Fullerton T

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

In the First Reading we hear Issiah telling us for the sake of Zion and Jerusalem, I will speak until their righteousness shines. Nations will see their glory. The Lord will rejoice over them as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. In the Psalm we Sing to the Lord, proclaim his salvation, and declare his wonders. We give him glory, worship him, and say to the nations: The Lord is king who rules with justice. In the Second Reading we hear that it is the same Spirit that gives different gifts to each person for the benefit of all, such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, and their interpretation.

The  gospel story of the wedding at Cana was the first time that Jesus worked a miracle when he changed the water into wine. We hear Mary telling Jesus that ‘they have no wine’ Jesus said ‘Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’   This story is not just about Mary asking her Son to help with the wine it is also about us here today. Mary told the servants to do whatever he tells you and she says the same thing to us here and now. In Lourdes in the Rosary Basilica right above the altar there is a huge icon of our lady with the inscription to Jesus through Mary. Though Mary was the mother of Jesus she did not claim any of the limelight for herself instead she pointed the people around her to her son as she told them to do whatever he tells you. Mary, who asks for help when she tells Jesus “they have no wine”, Mary the faith filled disciple, has trust in divine providence.  

In her response at the wedding at Cana Mary shows herself a model disciple who trusts in God. She shows that trust with the words that are meant for all of us even now as we read them again “Do whatever he tells you.”   At the end of this Gospel passage, John tells us that Jesus’ action in turning the water into wine was the first of the signs he gave.  In John’s Gospel there will be six more. All of them to do with healing, saving, restoring, feeding and giving life to human beings. None are empty displays of Jesus’ power. The ‘glory’ of Jesus lies in revealing the God of love, especially in moments of real human need. The signs show that the power of love which comes from God are always at the service of human beings. We, too, are called to allow the glory of God to shine out through us in loving, healing, transforming and hopeful words and actions.

Today what does Jesus ask us to do as we think about the wedding at Cana are we like Mary prepared to trust in God the Father who can give us all things or are we prepared just to go along accepting the things that happen to us. I think that we should be prepared to learn and understand the message that is given to us through Jesus whose mother asks us in the gospel to ”do whatever he tells you.”

Ascension of the Lord

This Sunday  we celebrate the feast of Ascension.  In our lives we have seen the departure of so 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 dying. Our lives are made up of so many different times and places of departure or leave-taking and that is what Ascension is really about as Jesus returns to the Father. Jesus leaves us but remains with us through the gift of the Spirit that came at Pentecost.  The readings for the  Ascension of the Lord encourage us to be open to the Holy Spirit and be willing to spread the Good News.  In the first reading from the Acts of the ApostlesJesus, after His resurrection, instructed the apostles to await the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, promising them power to witness globally. He then ascended into heaven, affirming His eventual return. In the Second Reading Saint  Paul prays for believers to receive wisdom and revelation to know God fully, understanding their hope, inheritance, and the immense power granted to them, the same power that raised Christ.

The words of the Gospel for Ascension day strike me in a particular way Jesus tells us ‘go therefore make disciples of all the nations and know that I am with you to the end of time.  Jesus has called the ragged, group of disciples, scattered after his crucifixion, back to himself to form them, fragile and doubtful as they are, into a community for mission in the name of God. The task of the historical Jesus is complete; the task of the church as the living Body of Christ has just begun. It is comforting to recognise that Jesus doesn’t insist on perfection before he calls us and entrusts us with his mission. Jesus is definite about what he has to say when he speaks and calls his disciples to be the first missionaries. This is in sharp contrast to the fact that, their feelings were varied. Some of them worshipped him, while some of them still doubted.  Jesus didn’t seem to have any great problem with that, because he knew that, when the Spirit came, all of those doubts would be ended. It would seem, indeed, that he was in a hurry to take his leave of them, so that the next  part of his salvation plan could get underway.  The mission of the apostles was simple to understand; difficult to carry out. It was to teach others all that Jesus had taught them.

Just as he asked his disciples to follow him, they were to ask that others would follow him and was so hard for them then and it is hard for us to do in the world of today.  So many things have changed in the Church and society. However the two things that have not changed are Jesus himself and his message as they are always new for each generation.  Again and again we need to ask ourselves what we are doing to make disciples of the people around us . The feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost help us to realize that we are part of a long tradition of faithful people who have taken up the challenge to pass on the faith . We have our faults and failings, but our call is to witness to and teach the way of Jesus by the kind of people we are, the values and attitudes we hold, in thought, word and deeds our calling is to be the living presence of God in the world where we are today.

