Sharing the Mission

In 1974 a large family walked into Lagrange Mission, about 200km to the south of Broome. Life had become increasingly difficult in the Great Sandy Desert, and they had heard stories of these white people who were kind to Aboriginal people. I am told that by the time the priest arrived to greet them, aboriginal residents of the mission had already clothed them and had started inducting them into sedentary life. In those few hours they left behind the lifestyle, freedoms and the day to day life their people had enjoyed for at least the last forty thousand years. Instead of being ruled by the seasons and the Dreaming, their lives would be now governed by the bell and watch; instead of living in a group of maybe twenty, they would live among hundred and then thousands;  and instead of relying on the country to provide food and sustenance, eventually most would come to rely on some sort of welfare.  I see several members of this family often, and I can’t stop thinking of the enormous changes they have seen in their lives and amazed that they have been able to make the jump and be functional at all.

The Aboriginal people on whose land we stand did not invite us here, yet they welcome us openly and wholeheartedly. In a spirit of reconciliation they accept us who come with a chequered history yet with open hearts. It has been said often that non-indigenous people in the Kimberley are missionaries, misfits or madmen, or even a mixture of these. Each of us will find some of ourselves in these categories! So this is the Kimberley which you have come to and to which you have been welcomed. It is a land of incredible contrasts: wet to the dry, desert to the sea, clock to the Dreaming, black to white. All of these seeming opposites are in fact not, they are parts of the same continuum in which we live, breathe and thrive. 

Broome is home to multiculturalism. The Catholic Church in Broome was founded by Filipinos who came to work in the pearling industry. The priests who came soon advocated for the rights of local aboriginal people and started Beagle Bay Mission. The Church was of the ordinary people, and did not enjoy official recognition. This was the Church of the battlers and emigrants. The first church was burned down by and angry and racist mob, jealous of the protection offered by the Church to the vulnerable, people they wished to exploit.

The priests and brothers, followed by sisters, had no great qualifications for the work ahead of them. Most of them were not young: the first priest, Duncan McNab, was 67! Most did not speak any English, let alone one of the 52 aboriginal languages they were to encounter in the Kimberley. They came, however, with a message that extended beyond the boundaries of language, race and culture. The message of Jesus Christ was communicated by the French speaking Trappist monk Fr Alphonse to the Nyul Nyul speaking Felix at Beagle Bay in a way that Felix not only understood but was able to respond to positively.  He encouraged his people, going into the bush and telling them: “Kalam, warrijal layibabor”, which means: “Come and see, good place.”

Fr Alphonse obviously communicated the love of Christ and the compassion of God in a way that was understandable and accessible. He did not judge, but shared faith and shared hope. Many years later Fr McKelson, an old missionary, gave me the same advice given to him by Fr Worms when he got off the boat at Old Jetty in 1954: “Matthew, remember that you are among a people who have had their spirit broken, be courageous, but gentle.”

You will meet people in many settings and places over the next few days. You will encounter people from many communities and cultures. You come as members of the Church and as such there will be expectations of you in the minds of those you meet. Those you meet will expect you encounter them in a friendly and gentle way, showing respect for their situation, which in all probability will be very different from where you have come.  Your presence among people of this town, like the presence of missionaries over the last hundred years, will elicit good as well as bad reactions. Some will welcome you, some will swear at you, but both will note your reactions! You will bear witness by the way you are patient, kind, friendly and joyous.

You have the chance to continue the work of the first Filipino Catholics, of Fr McNab and all who came after him. Let us now pray our morning prayer and open our hearts to God before committing ourselves to the work of the next few days.

Homily at Morning Prayer, Nulungu Chapel, Broome July 12th, 2012, on the occasion of the NeoCatechumenal Youth Pilgrimage to Broome.

Grace and an Open Heart

On a Sunday night I visit the jail, and earlier this year would always spend time with a man I know very well. Strangely enough, he enjoyed his time in jail, free as it was from the pressures of his life on the outside. This situation had given him time to think about the realities of his life and the opportunity to consider what changes needed to be made. He had been fortunate to come face to face with himself, warts and all, and to see his strengths and weaknesses. Towards the end of his sentence I recall him becoming agitated. He pondered whether this change he had seen in his life was sustainable. He had seen what was possible and he liked it, but knew how artificial it was. His life was easier freed from the possibility of destructive decisions. He feared the day when he faced his family and friends and had to stand by the decisions he had made in jail.

