Listen Carefully

Most of us do not like being told what to do. We like making our own decisions, so one of the keys of leadership is not to tell people what to do, but encourage and form people so that they are equipped to make the right decisions. In the Christian life this decision making process is crucial.

As a consequence of this, I don’t tell people that they have to come to Mass, even though I know it is good for them. I don’t tell people not make up their own religion, even though it foolish to do so. I try to help people discover these things for themselves, for if this happens, the lesson far better than being told from above.

Jesus does not tell us we must keep the commandments, but he makes it very clear that his followers are drawn from among the people that firstly and fore mostly keep the commandments. In the Gospel, Jesus reminds his disciples that he is not going to be physically present to them for much longer. He prepares for the time when he is not with them by reminding them of how they can stay strong to follow him throughout their lives.

St Peter challenges us to always have a reason for the hope you hold in your hearts. Today is the perfect example of why to do that and the effect that it can have on others. We have among us here this evening young people who are fired up in preparation for receiving their First Holy Communion. What will you say when one of them asks you why you follow the teaching of the Church, or come to Mass, or why you receive Holy Communion, or why it is important to you? What is the reason for the hope that you have I your heart? When people who are not motivated by such noble ideals as these young people ask us or attack us, how do we, as St Peter asks, courteously and respectfully defend our faith and hope.

Jesus gives us a reason to be faithful, happy and hopeful. He wishes us to be part of his body, the church. He knows that the best way of achieving and maintaining that is to follow the commandments and his teaching, which today is given to us through the magisterium (the pope and bishop’s and the Church). 

I know that the hope of Christ in which I share has never been dashed if I follow the commandments and the teaching of the church. My times of unhappiness and sadness have always been when I have not embraced that teaching, when I have strayed, made up or changed church teaching to suit myself, or not given my heart to God. 

The word obedient comes for the Latin, obedire, to carefully listen. Jesus does not tell us we must believe, he asks us to carefully listen, and points out to us the consequences of failing to listen. Let us then be obedient to the teachings of our Lord and Saviour.

Homily,OLQP 29th May 2011, 6th Sunday of Easter

Listening and Acting

When I came to the Kimberley, I was told to listen a lot and say very little. It was crucial advice, and advice I share with newcomers. To engage effectively with others we need to hear what they are saying and meet them on common ground. Yesterday I was asked about m,y views on a particular topic and I realised that I had been listening about it for enough years and now it was time to start talking about it, hopefully with some knowledge and wisdom.

During Eastertide we are listening to the experience of the disciples and their encounter with Jesus after his resurrection from the dead. Slowly all of the scriptures have come together and they fully realise who has been in their midst. Their reflection on their time spent with Jesus takes on a new meaning and is seen in new light. The experience of faith suddenly has flesh, has direction and has meaning. For the apostles it is time to act. So it is no coincidence that throughout Eastertide we read from the book called Acts of the Apostles.

Up until this time, the apostles had been very good at staying in the shadows of Jesus, soaking up the wisdom, knowledge and hope. Now they are called to share it with other people. Jesus tells them that he will be departing soon. This is too much for Thomas. Remember Thomas? He had to eat his words, apologise, and in doing so he shared his wonderful faith when he said: “My Lord and My God.” He was the most disappointed. None of us like change, especially just after we have had to change recently against our will. Jesus task was to reassure them. He said: “You know the way to the place I am going.” So do we?  Thomas did, he just did not want to admit it. He had everything he need to go forward, but he was confortable and did not want to move.

You and I have everything we need to move forward in faith. Through our baptism we have the gift of God’s Spirit and call God our Father. Through Jesus we have the gift of salvation, the redemption won for us by the sacrifice of the Cross. The problem is that often we don’t really believe in this or don’t use it.

Recently, I was asked to explain a Church teaching to a third person. Why can’t you do it? I said. No, she said: The priests and the nuns do that. That’s how we were brought up. I think St Peter would have a great answer to that one, far better than the one I gave. It comes from our second reading:  

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

We are all called to take our part I proclaiming the resurrection and the reason for our hope. Eastertide is our season of hope. Christ has conquered death and eternal life is our reward. Now is the time for us to speak from our wisdom, our knowledge. We have listened, heard, taken it into our hearts and declared our faith in the risen Christ. We are called to bear this witness to others and talk about it in our lives. The first reading tells of how the apostles shared their ministry with others so that everyone is able to take part. That is the mission of the church. We all have a role and a part. My friend was wrong, we cannot leave it all to the priests and the nuns, for in doing so we are negating the power of our own baptism.

