Fullerton T

ASH WEDNESDAY

Tomorrow  is Ash Wednesday and as we continue to come out from the darkness of the pandemic we are beginning the Penitential Season of Lent. This is the first time in nearly 2 years that we will be celebrating Lent and Easter properly  with all the possibilities they provide for us. The vestments colour changes from the hopeful green of ordinary time to the penitential purple of Lent and the cry of this day and the whole of the next six weeks is repent and believe in the good news. For many of us we will be leaving things behind for the 6 weeks of Lent and we will also be taking up many things as well to revive our spiritual selves. During the season of Lent we take stock of where we are in our lives and where we really need to be as people who believe in God. As we continue our  Faith journey during the 40 days of Lent we are invited to recommit ourselves fully to God and his ways remembering that god’s ways are not our ways.

Jesus preaches “Metanoia”  that is Repentance or Coming back.  Coming back to God requires change of heart, mind and Spirit.  The six  weeks of Lent are a time of spiritual refreshment, a time of repentance and also a time of renewal that prepare us for Holy Week and Easter as well as everything else.  Will the ashes we receive on ash Wednesday be ashes that help us change our ways and our not so good habits or will they make little or no difference to our daily lives. Let us ask ourselves whether we are open to be changed as people of faith so we will be able to enter more fully into the great ceremonies of Holy Week and Easter when they come around. There is much work to be done as we begin lent so let us not be afraid to take up the challenges we are offered and there will be many. Among those will be the early morning Mass, the alms giving to the Charitable organizations like Trocaire and Cafod as well as the various programs offered at parish and pastoral area levels and all of this is good. Now however it over to each person to make up his/her mind regarding  what you want to do in 2022 to make Lent spiritually  special for you.

8th sunday of ordinary time

This Weekend we pray in solidarity with the Ukrainian people as their country is invaded. With Pope Franceie we pray for peace but as we see the Russian Leadership wants what it wants no matter what we and the rest of the world think so much prayer is needed. Next week we begin the season of Lent with the Ashes on Ash Wednesday and we begin again our annual  journey of repentance and conversion for 2022. We leave the Green of ordinary time behind  and we go to the Purple or violet of Lent. In our parishes we will have many opportunities to strengthen our spiritual lives over the 6 weeks of lent as we ponder what our faith really means to us as individuals and as a community of faith. Over these next few days before Ash Wednesday, the Lord invites us to prepare for this annual forty-day spiritual journey. Imagine you’re going on a sightseeing tour in a city you’ve never visited before. You’re going on foot, so anything you want to bring with you, you must carry all day. You have to decide what you really need and what to leave behind. Lent is a journey. What needs to come with us, and what needs to stay behind? During these final days before Ash Wednesday, let us accept the Lord’s invitation to leave all the excess behind and journey forward with faith, knowing that the Lord who comes to us in this Eucharist as our Bread for the journey has something greater to offer us, eternal life. The Apostle says it so beautifully in today’s second reading: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

It was the Lord’s own death that swallowed death up in the victory of his empty tomb on Easter Sunday. Let us hasten to meet him there.  This Sunday in our Gospel Reading Jesus is coming to the end of what, in Luke, is called the “Sermon on the Plain”. He has instructed his disciples to love their enemies, turn the other cheek, treat others as they would want to be treated, not judge them, etc. Jesus is the wise person teaching his disciples a practical wisdom for their lives as disciples. Jesus says, in summary, a person’s words and actions will reveal their character. The Gospel tells us There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.’  God’s love is effective, it produces good fruit for the benefit of others. The good we do becomes a way to spread the faith to others. Jesus sends us to be witnesses to the faith we profess to practice what we teach and preach. Jesus words to us in this weekend’s gospel  show his concern for the integrity and quality of our lives. We cannot, he says, teach others if we ourselves are not witnesses to what we teach. For all of us  that is what Lent is all about moving forward in a spirit of conversion and prayerful return the spirit of metanoia. For now let us stop and reflect on the good we do for others and how becomes a way to bringing the faith to them where they are as we prepare to take up our Lenten challenges as all of us  go forward together with faith in God.