Jesus faced a similar situation. The boy had matured and returned a fiery preacher. He had confronted his weakness when he went into the desert for forty days to strengthen himself; he confronted his shyness when he intervened at the wedding feast of Cana to begin his mission. This was the next hurdle. He stood before his strongest critics and passed. Unfortunately the critics, his family and childhood friends, failed the test.

In our first reading Ezekiel was sent on a difficult mission, to do his best whether people listened or not. Paul in the letter to the Corinthians speaks strongly about the need to recognise our weaknesses so that we can be strong. Strength comes from self-knowledge and acceptance, not by denial. Paul obviously had some sin which recurred and probably tripped him up occasionally, just like my mate in jail. Paul knew that by accepting his weakness and the strength of God’s healing, he could change himself and the witness to others. When we are weak then we are strong.

The story does not end there!

The encounter in Nazareth is a story of winners and losers. Jesus was ready, open, generous, wise. The Nazarenes were blinkered, set in their ways and incapable of looking forward. Jesus returned to them a man conscious and confident of the mission entrusted to him by his Father. Unfortunately, he could work no miracles there because of their lack of faith. Nazareth remained stagnant; Jesus left.

Miracles need the air of faith in which to thrive and grace needs open hearts to work its wonder. It is my hope that this Year of Grace will find my heart open to God working in my life in a new way, and that means that I am open to God working in your heart. Openness to where God leads us means we can and will change and allow others to do the same, rather than holding them back. It also means that we can not only accept and live with our weaknesses, but even those of others as well!

I saw my mate who had been released from prison yesterday. He was smiling, happy and full of life. The changed has endured, and his family have been given to grace to grow as well.

Grace works when our hearts are open!

Homily 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 8th July 2012

The Real X-Factor

A well-meaning mother once asked me to teach her children about Jesus, ‘but leave out that stuff about the Cross’ she instructed, ‘I only what them to know the good things’.

It would be great if life was that simple!

Our life is a mixed bag, full of joys and hopes, suffering and sacrifice, pain and betrayal, death and new life. Real Christianity is about real life, and confronts all of these aspects.  When the authorities closed in on Jesus, his friends did a runner, his disciples scattered and his mission fell into disarray.  Instead of sinking into despair or taking the easy way out, Jesus stayed faithful to his beliefs and hoped in the promises made to God’s people. He became the X-Factor.     

During the three days of the Easter Triduum from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday, we walk a journey of hope acknowledging that life and everything in it can strengthen us and have meaning. The betrayal by Judas after the Last Supper and the Way of the Cross led to the crucifixion on Calvary, but that was not the end.  Suffering gives way to life, pain to joy, and the sadness of separation to the realisation of life beyond this sphere. Jesus, the X-Factor in person, sustains and enlivens us.

When you bite that hot cross bun on Good Friday, or kiss the Cross, when you celebrate the resurrection and eat a chocolate egg of new life at Easter, remember the Real X-Factor!

Giving 100%

Wee nearing the end of Lent and this is the final straight. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, and on that day Jesus gave himself to the fickle crowd, knowing that it would probably end in his death.

How has your Lent been? What have you discovered so far? If you have been praying, fasting and giving to others, you will have discovered again the message of today’s gospel. Unless a grain of wheat falls upon the ground and dies it remains a single grain.  But what does that mean to you and me who are living out our ordinary lives in Broome in 2012?

Over the past few weeks I have been fascinated by the politics in America. The passion that the two main rivals for the republican candidacy are displaying is amazing. To add to this, the amount of money that are spending is dizzying.  All of this is to secure the right to be the republican contender. Their commitment is extraordinary because they obviously see the prize as extraordinary. These men think that they change the world, and that is probably the case. They certainly realise that anything less than 100% effort is not worthy of them. Both Mit Romney and Rick Santorum remind me of some of the ideals of the Gospel: giving our all.

