Fullerton T

HOLY SATURDAY AND EASTER

The cross is empty now Jesus lies in the tomb and everything around us is still. The silence echoes the reality of our lives these days with corona Virus and all the the  issues around it . The heavens and the earth cry out with longing for the sinless one who is not to be found, if we stop to think for a moment we remember that Jesus died and rose again on the third day. We wait, as mourners beside a grave, unsettled, ill at ease, almost not knowing what to do with ourselves. The Church has only one thing to do today: to pray through the emptiness of Holy Saturday. Holy Saturday then is the day when we experience watching and waiting at the tomb as we await the celebration of the Resurrection which we celebrate in the Easter Vigil and the season of Easter. 

Having  completed our Lenten observance and after the liturgies of Holy Thursday and  Good Friday we  are now at the stage of celebrating the Easter Vigil and the day of resurrection that is Easter Sunday. The heavens and the earth cry out with longing for the sinless one who is not to be found, when  we stop to think we remember that Jesus died and rose again on the third day. We wait, as mourners beside a grave, unsettled, ill at ease, almost not knowing what to do with ourselves. The Church has only one thing to do today: to pray through the emptiness of Holy Saturday. Holy Saturday then is the day when we experience watching and waiting as we await the celebration of the Resurrection which we celebrate in the Easter Vigil and the season of Easter.

The Psalm for Easter Sunday says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”Above all days, Easter is a season of joy . But what is joy? The answer St. Francis gave to this question is famous. St. Francis said to his Brother Leo, “When we come to St. Mary of the Angels [our house], soaked by the rain and frozen by the cold, all soiled with mud and suffering from hunger, and we ring at the gate of the place and the brother porter comes and says angrily: ‘Who are you?’ And we say: ‘We are two of your brothers.’ And … he does not open for us, but makes us stand outside in the snow and rain, cold and hungry, until night falls—then if we endure all those insults and cruel rebuffs patiently, … oh, Brother Leo, … perfect joy is there!” Whatever we may think of St. Francis’s explanation of perfect joy, Easter reminds us that Francis’s kind of joy is not the end of the story. At Easter, we celebrate the other kind of joy, the kind each of us longs for, when every tear is wiped away, and there is no sorrow any more no more suffering from weather or hunger or hurtful human beings. As we sing in the much-loved hymn by Fr. John Foley, S. J., at Easter, “the cross and passion past, dark night is done, bright morning come at last!” 

When we ourselves rise to meet our risen Lord, in that bright morning we will hear him say, “Come away, beloved. The winter is past; the rain is gone, and the flowers return to the earth” (Song of Songs 2:10-12). In the loving union of that encounter, all the heart brokenness of our lives will be redeemed. That will be perfect  joy.So in that same vein of perfect joy we say “this is the ‘day which the Lord has made.’ Alleluia!  let us take fresh hope,  with Christ our Passover everything is possible! Christ goes forward with us in our future!” Let us go forward together as Easter people rejoicing in the Resurrection.

5TH SUNDAY OF LENT

JESUS RAISES LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD

This week most of us are quarantined at home as we deal with the ongoing Covid19 pandemic. This is at one and the same time an inconvenience and an opportunity. An inconvenience that we cannot get around the way we normally would as well as an opportunity to get the things we have been trying to do for a long time done.  We remember in a special way all those who are affected by COVID19 and we also remember all the front line workers who are helping us to deal  with all of this as we keep safe wherever  we are.

This Sunday is the  5^th Sunday of lent as we look towards Palm Sunday and Holy Week. A holy week that will be very different this year as we are not able to have our normal congregations at the ceremonies. In this weekend’s gospel reading we listen to the story of Lazarus and we hear about the compassion that Jesus had towards him and his sisters Martha and Mary.

This story is also about faith, the faith that Martha and Mary had in Jesus when they sent the message to them that Lazarus was sick indeed he had died and was in the tomb for four days when Jesus arrived and called him to come out from the tomb. When Lazarus was called from the tomb, it was the last sign, worked by the Lord before his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, everything seems to flow to that ‘new reality’ inaugurated by Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Sharing our existence, Jesus loves us with a supreme passion right up to sacrificing Himself for us on the cross of Good Friday. He was moved by those who were linked to him by ties of the most profound friendship who understood that it could not be anything but God’s presence amongst them.