6th Sunday in Ordinary time

On this the 6^th Sunday of Ordinary time we remember all those who are sick and those who care for them as we have just celebrated the World Day of Prayer for the sick on Friday11th February. We pray that they will get the strength to continue their lives. This and next week’s gospels are from the “Sermon on the Plain,” – a parallel to Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount.” While similar, both evangelists are writing for different audiences and tailor their material accordingly.  Jesus speaks to his disciples, those who are already following him. How many of the crowd who heard him were attracted to the good news he was sharing? Did they become his disciples too? Did what he said affect their lives; change their notion of God? Has the Sermon had similar affects on us? After listing the four situations in life that make people blessed, Luke then lists their opposites, declaring the “woes.” The word for “blessed” is not a description of happiness as we know it; but is a gift bestowed by God. You don’t earn the blessings; you just need them and God notices. Those who have nothing – no material wealth, or food, who are weeping and hated, because of Jesus, will receive God’s favour.

St. Luke addressed his gospel to the downtrodden, the lowly. He sees a tremendous virtue that the poor have: Because they recognize that what they have comes from God, they are generous with others believing that God will provide for them if they give the little they have to those more needy then themselves. Blessed are you poor. St. Luke also quotes Jesus as saying, “Woe to the rich.” Jesus is not concerned with the amount of money a person has. He’s concerned with the false sense of security that money often gives people and we see that in todays world. Many people are tempted to trust in their possessions instead of trust in God. We should aim to live our lives for others in accordance with the Gospel values and, in this way, we will acquire virtue and so become great in the eyes of God.

If we live our lives in this way but then find ourselves experiencing some of those things that Jesus is talking about in the Beatitudes, such as periods of poverty or hunger or bereavement or persecution, we will not see these things in a negative way. We will see them rather as gifts from God which are intended to strengthen us. We will realise that they have been given to us for our spiritual growth. Of course, we will still suffer privation and perhaps even extreme need but we will know that these outwardly negative things actually have a true and lasting spiritual value. What we should be attempting to achieve is true authenticity as human beings. What we should be striving for is to live real and genuine lives. What we should be cultivating is human warmth, generosity and goodness. We might not end up as people with fame or wealth but we will most definitely end up as people who are appreciated by others. We will most definitely end up as well-rounded human beings who are making a real and effective contribution to our families and to society at large. We will most definitely end up as people who have a real and deep spirituality and find ourselves being led into an ever-closer union with our loving Saviour. 

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This Sunday we celebrate the 5^th Sunday in Ordinary time and we remember and pray for all those who are sick as we celebrate the world day for the Sick on the 11^th February. We also pray for all those who are caring for our sick in any way Doctors nurses, care workers  and Family members to name just a few. We ask God through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes to bless our sick and all those who look after them. Our Gospel story for this Sunday recounts the story of the of Peter’s calling to be a fisher of men. After a fruitless night’s fishing, Peter obeys the word of Jesus and catches a huge number of fish. He feels unworthy before Jesus; but he is now called to be a fisher of men.  Peter recognises the hand of God in what has happened and at the same time realises his own sinfulness but Jesus comes to show us the mercy of his Father.

Jesus did not come to be a hermit with an unreachable address in the desert; rather, his whole mission moves in the opposite direction, for he has come “to seek out and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). So Jesus travels into people’s lives, into our lives not away from them.  He entertains sinners he enters their homes, meets their families, eats at their table, listens to their stories, and calls them as well as ourselves to a new way of life when he says follow me. Throughout his life Jesus is never far from all of us as well for we in simple terms are also sinners. Jesus doesn’t write us off because we are sinners; Jesus has other plans because he believes that we sinners have a future, not just a past. Simon Peter received his call while he was doing his work. He said, “Yes,” and responded by changing his life. Every day, in the midst of our routine, at work, home, school or play, there are opportunities to respond to Jesus’ call to follow him. In many ways our Christian vocation must guide what we say and how we act. In big decisions and small, we are asked to live what we profess as Jesus’ followers; to be attentive to what God may be asking of us at this particular moment of decision in our lives. This may entail being faithful to the commitments we already have; responding to a need we see, or taking the opportunity to witness to what we believe. Of course such responses may seem small and insignificant.

 They may be small, but they are never insignificant! In addition, who knows where the next “Yes” we say to Christ may lead us? At different times in our lives, God has called us to do his work. Usually, there hasn’t been anything particularly grand about where God has called us. With Isaiah, it was at his work in the Jerusalem temple. With Paul, it happened as he was galloping towards the city of Damascus on his horse. With Peter and his companions, it was while they were trying one night to catch fish as we hear in this Sundays gospel reading. So too with all of us, God has tracked us down wherever we live or work or pray. Let us not be afraid to take up the challenge of saying yes to Jesus and the faith in God the Father we have through Jesus  as we follow him.

