’ and not to buttress any particular ideology or interest group.  The Pharisees and their modern equivalents keep a firm hold on their own privileged position and pay lip service to the clear fact that the earth is the common and only home of all people.  And we are called by this reading to look into our own conscience; what does it tell us about our approach to ‘the Sabbath’?  And, in particular, are my relations with others influenced by a culture of personal interest to the detriment of a more compassionate openness to their needs?    

ALOUD AND IN SILENT TEARS

21 January 2019, Agnes

ALOUD AND IN SILENT TEARS (Hebrews 5:1-10)

The ten verses of Hebrews that contain these words are unlike anything else in the scriptures.  They do not hesitate to describe some details of the struggle of Jesus to be faithful to his mission.  Do we sometimes think that it was easy for him?  He seemed so strong and sure of himself.  We are reminded he was a full blooded human being like us all and he had to wrestle, as Jacob did of old, to bring his will in line with his Father.  How he longed for ‘the chalice to pass him by.’  He knew it was not to be but it was a mighty battle.  And so it is for us when we pray, ‘your will be done.’  We can get used to these words of the Our Father but it is good to stop and ponder them.  Do we mean them?  Ruth Burrows says, ‘we keep a deadly hold on our own will’!     

THE BEST WINE

THE BEST WINE

‘There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.’  The wine ran out and we know what happened.  John calls this Jesus’ first ‘sign’ but he does not explain.  We fill in the background by recalling the ancient imagery of the prophets that foresaw the ‘wedding’ of God and his people. ‘The Lord takes delight in you … as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride.’ In attempting the impossible task of describing heaven, the prophets can think of no better image than a wedding banquet.  

This image does not excite our contemporaries.  The idea of postponing out happiness to a future life has little appeal today even if it assuaged for a while the hardships of life of our medieval ancestors.  If people know nothing else about Karl Marx they are at least likely to be aware he condemned religion as ‘opium’ which made people forget the injustice they experienced daily.

The Jesuits produce a ‘Year Book’ annually to share information about their activities around the globe. The one for 2018 gives an amazing range of activities in a wide variety of countries. Three, interconnected, things struck me.  In place after place there are the almost crushing challenges people face centred round the failure of governments to serve them selflessly and imaginatively, the rape of the environment with its impact on the poor and – following from these - the overwhelming poverty experienced in country after country.

At the same time, along with countless other groups and individuals, the Year Book describes the efforts made to address these issues, be they as small as lighting a candle in the midst of seemingly overwhelming gloom.  The firm hope is that these tiny lights will kindly other lights, like the lights lit on Easter night from the paschal candle. 

The wedding at Cana, to the passing eye, was basically the same as countless other weddings in every part of the world up to then and since.  But ours is not a passing eye.  We contemplate that scene for a while, recognising it as a promise and a sign leading somewhere.  That ‘somewhere’ is evolving day after day in the struggles for justice in every corner of the globe.  In the story of Cana the best wine was kept till last.  The world has tried solutions which are immediately satisfying but ultimately leave a gap.  We have tried ‘the cheaper wine’ for too long.  It is time to go for the best.   

20 January 2018                     Sunday 2 C

Isaiah 62:1-5                           1 Corinthians 12:4-11             John 2:1-12

I CAME TO CALL SINNERS

19 January 2019

I CAME TO CALL SINNERS (Mark 2:13-17)

This was the answer Jesus gave to those who questioned his choice of Matthew and his having supper with him and his friends.  The incident is a sharp indication of his intentions.  Jesus is announcing the kingdom of God, a world where no one is excluded and where the compromises and self-serving of people will be challenged.  He is going to reach beyond what people expect and include people whom many would consider unsuitable.  Pope Francis chose this scene in searching for a motto for his ministry.  ‘He had compassion on him (Matthew) and he chose him (as one of his close companions)’ and Francis applies these words to himself.  The pope has gone on to build his ministry on these words: the motive that underlies all he does is his love and compassion for all people especially the most excluded, for example, migrants.     

CROWDING ROUND THE DOOR

18 January 2019

CROWDING ROUND THE DOOR (Mark 2:2-12)

‘When Jesus returned to Capernaum so many people collected there was no room even in front of the door.’ We have hardly started the gospel and already Mark has mentioned this crowding around Jesus twice.  People were drawn to him: he was attractive in every way.  They sense that he could satisfy the hunger of their heart.  He will relieve the hunger, poverty and oppression they felt daily.  He longed to respond to them and heal their pain.  But they had to do one thing – just one thing – if he was going to be able to do this. They had to change their way of thinking.  They brought a paralytic to him and he wanted to cure him.  But first the paralytic had to change his ways.  Then resistance set in.  It would be like that all the way through the gospel.  And it is still like that today.  We do not want to change.  But if we can find it within ourselves to do so, we, with the paralytic, will be able to ‘get up and walk out in front of everyone.’   