If we allow the Word and sacraments to work through us, the faith will spread, love and respect will be given and received, and hope will conquer the sadness and despair enslaving many in our society.  May the word of God, alive and active, find a place in our hearts. 

Homily, Broome, Fifth Sunday of Easter, 22nd May 2011

Kinyu and the Good Shepherd

Holy Land shepherds lived and slept with their sheep; they knew their names and habits, much like our relationship with our pets.  It is a difficult image to convey in a country of 80 million sheep gathered in mobs of thousands rather than flocks of fives. My image is found in the relationship I have with Kinyu, the Presbytery dog.  I am his human and he is my dog.

Early in morning, if I have not stirred, quiet noises begin to come from out the back. They remind me to take Kinyu on our walk. He runs ahead and sometimes I have to call him lest he get wiped out by a vehicle. When I warn him of cheeky dogs or people, he comes close to me.  If something wonderful or terrible happens, he wants to know I am near enough to help or celebrate with him. He knows he needs me, so even if he becomes side-tracked exploring or wanders away, he is back at home before too long. He does things that he knows make me happy, like protecting the house at night and staying outside the Church, and even the things that he does not want to do, like taking a bath.  I want Kinyu to be healthy, happy and contented. I know that without me or a similarly kind human patron, he will die. I know that I know what is good for Kinyu better than he does. The analogy cannot be stretched too far, but it probably is closer to our reality than sheep.

Our Good Shepherd looks out for us, protects and guides us, is interested in our future and wants us to be happy. Our God is greater than us and can see more clearly than we can and sometimes leads us in ways that we do to want to go, with the result that we kick, resist, whinge, or run away. In the end we trust, are led and are sometimes even carried. If we manage to evade the goodness of God we are gently called home and are greeted without retribution.

Many say that they don’t need anyone to lead them as they will find their own way. The reality is that we all follow someone or something, whether we care to admit it or not. As Christians we admit that we follow Christ as our leader, guide, support and strength. However, Christ cannot protect or guide us if we do not trust that he is our shepherd. Sometimes people say to me that God is not present to them, or they hardly any relationship with God. Often what they say is true, even though they are Catholic, because they do not put their faith and trust in Christ, and so are always confused.

As the flock of the Good Shepherd, we are called to trust and follow. Kinyu trusts me and follows, sometimes with trepidation, because he knows that I will protect him and know what is good for him. Christ calls us to follow him completely in the Church, not just to follow the Church teachings I like or are not too hard. If I pick and choose what to believe or not, or if I decide to make up my own religion based on a mixture of religious themes, I do it at my peril, for I walk away from the protection of the Good Shepherd.  

In our world, we need Christ to provide Good Shepherds for us in the form of holy priests. Today we remember the role that each baptised person has in the encouragement of priestly vocations in our parish. In his message for today, Pope Benedict has said that: “proposing vocations in the local church means having the courage, through an attentive and suitable concern for vocations, to point out this challenging way of following Christ….”.[i]

If we wish to follow Christ we need to develop our faith through a personal commitment to Christ. The Good Shepherd will ensure that this trust is guarded through the leadership of holy priests and bishops.

Today pray for courageous and holy priests to lead God’s holy people.

[i] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/vocations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20091113_xlvii-vocations_en.html

Walking with Meaning

Not so many years ago, well in the memory of many here, Catholics were people of great processions. We processed in and out of church, we processed around with statues and relics, we processed for Our Lady, St Patrick and St Joseph, and most importantly, we processed for Christ the King, Corpus Christi and Palm Sunday.

Each of these processions spoke loudly to those around us. In former days they told people that we were an oppressed Catholic minority in an Anglo-Saxon Protestant country. In other countries they similarly reinforced cultural, religious and tribal affiliation. They signalled the difference of those who were processing to those around them.

Of all these processions, one remains that is mandated for all Catholics: the Procession of Palms on Passion Sunday.  We who processed into this Cathedral are different. We have entered the ritual space that allows us to appreciate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord in context. The week ahead is our week, the Great Week, crowned by the three days of the Paschal Triduum. The reason that we have entered this Cathedral carrying a palm frond is that we are part of this drama, part of this historical reality. Jesus entered Jerusalem with fear and trepidation, concerned about the future and not duped by the false adulation of the crowd.  The way to Jerusalem had not been easy, and the way of the cross was almost too much to bear. He invites us to accompany him along this road this week.

