Fullerton T

Second Sunday after Christmas

How fitting  it is  that we begin the New Year 2022 with a focus on Mary, the Mother of God, and. 2021 was not exactly a year that most people I know want to remember except that now it is over and we were blessed to see it end and we thank god we have come through despite all the rules and regulations the  pandemic has brought to us. We also thank god for the life and the ministry of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa who passed died at the beginning of this week whose funeral took place this morning, may he rest in peace. We are now on the countdown awaiting the arrival of the Three Wise Men on Epiphany which takes place on 6^th January in Ireland.

By long standing tradition Christians celebrate Christmas as a season, with the twelve days between Christmas and the Epiphany as one long “Christmas feast.” The season ends with the Baptism of the Lord which is also the first Sunday of ordinary time.

I am certain many people  out there are asking themselves the time honored question for this time of the year,  why did I make such a fuss!!!  So many make a fuss about the secular part of Christmas and as a result they have missed the essential message of the season. The essential message is that Jesus Emmanuel was born in the stable in Bethlehem at Christmas and  that he is the reason for the season. Our readings this weekend are all about Wisdom and the blessings of God and the Gospel tells us about the word who was in fact the Son of God.

Jesus Christ, therefore, the Word made flesh, was sent as “a man to men.”  He “speaks the words of God” to us and completes the work of salvation which His Father gave Him to do. To see Jesus is to see His Father. To see Jesus is to see the face of the Fathers love for all of us. Through the “least,” and the poor, Christ comes to us. That’s a lesson that we need to continually remember and proclaim in our lives and our dealings with other people. We will find Christ among the “least” and this is the message that lies at the heart of our faith It is the message that Pope Francis is proclaiming in our own time and place. May we not be afraid in the year that has just begun to seek the wisdom that God wants for us, that is the wisdom and the light of faith so that we will be able to show the love  of god to those around us during the year that that has just started today  as well as throughout our lives especially during this time of the pandemic..     

The Holy Family

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. yesterday we celebrated the birth of a tiny Baby, greeted with awe and adoration. Today, we commemorate a family in deep stress because their Son  is seen as a threat to a jealous king: Joseph and Mary are running for their lives from Herod the Great. Tradition says that after three years in exile, another angel informs Joseph that Herod the Great is dead. The Holy Family returns to their homeland, not to Bethlehem, since the new King Archelaus who reigns in his father’s place is also a cruel and barbaric ruler. Joseph brings Mary and Jesus to his native town of Nazareth in Galilee. There, they lived a simple ordinary life, Joseph as a carpenter, and Mary as a housewife and mother.

Jesus grew in holiness and in knowledge of God’s will in the same ordinary ways that families do in our day.  St. Paul, in the reading from Colossians, gives families, both our own individual families, and the wider family of the Church and state a surefire formula for success. We are to act with “heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.” This is a lovely piece of scripture because compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience are for me signs of mercy. As we think about the Holy Family we recognize the sacrifice that Joseph and Mary  made for Jesus, in the same way as we recognize the many sacrifices our own parents made for us  and many more  are making for their children today in our I want what I want and  I get what I want world.   Our families would find the disagreements, stressful relationships, and resentments that spoil the joy of family harmony so much easier to solve by trying to imitate the faith and loving trust of the Holy Family.

“Lord Jesus, you came to restore us to unity with the Father in heaven. Where there is division, bring healing and pardon. May all people and families find peace, wholeness, and unity in you, the Prince of Peace.”

4th Sunday of Advent

The final Sunday of Advent draws us closer to the celebration of the Christmas mysteries. Christmas is almost upon us: yet are we ready in the true sense of the word remembering that Jesus is the reason for the season? Christmas we are told is a time for many things  yet for all of us it is a time of stress and pressure with all the extra things that need to be done and covid adds another dimension in terms of what we should or shouldn’t do.  For many it is a time when we are fearful that the children won’t be disappointed or that there will be tension in relationships or there will be a breakdown in the ceasefire with the in-laws.  And on top of all this there is a feeling of guilt for feeling like this when we should be happier that we are. Now in the midst of the preparations we meet Mary and her cousin Elisabeth in our Gospel reading for this weekend. Mary, who herself had been prepared for the coming of the Messiah.

