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A REFLECTION ON RENEWAL IN THE IRISH CHURCH 3

In To Live Is to Love, Ernesto Cardenal says, “If in everything you fulfil God’s will rather than your own, every encounter in the street, every telephone call, every letter you  receive, will be full of meaning, and you will find that everything has its good reason and obeys a providential design. Our God-given tasks are best done with joy. “Jesus in no way wants us to leave our many-faceted world. He wants us to live in it, but firmly rooted in the centre of all things who is Jesus himself.  Jesus does not speak of a change of activities or even a change of pace.  He speaks of a change of heart. This change of heart makes everything different, even while everything appears to be the same.  All our previous concerns will then become as “gifts or chal­lenges that strengthen and deepen the new life which we have discovered.” This doesn’t mean that things will become easier. “Sometimes; it is even more intense Poverty, pain, struggle, anguish, agony, and even inner darkness may continue to be part of our experience.

But life is no longer boring, resentful, depressing, or lonely because we have come to know that everything that happens is part of our journey along the road  to the house of the Father.” Emulating the sacred, tender heart of Jesus means that we make room in our own hearts for everyone, not just those who are natu­rally close to us or with whom we are most comfortable.This doesn’t mean that we don’t have a justified predilection for our family and friends.  It does mean that we are willing to break out of our usual family, work, and social groups to be present to those who seem alone or lost.  We need to die to our own selfish wants and needs. Dying to self means  caring enough to have room in our own hearts for all who come.

Faith is the assurance of things we hope for born from the conviction of things not seen”.(Hebrews: 11,1). We must be prepared to witness to things unseen, the unseen things of faith as an important part of life but of course it is difficult to be such a witness, precisely because they are things unseen, and  how can they believe in him if they have never heard of him?  And how will they hear of him unless there is a preacher for them? and how will there be a preacher for them if one is not sent?  So faith comes from hearing and what is  heard comes from the preaching of Christ. (Romans:10,14-17.17)

The spiritual life of faith cannot be lived only in a pew, in church because the hard bench will sooner or later become a soft bed.  It takes imagination to get out and do something and to come in to that pew for solace and spiritual rejuvenation every Sunday and on   many other occasions that arise for us to come together in prayer. The life of St. Therese of Lisieux on the surface seems serene and tranquil, but it took hard work  for her to live the life that became the little way. It took imagination to see a boring daily chore as a new challenge, a new way of transforming an ordinary event into an act of love in God.  Our lives in this world take on the character of a journey in very many ways, but none more so than the way of salvation.  In our pilgrimage of faith to our heavenly destination we sometimes fall or turn away. 

I believe that many people who have strayed away from faith and the Church are starting to return to faith. At times the steps necessary for our walk back to the Father may seem too many and too arduous for us and we hesitate even to make the first move. This is what the apostle Paul says: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead” (Eph 5,14).  Up you get, then, and hurry along: there is the Father, there the Son, there the Holy Spirit. He who hears you speaking in the intimate depths of your soul is coming to meet you, and when you are still far off he sees you and starts running. He sees your heart; he runs up lest anyone delay you and embraces you.He flings his arms around your neck to raise you up, you who were prostrate, burdened with sins, face to the ground.  He turns you over to face heaven so that you can seek your Creator there. Christ flings his arms around you so as to free your neck from slavery’s yoke and set his gentle yoke upon you.

Perhaps it is only when we  open our eyes and see, like the Prodigal Son, that we are then willing to rouse ourselves to take the path of conversion that leads to the merciful embrace of our heavenly Father, so rich in mercy.  Proper celebration of the faith and life of the Church should lead to unfailingly serenity and hope despite , all that life will throw at us.