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This weekend we celebrate the fourth Sunday of the year. Time is as always passing by and life goes on and We pray for all those who need our prayers and all of us know someone who needs a prayerful boost. Also we are just ending Catholic schools week and we thank God for the gift of education and all those who are or have been our teachers throughout our lives..

In the Gospel reading  Jesus’ preaching begins with affirmation from the hearers. “All who were present spoke favorably of him.” Almost immediately the mood changed. The use of the reading from Isaiah was welcomed. It is good news that the people have waited a long time to see fulfilled. But, somehow conveyed in the words was the suggestion that Jesus himself has a role to play in the inauguration of the eternal Jubilee and it is this that is not acceptable. The examples that follow indicate that Jesus was hinting that the word of God was spoken universally, not to one particular person or group of people. The stories of the prophets, Elijah and Elisha, show that God’s love and mercy are to be found wherever there is a need and the faith to receive it. Jesus at Nazareth was experiencing the fate of all prophets.

But prophecy, being a spokesperson for God, is not about pleasing people. It’s about speaking the truth, sometimes the truth that no one wants to hear, the truth that often gets covered up, and yet the truth that one must hear and heed for one’s own good. The reaction from the group was swift and indignant. They rose up and wanted to throw him not only out of the synagogue but out of the town. The hearers hardened their hearts to the word as many today harden their hearts to the word.. Why did the crowd rise up against Jesus? Because he stepped outside the box they had constructed for him. He was no longer the local boy who made good; he was a self-proclaimed prophet. And his signs were not for the edification of the mob, but for the glory of God. In these ways, he rejected the expectations of those in Nazareth, and, so, they rejected him. As a last sign to them, Jesus walked safely through them and, according to Scripture, he never returned to his hometown.  For all of us expectations are always really hard to fulfill as we hear from the readings of this weekend. But, faith is not based upon expectations, it is based on a proper relationship with God. We must recognize the difference between the two. And as we recognize that difference we place our expectations before God and he will help us to do what he asks of us. There is a great saying that was often quoted to me by a friend who passed on a few years ago she always pointed out that man proposes and God disposes.

That  means that god will see and do whatever is good for us whether we like it or not for sometimes what we think is good is in fact the opposite !! So this  weekend we pray that we will see what god proposes for us and have the will to  do it.

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday we celebrate the 3^rd Sunday of ordinary time as we end the week of prayer for Christian unity. we also begin our annual week long celebration of our catholic schools. During Catholic schools week which this year has as its theme Catholic Schools living life to the full there will be a range of events in the parishes where we live. In the Gospel Reading for this Sunday Luke wants to make very clear to his readers what drives Jesus the Prophet from Galilee and what is the goal of his action. We as Christians need to know in what direction God’s Spirit pushes Jesus, since following him means that we are walking in the same direction as he did.  We remember that the Spirit descended upon Jesus at his Baptism in the Jordan. With the Spirit poured upon him, Jesus would proclaim freedom for the captives, the blind, and those in need. When Jesus proclaimed the Good News, he proclaimed the Spirit. Since Spirit meant breath, Jesus breathed God’s word in his words and deeds.  The power of his proclamation changed people, situations, and environments because he breathed out the power of God.  When Jesus spoke, hearts turned to God and health of mind body and spirit were restored.

There is an immediate life-implication of this Sundays  passage that is easy to overlook for us in our I want I get world. it is this: The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jesus and comes upon the Church in order to bring good news to the people. The presence of the Spirit means joy. In the 21st century we’re OK with entertainment and pleasure, but we are often suspicious of Spiritual joy because it might be a pie in the sky illusion. How can we talk about or even allow ourselves to experience joy, when there is so much false hope, so much suffering, so much serious work to be done in the world around us especially as a result of the pandemic? The paradox of Christian faith is the cross of Jesus. The cross symbolizes the pain and sorrow that Jesus and we know so well . At the same time, the cross of Jesus is the ultimate revelation of the love and mercy of God shown to us through his son. “For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12: 2). The joy that lay before him was not only that God would wipe away his every tear, but that through his self-giving love, his joy might be in us and our joy might be complete.  What Jesus began  that day was to be continued his Spirit-anointed community, right through to today in  the church that means all of us here and now today right where we are.