She has received the angel’s greeting, and his strange news, and has accepted her role in God’s plan. Now she hurries to her kinswoman, Elizabeth, who herself bears John the Baptist in her womb. John, alerts us to the presence of the Lord, as he leaps for joy in his mother’s womb. His joy is that God has kept his promise, and is with his people.  That two women were chosen to play such a role in the story of salvation is remarkable, as women were often marginalized in the society of their time. In all of these events we see the great mission that Mary undertook as a privileged instrument in the hands of God. Mary is not only the mother of the source of grace; she is the very model of what a Christian heart should look like. We look to Mary to see our fullest Christian dig­nity. In Lumen Gentium 68, Vatican II describes our contem­plation of Mary as an act of entering our own deepest mystery, catching a glimpse of what we shall be at the end of our faith journey.

Over the next few days the journey to Christmas will have many pressures for everyone especially those who are worried or afraid about so many things.  Mary in her calm gentle way encourages us to trust in God’s word and to believe in God’s promises as she did. If we believe and have trust in God as Mary did then all the problems that might arise will assume their proper perspective and we will get through them and come out the other side wondering why we got so worried in the first place.

3rd Sunday of Advent

This weekend we celebrate Gaudete Sunday which translates as rejoicing Sunday and we light the pink candle on the Advent Wreath also in some places the vestments may be a rose colour.  In the readings for this Sunday both John the Baptist and Paul share one belief: that the Lord is very near. God’s nearness didn’t act as a threat to them, but gave them a infectious  source of joy that no one could take away. Their joy in the closeness of God gave an edge to their preaching and teaching exhorting others  as well as ourselves to prepare the way for of the lord; it also gave them a vision to see the far side of disaster; it moved them to draw others into that sense of joy. None of them was enclosed in his own joy each moved out going round in the hope his inner joy would be caught by the people of their time and place and many people were caught by the joy they had to pass on to them. The picture of John the Baptist as a man of joy is not one you hear about very often. John is usually portrayed as a lonesome figure, with a weird wardrobe and weirder diet remember the hair shirt and the locusts and honey he ate,. But John who rants and raves at anyone with ears  to hear was a character who intrigued people and as a result they would seek him out and follow him. People don’t journey into the wilderness just to get insulted; people don’t become disciples for the wardrobe and diet. Here was a man who cared nothing at all for comfort, money or fame, who could not be bought, and who would speak the truth without fear. In John people could see something of God. John spoke to the people in words they understand when he told them exactly what they should be doing.  

John made such a deep impression that word goes around that he might be the Christ. Again, that expectant feeling is a measure of John’s effect on people around him. John did not  claim to know who the Messiah was going to be instead he tells the people that he is not that person. That role is for someone else, someone greater and more powerful than he was. And as we know that person was Jesus the Son of the Father. We are called to be joyful witnesses to Jesus but as we know with all that is going on around us these days that is not easy especially with the ongoing COVID pandemic and all it has brought to us. There many things in the way’s of the World that continue to block the presence of the Lord from us. Once again we are reminded that It’s time for us to prepare the way for the Lord so that we will be able to welcome him into our lives our hearts and our homes when he comes at Christmas.  