GOOD FRIDAY

On this day in the liturgy we read St. Johns account of the passion, we pray for the needs of the Church and the world, we venerate the Cross and we receive the blessed Eucharist.  In the First Reading we listen to A prophetic passage from the Hebrew Bible that describes the suffering of a righteous servant who is despised and rejected by many but ultimately bears their sins and brings healing through his sacrifice. The passage is often interpreted as a foreshadowing of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and is considered a central text in Christian theology. In the Second Reading we hear that Jesus is the ultimate high priest who sympathizes with human weakness and has made a perfect sacrifice for sin, thus providing a way for humanity to approach God with confidence. The passage urges all of us  to hold fast to our  faith in Jesus, who has been appointed by God as the source of eternal salvation.

In the Gospel reading Jesus, after being betrayed by Judas, was arrested and faced trials before Jewish and Roman leaders, culminating in his crucifixion. Despite Pilate’s hesitation, pressured by Jewish authorities and a manipulated crowd, he consented to Jesus’ death. Jesus was crucified at Golgotha alongside two others. Before his death, he ensured care for his mother and declared his mission fulfilled. His side was pierced, verifying his death. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus buried Jesus in a new tomb, marking the preparation day’s urgency. When we think about  the death of Jesus on the cross, his death was a result of the courage of his convictions. He lived his life with a message of compassion and love, Jesus was often critical of those who lorded it over those who were less well off or who had little or even nothing at all. The cross of Good Friday that we venerate is a sign and a symbol that all of us recognise, it is a sign of the completeness of the love that God has for each one of us faults with all faults and failings included. It is not accidental that the Passion according to John is always read on this day.  This account shows Jesus always in charge, in total command of his situation. 

John’s Passion is an extended commentary on an earlier statement of Jesus found in John 10:17-18:  “I lay down my life that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”   The focus of the liturgy of Good Friday, is not primarily a meditation on Jesus’ pain, nor on our sinfulness, nor on our imitation of Jesus’ humility on their own.  Rather the focus is a reminder to us that we are beneficiaries of this event, and so we call the Friday “Good” by thanking God for what God has done for us in Jesus his son.  The final words of Jesus from the cross say it all for us, “Is is accomplished!”  Jesus is not overcome.  On the contrary!  He has overcome! When we go up to venerate the cross on Good Friday we should allow the cross to move us to be better people. Consoling, comforting and challenging the people we meet with the values of Jesus and the Cross.

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are now at the mid point of August and soon the schools around will be reopening for the new school year. Time is flying by. Our Gospel reading for this Sunday is all about the faith of 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 this Sundays  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 her faith is great. 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.  

The woman  of this Sundays  gospel is a clear sign to all of us  that God’s salvation was meant for all people and all nations – not just for the Jews.  Jesus encounter with the Canaanite woman shows a change in his human understanding of God’s plan for humanity. How does this change take place? By the woman’s persistence and unwillingness to accept a narrow and restrictive view of God. She realized birth and religious origins cannot hold back the outpouring of God’s love on all people where and who ever they are. If we make God too small and puny in love we have not heard the gospel. She proves to be one of the most remarkable people in the Gospels. She digs in, takes Jesus on, and proves herself to be the wordsmith He is and even better. She hits Him right between the eyes with her famous reply, “Lord, even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.” But she doesn’t want crumbs. She wants the whole loaf – her child’s cure. His irritability and even bad manners indicate Jesus was strung out. His nerves must have been as tight as an overstretched rubber band. The heat was 100 plus degrees. This Canaanite was the first Gentile of record whom He had dealt so aggressively with.

 Still, confronted by this courageous woman and, unlike us. He cools down. It is an admission of bad manners on His part. He honors the woman by learning from her. Besides, Christ was charmed out of His sandals by her reply.  He may well have broken out into laughter at Himself and given her a high five. Score Canaanite woman 5 and Christ 0. Wit is still prized in the Middle East by both Jews and Arabs  the ability to match riddle with riddle, to cap one wise saying with another, to match insult with insult, and to turn raw insult into a compliment. Christ cured her child. He also salutes her Great faith She was also great for a second reason. She was the only one in any Gospel who had beaten Him in public debate. Would our faith be as persistent as the faith of the Canaanite woman in this Sundays Gospel? Only you can answer that one for yourself and I hope that your faith is persistent like the Canaanite woman whose daughter Jesus Cured because faith moves mountains but as the saying goes we need to keep on climbing!!