OF COURSE I WANT TO

17 January 2019, Anthony of Egypt

OF COURSE  I WANT TO! (Mark 1:40-45)

This is the spontaneous reaction of Jesus to the man who asked to be cured of his leprosy with the words, ‘If you want to, you can cure me.’  We sometimes add a further question to the dialogue imaging Jesus saying, ‘I want to, but do you?’ There is no doubt about the desire of God to heal the wounds of people and to cure our planet.  The only problem is do we really want him to or are we just saying the words? We make our petitions and we have ‘Days of Prayer’ but are our hearts where our words are?  Or do we think by just asking God for something we have done our bit.  Prayer is a whole shifting of our being so that we back up our words with the commitment of our lives.  There will be no healing till that shift takes place.  And there will be lots of healing when it does.  That will be the day we hear with joy the words, ‘Of course I want to.’

HE WENT TO A LONELY PLACE AND PRAYED THERE

16 January 2019

HE WENT TO A LONELY PLACE AND PRAYED THERE. (Mark 1:29-39)

Can we have any idea of what must have happened when Jesus went off to a quiet place and prayed?  All we can say is there was deep communion with the Father in which Jesus learnt how to fulfil his mission. In the fourteenth century Julian of Norwich, probably a disabled person of Jewish origin, withdrew to a cell near the Cathedral and spent her life in prayer.  She shares with us what she was shown and the overwhelming message is of comfort and consolation for her “even Christians.”  This comfort includes meditations on the Passion as the source of our confidence.  Jesus learnt that he had to confront evil at its root and it would cost him great suffering.  This confrontation and suffering continues each day on our screens and in our papers.  There is no escaping it but in the end, Julian says, “all will be well, and all manner of thing will be well.”

HAVE YOU COME TO DESTROY US?

15 January 2019

HAVE YOU COME TO DESTROY US? (Mark 1:21-28)

In this opening chapter of Mark there is an immediate assertion of the authority of God, revealed in Jesus.  There is no wholesale Elijah-like judgement and destruction of his enemies, but here is an authoritative healing of one person which sends ripples throughout the district.  “Here is a teaching that is new and with authority behind it.”  People long for an authority which will relieve their aching needs. Today there are frustrated undirected protests in Zimbabwe.  No one knows where to turn.  Is it possible to find that inner authority, the gift of Jesus, which opens the way for us in every area of our life?  It is clear that God does not intervene with wholesale solutions.  He respects and loves each one of us and wants to heal us, one heart at a time.  Then the ripples will go out and touch all.  

THE TIME HAS COME

PRAYER PAUSE

14 January 2019

THE TIME HAS COME (Mark 1:14-20)

At last, the promises made to Abraham, Moses, David and through the prophets up to the time of John the Baptist, are about to be fulfilled.  ‘Change your way of thinking’ because from now on a new way of living is to be announced.  Jesus longs to achieve this work and immediately gets started.  He calls followers and begins to heal the wounds of people.

We have heard it said – ‘the time has come’ – and we have lived that mixture of excitement and dread as we started school or sat important exams.  Or when we started work or married or made some other life-changing choice. The time has come. These four words announce a break with the old and an engagement with the new.  They are full of charged energy ready to begin something new.

This new thing is ultimately the arrival of the reign of God which is going to transform my life and that of the world.  Jesus invites his followers to become fully involved in this great work of establishing God’s peace on earth.

TO BE, OR NOT TO BE

TO BE, OR NOT TO BE

‘To be, or not to be’, are the opening words of what must be the most famous soliloquy of all. The struggle to be who we are, and not what we would like to appear to be, is the greatest challenge.  Only one person fulfilled it and he was baptised in the Jordan by John a long time ago. The speech goes on, ‘conscience makes cowards of us all.’ We know we fail ‘to be’ and this is the great sorrow of being human – something so powerfully expressed centuries ago in the Cloud of Unknowing.

Conscience never gives up, even if it seems suffocated by layers of opposition. A stream finding its way down the mountain serves as a parable. It rushes on only to be blocked by a rock or a mound.  Angrily, it finds its way round or through.  At other times it disappears in wetland or bog or is held in a pool.  But, one way or another, it reaches the sea.  Conscience will not give up even if its owner does.