In the midst of recurrent waves of uncertainty in our lives, we are called to be joyful and rejoice in the Lord as our strength. That does not mean that we ignore the challenges that weigh heavily upon us and there are many of those. Instead, our rejoicing  helps us to  recall the faithfulness of God throughout the ages and throughout our own lives. Tapping into that joy helps us  remember “God’s got this!” whatever the “this” is,  over and over again, now and forever, no matter what happens in our world he is out strength and our joy and we are empowered by that same Spirit to pass the joy of Jesus on to those we meet as we go about our daily lives .

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

This Weekend we hear the Gospel story of the Wedding Feast at Cana. The wedding at Cana which 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 yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’  This Gospel is a story with many threads – the insight into the relationship between Mary and Jesus – the miracle of the wine itself – the fact that the miraculous wine is better than the original – the fact of Jesus honouring the young couple in this way . The bride and groom whose wedding is being celebrated are in the background because at the heart of this story we see Mary and Jesus. Mary, who asks for help when she tells Jesus “they have no wine”, Mary the faith filled disciple, has trust in divine providence. In the place of the divine spouse, stands Jesus Son of the Father. The care, concern and affection of God are manifest in the Son and it is the care and affection for all of us  that are reflected through Mary his mother. In her response at the wedding at Cana Mary shows herself a model disciple who trusts in God.

Mary shows that trust with the words that are meant for all of us even now as we hear  them again in 2022 “Do whatever he tells you.”  In the Rosary Basilica in Lourdes there is an icon over the main altar with the words To Jesus through Mary and that is another aspect of this story, Mary always points away from herself to Jesus. Mary is giving us the direction to do what Jesus asks us to do. She is not saying that we should do what she wants us to do instead she is showing us the way to Jesus the son of God. She is mother to us all and  also the first disciple of her son. She knows the way to live because she learned it by listening to her son and pondering in her heart what he did and said. We should listen closely to what she says as Mary is the one who “keeps all these things in her heart,.” Do whatever he tells you is Mary’s message for us today and we need to stop and ponder what is Jesus telling us to do in 2022 in the midst of everything that is going on in our lives and in the world at large at this time. As we think about the wedding at Cana are we like Mary prepared to ponder all these things in our hearts and trust the Father who give us everything or are we prepared just to trundle along accepting the things that come along whatever they may be..

We need to learn and understand the message that is given to us through Jesus whose mother points the way to him and asks us in the to ”do whatever he tells us to do” are we prepared to do that hopefully all of us are.

The Baptism of the Lord

This Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by John. The beginning of the messianic work of Jesus is marked by the moment of his baptism. The sacrament of Baptism is the key that opens the door to all the other sacraments for us. Baptism has two essential results, firstly it wipes us clean from original sin making us one with God and secondly it is the beginning for us as  we begin our journeys as members of the Church. Baptism gives us the opportunity to receive the other sacraments, most particularly the Eucharist which is the sacrament that we most frequently experience it is the main way that our souls are nourished by God’s grace.

We remember that the Baptist foretold Jesus  coming and he is acclaimed on earth by John and Jesus links himself to John by being baptized by him. After his baptism Jesus is acclaimed from heaven by the voice of the Father and the presence of the Spirit.   None of us will remember our own baptism but for those who were baptised as adults there is the added bonus of being able to tell others about their baptism as well as the journey that has brought them into the faith. Through our baptism we died with Christ and have been reborn into a whole new life (Romans 6). We, the baptized, are made a part of the body of Christ. We are  called to imitate Jesus, whom Paul says, “went about doing good.” We don’t need a detailed rule book in order to know how we should act in each situation of our lives, for in baptism, we have the companionship of the Spirit who is our wisdom, our help and our guide to do good, and that Holy Spirit enables us to do what is right in every situation we may find ourselves in. The baptism of Jesus is a moment of special grace in the story of salvation.

Not only did the Son of God join us in our human condition but the Father and the Spirit were seen and heard to be present with him by the banks of the Jordan. The gospel for this Sunday uses the simple phrase that “the heavens were opened,” the voice of the Father was heard saying this is my Son and it is a powerful statement. This particular gospel story is the beginning of the journey that Jesus was to undertake and it brought him to Calvary and the cross. Through our own baptism, each of us is asked to travel a journey of faith though we won’t end up on the Cross. Our personal faith journeys have one great purpose and the purpose is to try and live our lives as people of God inspired by Jesus and enlivened by the Holy Spirit. Sons and daughters of the Father who are called through  baptism to bring his love into the world so that the world may see how we live our lives and believe in what they see and that is the love of God in action.