Fullerton T

13th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time brings us readings that speak about welcome, faith, and commitment. Each passage reminds us that following God changes how we live. It calls us to trust his promises, live the new life he calls us to follow, and place Him in our hearts. We are reminded that faith touches both big choices and small actions. To follow Jesus is to place him at the centre and to live with open hearts. Every gesture of love becomes part of our call as disciples. In the First Reading A woman of rank in Shunem offers hospitality to the prophet Elisha. In gratitude, Elisha promises her a son, despite her husband’s advanced age. In the Second Reading St Paul tells us that through baptism, we join Christ in His death and resurrection, signifying our new life. As Christ is free from death, we too, should live free from sin, and for God.

In the Gospel story, we are reminded that the priority of faith in the early church demanded radical consequences. At that time extended closely-knit families formed the basis of society, a choice for a follower of Christ could mean a rejection of the family’s faith and values. Jesus reminded his followers that the Christian life involved many risks and one could not compromise or hide these risks away a believer could not placate his or her family if the cost threatened faith. The people of the day thought that No, faith could involve such an extreme choice. Either the relationship with family took priority or the relationship with Jesus took the number one slot it seemed that both could not go together.  Even though they had only a vague idea then of what he meant, when the time came, they remembered Jesus words and gladly suffered imprisonment, hardships, and finally martyrdom for Christ.  This shows how the resurrection of Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit on them, changed them from worldly weaklings into fearless heroes. They had become convinced that Christ was the Son of God their saviour who had come on earth to bring all men to heaven. Through time they came to realize how unimportant, the few years of the earthly life that we have were compared to the eternal life to follow. 

Today, there are still those who are suffering martyrdom for the faith because they obey God rather than man. We can help them to persevere, by our prayers. We ourselves, who are free from any overt persecution, must show our gratitude to God for being allowed to practice our religion openly and without fear. We have many opportunities in our daily life to reach out to others, to be a welcoming presence and a sign of God’s love in the world especially where we live let us not be afraid to take these opportunities when they arise and show how much our faith means to us right in our time and place.

12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday we celebrate the 12^th Sunday in ordinary time. In the first reading, Jeremiah’s lament is about his treatment at the hands of his adversaries. However, since his message comes from God, he is convinced of the rightness of his cause and of God’s ultimate vindication of his servant. In the second reading we hear that Paul was the originator of what came to be called ‘the doctrine of original sin.’ He was writing to Christians of Jewish background who had been brought up to believe it was their obedience to the Law that justified them in the sight of God. But sin ruled the world before the giving of the Law and, Paul insisted, it was faith itself the gift of God rather than the law that justified them, set them free as today it sets us free as well.

The  Gospel message is quite simple Jesus tells us not to be afraid He does not disguise the truth that his disciples will be confronted by those who threaten, bully and intimidate others into submissive agreement. What our Lord said to His Apostles applies to all Christians including you and me in the practice of our faith. So today we think of all of those who have given us an example by living their lives in faith. These may be parents’ family members or people we have known we all have people who have shown us the way of faith. So as faith filled people Jesus teaches us that our only source of freedom and strength is the goodness of our heavenly Father the goodness that comes through Jesus himself. Furthermore, the discovery of this goodness carries with it the solemn obligation to pass on one’s blessings on to the people around us as we show our concern for others. Our world is full of meaningless hype and glitter, but the only truth that will prevail is the truth taught by Jesus passed down to us in faith. The courage ordinary Christians need today is often quiet and steady rather than dramatic and overpowering. Most believers will not face prison or martyrdom, but they do face pressures that test their faith every day.

