Fullerton T

14TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

This Sunday’s Gospel tells us about Jesus appointing the 72 others and then sending them out in pairs to the towns he was going to visit. As he gives his missionary instruction Jesus seems under no illusion about the territory compared to the wolves roaming around, his own crowds are like lambs. He tells the 72 to lead the radical lifestyle of the wandering preacher who must face homelessness and renunciation of family and property. When they enter a house they should bless it with peace. The Gospel also tells us about the practical things to direct the seventy-two as they proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom and in rebuilding community life. Jesus told them to carry no purse, no haversack, and no sandals. Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom and rebuilding community life are two sides of the same coin. One does not exist and cannot make sense without the other.  When Jesus sends out the seventy-two you might wonder how ready they are for the demanding task ahead of them. Because he doesn’t have all the time in the world Jesus depends on the various talents of his followers; he must depend on their understanding and their resolve to get it right.

Perhaps if we were in charge of that first Missionary outing the seventy-two would still be waiting to get going! There is a clear urgency about the task in hand Jesus says, “Start off now” with urgency in his voice. On their return the disciples were delighted that their mission has actually worked! Their joy demonstrates that people do welcome the word of God and that the word of God is their real resource for mission. Jesus counsels them to rejoice not because their mission has worked but because their names are written in heaven. These words at the end of today’s gospel are addressed to each one of us. Jesus empowers us in our day to do his work, and to work in his name. Jesus assures us that we have a passport, visa, and “green card” for heaven. Our names are already registered there and our mission is to proclaim the good news of salvation to others.

11TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

This weekend we celebrate the 11^th Sunday of ordinary time and our Gospel Story tells us about the woman with a bad reputation. Having said that we also hear about the attitude of the Pharisees in this gospel or should I say the wrong attitude of the Pharisees. In this Sundays Gospel story Jesus is at the house of a Pharisee, one of those who emphasized love of law rather than the law of love. It was certainly no place for a public sinner to show his or her face. The woman who did show her face was outside the pale, of a group despised by devout Jews. Jesus frequently said that he had come to call sinners, and to befriend them. Not only did Jesus befriend the woman, but he even let her serve him. There was something about him that stirred a profound reverence within her, and she showed that reverence and respect by the anointing with oil, which was the highest expression of reverence one could show to another. Jesus had a ready-made, real, living object lesson right there, and he took full advantage of it. He was aware of the shock and horror among the onlookers, and he used the occasion to drive home a central point of his teaching.

Why did a woman with a bad reputation approach Jesus and anoint him with her tears and costly perfume at the risk of ridicule and abuse by others? The woman’s action was motivated by one thing, and one thing only, namely, her love for Jesus – she loved greatly out of gratitude for the kindness and forgiveness she had received from Jesus. She did something a Jewish woman would never do in public. She loosened her hair and anointed Jesus with her tears. It was customary for a woman on her wedding day to bind her hair. For a married woman to loosen her hair in public was a sign of grave immodesty. This woman was oblivious to all around her, except for Jesus and her gratitude for the mercy he showed towards her. There are two other lessons in this Gospel reading for us. The first lesson is that the pardoned sinner should show gratitude to God. One of the greatest proofs of gratitude is the firm resolution to avoid offending our God. The second lesson is for those amongst us who succeed, thanks to God’s grace, in avoiding serious sins is that we must avoid the sin of the Pharisees. They were, on the whole, devout men and did many a good deed. However, they took all the credit themselves instead of giving God the credit. They grew proud of their good works and despised all others who did not do as they did. The question for us this weekend is who are we like in this particular story are we like the woman who loved Jesus with a heart open to god’s mercy. Or are we like the Pharisees taking all the credit and giving God little or even none at all with our hearts closed to the love and mercy of God.  I would hope that we would be like the woman in the Gospel who wasn’t afraid to show her love for Jesus despite all that was going on around her at the time.

ASCENSION

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. The Ascension marks the final part of Jesus ministry here on earth. During our lives whether we are young or old we will see the departure of many people. Perhaps it is a son or daughter leaving for university or maybe it was someone leaving to go to another country or the hardest departure of all someone close to us such as a family member father mother or whoever passing on to eternal life. Our lives are made up of so many different times and places of departure or leave-taking and this really is what Ascension is about the departure of Jesus to return to the Father.  The Apostles must have felt awful they knew that the time was fast approaching when they would have to say their final goodbyes as Jesus returned to the Father.

It marked the beginning of a new time when the apostles have to live in the absence of the Jesus they knew. They had to come to terms with the fact that Jesus will never again walk with them healing the sick and the wounded, preaching about the kingdom of God. He would soon be gone. But Jesus promised to be with them and by association with us through the working of the Holy Spirit the Advocate. Remember when Jesus began his public ministry he was first invested with the power of the Holy Spirit. In his baptism Jesus received power and authority from the Father through the experience of the Spirit. It was in that power, “Filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1), that he began his public ministry. The Spirit marked the time of Jesus’ new beginning, his time of ministry, his time for reaching out to others and ministering to them. Luke closes his Gospel with the instruction of Jesus to his disciples that they are to wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit.

After this last instruction he blesses them and is carried up to heaven. The Spirit makes a new beginning for us as it made a new beginning for the Apostles at the very start of the church. The approaching feast of Pentecost is important because it is a memory of the beginning of the Church as well as a celebration of the Church of today.

6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER

This weekend we celebrate the 6^th Sunday of Easter. It seems no time since we began Holy Week on Palm Sunday and now we are heading into Ascension and then Pentecost Sunday which is often called the birthday of the Church. In this Sunday Gospel Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to the apostles as the advocate. Although Jesus had spoken to the Apostles and told them many different things, he knew them well and realized that they wouldn’t remember everything he said Jesus also knew that they would have to endure many struggles, that they would have to face ambiguity and confusion, difference and disagreement. They would not see eye to eye on everything; they would have different memories of Jesus; they would emphasise different things. In the conflicts that would arise they would have to put their faith to work. That is why he told them and he tells us that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in his name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. These words are a direct pointer towards Pentecost and the gifts that the Holy Spirit would bring to them as well as us.

We don’t have the physical presence of Jesus with us the way his first disciples did when he talked with them around the table at the Last Supper, washed their feet, and gave them his reassuring promises. His farewell to them was a real farewell he was going, he would no longer be with them as he had been. But he assured them and us that he is present in a different way, in his gift of the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel Reading Jesus also promised the Apostles Peace  ‘A peace that the world cannot give.’ Sometimes we mistake this peace for our idea of quietness or tranquillity, but the peace the Jesus gives is a peace that can be found even in the midst of turmoil. This peace is not something we can manufacture ourselves by our own power. It’s a gift that comes from Jesus, who doesn’t want to lose touch with us. Jesus chose his followers to carry out God’s plan of salvation. He chooses us today to do the same. By allowing us to participate in his work of redemption, he gives us a personal stake in the Kingdom of God. If we keep on trusting in the presence of the Spirit to us, we will have peace in the midst of any personal, family, or community turmoil that comes our way as well as someone who will keep us going along the right Road!