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5th Sunday of Easter

This weekend we stop and say a prayer for all those who will doing exams in the weeks ahead. Many people is our world put great store on education and sometimes they forget the pressure that this puts on our young people especially at exam time and not all of them are able to deal with that pressure. During this exam season we remember all those who are finding the exams hard to get through and we pray for all those who are doing exams that they may be inspired to do their best and know that there are people out there family, friends teachers and lecturers who value them no matter about the exam results.

In this Sundays Gospel Jesus calls us to a new way of living when he tells us to love one another as I have loved you.  At one level this is a simple call to love, at another it is a big challenge for us to be Christ like  to others in this sometimes horrible world. This means that we should love as Jesus loves, in order to be the face and heart of Christ to a wounded and hurting world. 

The love Jesus speaks of seems to be narrow and restrictive. He is addressing his disciples when he says, “love one another.”  This love may seem insular and applicable just to an inner circle of his followers. Is he telling us that the sacrificial love he calls us to applies only to those around us in the Church? No, of course he is not saying that because we know from other parts of John’s gospel that Jesus’ mission of love includes an outreach to the world. That outreach in our modern times must include all those who are on the margins for many reasons we should not leave them behind as many people might want to do. Jesus wants us to be united with him and one another in A loving and caring community. A loving and caring community that has a great effect on others bringing those who might be doubtful with it.

 What more articulate proclamation of the gospel can there be than a group of diverse people drawn together, not by similarities in education, economic status, neighborhood, citizenship, race, etc., but by the love that God has for them and their bringing that love for one another to other people? Love always demands the best from us and brings out the best in us. Being loved gives us surprising energy and courage. Love makes us fruitful, productive, strong and constant in doing good. Love is the flame that warms our soul, energizes our spirit and supplies passion to our lives. It’s our connection to God and one another.’ We are called to show the love of God to those around us and this is not easy to do but we should try and not be afraid to do that as we go forward in the love and joy of  the risen Lord.

4th Sunday of Easter

This Sunday  we celebrate the 4^th Sunday of Easter  also known as Good Shepherd Sunday.  On this day we also celebrate the 59th World Day of Prayer for Vocations instituted by Pope Paul VI in 1964. We  are encouraged to pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life as we the flock of the Lord need shepherds after the lord’s own heart. The idea of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is a lovely one because it is a well-known fact that the shepherd never leaves his sheep outside the sheepfold. If any are outside the shepherd will seek the lost sheep at all costs until they are found.  The wandering figure of the shepherd, anxiously tending his sheep to the point where he is willing to surrender his life for them, is the image Jesus uses about himself in this Gospel Reading. That mixture of tenderness, toughness, care and self-sacrifice, is one that summarises his own leadership. It is not a leadership of detachment and defensiveness;  Instead , it is the  leadership of involvement and self-sacrificial love.

In the good shepherd’s extravagant love for his flock, his own life matters less than that of his sheep as we know Jesus left us an everlasting memorial in the Eucharist and then gave up his life for us on the cross on Good Friday. When we see how Jesus as a shepherd  actually behaves we see his tenderness in caring for the people and his courage which led him to the cross.   The parable of the Good Shepherd has many consoling truths and promises for people of every time and place including ourselves in 2022. The good shepherd challenges us not to leave the lost sheep behind.” The Gospel of the Good Shepherd teaches us how to embrace the gift of redemption by hearing and recognizing the voice of the Good Shepherd. There are numerous voices out there calling us to believe and to do  things that might seem good, but those voices are not of or from the Lord. We are his people the sheep of his flock and that means that we are people who are able to recognize the voice of the Lord and to faithfully follow him. 

This Sunday  we also pray for all those young and not so young who have a vocation to the priesthood, Permanent diaconate or the religious life. We pray that in their lives they may be like Christ the Good shepherd who came to bring his people into the sheepfold of God and faith in him. We also pray that the good shepherd will inspire many more people to take up the vocation of being shepherds of the flock.

Third Sunday of Easter

This Weekend we celebrate the third Sunday of Easter it seems strange that we have come so far from the ashes of Ash Wednesday right through to Jesus resurrection at Easter. In the resurrection We celebrate the one who affirms for us that God has walked on our streets, confronted the evil we see and suffered died and rose again for us.  Jesus  resurrection assures us that life can come out of death and good can overcome evil. It doesn’t always seem that way these days when we see the suffering of the people around the world especially in places like Ukraine but for people who have faith in God nothing is impossible. After the earth shattering events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday Peter and the others were ready to put the events of those days behind them and return home to what they did before they came across Jesus. But Jesus won’t let them go and by association he won’t let us go either.