We have the choice, as we always do, to walk with Christ. By the palms we hold we have already signalled our intention to move into this ritual space, not to be carried by the cry of the crowd, but instead be quietly present with Jesus. As Jesus stood beside Pilate and his silence is deafening. The scene asks us for our answer, not just our feeling, but our hard and fast answer.

This week is one for few words, much contemplation and some action.

Enter the ritual space, enter the quiet, listen to God’s call and accept the invitation to walk this great week beside your Lord and Saviour. 

It is only by entering into this space that we are able to live the resurrection. 

Homily, Passion Sunday 17^th April 2011, OLQP

Jesus Wept

Jesus has visited his friend Lazarus and in his humanity is distraught at his death. The shortest verse in the scriptures puts it succinctly: Jesus wept.  In all his preaching teaching and leading he has been unable to prevent the death of his close friend. It is no wonder that he stayed in Jerusalem for two days after he heard that Lazarus was ill. He had a premonition, not only of Lazarus’ death, but of his own. In weeping Jesus was not only coming to terms with his friend’s death, but with the inevitability of his own, and this is what provides the transformative power to this scene.

Jesus claims the power of God to be brought to bear on this situation and his Father listens to his prayer.  Lazarus, who believed in the resurrection from the dead on the last day, is raised to life. In this action Jesus provides his last and ultimate sign. Death is conquered!

For the last few days the words of one of the Holy Sonnets composed by the English metaphysical poet John Donne have been in my mind. They speak directly to this Gospel:

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

After all the preaching, witness and teaching of Jesus, his life is fast coming to its zenith. He has invited his disciples to join his liberating journey towards new life. He uses Lazarus as his last and most poignant sign of this journey. Lazarus was raised to life again and died again sometime afterwards. He did, however, experience the liberating presence of Jesus. He believed and this faith led him to be free.

On the cusp of Holy Week, Jesus offers us the same freedom. As he called Lazarus out of his tomb, he calls us out of our tombs. He calls us to leave behind the deathly parts of our lives and accept the new life he offers. Leaving behind the deathly parts of our lives is a constant challenge, so as we enter the final week of Lent we are presented the chance to commit ourselves again to God, to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to align ourselves with the new life Jesus promises us, the life we will celebrate at Easter.

Lazarus, surrounded by those he loved, returned to this life and was confirmed in his desire to live the new and eternal life promised by Jesus. His sisters were asked by Jesus to confirm their faith. ‘Just as Jesus asked Martha if she believes that he is the "resurrection and the life," Jesus addresses to each of us this same question that in fact exceeds our ability to understand. Jesus asks us to trust him, as he has been entrusted to the Father. And despite our doubts and our darkness, we are invited to follow Martha's example and say to Jesus, "We believe in you, because you have the words of eternal life. We believe in you, we hope in the gift of life after life, an authentic and full life in your kingdom of light and peace.[i]"’

We all need to grow and change. Remember Martha when she appears earlier in the Gospel. She was admonished by Jesus for worrying and fretting about too many things. Here we see her calm and focussed: a model of growth in faith and wisdom. It is worth remembering that the church has a feast of St Martha, but not of Mary and Lazarus. Martha is the one who grew the most.  This chance is offered to us as well, and we live safe in the knowledge that our saviour Jesus Christ has defeated death of the soul and given us the words of his everlasting life.

Homily 5^th Sunday of Lent, 10^th April 2011, Year A OLQP

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[i]Reflection by Benedict XVI, March 9 2008

The Light of the Blind Man

I was alongside a friend born and raised in the desert.  He kept looking down at the ground as we walked along, so in my ignorance I said to him: Why do you always look down? You have to look up and see the world, not be ashamed and look down. He retorted immediately: And what can you see? Nothing, only blue sky, that’s it. If you knew and looked down you would see the tracks of all the people who have been at your camp while we were away. You could see the country.  In my superior fashion I had been blind and tried to force my own blinkered vision onto my mate. It was obvious that I would blunder along and learn nothing. I needed to learn from my friend.

Samuel came looking for God's chosen, whom he assumed would be strong, mature and wise. He almost chose the wrong one. Only when he stopped to listen to God did he discover the one whom God had chosen.  He found David, slight, immature and young. This was the one chosen to be the leader of his people.