 John’s message for us is that Jesus raises us to new life. This raising to new life does not mean that we no longer suffer. As a matter of fact, this new life leads through pain and suffering before it reaches fullness of resurrection. Jesus demonstrates this to us as it leads to his painful death on the Cross on Good Friday. But the new life we live leads to a new creation, a new way of living. The proof of this is the Resurrected Christ of Easter Sunday. He appears after his resurrection to those at the beginning of their new life. We ask the Lord for the courage to walk towards the voice that is saying, Lazarus, Come out! Jesus is calling us. He is calling us to come out of the darkness, and come into his Light.  Lent may be winding down as next Sunday is Palm Sunday, but there is still time for us to do our spiritual spring cleaning. There is still time for us to be at peace with ourselves and with the Lord in the light of the presence of Jesus who is God with us.

4th Sunday of Lent

Over these past few days and week here in Northern Ireland where I live and many other places  we have  stopped public masses though Mass will be celebrated without the people present on the web cam and radio as well as that we have closed our schools and other educational facilities. All of these are precautionary measures that are sensible as we go forward with our response to the COVID19 pandemic. As we make all the preparations we also need to stop and remember that this is not just about the COVID19 Virus and our response to it,  this is also about real people and how they are coping with this current emergency and how we are looking after one another wherever we are in the world and this constantly changing situation. There are many people out there who are fearful about what will happen to them especially the Old and the Vulnerable and it is up to us who are still able to get around to help and look after them. This is a time when it is natural for everyone to be fearful of the future as we do not have any real idea when this pandemic and the restrictions that it has brought will end as a result of all this we need  to reach out to those in our communities who are unable to get out and show that we care for them.

We also remember all those health care professionals and all others who are on the frontline looking after those who are sick and keeping all of us going. From the doctors and the nurses right through to the delivery men who bring us the goods we need we offer a prayer for all of them. As we try to get on with our lives as best we can in these current circumstances let us look out for all those who might need our care and help and not be afraid to help them going into the future uncertain as it is.

This Sunday our gospel is the story of the blind man, in this story we have another example of God’s choice, one which confuses the religious leaders of the day. John’s beautifully crafted story tells how a blind man comes to see the light in Jesus, both physically and spiritually. When Jesus’ disciples first see the blind man they presume that his affliction is a result of sin. But Jesus sees in the blind man something else: this roadside beggar who has always inhabited a world of darkness will be the one to display the work of God and point to who Jesus really is. If we are to really see clearly, we need to let Jesus heal us of our blindness  and open our eyes as He did the man born blind in this weekend’s Gospel.  This is a challenging gospel story for all of us even today because so many people are spiritually blind.

It is possible that the places and things we think we are seeing clearly are not as clear as they should be.  Remember that the ones, who were 100% sure they knew what was going on, the Pharisees, were blind to God. They were religious experts, like many other experts they missed the truth staring them in the face. The one who is turning their world upside down was the Son of God who was trying to open their eyes and send them along the right road. There are many things that raise questions and upset our routines these may be the very places God is trying to open our eyes and give us the vision to set things right for our lives. The story of the blind man getting his  sight gives us an opportunity to pause and ask ourselves:  How well do I see? Do I see what is really going on in my life? Has the road I have taken made me lose my way?

Are things happening to me that make me trip up and stumble like a person walking and groping in the dark? We need to ask ourselves: what is blurring our spiritual vision these days? What’s dulling our appreciation of life and gods place within it? As we remember the Blind spots in our own lives we also remember that faith always remains a choice we make that helps us to see with great clarity of vision. When we choose to trust in God and believe in what he reveals to us, we exercise our freedom to believe.

Our minds and wills freely cooperate with God’s grace. Faith is not and can never be an act coerced by God or others. Faith in God and each other is a journey which takes along many roads and the road we are called to follow during Lent is the road that leads us to Jesus the light of the world at Easter. The question we should ask ourselves this weekend is this: will we continue to be blind or will we let our faith in God heal the blindness of our lives and our world especially in this time of  crisis .