The little known story of the Scholl siblings and their friends, who opposed Hitler when he was at the height of his power in the Second World War, is one story of the triumph of conscience.[1]  They were all students in Munich and had watched the advance of Nazism in Germany with growing unease.  They read Augustine and Newman. They discussed in their rooms and in their expeditions to the mountains.  Finally, they acted.  Secretly they produced a series of leaflets denouncing Hitler and his regime and posted them all over the country.  Eventually they were caught, tried and condemned to death.  Sophie Scholl was 21 and her brother, Hans, 24.  They went to the guillotine calmly, even defiantly.  Sophie said to the judge, ‘You know the war is lost. Why can’t you have the courage to face it?’    

The struggle to live according to one’s conscience is the struggle between external and internal authority.  The former imposes the laws of the state, the pressure of our peers and the trends of our culture. The latter sifts all these with an inner personal authority answerable to no one but the person him or herself. At least that is the hope.  The reality is more complex as awareness of inner authority and, what is more, the strength to live by it, is rare. So we end up with a compromised world where the battle ‘to be’ is often lost by default; people prefer ‘not to be.’   

So Jesus stands alone in the Jordan with an uncomprehending crowd looking on.

13 January 2019                                  The Baptism of Jesus

Isaiah 40:1…11                                   Titus 2:11…3:7                       Luke 3:15…22

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[1] Conscience before Conformity, Hans and Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Resistance in Nazi Germany, Paul Shrimpton, Gracewing, 2018

HE MUST GROW GREATER

PRAYER PAUSE

Saturday 12 January 2019

HE MUST GROW GREATER

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading.  John replied, ‘A person can only lay claim to what is given to them … He must grow greater, I must grow smaller.’ (John 3:22-30)

Reflection.  Tomorrow is the Baptism of Jesus and we are introduced to this by a renewed mention of John the Baptiser.  John was clear about his mission: it was to announce the Messiah.  He made no claims for himself.  He rejoiced when attention shifted from him to Jesus.  The key was that Jesus would grow in the consciousness of the people and of all people.  And in our personal lives this task remains: to make room for Jesus and to try to subordinate everything else to his presence.

Prayer.  Lord, may we make room for you.  You come to complete the work you began in us and our ‘joy is complete’ when you do this. Amen.

IF YOU WANT TO YOU CAN CURE ME

PRAYER PAUSE

Friday 11 January 2019

IF YOU WANT TO YOU CAN CURE ME

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading.  The man with leprosy implored Jesus, ‘If you want to you can cure me.’ (Luke 5:12-16)

Reflection.  Each day since Epiphany we have had words and signs of the arrival of God in our midst.  Now we have a response.  It comes from a poor man covered in an awful disease which distances him from others. Jesus touches him and says, ‘Of course I want to!  Be cured!’  We ponder that response of the man with leprosy.  He stands for all of us and for the world. We do respond to God.  That much we can be glad about.  We do cry out for healing.  I suppose the difficulty is we do not cry out enough.  It is still individuals moved by their own pain.  It is not yet a chorus of humanity crying out for healing, justice and wholeness.

Prayer.  Lord, help us to be in touch with our own wounds and cry out to you for healing. Amen.

THIS TEXT IS BEING FULFILLED TODAY

PRAYER PAUSE

Thursday 10 January 2019

THIS TEXT IS BEING FULFILLED TODAY

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading.  “He has sent me to bring good news to the poor … This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.” (Luke 4:14-22)

Reflection.  This is announcement time.  By actions and by words each day around the Epiphany we learn something new is happening: the beginning of the fulfilment of the desire of every human heart.  It is now possible to reach beyond the limited horizons of our ancestors.  A new vision and mission is announced that can find its way into the corner of every person’s life. Can we hold the vision? Or do we turn aside and say, who is this? He is just the son of the carpenter. Do we burnish the image, as one would regularly polish the family silver? Or do we let it tarnish? It is a huge challenge for us to continually stoke the fire of faith and generosity.  So easily we slip into zones of comfort.         

Prayer.  Lord, help us to persevere day by day in focusing on your love and your mission. Amen.

GOD WILL LIVE IN US

PRAYER PAUSE

Wednesday 9 January 2019

GOD WILL LIVE IN US

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading.  “No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another God will live in us and his love will be complete in us.” (1 John 4:11-18)

Reflection.  We are in Epiphany mode.  All our readings are about the revelation of God among us.  We can be fascinated by our relationship with God while at the same time ignoring the world around us.  I suppose this is the number one heresy.  John is insistent; there is no such thing as love of God if we do not get out of ourselves and break down the barriers between us.  There are people I enjoy being with.  There are others I would be happy to avoid.  The overflowing message of the revelation of God in the Christmas season is his love for us.  He has come to “gather” us – all of us - who are scattered. We live our love by “gathering” others in a multitude of different ways.      