The lesson here for us is clear. We are all people of faith, committed to following God and building the kingdom. But how central is God to our decision making process? Do we seek the truth or just the bits that agree with our present desires or situation?

The story of the man born blind provides us with some challenges. The first one is: Who is responsible for his blindness, him or his parents? This is the same craziness as blaming God for the tsunami in Japan or the flood in Warmun.  Jesus wants to make it clear that this is not our God. Unfortunately there is enough punishment, enough terror, enough pain in this world that comes directly from us, the people created by God and endowed with freewill. The God of love does not punish people. God does not stand idly by and watch us suffer; instead giving us hope and reason for existence. The second crazy claim is: How can a sinner produce signs like this? The God of Jesus Christ is not vengeful. God gives us scope to escape our negative blindness, to be able to overcome the obstacles that nature or other people place in our path. Our God shines through others, believers and unbelievers. The difference is that we believers know the reason for our hope, the reason for our lives. In this we are different to those who have no faith, whose lives are mapped by fatalism.

The man born blind, with the help of Jesus, was able not only to recover his sight but also to be a beacon for others to the light. Those who surrounded this man were in the dark, where they did not want the light of knowledge to illuminate the dark. The blind man’s life was subject to a burst of light and joy that went far beyond him. He was able to see the same things as the others but through a different lens: that of faith, joy and hope.  St Paul reminds the Ephesians: try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness.

We can stay blinkered or blind, being led by opinions or trying to make God’s word fit in with our own beliefs, just like the Pharisees, or we can follow the urging of St Paul and : Wake from your sleep, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine in you.

Homily 3rd April 2011 Lent 4 Year A OLQP

Following the Samaritan Woman

We all have private parts of our lives which we would rather not have broadcast. These might details of present or past behaviour or relationships, misdemeanours or just embarrassing times and events. It is not that these details are hidden from everyone; it is just that it is not the right of all others to know everything about us. We like to reserve parts of our lives for those closest to us, or those whom we trust and want to share them when the time is ready. We do this because not everyone is worthy of our trust. As we age the list of both those who are worthy of trust and those who are not grows longer. To those who are worthy of trust we continue to share deeply and accept their wisdom. This is the preferred way of growing in relationship with others. Incidentally, it is one of the great reasons that confession is individual and secret, not public and published. It is reasonable to assume that the woman at the well lived with the same assumptions, so imagine if a stranger came up to you and revealed the hidden parts of your life.

Jesus arrives at the well and can see that something is amiss. In desert climates the only people who draw water in the middle of the day are those who want to avoid others. Obviously this woman wishes to avoid others. She is confronted by Jesus, a complete stranger and from her traditional enemies, the Jews, who is able to tell her a large part of her story without denigrating her. He showed her respect and dignity. When confronted with this, she has the option of withdrawing into herself or seeing in this kindly prophet as a possibility of growth. Jesus tells her part of her own difficult story and she chooses growth; far from being ashamed, horrified or angry, the woman is excited and becomes a prophet for her people. The man who knows all about her dies not judge, but offers her this thing called living water.

In the Western Desert, living water is spring water that comes from the depths of the earth.  People travel great distances to obtain this water, since it is reputed to have unique qualities, bringing life, healing, health and happiness. Interestingly, desert people go to great lengths to have living water used at baptisms. The analogy is the same as in the Gospel. This living water is the word of God, accepted joyfully by the Samaritan woman and offered to us all day after day. This living water, this revelation of God to us is not something to fear. The coming into our lives of someone who accepts us as we are and who we are celebrates this and urges us on to greater things is a person to hold on to and follow.

If we try to go through life entirely on our own resources, we will eventually thirst, like Israelites in the desert, as anger, frustration and torment take their toll. Moses offered the people water, and people became thirsty again. Jesus offered the Samaritan Woman his spirit and assured her that this was the way to avoid the pitfalls of life in the future. St Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, reminds us that Jesus gives us this gift without receiving our answer. His death on the Cross was given freely for all people, while we were still sinners. Our task is to use and live this gift. Paul tells us that this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts buy the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

We can listen to this voice and grow in faith, continuing to allow our loving God into our life, or we can harden our hearts like the Israelites did at Meriba and Massah. One way leads to life, the other to stagnation and death. This Lent the Samaritan Woman leads us to open our hearts and lives to the living water of Christ’s Spirit.

Homily, 27th March 2011, 3rd Sunday in Lent, Year A, OLQP.