3rd Sunday of Lent

As we all know the corona virus pandemic is ongoing and throughout the world many Churches are taking precautions and we here in Northern Ireland where I live are no different. Many people out there are panic buying and believe it or not Toilet Rolls are the hard to get thing such is the panic !!!! But for all of this we need to look out for one another and follow the guidance of the Government and Church authorities wherever  we are in the world. We are also asked to look out for those who are vulnerable in our communities especially the Old and those who are unable to get around who might have other health worries as well.

As we continue our journey of prayer for lent we come to the 3^rd Sunday and our gospel story for this weekend tells us about the Samaritan woman at the well. One of the responses for the Easter Vigil is with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation and this sums up what the reading from johns gospel is about. It is about the great joy that comes from being a Christian a believer in the good news of the Gospel. Jesus breaks the law to speak to a Samaritan woman who had come to Jacob’s well to draw water.

What a surprise it must have been to her, when Jesus, tired, hungry and thirsty, asks her for a drink of water! He broke all the rules in speaking to her. Now, He keeps on talking, ignoring her hostility, aware that, in this unexpected encounter, the Father has provided Him with an opportunity for piercing the heart of this sinful woman with His love and also leaving an example for all those who thirst. Jesus suggests that He can give her living water that is far superior to anything she had ever tasted. Certainly her five husbands haven’t brought her what she is really looking for. We know that she had tried cheap love, and we presume she was no stranger to intoxication, power, and money! This isn’t a gentle lady who comes to draw water from the well, but a toughened cynic. Cynical with the world around her in her time as so many are cynical  in our modern world for many different reasons. Jesus forgets His own needs, and offers this woman living water that is spiritual grace. Finding her heart curious and open to this miraculous water, He proceeds to raise her vision. He asks her to go back and bring her husband to the well with her. Of course, this is the turning point of the story. When He confronts her with the truth, she could have flounced off in righteous indignation and denial as many people do when confronted with the truth but she doesn’t.

In true humility, she accepts the reality of her life. Because of her humility, Jesus floods her soul with grace. Dropping her bucket, she runs back to spread the good news. “I’ve found the Messiah!” And she had!  Lent is a time for us to let Jesus satisfy our thirst for the truth. Like the Samaritan  woman, we too have tried the wrong kinds of water to quench our thirst for happiness, satisfaction, and peace of mind without really finding it. Lent  is the time for us to find real joy and satisfaction of letting the Lord fill us with the grace in order to fully enjoy the season of Easter so that we can say “I’ve found the Messiah!”. The Samaritan woman reminds those who doubt, or struggle with faith that all of us are like that we all have doubts about our faith but we are asked to stay in a conversation with Christ. The Samaritan woman at the well  came looking for physical water and found Jesus, the “living water,” who would quench her thirsty spirit. May we find joy at the wells of salvation brought to us  through Jesus Christ as we go forward during Lent to Easter.

2ND SUNDAY OF LENT

Over the past few weeks we have been hearing about the spread of the COVID19 virus throughout the world especially in Europe. It would seem that if we follow the guidance of the various health agencies with regard to hand washing etc we will be ok. We remember in a special way all those who are affected and those who have died as a result of the virus and their families. We also remember the healthcare professionals who are one the front line during this time. Despite the Corona Virus we continue our Lenten journey and hopefully the  various  aspects of penance alms giving and fasting that we are undertaking are not too hard. This Sundays gospel story is about the Transfiguration. This momentary vision of Christ, in his glory, was given in order to strengthen the three Apostles Peter James and John  to face the trials to their faith which the sufferings and crucifixion of their beloved master would bring to them. For the very same reason this Gospel is retold to us today, in the early part of Lent so that we will strengthen our resolve to keep our faith.  The Father of Jesus told the apostles “This is my Son, the Beloved; with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!” What is so important about listening to Jesus?

