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.

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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