We as Church will renew the faith community by creating new perspectives, new perceptions, new understandings, and new enthusiasms  and all of these will lead to renewed life.  Let us not be afraid to take up the challenge the challenge that will lead us to new perspectives, new perceptions, new understandings, and new enthusiasms that bring about renewal of ourselves and those around us. I do not believe that the church should be looking to get people back to sitting in Church the days of overflowing churches won’t be back any day soon I think that what we need to do is to help people realize that God is there in their lives as a the person who will be with them thought their lives in good and bad times journeying with them. It really is about giving our people food for their faith journey.

Then we will see people coming into Church on Sunday coming in for solace and spiritual rejuvenation every Sunday and on   many other occasions that arise. It was Pope Saint John Paul who called on all of us to open our hearts to the redeemer upon his election as pope in 1978. So now what are we waiting for the time for action is here  and it has been here for some time what that action will be for each person, each parish each diocese and each country will be different.

As I am writing this we are at the feast of Corpus Christi that is the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. If we are to have any success in our efforts we must commit ourselves and our ideas for renewal to prayer and the greatest prayer there is the Mass. As we move forward we pray that God will guide us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and so we pray:

Glory to you, O Lord our God. Your love calls us to be your people.

By sharing our many and diverse gifts we share in your mission. We ask you, Lord, to shape us into a community of faith.

Nourish us by your word and sacraments that we may grow into the image of Jesus.

Through the power of your Holy Spirit, heal us that we, in turn, may heal the wounded.

Form us to be instruments of love, justice, and peace in our land , and send us to proclaim your saving work. renew us, Lord, that we may renew the face of the earth. Amen

11TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

This weekend we celebrate the 11^th Sunday of ordinary time and we hear once again the story of the mustard seed. Jesus seemed especially fond of using parables. In its form, the ancient Middle Eastern parable is an explicit comparison of one item or one person to another. Jesus’ parables tell his listeners what God is like by comparing God’s being or behavior to something familiar and known in the culture of the time. In olden days farmers would sow seeds in their lands and then simply wait. When a crop was ready they would reap it, using a scythe (“blade”).There followed a whole process, and the neighbors would gather with each farmer to help in each step. They would collect each other’s crops into stacks or “stooks” as they were called, so that by counting stooks each farmer could know how much grain to expect from his harvest. Threshing came next—separating the husks and straw from the grain—followed in these older cultures by winnowing, which detached the heavier grain from the lighter chaff.

The faith that we have handed down to us through the generations is represented in this Sundays Gospel by the mustard seed and it is something that all of us need to nourish. When the seed that is the Word of God takes root within us the Kingdom grows. We are called upon hearing the Word to meditate upon it in prayer so that it may take root in us and bear fruit in joy and virtue.

We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history the page on which the ‘today’ of God is written. (CCC 2705)

The Kingdom of God is like a tiny seed within each of us. It’s a strong seed, like those that push their way through cement in order to grow toward the light. Sometimes we nurture it and have expectations. Sometimes our expectations are fulfilled, sometimes not. Other times, we don’t know how, but we find ourselves bearing the fruits of joy, compassion, peace, generosity, faith-fullness, gentleness, and thanksgiving for the wonder of it all. Then we know our growth is a partnership and, while we can care for the seed, we can’t make it grow or flower or reproduce. I’m reminded of St Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower” who considered freedom to be in forgetting self, and walked her “way” on a path of dedication and awareness of the Holy One in the rather ordinary, boring, and annoying little things that make up our daily lives. The parable of the seed growing of itself which we hear this Sunday in the gospel reading shows us that there is an almighty power working for us. Our part is to do a good job preparing the soil and sowing the seed. Then we must let God take over, as God usually does. God and God’s work in us and among us will ultimately triumph let us not be afraid.