It takes courage to remain honest in a dishonest environment, to forgive when resentment feels easier, to defend the dignity of the poor and forgotten, to remain faithful in marriage and family life, and to continue praying when God seems to be silent. We also need the courage not to be ashamed of the faith we profess. In many places, we are tempted to keep religion private, avoiding any mention of hope, mercy, justice, or the Gospel for fear of criticism or rejection. Jesus’ words, “Do not be afraid,” are spoken precisely for moments like these. He reminds us that we belong to God and are precious in God’s sight. Our world often admires power, success, and self-sufficiency. But Christian courage will always be different. It is the courage to remain compassionate in a harsh world, truthful in a dishonest world, hopeful in a despairing world, and faithful in a distracted world. Jeremiah’s words from the first reading become our prayer: “Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has rescued the life of the poor.” The believer’s faith finally rests not in human strength, but in confidence that God remains faithful through every trial that may be thrown at us. May we remain faithful in every situation we may find ourselves as God remains faithful to us.

11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

I am sure many people out there reading this are aware of what happened in Belfast at the beginning of this week. I live just a few minutes’ walk from where this attack took place and as I was leaving home on Tuesday morning there was a heavy feeling of hopelessness in the air. But there is also a sense of we must do something to stop this happening again and we must ask ourselves how many times this will happen before we do something to rectify the situation. This is a problem that the politicians and the governments need to solve and they really should stop and listen to what the people are telling them as many feel that they are being left behind. It is the people on the ground politicians and local people who need to come together to sort out the problems of our time which include immigration and all the associated issues that arise from it. We pray for Stephen Ogilvie, who sustained devastating injuries in the brutal and horrific attack on Monday evening as well as praying for his family and for peace in our country.

The Scripture readings for this Sunday are all about the great compassion Jesus has for the crowd who were his followers. In the first reading the Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai, where God speaks to Moses and tells him to convey a message to the people. God reminds the Israelites of how He delivered them from slavery in Egypt and declares that if they obey His commands and keep His covenant, they will be a treasured possession and a kingdom of priests. In the second reading, Paul tells us God showed His love for humanity by sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins while we were still sinners. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, we can be reconciled with God and receive the gift of eternal life. In the gospel, we hear how Jesus cared for the people and sent his disciples to do the same. Jesus wanted to bring the Kingdom of his Father to them, so he set out to heal them, and sent the apostles out to do the same in his name. His aim was to bring them the peace of God, to help them by healing their worries, their sickness, their embarrassment at being lost sheep without a shepherd as God was always the shepherd in Israel. When he called the twelve apostles he was making a New Israel, a new set of twelve tribes, as a permanent healing body, to make sure that the Kingdom of the Father and its peace and generosity would always be available to everyone everywhere.  He was not setting up a group of leaders, instead he was appointing his own helpers in spreading God’s Kingdom.  Do we make it our business to spread the Kingdom of God? Are we labourers in the vineyard, trying to bring God’s peace and healing to all the people of God? All of us are made in the image of God, and he gave us the task of following on his creative work. And then we are all called to follow Jesus, we are all called to make his message known to all people, those around us as well as the people at large.

Like the chosen people of Israel, we are counted a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation. We are called to minister to the people in our own time, taking responsibility for our own mission.  No one can tell us exactly where and when we are to respond to Jesus’ call. We will just have to look out and see and hear the way Jesus did. And through our baptism, that is what we are being prompted and empowered to do. As Blessed John Henry Newman wrote: He called us first in baptism; but afterwards also; whether we obey his voice or not, he graciously calls us still… Abraham was called from his home, Peter from his nets, Matthew from his office, Elisha from his farm, Nathanael from his retreat. The call that Christ makes to us takes us onwards, It is a call to be the church of the future just as the Apostles were called to be the Church of the future at its beginning. Jesus’ mission is to the lost sheep. It is his desire and endeavour to bring together, those he pities, those he looks on with love.

Today we pray for each of us: “Help us see what you want of us, help us not settle on being just occasional Christians, but “full time Christians.”  Give us sensitive sight, your eyes, for the world. Through the words of the Gospel may we hear again our own call to be emissaries of God’s love and bearers of Good News. May we allow the kindness and compassion of God to touch our own lives and the lives of those around us wherever we are.