Fullerton T

24th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

As we continue our journey of faith we also  journey along with  the continuing COVID pandemic. We continue our prayers for all those who are affected by the covid19. We Also pray for all those who were affected  in the 9/11 attacks in the USA 19 years ago it is hard to believe all those years have passed but they have. We continue our prayers for peace for the world and those who live in it, peace of mind heart and soul.

Our Gospel reading for this Sunday is all about forgiveness as a matter of fact all our readings are about forgiveness.. The parable of the unforgiving official is told in order to underline our need for forgiveness. When the king calls his court officials to audit the accounts, one shows a deficiency of ten thousand talents, a colossal sum of money. The sum is deliberately extravagant, perhaps running into millions of pounds in our own money, to heighten the contrast with the few pounds owed to the official.  

When the king orders the sale of the debtor and his family into slavery, the official pleads for time. The king feels sorry for him and decides to remit the whole of the vast debt.  The official, however, learns nothing from his experience, for he refuses to give a colleague time to pay a trifling debt; instead, he has him thrown into prison. When this heartless behaviour is reported to the king, the grant of full forgiveness is withdrawn and the unforgiving official is thrown to the torturers. What do we learn from this parable about showing mercy the saying goes that the mercy we show to others will also be the mercy that  will be shown to us in our turn. We often forget that God shows us mercy In the same way that the king showed mercy to  the official!  If we think we do not need the mercy of God we need to stop and think about it  for all of  us need gods mercy in one way or another. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where it was difficult to forgive someone who offended you all of us have been in that situation at some time in our lives.

Forgiveness can be very hard in many situations, and for this reason it takes a long time before we bring ourselves to forgive those who sin against us  especially when they might be  people we trusted a lot. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus seems to tell us that God’s forgiveness has necessary limits, but perhaps these are just the limits we set. The unforgiving slave brings judgment on himself by treating his own forgiveness as a license to bring judgment on others. He thus transforms a merciful king into a vengeful judge. The problem lies not with the king, or even by analogy with God, but with the world the slave insists on constructing for himself, under which terms his fate is now set. With whom, and to what systems, do we bind ourselves each day? Each day let us ask the Lord for forgiveness for all our sins Let us forgive all those who have sinned against us because that is what our father in heaven asks us to do. Remember our Father in heaven sent us Jesus his son to point the way and he encourages us to follow him.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Well here we are at the last weekend of August and the youngsters are going back to school. Time is flying by for all of us both young and old as we move into the new school year. This year going back to school is very different with the COVID19 pandemic and all of the ongoing changes and concerns it has raised for all of us. From the Lockdown to the reopening from the abnormality of the last 5 months  to getting back to a sort of normal much has changed and a lot has remained the same. The question that I ask myself is how have I changed and how have we as a community changed these are not easy questions to answer. I get the sense that we are a more caring and sharing society as a result of this pandemic.

In our Gospel Reading this weekend we see Jesus starting to prepare his Apostles for the journey he must make to Jerusalem which ends up with Jesus on the Cross. In foretelling his sufferings and death, which took place some months later, Christ intended to prepare his disciples and other followers for  the severe crisis of faith that would hit them after the crucifixion. He also took the occasion to remind his disciples, and all the others of what their attitude to suffering and death should be. He told them, and us too, that we must be ever ready to accept sufferings in this life, and even an untimely death if that should be demanded of us, rather than deny our Christian faith. Peter is appalled at this prospect and tries to deflect Jesus from the path that lies ahead and yet it was peter who was crucified as well. After having declared Jesus to be the Christ, a title associated with victory and glory, Peter now denies that Jesus must suffer. Peter wants to banish suffering from the agenda; Jesus brings the subject to the forefront of the conversation. Jesus faced suffering which could only be conquered if it was accepted If the suffering was to pass, it had to be endured. He faced rejection which could be transformed only if he assented to it. He told them “For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it”. The way of the cross which Jesus followed in Jerusalem was one which passed through streets and markets, by houses and palaces, by windows and doors.

While it happened people went about their business not giving the procession to calvary a second thought. Suffering must run the course of the familiar as it does for us especially these days. As Christians we live in the assurance that our way of the cross does not go unnoticed. We are asked like Jesus to carry our crosses through streets and markets, by houses and palaces, by windows and open doors. Jesus notices what we are going through and he is our companion along the way he is our strength and our shield; his power is mighty in our weakness. If the cross we carry is the price to be paid for love, then carrying it is love in action. For Jesus, that was enough it is also enough for us to know that our sufferings large or small were nailed to the Cross on that first Good Friday through the love that God the Father had to send us his Son to be with us for all time.

20TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Well here we are at the middle of August, with just two weeks to go before the schools reopen after the long COVID 19 closure.  When you stop to think about it time just seems to be passing by as it doesn’t seem nearly 5 months since the lockdown began. We also spare a thought for all the teachers out there who will go back into the schools in the days ahead to prepare for the reopening of the schools.