The history of the church is full of examples of people who have given their lives for others in the service of God. Our world abounds with similar examples of selflessness, of people dying to self so that others could live. To grow we must leave some things behind, just as Jesus did.

God offers us a new covenant through Jesus; he offers us an example to follow. If we give of ourselves for the sake of others, we will fulfil the purpose of God for us. This story is not about me, it is about us, and that is why we strive to die to self so that we can live with Christ. He came to the stage of realising that unless he opened himself up to whatever was to be, including the malevolence of others, his mission would not be authentic. The same applied to us

It has taken us over half of Lent to be reintroduced to this idea because we have to travel the same road again and see the rationale behind this movement.

Unless the grain of wheat die it remains a single grain.

Homily Fifth Sunday of Lent year B 25th March 2012 OLQP 

Raised Up From The Earth

In the Book of Numbers we hear that the people of Israel, grumbling about God while walking around the wilderness, started to be bitten by fiery serpents.[i] Moses was told by God to erect a statue, a bronze pole with a snake wound around it so that the people would look at it and live.  Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Maybe, but if we are able to get inside the head of Moses, it may not be so silly.

When we are unhappy and grumbling we become listless and careless, and sometimes we just don’t look what we are doing or where we step. In Australia, where 20 of the 25 most deadly species of snake reside[ii], we know the consequences. God, speaking through Moses, called the people to awareness. 

Further, I read that the only way to remove a fiery serpent, drawing its head and poison away from the body, is to gently wind the snake around a stick. Thus the bronze fiery serpent signified the danger and the cure.

The relevance of this image to Jesus is immediate. Jesus comes to make us aware and offer us a cure, to open our eyes and offer us his redemption. “The Son of Man,” we are told, “must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes might have eternal life in him.” He continued in the most translated verse ever: God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son that everyone who believes in him will not die but have eternal life.[iii] Jesus is the gift of God to us, to show us the way. As the serpent was lifted up, so was Jesus on the Cross. Both were an invitation, not a demand. Both demanded a free acceptance of reality, and the acknowledgement of God’s power. We are not told that Jesus might be crucified, but that he must be raised up from the earth, which is saying that we ‘needed something as shocking as a crucifixion to shake us out of our lethargy and save us from the futility of being caught up in aUmeaningless way of life of reacting top sin with more sin.’[iv]

The history of the encounters of Nicodemus with Jesus takes us one step further. The acknowledgement of the person of Jesus and his meaning for us brings us out into the light. For Nicodemus, it was a process, firstly the man who came to Jesus by night, then the one who spoke against his condemnation in the Sanhedrin, and after his death, the one who fearlessly went to Pilate to ask for his body. His was a slow conversion, like ours, one that needed renewing and deepening. We are a work in progress, God’s work of art[v], as St Paul eloquently puts it to the Ephesians. Nicodemus came out into the light and was able to proclaim Jesus as Saviour and Lord. His was done through challenges and crises, possibly like our own journey.

Like Nicodemus, we have the opportunity to make sense of our lives, to practise and deepen our own faith and that of our parish. We do this through specific acts of prayer, almsgiving and fasting. These are the three keys of our spiritual growth during Lent.

Homily 18th March 2012, the Fifth Sunday of Lent  Year B 

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[i] Num 21.4-9

[ii] http://www.avru.org/general/general_mostvenom.html

[iii] John 3.16

[iv] Michael Fallon, The Gospel According to St John: An Introductory Commentary, Chevalier Press, 1998, 103.

[v] Eph 2.10

Semper Reformanda

In the fourth century St Augustine wrote: In essentials unity, in doubt liberty, and in all things charity. It may well have been similar to the thoughts that Jesus had whilst entering the Temple. He had some problem with those who controlled the Temple, and when he entered, a righteous indignation overtook him: he became angry! The rest we know, that he pushed over the tables of the sellers and demanded that they stop making his Father’s house a market.  He teaches us a wonderful lesson, one that is very relevant in Lent.

