THE ONES HE CHOSE

PRAYER MOMENT  

Tuesday 8 September 2015, Mary’s Birthday

THE ONES HE CHOSE

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers.” (Romans 8:28-30)

Reflection. A thrill runs through this minor feast of Mary as we realise this is the first step in the process that will eventually lead to the Incarnation and the Paschal mystery. After aeons of preparation the time has come for the great events. Paul writes that it was a choice and a call that led to this young person becoming the mother of Jesus, God among us. We ponder this today as we see God acting decisively in our history to bring about the great raising of men and women to the dignity they were always destined for. That choice continues to fall on us and call us to rise to the task of bearing the likeness of the One in whose image we are made and giving witness to a world struggling to find its true way.  

Prayer. Lord, we rejoice in the birth of Mary, the humble young woman of Nazareth who became your Mother and our Mother. May we draw courage from her so that your will is done in us as it was in her. Amen.

SOMETHING AGAINST HIM

PRAYER MOMENT  

Monday 7 September 2015

SOMETHING AGAINST HIM

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him  to see if he would cure the man on the Sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him.” (Luke 6:6-11)

Reflection. Hardness of heart is a baffling condition but quite widespread. Jesus’ enemies were determined to find something against him. They could not open their hearts to what he was saying and doing. They made up their minds that he was a threat and that was that. He had to be got rid of. People have made up their minds about global warming  - that it is a false scare – or about GMOs – that they are a good thing - without really facing the facts, which are too much of a threat to them. It is odd in such a rational age as ours that people can be so irrational. That is why the shift in attitude in Europe towards migrants  - they are now being welcomed – is such a warming (another kind of warming) development. We can change!

Prayer. Lord, help us not to harden our hearts, as the people did at Meribah in the desert (Psalm 95). May we be truly open to your word coming to us in the people and events of each day. Amen.

ALAN

ALAN

The body of the three year old Syrian boy Alan, washed up on a Turkish beach, has touched our hearts. This one picture ignites more energy to act than volumes of written words. Tens of thousands have fled their homes in Arab lands and Africa to escape war and poverty and headed for Europe. But European countries feel overwhelmed by the demand and put up barriers while they search for long term solutions. There is resentment that the immigrants will “take our jobs” but there is also generosity in the struggle to find a solution.

Solving the problems in the countries of origin is an obvious solution but those who could do this don’t want to. It would mean reconciling differences among warring parties and preparing the way for massive aid to restructure their economies. There is no will to do these things. It is perceived as abandoning the struggle and giving up the hope that “our group” will win and enjoy the power. So they harden their heart and struggle on, no matter what the suffering of the weakest and most defenceless.  And the children go on dying. Both sides blame each other for the death of Alan but neither side is prepared to make the leap of faith needed to work with the other for peace. So, all the little Alans go on dying.

How then can we read the words of Isaiah in such a desperate situation? “Courage! Do not be afraid. Look your God is coming to save you.” What comfort is there in such words? They seem totally inappropriate and disconnected. But then, the words of the prophets have always sounded as though they belong to another planet. Until, that is, we see them come true! Isaiah did talk about the “lame leaping like a deer” and “springs of water in dry land.” When Jesus proclaimed the new world that was emerging he gave signs:, the healing of the blind and the lame and the promise of new water to the Samaritan woman.

These signs were not just his signs. They were signs of what the new people of God would do. Europe is poised on the threshold of some momentously generous decisions. But it is not only Europe. Wherever we are we are asked to draw on our heritage of faith and imagination and open eyes and help others stand up. We begin at home in our own yard. In reaching out to those who suffer and are lonely we reach out to Alan and all those like him. The situation is not desperate. It needs our courage and generosity. In our own way we can prevent the death of Alan.

6 September 2015                               Sunday 23 B

Isaiah 35:4-7                                       James 2:1-5                                        Mark 7:31-37

MASTER OF THE SABBATH

PRAYER MOMENT  

Saturday 5 September 2015, the anniversary of John Bradburne of Mutemwa’s death (1979)

MASTER OF THE SABBATH

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The Son of Man is master of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:1-5)

Reflection. We know that controversies over the Sabbath recur frequently in the gospel. The Sabbath was a well established tradition and its observance was a practical test of whether one was a good Jew. But for Jesus it was a sign of where a person’s heart was. The Sabbath had a purpose but outward conformity to it was never to take the place of its inner meaning. One version of this text, which was not accepted but till throws light on it, reads, “On the same day, seeing a man working on the Sabbath, Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, if you know what you are doing you are blessed, but if you do not know you are accursed as a breaker of the law.’”

Prayer. Lord, help us understand the meaning of the law and that it must never take the place of mercy. Assist all those who gather next month in Rome to discuss the family, to find their way to temper law with compassion. Amen.

THE IMAGE OF THE UNSEEN GOD

PRAYER MOMENT  

Friday 4 September 2015

THE IMAGE OF THE UNSEEN GOD

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Christ Jesus is the image of the unseen God and the first born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth.” (Colossins 1:15-20)

Reflection. This is an astonishing statement for a community only a few decades old. It was not so long since they were saying, “Who is this?” “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” The gospels had described his humiliation and death as a criminal. And now he is seen as the centre, the pivot, the head, of all creation in the heavens – and we know a good deal more about them today – and the earth. For Fr Pedro Arrupe, Jesus meant “everything” and over the centuries Christian writers have seen him as the indispensable way to life. It is good to pause for a moment in wonder at the expansion of Paul’s thought about the place of Jesus of Nazareth in the whole evolution of the cosmos.

Prayer. Lord, may we see you in all things and all things in you, for you are the source and goal of all. Amen.

COMPLETELY OVERCOME

PRAYER MOMENT  

Thursday 3 September 2015, Gregory the Great

COMPLETELY OVERCOME

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made.” (Luke 5:1-11)

Reflection. Luke likes to record breakthroughs. Elizabeth is over come by the visit of “the Mother of my Lord” and Zaccheus changes his extortionate way of life overnight just because Jesus looks at him. And Jesus also looks at Peter when the cock crows and Peter weeps bitterly for himself and for all of us in our lack of recognition at that look that nevers leaves us. And when he rises from the dead “they stand there dumbfounded” (Luke 24). Gregory, a Roman civil servant, experienced that look and it changed his life. He went on to leave a permanent mark on the Church through his writings, his liturgical prayers and his engagement with the politics of his time.

Prayer. Lord, may we be “overcome” by your love for us and lead us to share our faith in you with others. Amen.

I MUST PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS TO OTHER TOWNS TOO

PRAYER MOMENT  

Wedesday 2 September 2015

I MUST PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS TO OTHER TOWNS TOO

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “They wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’” (Luke 4:38-44)

Reflection. As Jesus starts his ministry in Luke we see this drive, this energy, to announce the good news from place to place. In contrast we see the reaction of the people who want to hold on to him, to enjoy his miracles , to control him and limit him. We immediately see in these personal and social impulses something that is still with us today. We can easily settle for “our church,” “my Jesus,” in the sense of domesticating and limiting the good news to “our people” and “my image of God,” forgetting the energy and desire of Jesus to go to “other towns.” Cosmically we live in an ever-expanding universe and theologically we live in a world where the good news “must” always reach out further and further to “people who live in darkness.”

Prayer. Lord, inspire us with your energy to reach out to others and share withthem the good news through our way of living and our words. Amen.