As we celebrate our rejoicing and light the pink candle this weekend are we prepared to open our hearts and minds to the fact that the Lord is near and pass on the joy of St. Paul and John the Baptist on to the people around us by the way we live our lives

2nd Sunday of Advent

This Sunday we light the second purple candle on the Advent Wreath and we hear the gospel story of John the Baptist the voice in the wilderness. John was called to be the herald of the Lord calling the people of his time to  repentance John the Baptist plays a prominent role in all the gospels, but particularly in Luke. John hears the word in the desert then he tells the people throughout the whole Jordan region to prepare the way for the Lord make straight his paths. The Jordan was important place in the faith life of the Jewish believers. After their desert wanderings the people crossed over the Jordan river into the promised land. They left behind slavery, came to know God in the desert and were finally prepared by God to cross into new life. All the readings share a marvellous insight: people begin to change when they are encouraged to see the best in themselves, not when they are asked to dwell with the worst in themselves.Blessed John Henry Newman reminds us that “Advent is a time of waiting; it is a time of joy because the coming of Christ is not only a gift of grace and salvation but it is also a time of commitment because it motivates us to live the present as a time of responsibility and vigilance. We all need help and encouragement to leave behind all the things that have become destructive in our lives. We need help in thinking about ourselves differently, and imagining the good effect that will have on others. We have to take time during advent to reflect what kind of person God wants us to be, what God’s plan is for us as we prepare the way for the Lord. We need to have faith in the future, to see the power of God working in the change that Jesus brings to us and through us to others. In this Gospel passages John calls all of us to a better faith filled life. This  means the necessity, of an industrious, living ‘wait’ as we prepare the way for the Lord pruning away all that hinders us from making him welcome when he comes at Christmas .

As we continue our  advent  journey we need to stop and  ask ourselves what are we waiting for. Are we waiting for the razzmatazz and presents that the secular part of Christmas bring or are  we preparing for the greatest gift from God to us that is  his Son, Jesus the light in the darkness who John the Baptist foretold when he said prepare the way for the lord make straight his paths.

First Sunday of Advent

Here we are at the beginning of another Church year, as we continue to live with COVID 19 the last 2 years have been some going as we hope to see better days in the year ahead. we pray in a special way for the African Nations who are affected by the current COVID variant . This weekend we have a change of colour and a change mood we go from the green of Ordinary time to the Purple which symbolizes the penitential season of Advent. We also light the first purple candle on the advent wreath and place the symbols on the Jesse tree. Advent is the season that brings us back to the ancient longing of the human race for the coming of one who would bring  liberation from sadness and the fulfillment of perfect peace to this world. The word Advent derives from the Latin word meaning coming. The Lord is coming may the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

During Advent we recall the history of God’s people and reflect on how the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled.  At the beginning of each church year we are reminded that Jesus the Christ is present as a person to us.   The prophet Jeremiah foretold the day when God would send his Messiah King  to “execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 33:15). Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise and every promise which God has made. In these short verses in the Gospel, Jesus described the beginning of God’s final initiative. He would give signs of warning across the sky, cause anxiety on earth with violent sea storms, and shake up the heavens. Today we would explain this scientifically as eclipses, meteor showers, and the result of storm systems. The ancient people attributed to God’s intervention in the order of the cosmos.

God would shake things up and so he does today as we look at Pope Francis and the way he challenges us as individuals and as members of the Church.  People of Jesus time would grow anxious because their faith systems and rituals failed.  But, Christians were to rejoice. Their Savior was close at hand! Now, their world view and lifestyle would be vindicated. Luke presents this time as a time of hope filled anticipation. Through great power and glory, the Son of Man would come and free his followers. Unlike the anxious people of the world, the Christian people were to anticipate the end in hope. During Advent, we are invited to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord – to wait in joyful hope as we prepare for the annual celebration of his birth. So now let us go forth in peace and hope to prepare over these next few weeks to meet the Lord at Christmas.

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday as we head towards  the end of the Liturgical Year we listen to Jesus’s words concerning the end times. The vision of the future in the Gospel Reading for this weekend doesn’t look very appealing. The bad news is delivered first of all. Jesus imagines a time of terror and trouble and persecution. People will be betrayed and handed over to the authorities. There will be wars and earthquakes and famines. Jesus says, “These things must happen.” Then there will be cosmic upheavals: “the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven”. After this catalogue of disaster there is the good news. Jesus looks beyond the time of distress to the final time, when the Son of Man will gather the scattered people of God to himself. Jesus sees beyond suffering and persecution to a future of peace with the father in heaven.  God does not call us to be anxious, but he calls us to confidence in the message we hear in the gospel and proclaim in our lives that we remain in his light. Christ remains our high priest who has offered himself for the forgiveness of our sins. God knows what it is to be human.