A REFLECTION ON RENEWAL IN THE IRISH CHURCH 1

As we all know the marriage referendum in southern Ireland was passed by a vote of 60% at this stage I am not going to dwell on this as many other people have done this since the referendum.  Instead I would like to offer my thoughts on the renewal of Faith that needs to take place in the Irish Church. Many people have said that this result is a wakeup call for the Church and this is what it should be As the apostle Paul says: “Awake, O sleeper, and” (Eph 5,14). I think we need to wake up as a Church or even as Irish Churches. For me as a Catholic in Ireland at the present time the Church needs to stand up for itself and start preaching the authentic teaching of Jesus Christ. Many people are now asking how do we as church people or people of faith reconnect with all the people within the church young and old and everyone else and this question needs to be addressed as there is a big disconnection between the Church as it is now and its people for many reasons not least the scandals which are well known and they are been addressed on an ongoing basis.

The referendum result is a wakeup call indeed it is one of many wake up calls in recent years and as such it should not be ignored. All of us who are the church the body of Christ need to stop  in order to take a reality check and look at where we are now and realize the ways of the past are gone and then take positive action for the future.

I thank God that many of the ways of past are gone as we now know in many cases they were proven to be shamefully wrong and a sham what has happened over the years certainly was not what we expect of the members of the church clergy or otherwise. Now is not the time for us to stick our heads in the sand ignoring what has gone on and what  is now going on around us. Instead it is time for us to rise up and start afresh looking for new ways to proclaim the old truths. The truths that were there at the beginning of the Church we cannot forget the Last supper in the upper room, the Cross of Good Friday and the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. We cannot forget all those who by their lives and witness over the centuries have brought many people to faith in God and also one another. We cannot forget that Jesus Christ was the beginning and will be there at the end the alpha and the omega. 

At times it would be so very easy for me and so many others to throw in the towel and that would be the easy solution and if the truth be told it would be no solution at all. Running away is easy but staying the course no matter how desperate the situation may seem to be at the time is what is required of all of us.

My faith in God is strong and my faith in other people is also strong but I sometimes find myself  asking God where are you in this that or the other situation and very often through the people around me I get an answer which is always I am here in the turmoil you are in  keep on going. With that in mind I believe that god is here at the present time in Ireland and all of us should keep on going with renewed heart and spirit remembering that the life lived in faith will never be easy and the renewal that will be required will be hard to undertake

I have had the privilege of journeying with a number of great people in my life who have taught me to pray that that the will of god will be done in our lives.  The message of God’s will entails more than the human awareness that we need to speak frankly and openly with each other.  Seeking God’s will in the concrete situation of our strengths and weaknesses means being open to the folly of the cross (1 Cor 1,18) and in the folly of the Cross we acknowledge that Jesus is Lord (1 Cor 12,4), being ready to change and be changed.

The cross reminds us that God is in charge and has a plan for our ultimate well-being. We trust God who has made a promise to be faithful to us, and through the cross, he guarantees to see that promise come to completion.We sign ourselves with the cross as we enter and leave church and as we begin and end our prayers. Each time we do that we remember the God of the Promise the god who was who is and will be the one who will always be part of our journey. Signing ourselves with the cross also “reminds us of God’s promise to be faithful to us.

Over the next few days I will complete this reflection which comes in 3 parts

as always your comments are receieved  with thanks

Corpus Christi 2015

This Sunday we celebrate the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ also known as Corpus Christi. In many places throughout the world the Feast of Corpus Christi would have been celebrated last Thursday in many other places in the world  celebrate this feast on the weekend after Trinity Sunday.  When we see the Eucharistic Bread, we believe that it is Jesus who is there before us what is known as the real presence such is our faith in the Eucharist.  We are thus in the presence of the Resurrected One, He who has conquered death and who is now in Heaven, in the Glory of the Father!  The Church teaches that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” (CCC 1324) This means that, because Christ is really, truly and substantially present in the Eucharist, we recognize that all the graces we enjoy as Catholic Christians come from this great Sacrament, and all we aspire to, the fullness of the life of God, is contained in this Sacrament.

Corpus Christi is a Eucharistic solemnity that is, the solemn commemoration of the institution of that sacrament. It is, moreover, the Church’s official act of homage and gratitude to Christ, who by instituting the Holy Eucharist gave to the Church and to us as members of the Church our greatest treasure.