Our Gospel reading for this Sunday is all about the  Canaanite woman whose daughter was being tormented by a devil, but when you read the story we realize it is really about  the great faith that she has and it was that faith in Jesus that cured her daughter even though she had to be persistent in dealing with the Lord. The woman in today’s Gospel story is not satisfied with just tears though.  Her daughter “is tormented by a demon.”   Parents among us know what that might feel like and how fiercely we would spring into action if a “cure” was before us for our own sick child.   She cries out and asks Jesus for help … and perseveres even when the disciples try to send her away and Jesus Himself rebuffs her!  Jesus relents because great is her faith.

In the same story we see much about ourselves and our own faith.  Over a number of years I have been involved with many people who have been praying for this or that or for or a member of their families and very often they have said to me that the prayers have not been heard let alone answered. I have always told them to hang in there to persist and not give up in the prayers because they are always heard and this has been the case with so many people throughout history. In the same way as the Canaanite woman  pestered Jesus  we should never give up though we mightn’t have our requests granted when WE want them they will be granted when we really need the things that we are praying for. A friend of mine is constantly praying for her son and thankfully her prayers are being answered but sometimes as happens in all families the road can be a bit rocky along the way but we have to keep on going. The message of today’s readings is all about FAITH life can be a bit of a pickle with good and bad things within it, but a life lived with faith will see all the various obstacles being removed. Would our faith be as persistent as the faith of the woman in this Sundays Gospel? Only you can answer that one and I hope that your faith is persistent like the Canaanite woman whose daughter Jesus Cured because faith moves mountains !!

19TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

This week we in Ireland and especially in Northern Ireland we said goodbye to John Hume who died at the beginning of the week. He was the man who took risks for peace when he began the Hume Adams dialogue in the 1980’s which in turn led to the IRA and their political wing Sein Fein leaving violence behind. This engagement eventually  led to the 1998 Good Friday agreement which gave us the imperfect peace that we have today that continues to be a work in progress. We thank god for John Hume and his life in which he was a man of peace who took risks that paid great dividends for all of us who live in Northern Ireland today as we live in a society that is more peaceful. We also pray for the people of Lebanon and Beirut in particular as they begin the recovery from the explosion at the docks.

The gospel reading this weekend is all about  Jesus  walking on water but if you look beyond the walking on water this story is really about trust in God. We have no problem identifying with Peter he is so like ourselves . He is confident one moment and then, when things get difficult and he has bitten off more than he can chew, he falls apart. By then it is too late and he needs help. Life is like that, we start at something like a new job, college, marriage, or a project to help others, but then it gets complex and beyond what we are capable of. We didn’t realize it was going to require so much time and effort! We are sinking, we are drowning. Not an uncommon experience in so many situations of life and in the way we deal with them. God doesn’t always give us an immediate cure or a fast solution when we bring ourselves in prayer for others as well as  the problems of the day to God. God, through Jesus, is not a distant God aloof from our problems. Jesus shows us that when he reaches out a hand to Peter and to us he is companion with us in the storms of life.  At times we may well be floundering, like Peter, but Jesus reaches out to help us, to rescue us. What better image of salvation could there be than Jesus reaching out to Peter to save him from drowning. What better analogy could there be of our own lives and relationship with Jesus. We live messy lives, we doubt and we lack faith but nevertheless we are still moving towards the Lord.

For us, too, there is a necessary lesson in this incident. It is that we must continue to trust in Christ and his loving Father, even when God seems to have deserted us. Most of the troubles and trials of our lives are caused by the injustice and lack of charity of our fellowmen. The remainder can be attributed to our own defects and sins or to some weakness in our mental and bodily make-up. But God foresees all these misfortunes, and can prevent them. Instead he lets them take their course, because they can and should be the means of educating us in our knowledge of life’s true meaning and they should draw us closer to him.

Christ foresaw the storm and the grave risk His Apostles would run when He sent them off across the lake. But that trial and the grave danger they ran was for their own good, because they learned to realise that Jesus was from God and they could always trust Him. Our trials and our earthly ailments are also foreseen by God and permitted by him so that they will draw us closer to Him and help us on the road to heaven.

When we find ourselves breaking into a cold sweat over the latest storm we find ourselves in we should remember when Christ comes, the storm becomes calm, the tumult becomes peace, and we pass the breaking point and we do not break this is what trust in Jesus really means it means that he will be with us through all the storms of life no matter how big they are.

18TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Well here we are at the beginning of August It will be no time until the new uniforms etc will have to be bought and the schools will reopen  hopefully at the beginning of September after the covid19 lockdown.