In our Gospel Story for this Sunday he comes to the shore looking for them. He gets their attention, as he did when he first called them, with a large catch of fish. He prepares breakfast for them and invites them to eat, “Come, and have breakfast.” After the meal Jesus asks Peter three times about the reality of his love. Insisting on love is something of a mark with Jesus. Three times Peter affirms his love, as three times Jesus insists on it. And when Peter professes his love Jesus commissions him to care for his flock when he says feed my sheep. And that is what Peter does – as we hear in Sunday’s first reading. In his ministry of preaching and healing Peter gets through to many people, and the authorities become nervous at the ability of Peter and the apostles to work in the name of Jesus. In spite of the opposition Peter will continue insisting on his love for Jesus and this insistence will take him to martyrdom in Rome. No matter whether the believer is new or old, a pew sitter or a leader of people, the call of Christ is the same: “Follow me.”

Following Christ means life in the community of faith where we are. Are we, like Peter, spreading the net for new believers and professing a true love for our Savior? Or are we on the sidelines watching others doing the work when we should really be out there doing the work with them?  At the end of the day whatever happens we remember that God is with us and wants us to be with him now and in the future, He is with us in good and bad times so let us take courage this Eastertime  to go forward in faith.

Second Sunday of Easter

This Sunday we celebrate the second Sunday of Easter that is also called Divine Mercy Sunday. The season of Lent, Holy Week and  Easter  Sunday have come and gone so quickly  and are now a distant memory. Many people think that Easter begins and ends on Easter Sunday but it doesn’t end there the celebration of the season of Easter goes on for 50 days and ends on Pentecost Sunday. I wonder what the Apostles would think if they were to come down to us these days and find that we are celebrating the Death and Resurrection of Jesus that took place over 2022 years ago, they would be amazed especially as they thought everything was over with the Crucifixion on Good Friday but that first Holy Week and Easter Day was only the beginning of the story. In this Sundays Gospel reading the Apostles were still huddled together behind locked doors, pondering the shocking experience from the week before when all seemed to be lost. Then Jesus appeared  to them and to assure them that he was alive.

 His message must have troubled them as well when he told them: “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”   In the same way as the apostles were sent out we are sent out to bring the  message of god’s mercy  and love to other people wherever we are. Then of course there is doubting Thomas who heard the witness of the those who saw Jesus but, like so many of us today he wanted more proof. Jesus says to Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” That is a favorite quote for many of us, who have not “seen” the risen Christ in person as the disciples did. We have come to believe though we have not seen him in the flesh but he is with us in the midst of our communities through so many different people. When Jesus says to the Apostles Peace be with you the Peace he is talking about is much more than the lack of conflict. True peace, gives us happiness, since it is built on trust in God and one another.  The gospel tells us how Jesus gave his followers peace because they trusted him. In spite of the skepticism of Thomas and so many others, Jesus  offers us the same peace of heart mind and soul.  

As we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday we remember the joy, the hope, the grief and the anxieties of the people in our time those we know and those unknown to us and we bring them to the merciful Lord. We remember in a special way the Ukrainian people and all those who are refugees from that country who have come to ours wherever we are. Our world is hurting so much because of the things that are happening within it with people at each other’s throats for so many reasons.  Let us not give up on our efforts, as small as they seem, to bring peace into our families, workplace, classroom and community. May all of us be witnesses to the love  and mercy of the Gospel as we try to bring the caring face of God’s mercy to the people wherever we are.

The Easter vigil and Easter Sunday

Though  it isn’t now an obligation, the early Church continued to fast through Saturday. Our anticipation has not ended with the memory of Christ’s death. In fact, our anticipation increases as we wait to celebrate the Resurrection. We light the new Easter Candle from a large fire outside to remind us that Jesus is our light in the darkness, we then process into the darkened church. We hear the great hymn of praise called the ‘Exultet, in which we praise Christ for saving us. The hymn says that we would greatly prefer a fallen universe with Christ to a perfect one without him.  “0 Happy fault which deserved so great a Saviour.”We hear more readings than usual on this night, recounting the history of our salvation. Most significantly we welcome new members into the Church, then With them we all renew our Baptismal promises. At Easter, we celebrate joy, the kind  of joy that 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  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. We need time to do all of these things well, so we begin a fifty day season of feasting with a long liturgy that is packed with all the riches the Church has to offer. 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 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 time  of joy . Joy expressed in so many people and things especially at this time of the year. It can seem that once Easter Sunday has passed Easter is finished, but the’ celebration continues for fifty days. The next Sunday of Easter day  is traditionally known as Low Sunday or Dominica in Albis (White Sunday) which refers to the white baptismal garment of the newly baptized. Divine Mercy Sunday is a new feast also celebrated on this day. It comes almost as an opportunity in which anyone who missed out on celebrating the mercy of Christ in Holy Week has another chance. After forty days we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of Christ who returns to the Father to send us the Holy Spirit.