By following in our Lord’s footsteps. Christians over the centuries have sacrificed greatly, in a labor of love, for their faith, their Christian way of life and their families. Then as now, it begins with each individual humbly asking God to show the way and to provide the strength needed to follow in His footsteps. This strength comes from the Eucharist the Bread of Life which is the body of Christ.

TRINITY SUNDAY 2015

This weekend we celebrate Trinity Sunday which is all about the triune god Father, son and Holy Spirit. When my Father was alive he  often had a small tin of oil in the tool  box he used which was called three in one oil  when I was thinking about a definition of the Holy Trinity  it  came to mind however the trinity is  about  three divine persons in one not a tin of oil !!!  In the Holy Trinity the Father is equal to the Son and the Son is equal to the Spirit three in one and one in three we hear this in the breastplate of St. Patrick. St Patrick, with a brilliance that we Irish are justly celebrate found in the three leaf shamrock rising from the one stem an image of the Trinity which is still used today. The feast of the Trinity goes back to 12th century England and St Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Historians say the great Thomas celebrated a Liturgy in honor of the Trinity in his cathedral. So was born the observance. In the 14th century, the feast came to be observed by the universal Church.

 One week after the end of the Easter season, in which we gave thanks for the saving death and resurrection of Jesus, and the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, this feast of the Holy Trinity invites us to contemplate the mystery of God to the extent that our minds are able. Paul in the Letter to the Romans reminds us that the Spirit of God makes us God’s children, destined to share in the life of God, as Christ does.

Through the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts we become aware of the love and strength of the living God available to us both now and in the life to come. The gospel reading for this Sunday speaks of power: the power of presence and the power of the name. Ancient people placed great weight in presence; the way someone dressed and acted spoke of social power. Ancient people also chose names carefully; they believed a person’s name defined their strength of character. Both outward presence and inward character are part of the disciples’ experience.When the followers saw the resurrected Lord and heard his command to evangelize the entire world, they saw for themselves the Trinity in action. When we live as followers of Christ, we invite others to join us not because they see nice people living good lives. No, they, too, see the Trinity in action as God works through us.

Each Trinity Sunday, we only scratch the surface of this great mystery of our faith. In gratitude and faith, let us begin and end every prayer with greater faith and reverence “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

3RD SUNDAY OF LENT

 This weekend we celebrate the third Sunday of Lent and our readings take us from the Ten Commandments in the first reading to Jesus putting the tax collectors out of the temple in the gospel. What does this say to you and me about our journey during this time of Lent? For each person the scripture for this weekend will mean something different.

In the first reading we are presented with the ten commandments  they  challenges us to establish a right order with God (the first three commandments) and then with our fellow human beings (the last seven commandments) and ourselves. The words of the second reading tell us that God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.  Our sins are signs of the weakness that we must overcome.“Christ is the power of God”; his weakness is more powerful than our strength and with God on our side who can be against us?

This Sunday’s gospel puts Jesus’ knowledge of our human nature so clearly: He really knew what was going on in the hearts of those around him. He knew what they thought as he knows what we think and what is going on in our hearts. He saw what they did to the Temple. The Temple was a place of worship. It was a place of celebrating the spiritual presence of God in the world. And  they changed the Temple into a marketplace.For many in our modern world the day of the Lord Sunday has been replaced with so many secular things taking the place of God and religion. Jesus knew that we would hide the celebration of the Resurrection behind the Easter Bunny. He knew that people would see the signs that he worked, the miracles he performed, but would refuse to see the messages behind the signs and the miracles. Instead they would see him as a wonder worker, a superman, a good show. Of course our faith is not about a good show instead it is about our relationship with God and with one another. Jesus shows us  what real love is. He went on to die on the cross for us.  Our dying with Christ during Lent is an identification with the power of Christ crucified. Our calling, then, is to be strong, not weak. The commandments represent not just a set of rules but an ideal of a social order for which we are to give our lives, as Christ did on the cross.