The apocalyptic prophecies of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures are a cautionary tale even for us today. Even though the forces of wickedness take control, God is still the Lord of the Universe and all that is in it. These narratives are meant to provide us with hope to stay the course, to hold fast to the faith that resides in our hearts and souls. That faith is the foundation of our charity and provides our spirits with the energy that is hope. It may sound like a fluffy non relevant thing to speak of faith residing in our hearts. The experience of the Jews, in this period a couple of hundred years before Jesus, is an inspiration. Our hearts pretty much dictate our actions. It is the movement of our hearts that provides the energy to take on overwhelming odds and preserves us through all the struggles. It is the overwhelming power of what resides in the heart that provides us with wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. If our hearts are right, then our lives are based on the Truth that is God’s creative love. If our hearts are empty of that love, we tend to get overwhelmed by threatening despair and hopelessness. The Lord calls us to stay awake amidst the distractions of life, so that we will recognize him when he comes again. St. John of the Cross wrote, “When evening comes, you will be examined in love” (Sayings, 60).

We prepare for the day of Christ’s coming by recognizing him in our brothers and sisters and by knowing him through  his word and sacraments. False securities and shallow guarantees will not sustain us in times of testing. God alone must be our hope as he has been for many people over the time of the COVID19 Pandemic and so many other troubled times. God’s ways must be our ways, so that when our securities and misplaced confidences fail us we can turn our eyes to God’s saving light and he will show us the way.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

This weekend at the beginning of the month of November we remember the Souls of all our families and friends who have died. Throughout November we think of all those who have gone before us in faith and we pray that we will meet them again in heaven when we get there.

The scribes in This Sundays Gospel need more than a defence counsel, for Jesus is putting his case for the prosecution and the scribes do not have much of a defence. The scribes were expert lawyers, who interpreted and applied the written Law through a complicated system of traditions. Jesus makes a series of charges against the scribes and what they are actually doing.  He criticises their habit of wearing distinctive clothes, which marks them as different from others. He criticises their habit of taking the places of honour at religious and civil functions. He criticises their habit of long-winded prayers, that are for  their immediate audience to hear  and not directed  to God. Finally, he denounces their practice of exploiting the widows by living off their savings.  

The gospel story goes on to tell us about the poor widow who went along to the treasury and how she puts in two of the smallest coins in circulation. In the arithmetic of the kingdom the widow’s offering is worth more than all the other contributions put together. The others who have given money give from their surplus, the widow gives everything she has. That is the key point in this reading she gave everything she had the widow’s action follows immediately on Jesus  critique of the scribes who profit from their status within their communities . The Gospel story about the widows contribution to the treasury is a good lesson in having a proper perspective of oneself and what you are doing or not doing. Her humility is praised, as an honest thanks giving to God for all she has and all she is. This should encourage us to try and stretch our resources rather than seeing the giving as an obligation or an after thought, certainly giving from the heart rather than for show is a good and noble thing. And that is really what we should be about giving from the heart recognising that we need to be like the widow of the gospel who gave everything she had. So many people in positions of power can easily fall into the pretence of high office. When that occurs, they are no longer open to hearing and seeing the needs of their people.  

Jesus hopes that his own disciples will take their cue from the example the widow gave  and not from the scribes who were hungry for all the status and honour that they could get. Jesus hope for us is  that we, his followers, will also take the example of the widow and be equally generous with our own resources. We are called to give our time, our talent, our understanding. We are asked to give not just from the abundance of all we have but to give from our hearts. Like the widow, we might feel that we have nothing much to give; but it’s that kind of giving that counts with Jesus. May we not be afraid to be like the widow in the Gospel who gave all she had.