Wouldn’t we rather have the spectacular vision as a sign of God’s presence in our lives of course we would. We live regular, ordinary lives most of the time and such a vision might help us get stirred up and enthusiastic again. Well it’s not really about the big splash, or the spectacular vision on the mountain, instead its all about listening to Jesus and hearing what he is saying to us in our own time and place. To really listen to anyone with your heart is a  hard thing to do sometimes we have to listen to someone going on about something that is or at least seems to be complete rubbish to us but is really important for the person telling their story. Listening to Jesus means not just hearing his words, but listening  to everything the story of  his life tells us about how we should  live our own lives as a children of God. There are many people out there who hear the story and pay it lips service but don’t take it to heart. Jesus, trusted completely in His Father’s plan for him with faith that recognized his dependence on his Father. This is the same sort of faith that you and I are asked to embrace during lent and throughout our lives. For us in 2020 this gospel asks us to listen to Jesus words and bring them into our lives so that by our words and actions we will be able to transform and transfigure our own lives and the lives of those around us.

In our Lenten journey this week, may we keep in mind that God and the community around us provide us with encouragement and strength to continue our lives rooted in faith. So let us keep on going this Lent so that we will be able to celebrate the Easter Feast renewed in Heart and soul.

1ST SUNDAY OF LENT

With the Ashes of Ash Wednesday we have begun the season of Lent for 2020. We have heard the words repent and believe the Gospel but what does lent really mean for us in 2020. Lent should mean that we take time to renew our spiritual selves as we go forward to Holy Week and Easter. Why do we have Lent every year? Why penance? Why fasting? Why almsgiving? What does that have to do with us? Many people fail to see the connection. ” many say I’m not a sinner when the truth is I AM A SINNER”  So why Lent? Of course We know the answer that the Church gives us. We have to prepare ourselves during Lent for the celebration of Holy week that leads us on to Easter the season of the resurrection.  Lent is a time for correcting our faults and raising our minds and hearts to God. Lent is a time for personal and community conversion it is also a time for personal and community renewal! It is the time for a face-to-face encounter with God our origin, our purpose and our destiny and hopefully we will be changed for the better by that encounter! The bottom line for all of us during Lent is that we should try to get to know God better so that those not too easy to detect lines separating good and evil will become more apparent to ourselves and everyone else.  

The Church teaches that prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are good significant ways to become closer to God How we do these is something that is personal to each person. The temptations, to which our Lord submitted himself to in this Sundays Gospel story are a source of encouragement and consolation for all of us. If our Lord and master underwent temptation, we cannot and must not expect to live a Christian life without experiencing similar trials. The three temptations Satan put to our Lord were suggestions to forget his purpose in life that is his messianic mission of redemption for one and all. He was urged to get all the bodily comforts of life, all the self-glory which men could give him, and all the possessions and power this world has to offer. In the same way all the comforts of life are put before us including the self-indulgence and glory which is the exact opposite of our calling as followers of Christ. We are called during Lent not to give in to the temptations of this life we are also called to renewal of heart mind and Spirit. As we begin Lent many things are placed before us to enhance our spiritual lives such as the early Mass which in our parish is at 7.15am or the Friday stations of the cross or some of the other spiritual programs. All of these help us to renew ourselves in preparation for the events of Holy week and the Easter feast.

May god give us his grace to make a good Lent as we take the road that leads us to Holy Week and the great feast of Easter.

7TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Believe it or not next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and my first thought when this came into my mind was here we go again. Another year gone full circle as we arrive back at Ash Wednesday and the 6 weeks of Lent. Lent is a time for giving up and taking up things that means giving up the things that we really enjoy such as Sweets and treats and taking up the opportunities such as the early Mass before work or the various Lenten programmes that are available in the places where we live. Lent is the time that we should use to renew ourselves and our spiritual lives. Lent also gives us the opportunity to give alms to others through the Church organisations .

This Sunday in our Gospel we are told that we should offer the wicked man no resistance and that we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you these are strong words. Jesus asks his followers to take a different approach by resisting retaliation altogether. The response to a stronger person who slaps us on the cheek, takes us to court, or demands a service of us is not to resist. Similarly, for a weaker person, such as a beggar or borrower, we are to give him or her what he or she asks for.

