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