Second Sunday of Lent

Well here we are at the second Sunday of Lent. It is hard to believe but time is marching on. In the Gospel reading for this weekend we hear about Jesus going up the mountain taking Peter and James and John, with him and we hear the voice from the cloud identifying  Jesus as “my beloved Son.”  the God who speaks to the disciples on the mountain directs them to Jesus and instructs them and us, “Listen to him” and our journey during lent is a journey of listening to scripture and listening to one another as we tell our own stories of faith. Jesus invites us to an exciting journey as a matter of fact our lives if lived in faith should be an exciting journey from birth right until we get to the pearly gates when we die. “The kingdom of God is at hand, Repent, and believe the Good News is all about Lent and in a particular way it is our call to take up the spiritual fight beginning on Ash Wednesday.  We’re not invited to a trip to Disneyland or any other holiday place we might want to go to. Instead we are called to explore the great depths of God’s love for us as we try to move and live in God’s Spirit as we climb the mountain of the Lord which is represented by our faith led observance of Lent.

2015  happens to be the Year of Consecrated Life, it is a time in  which we honor and support those who give total commitment to following Jesus Christ. Many people have taken up the call to go on an exciting journey of faith as priests, brothers and nuns in so many diocese and religious orders throughout the world.

Lent provides inspiration for all Christians  to remember and celebrate the days of their Baptism and Confirmation. Every year we hope to rise again from the ashes of our sins and failures “to recreate ourselves anew.” Every year we take a journey, a pilgrimage through the penance, self-discipline, prayer, and  good works in Lent leading  to the refreshing Easter waters of renewal. For many their journey began last Sunday in the cathedral churches as they began the journey to their Baptism at Easter as Catechumens. The  Catechumens are led to the sacraments of initiation by means of the rite of election, the scrutinies and catechesis. The faithful, listening more intently to the word of God and devoting themselves to prayer accompany them on their journey and  through a spirit of repentance all of us are able to renew our baptismal promises at the Easter Masses. We remember once again the voice of god from the cloud, our heavenly father identifying  Jesus as “his beloved son.”  The god who speaks to the disciples  also speaks to us and directs all of us to Jesus. That same voice of God also  instructs us  to “listen to him” may we sit up and take note of what he is saying and not be afraid to do what he asks of us.

1ST SUNDAY OF LENT 2015

Well Lent has begun, after the ashes of Ash Wednesday comes the commitment of the next 6 weeks. Our gospel story for this weekend tells us about Jesus going out into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness.  God asks us to undertake this time of renewal and that is why we have the penitential season of Lent. Why do we have Lent every year? Why penance? Why fasting? Why almsgiving? What does that have to do with us? If we take our faith seriously then Lent, penance, fasting and almsgiving have a great deal to do with all of us.

This reading from the Gospel of Mark also tells us that the time has come for us to repent and believe in the Good News. It is an ancient custom in the Church that the story of the temptation of Jesus in the desert should be read on the first Sunday of Lent. Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness. At the beginning of the forty days of Lent the Church always puts before us his time of solitude and it also puts before us a time for renewal. We ask ourselves what in our homes, at work, local, and parish communities needs to be changed for so many are out there in the wilderness of a godless faithless life.

During the season of Lent we stop to take stock of where we are in our lives and where we really need to be as people of faith who believe in God. These next few weeks will be a time of refreshment, a time of repentance and also a time of renewal that prepare us for Holy Week and Easter. So now as we begin Lent we are invited to commit our lives fully to God and God’s ways remembering that god’s ways are not our ways. Jesus preaches “Metanoia” – that is “Repentance” – which requires change of heart, mind and Spirit. Let us ask ourselves whether we are open to be really changed as gods people s so we will be able to enter more fully into the great ceremonies of our redemption during Holy Week and Easter.