Those who are called to the Kingdom of Heaven are to go beyond the way the world works and serve God’s kingdom here on earth. We must, if we are truly Christian, forgive those who offend or injure us. We must love all men, whether they be friends or enemies. G. K. Chesterton says : “We are commanded to love our neighbours and our enemies;  very often we find that they are the same people.” This is very true for all of us. It is very easy for us to love in a theoretical way all people as they never come in contact with us in a personal way and never tread on our feet. But it is those among whom I live and work, who are liable to injure me and might  become my enemies.  Jesus argues that the love that we his disciples give people is not related to the love they receive from others: it is not a social contract or a fair bargain it is unconditional. The disciple loves because that is what the nature of discipleship involves. That means loving your enemy as yourself and doing good to those who would persecute you . A disciple is the child of the Father  and look at the Father’s gracious love for us as we are. He does not withhold the sun and the rain from those who oppose him; likewise, disciples must not withhold their love from those who oppose them.  

The love is offered not because Jesus thinks that it will change the enemy into something else: certainly, love might confuse the enemy! Love is offered because that is the example and the way of life disciples of the kingdom should follow. Jesus is telling us not to follow the way of the world, which often perpetuates old oppressions and makes new ones as well. This only leaves people stuck and unable to move forward.  Jesus is telling us that we should be agents of real change in the world by acting in unexpected ways. This means that we do not go along with the crowd but rather approach the various situations of life with new and imaginative thinking as befits a disciple of Christ.  He wants us to see the world as God does. And then  by seeing the world the way it really is with all that is good and bad within it we will find that we are in a far better position to get out there and change it. 

SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

This Sunday we celebrate the 6^th Sunday in Ordinary Time and for us in Northern Ireland we are pondering what happened last Saturday in the Southern Irish Election and the result. A result that has placed Sein Fein in the political driving seat and side-lined the other 2 political parties what will happen going into the future is anyone’s guess but  we hope and pray that changes will be made that will benefit everyone.

In the Gospel reading Jesus tells us that he has come to fulfil the law not to abolish or replace it. Any new movement or community which emerges from an older tradition has to face the problems of its own identity and direction. How different is it from the old community? How similar? One of the problems which the early Church had to face was its relationship with Judaism. Jesus was a Jew and his early followers were all Jews: they upheld the Law of Moses and they honoured the traditions of their own people. But there is also discontinuity with that tradition when it comes to healing on the sabbath, attitudes to Samaritans, and fasting.  When he introduced the New Law of the Kingdom of God Jesus said something that was absolutely shocking to those heard what he told them that the holiness of the people had to surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees. How could anyone be holier than the Pharisees who were supposed to be holy men”!

They dressed well, they fasted said their prayers loudly for all to hear. But Jesus said that his followers had to be holier than the Pharisees. How could that be possible as they were the people that everyone held up as being good. Jesus explains, our external actions must be a reflection of what we are really like. If what we do is not a reflection of who we are, then we are hypocrites. Hypocrite, is the word that Jesus uses over and over to describe the Pharisees.  They were considered the righteous and holy ones who in truth were neither righteous or holy in so many ways.  Jesus’ challenge was not only to his followers, but to the Pharisees and scribes as well. Their religious faith was to go deeper than exterior works – the right motives were supposed  to support right behaviour. His demands are high indeed! They seem impossible to achieve. The Pharisee spent a lot of time and energy fulfilling the Law like so many people today the law was more important than compassion. They were of the middle class and unlike the desperately poor, who were most of Jesus’s followers, the Pharisees had the education and leisure to pursue purity of observance. What chance did the illiterate, overworked and burdened poor followers of Jesus have? For that matter, what chance do we have in fulfilling these teachings? And yet, Jesus calls for a holiness that surpasses those scribes and Pharisees the people who stuck by the letter of the law instead of the compassion of God! Jesus’ demands are more radical; his vision sharper; his expectations greater When we see our own record of doing good against the demands of Jesus in the Gospel, we can all come away feeling helpless.

Our own efforts look so shabby against the clear unambiguous demands of the larger vision. May we be courageous in taking up the challenge that Jesus gives each one of us today that is the call to holiness living our lives so that people will see that we are faith filled people who live our lives with the compassion of God for those around us in our hearts.