We spend the novena (nine days) between the Ascension and Pentecost praying for the Spirit like Mary and the apostles in the Upper Room. On the fiftieth day (which is the literal meaning of the word “Pentecost”) Easter ends. On that day “Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 731).  Our celebration of Easter resonates throughout the rest of the year: full of gratitude for Christ’s passion, joy in his resurrection and, strengthened by the Spirit, we continue our Christian journey.

Palm Sunday

For the last five weeks of Lent we have journeyed along the path of renewal and reconciliation with Jesus. And now we now begin Holy Week with our annual celebration of our Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem. The Liturgy of Palm Sunday has two very distinctive moods. We begin with the blessing of palms, joining with the enthusiastic crowds that greeted Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as they sang Hosanna. Then with the Opening Prayer of the Mass the mood dramatically changes by speaking of Jesus’ giving of his life on the cross. The readings lead us deep into the mystery of Christ’s suffering and death, culminating in the drama of Jesus’ arrest, trial, sufferings and crucifixion as it unfolds in St Luke’s account of the Passion.  

This is the first time that we will celebrate Holy Week without many of the restrictions that Covid19 has brought. For many people the past 2 years have brought many life changing events and sadly many people have lost members of their families and friends to the pandemic. This Holy week we remember all the people who are not with us as we continue to pray for peace in Ukraine. In the Gospel reading from Luke we hear how the crowd goes from rejoicing to calling out crucify him, crucify him. The entrance into Jerusalem is one of the very few events in Jesus’ life which is mentioned in all four gospels.  It is the only time that Jesus accepts and encourages public acclaim as Messiah even at that time it wasn’t really about him it was about doing his father’s will.  He even goes as far as organising his entrance by telling the disciples to go and fetch the donkey.  The key moment in God’s great plan of salvation is about to begin and Jesus knows exactly how it will unfold and where he will end up. As we reflect upon the story of Jesus going up to Jerusalem we recommit ourselves to Jesus and his message of salvation.

The events of Palm Sunday were foretold thousands of years ago.  The first reading from Isaiah, was written at the time of the Babylonian captivity and it speaks of a courageous and obedient messiah-figure,  who says, “I have set my face like flint” set my face against the beatings and scourging that lie ahead, “knowing that I shall not be put to shame.”  On Palm Sunday we feel an certain amount of embarrassment when we cry out “Crucify Him” with the palm branches still in our hands. It reminds us of our responses and our lack of courage in responding to Gods love for us. Yet as we know it was the sins of us all which brought Jesus to Calvary.  Holy Week is a time for us to realize what we are like, and to find that the only remedy for us is the love of God shown to us through Jesus his Son. As we recall the Passion story on Palm Sunday and then again on Good Friday we are called to respond as God’s family, we are called to look out for one another. It’s not just about “me” It’s about “us” and our journey of faith. A journey that we make together.

 May the passion story that we hear this week inspire all of us to try to imitate in some small way the all loving all forgiving Jesus who went through betrayal to death and finally to resurrection for us so that we will have life and have it to the full.  The Church leaves us in no doubt that we have now set out on the solemn journey of Holy Week How will we mark this journey in the coming days? Will we let it pass by with little interruption to our normal routines? Or will we seriously, attentively, prayerfully walk with Jesus through Holy Thursday to the cross of Good Friday and then to the Feast of Easter. It is up to each one of us to make up our minds how we will celebrate the great events of Holy Week that are at  the heart of all we believe.

5th Sunday of Lent

This Sunday in our Gospel we hear the story of the woman who was caught in adultery and we hear Jesus telling us ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Jesus did not deny the Scribes and Pharisees the right to carry out this prescription of the Law, but he insisted on one condition, namely, that they have no sin on their consciences. “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” So many of us today are like the Pharisees in that we are prepared to lift the stone and be the first person to throw it despite our own shortcomings. This story is about so much more that throwing the stones it is really about God’s mercy towards the woman and by association God’s mercy to us. When Jesus and the woman were left alone, he looked up and said, “Woman, where are they?” Ironically, the self-righteous observers of the Law, so eager to throw stones, could not measure up to the requirement that Jesus had laid down and all of them had left.

After they had gone, Jesus lifted up his eyes to the woman looking at her with the eyes of gentleness; he asks her, ‘Has no one condemned you?’ She replies, ‘No one, Sir.’ And he says, ‘Neither do I condemn you. What does this say to you and me today as so many of us are prepared to throw stones of condemnation at so many people and of course there are also people who would throw stones at us as well.  This gospel story says to all of us  that we should consider what we say and do and its effect on other people sometimes the things that we say can be more hurtful than any stones we might throw especially in today’s world of Facebook, Twitter and instant communication. If we remember what Jesus tells us when he says let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw the stone then we won’t go far wrong. The simple truth is all of us are sinners and as a result of that none of us are in a position to throw the stone even though we might think we are!!