Prayer.  Lord, help us to love one another as you have loved us. Amen.

GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT OURSELVES

PRAYER PAUSE

Tuesday 8 January 2019

GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT OURSELVES

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading.  “This is a lonely place and it is getting very late, so send them away and they can go to the farms and villages round about, to buy themselves something to eat.”  Jesus replied, “Give them something to eat yourselves.” (Mark 6:34-44)

Reflection.  We can sense the astonishment Jesus’ reply caused. “What? Us? 5000?”  Yet we know that this command will not go away.  There is no one else who is going to solve our personal issues, our family or community questions, or our national ones.  One of the beautiful gifts God has given us is that each of us can make a difference.  I have just been reading about Mikhail Gorbachev who singlehandedly, some might say accidentally, ended the Communist dictatorship in Russia and its satellites.  Our own powers and choices are more modest but they too can make a difference we cannot gauge.  And when we take a step – with our five loaves and two fish – suddenly things begin to happen      

Prayer.  Lord, help us to trust that you will take our small efforts and make things happen . Amen.

CHANGE YOUR WAY OF THINKING BECAUSE …

PRAYER PAUSE

Monday 7 January 2019

CHANGE YOUR WAY OF THINKING BECAUSE …

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading.  “Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Change your way of thinking because the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’” (Matthew 4:12…25)

Reflection.  The character of these days around Epiphany is the “showing” of Jesus to the nations.  Matthew announces the opening of his preaching with grand phrases: “Land of Zebulun!  Galilee of the nations!” Then he gives the reason for rejoicing: it is “because” the kingdom is close.  A Jesuit brother of mine, Donal McKenna, loved that ‘because’ and his last words to me were, “Remember gar (for, or because)!” This short Greek word appeals to our humanity; all our faculties of reason and heart are called to bend to this new reality announced by Jesus.  The kingdom, the reign, of God is very near to us.  We are to reach out with everything we have to grasp it.  It is a call that cuts through everything I call ‘my life’. It invites a change, a conversion, at every moment so that I do the will of God in all things.      

Prayer.  Lord, help us to enter this New Year with great generosity; to wrench our choices from selfish interests to the love and service of others. Amen.

SEEING BEYOND WHAT WE SEE

SEEING BEYOND WHAT WE SEE

The Greek word ‘epiphany’ is not one we use every day.  Orthodox Christians and, to a lesser degree, Catholics, use it to describe the “showing” of Jesus to the world.  People came “from the east” – an expression that suggests the idea of ‘far’, beyond the known world – to worship the new-born child.  The whole world will soon hear of him and today there must hardly be a corner left on earth which does not have some idea of Jesus. 

We can “see” Jesus as a person.  We can see him as God revealed in this person. We grow in our faith by seeing him, as those around him did at the time, moving through the gospels.  We notice that they gradually saw him as more than just Jesus of Nazareth.  When Nathaniel first heard of him he was sceptical. How could Nazareth produce anyone significant?  But when he meets Jesus he is stunned.  Jesus recognises his astonishment and then pushes him further to promise an even greater revelation.

2018 was a humiliating year for the Catholic Church and Pope Francis experienced the full weight of this.  For five years he rode high in the world’s esteem and gave hope, consolation and wise words to millions.  Catholics rejoiced and were encouraged by his compassionate message.  But by 2018 the face that the Church turned to the world became scarred and troubled.  I was in Dublin when Francis came to visit Ireland.  People lined the streets to see him pass and the city adjusted its normal ways to accommodate the crowds and welcome him. But there was “heaviness” in the media as it relentlessly reported the abuse of children and vulnerable adults by priests and religious, together with the cover up of abuse by Church leaders.  Enmity and anger was focused on this single person in white who had to absorb the blows and the piercing thorns that crowned him.

We can speak of the “enemies of the Church” and the “work of the devil” and no doubt there are evil spirits eager to destroy the Church at every opportunity.  But we can also see that this whole experience of humiliation, this crisis, can be a moment of conversion and new life.  It is when we are at our lowest that we are most open to change.  All the masks are removed.  Power, tradition and past glories are no help.  We are flat on the ground, bruised and broken.  

This can be the moment when new life appears.  Francis himself has often pointed to his desire for a “poor church for the poor”.  At last we are at a moment when we can learn the meaning of the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  We are on the threshold of a humbler, weaker, servant church. What we see with our eyes is a humiliated Church such that we may feel ashamed to be associated with.  But we are invited to look beyond what we can see.  The wise men returned to their country by another route.    

January 6, 2019                                   The Epiphany

Isaiah 60:1-6                            Ephesians 3:2-6                                   Matthew 2:1-12