In essentials Jesus agreed with those who conducted the Temple. He had no argument with the essentials of the Mosaic Law. He allowed them benefit of the doubt in other practices, although he spoke publicly against those who followed the letter of the Law but not the spirit. Temple worship at that time was corrupt, and many Jews boycotted the Temple. However, he had limits, and when the limit was reached he took a stand, and the result is what we hear in today’s Gospel.

The challenge for us is firstly to notice. The righteous indignation caused a stir and also marked out Jesus. Many people walked in and out of the temple, disagreed with what was happening but did nothing about it, whereas Jesus did something. If we do not see we will not be able to act. This calls for openness and awareness. We need to see where the grace of god is active and where it is being thwarted.

Secondly, we need to know our boundaries, what we believe and where our limits are set. If we don’t do that, we will never know when the line is crossed. That is why the Ten Commandments are presented to us the first reading. These are the boundaries for a Christian, the basics of a Christian culture, but they are just the starting point, as they need to be interpreted in the light of contemporary conditions.  I the desert we used to at the Ten Commandments into  contemporary language: put God number one, don’t speak about God badly, keep Sunday holy, respect your parents or kids, do to kill, stay with one man or woman, don’t steal, don’t lie, do not be envious of another’s relationships or possessions. No matter how secular our society becomes or how atheistic our PM is, our society will still fall apart if not lived on these principles.

Thirdly, we need to challenge and be open to being challenged. Totalitarianism thrives on coercion, Christianity on freedom. The times in the history of the Church that she has coerced others or been impervious to criticism or challenge have been our lowest time.  The reformation of the 16^th century was caused in part by the deafness of Church authorities to challenge: as church we must always be open to challenge and reform. The catchcry then, as it was at the second Vatican council and still is today, is Ecclesia semper reformanda, the church is always in need of reform,  always called to be true to the tenets of our faith.

We come back to Augustine, and remember that love and respect is the basis of Christianity and must underpin all we do and say. In essentials unity, in doubt liberty, and in all things love. 

Homily Third Sunday of Lent1 Year B 11th March 2012 

To and From the Mountain Top

Some years ago I went through a time of great questioning and for a while could not clearly see the way forward. One of my brothers said to me: “Come to Africa and climb Mt Kilimanjaro.” I think my reply was sarcastic and cutting. Climbing a mountain in Africa was the last thing I needed. As things turned out, I went. My luggage got lost and I turned up to climb this 20 000 feet high mountain with a shirt and pants, boots and a jumper.  The first thing was that others in the group started to share with me, a shirt here, a thermal there, socks from somewhere else, the mere act of sharing with me seemed to bring our group together. Then we walked, and walked, for three days, interminably up. As the atmosphere thinned, we had to walk more slowly, the country opened up and we could experience the grandeur of the roof of Africa. Reaching the summit was one of the hardest things I have done. I got to the top, looked over Africa, and realised that without the others in the group I would not have made it. I also realised that all that all the problem that I had left 5893m below were not the insurmountable. The clear air of Africa cleared my head. God spoke to me through that experience and I sailed down the mountain. It was my experience of Transfiguration.

We know who Jesus is. We don’t need God on the mountain and in the cloud to tell us that. We know that the apostles came down from the mountain with a new awareness of who Jesus was and what their role was in relation to him. They emerged with new direction.  This is the part of their experience that we need to discover.  We have all had our moments of transfiguration, those times when God has become blindingly obvious to us and the way ahead is very clear. These are wonderful moments, just like mine on Kilimanjaro. They are to be savoured form what they are, moments of grace, gifts from God which reassure us of our faith and give us enthusiasm for the road ahead.  Abraham was given a moment of grace as he ascended Mount Horeb, the mountain of the Lord. He was able to see that the Lord did not want him to offer his only son as a sacrifice, but wanted his obedience.

We all have to come down from the mountaintop and face life after the high. We must move on, and even Peter knew that when he timidly asked that he pitch three tents for Jesus Moses and Elijah: he knew it was a long-shot. Moments like these give us strength and guidance.

Let us ask God to give us direction and strength in our Lenten journey.

Homily for Second Sunday of Lent Year B, 4th March 2012, OLQP.