As we continue our Lenten Journey   let us ask the Lord to show us his way especially as we head towards Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

4th Sunday of Lent

On the feast of The Annunciation on Friday Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary .  In union with the whole Church we continue to pray for peace in that region as well as the rest of the world. In the Gospel story for this Sunday we hear the story of the Prodigal Son, the contrast between the two brothers is quite sharp. After wasting his share of his father’s fortune the younger brother recognizes the mistakes he has made and returns home looking for the mercy of his father when he says: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son” (Lk 15: 18-19, 21). The older brother takes a different sort of attitude one of arrogance not only towards his brother but also towards his father! His scolding is in great contrast with the tenderness of the father who comes out of the house and goes to meet him to ask him to go into the house (Lk 15: 20, 28)

When we hear this story the big question that we should ask ourselves is what does God do when we turn away from him like the younger son in the Gospel? He does exactly the same as the Father in the gospel story did he waits and when we return he goes out to meet the returning Son or Daughter with endless love. The gospel story of the Prodigal Son is an image of God the Father who invites us to return to experience his love for us when we go far away from him. Of course being given a second chance is not always fair or just and we see this from the reaction of the older son who complains in a big way about his Father not giving him something to celebrate with his friends.  We remember that second chances are invitations to move forward leaving our old selves behind. Leaving our old selves behind and getting another chance is why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation or confession. This sacrament is a chance to the wipe the slate clean, a time to start anew as a child of the Father.

May we like the Prodigal Son not be afraid to come back for we will be received with open arms like the Father in the Gospel story god will come out to meet us with great compassion and love as we remember his compassion and love for us  is without measure and knows no end. Over the next few weeks as we head towards the celebration of Holy Week and Easter there will be many chances for confession in our parishes may we take the chance to make that step to return as the father is waiting to welcome all of us.

Prayer for Peace in Eukraine

on Friday in Rome at 5pm (Local time) in Saint Peters Basilica Pope Francis will consecreate Russia to the Imaculate Heart of mary the text of the consecreation Prayer is given Here

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART

OF MARY

O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young. We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbour’s keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!

Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity. By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.

We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.

That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded. We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help!

Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.

Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.

Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.

Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.

Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.

Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.

Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.

Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.

Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.

O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.

Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: “Behold your son” (Jn19:26). In this way he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: “Behold, your Mother” (v. 27). Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.

Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.

Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the “Fiat”, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our “living fountain of hope”, water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.

Third Sunday of Lent

Last Thursday was Saint Patricks Day, It was on the 17^th March 2020 that we began the hard slog of the Lockdowns and all the things that COVID19  brought to us. Sadly many people have lost their lives over the past 2 years and we pray for them and their families as we look to the future. We also thank God for the health care professionals and the volunteers that have done so much and are continuing to work for the common good. But as we know Ukraine is also in our minds and at the heart of our prayers as we continue to pray for peace. Next Friday Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the feast of the  Annunciation. Wherever you are on Friday please take a quiet moment to say a prayer for peace during the day as we join with the pope as he makes the consecration .In our Gospel reading for this Sunday we hear the parable of the fig-tree it is stressed that the time will come for a last chance to bear fruit.   This parable is a wakeup call and it tells us that Lent  is a good time to make the changes we have been putting off and know we must do in order to make ourselves bear spiritual fruit.

The gardener in the Gospel asked the owner of the vineyard to give the barren fig tree another chance to produce fruit. He promised to dig around it and manure it, to give it one last chance to prove itself.  So it is with us God gives us this annual time of Lent to prove ourselves. We are called to use the 6 weeks of lent well as there are many things in our lives that we need to change. Do we bear good fruit? Do we flower and bring forth good works? It is a time for us to consider our way of living our lives and what it means. It is a time when the word of the Lord will lift us up and encourage us to blossom and bear spiritual fruit.  This Sunday we see that our lives are enriched and by sharing in the work and message of Jesus the beloved Son of God who is our saviour. When we get out there and share our time talents and resources we are sharing in the work of Jesus bringing his kingdom into the lives of those around us.   When we  die to sin and come to repentance for our sins we identify ourselves in a real and concrete way with the redemptive power of Christ who died on the cross and rose again from the dead for all of us.  

Our calling, then, is to be strong, giving witness to our faith in the days of Lent as we go forward to Holy Week and Easter  so that others will see what we believe in and as a result of our example they might even take up the challenge that Jesus gives to all of us to follow him on the road that leads to salvation.