In our Gospel story for this Sunday we hear about the feeding of the five thousand. The gestures and words of Jesus in the Gospel bring to mind the Last Supper The Gospel writer is making clear references in this miracle story to the Eucharist. The people in this story are a crowd that realize Jesus had something to offer them in their “deserted places.” Jesus wasn’t just filling their stomachs. They were not the rich, the famous, the educated or the powerful; they were the afflicted and the marginalized people that Jesus went out of his way to seek out.  Life may have passed them by, but Jesus didn’t.  He took note of them, and they in turn saw in him a place to be nourished, a place where deep hungers and longings would be fulfilled. The physical bread of the miracle story was of temporary value. It could not satisfy deeper spiritual hungers, but it was a sign that Jesus can and that his heart is moved with pity for us.

In this version of the story, there is no boy to provide the loaves and fishes for this miracle. The people are weary looking for hope, for consolation after the death of John, looking for a leader to inspire them, and they  discovered Jesus.  The disciples have the food. Was it their own food for the trip? Is Jesus asking them to share out of their supplies? Is he asking them to risk it all, to take a chance at extravagant generosity? And they do—maybe this too is the miracle; the change in the disciples who now have learned that whatever they have, it will be more than enough in collaboration with Christ. They are learning to cast their lots with him, to risk what they have in his service. As we heard last week, the person who discovers the treasure in the field goes out and sells everything to buy the field and have the treasure.

The sign for us today  is that we too are the beloved of God and we will not be left hungry or alone for God is with us in the good, bad, happy and sad things that are part and parcel  of our daily life.

17TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

In this unusual time in our lives, it is difficult to hold on to, the familiar line from the Letter to the Romans that states “We know that all things work for good for those who love God.” We Christians believe this, way down deep. Who among us though would honestly ask God for the “understanding heart” as did Solomon as our one request, during this pandemic? But as we get back to the normality of our lives and daily living we need to have understanding heart’s and minds as so many things will change and are changing in our lives and the lives of our families friends and those around us. We have to understand that in the words from the liturgy  life as we know it has changed but it has not ended.

In this Sundays Gospel we hear the story of the treasure hidden in the field. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field or a pearl of great price. When its great value is recognized, one gladly does all that is necessary to obtain it. Jesus teaches us that the most important and the most urgent thing in life is to find out just what God wants of us, and to do it. This is what he means when he urges us to be as single-minded, as focused, and as dedicated, as someone who digs up a treasure in a field, re-buries it, and hurries off to buy that field, so that he can have that treasure all to himself. Jesus makes the same point about priorities when he urges us to be as single-minded, as focused, and as dedicated, as a collector of jewelry, who comes across the finest pearl in the world, and sells all personal possessions in order to acquire it.

To possess the Kingdom means that we should share our knowledge of the kingdom with others. To truly believe in Christ means leading other people to the same belief; for secret faith is no faith at all. We need to be like the householder, mentioned at the end of our Gospel reading for this Sunday, who brings out of his house things both new and old. We should be happy to bring out of the house that is our faith all kinds of treasures to share with our family friends and  neighbors.   But these treasures are not physical things like clocks and pearls but attitudes spiritual and otherwise that are virtues like love and justice and truth and hope and so on. What we bring out from our treasure store are the values of the Kingdom, the attitudes of Jesus and the knowledge of the one true God. God loves us just the way we are, but He refuses to leave us that way. He wants us to become just like Him. He wants us to pass on our treasure to other people so that they can discover the faith which is the pearl of great price the treasure hidden in the fields of our hearts.

16th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

This weekend we continue opening our local churches  for worship as we emerge from the COVID19 pandemic and continue to move forward into the new normal with all the changes it will bring .

This Sunday we hear the reading from Chapter 23 of St. Matthews gospel, the story is the parable of the seed and the weeds and the darnel in the field. In the parable of the wheat and weeds, Jesus recognized good’s co-existence with evil. He also held out the hope that the Kingdom would right all wrongs. I think that there is the potential in each of us to be either wheat or darnel that is good and bad. We often say ‘wouldn’t life be easier if everything were black and white’ as if there are ‘totally good people’ and ‘totally evil people’. Of course life is never that simple. If we are really honest nothing is ever that straightforward to be black and white. We need to ask ourselves Who are we called to be in a world where weeds and seeds grow side by side and we often find it hard to distinguish the difference between them.

As people of faith we have to constantly ask ourselves : Should we hide from the messiness and make religion a privatized personal relationship with God? Should we insulate ourselves – sharing with those we think are worthy of our love, deciding who is worthy? Where is God in all this concern, worry and judgment? If we pray about these three questions and our problems and those of others we will see god is there in the middle of everything and his hand will guide us and as a result we will be the seeds that flourish and not the weeds that die. Jesus used parables to challenge his audience to think and he uses the parables in our world of today to challenge all of us to make us think as well. In truth and charity we must speak to others and teach them about the great responsibility they have to choose either Life or Death to be weeds or seeds .All of us have the power to freely choose Him or to reject Him. May we see the seeds of the Kingdom of Heaven grow and flourish in our midst .

God will guide all of  us along the roads that lead to Salvation and he will help us to be the seeds that flourish in the rich soil of faith and be the examples to the people around us .