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Archive for the tag “christianity”

21 Jun 2025

Corpus Christi

As  we gather for the feast of Corpus Christi we remember all those places at war this weekend sadly we add Iran to the list of countries at war. With all that is going on it would be very easy to loose hope or at least be a lot less hopeful that things will improve but I am reminded of the saying that hope springs eternal. Even though things seem to be hopeless for so many we have to continue our prayer for peace and not loose our hope.  Our prayer for peace as well as praying for the leaders of the nations to have the wisdom to do the right thing are indispensable and we have to keep on praying  especially in the current world situation.  

In the First Reading  Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God, brought bread and wine and blessed Abram. Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. In the Second Reading Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, saying the bread is his body and the cup is the new covenant in his blood, to be done in remembrance of him. In the gospel we hear the story of the feeding of the five thousand. The reading and the feast itself are filled  with the richness of faith. Jesus fills us with nourishing food both spiritual and physical. Then we are sent out to proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom to all around us, in doing this we provide spiritual food for others through the Word of God and the Eucharist. The Eucharist  is the sacrament of thanksgiving. When we see the Eucharistic Bread, we believe that it is Jesus who is there before us in the real presence such is our faith in the Blessed Sacrament. The Church tells us that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” (CCC 1324)  

At the Eucharist God sees our hunger and feeds us through Word and Sacrament. Remember, the crowd in our gospel story was first taught, healed and then fed. Their hungers were both spiritual and physical . Now it is our turn, as well-nourished disciples, to find ways to address the physical and spiritual needs of the people we have noticed along the way who may be hungry. These needs can seem overwhelming. But, as with the bread and fish in the gospel story we take what the Lord has given us and give it freely to others. He will do the rest and all will be satisfied. The eucharistic meal is also a promise: one day we will sit at the banquet feast where there will be no more hunger,  no more illness and our satisfaction in God will be complete.  Corpus Christi is the solemn commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist on the first Holy Thursday in the upper room.  It is the Church’s act of homage and thanksgiving to Christ, who by instituting the Holy Eucharist gave us the members of the Church the body of Christ our greatest treasure.

The  feast of Corpus Christi celebrates the enduring sign of Christ’s presence with us personally in the Bread and Wine. It also celebrates Christ’s presence with us in the community of faith where we are. The Eucharist is our sacrament of communion, not only with Christ and God, but also with all those called into the Christian faith. Our communion binds us to one another in a sacred union of mind and heart with Jesus the Son of God our hope in an often times hopeless world.

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07 Jun 2025

PENTECOST SUNDAY

This Sunday  we celebrate the decent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost which heralded the beginning of the apostolic mission to bring the Christian faith  to the world. This gift of the Holy Spirit is the culmination of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The gifting of the Holy Spirit is a continuing event in the life of every believing person and, therefore, in every age of human history. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God with us the enduring way in which Jesus remains present in the Church and in the life of each person.

The readings for Pentecost promise that we are not on our own, but have the Spirit to guide us. The focus for this weekend is how the Holy Spirit empowers us to be disciples.  In the First Reading we hear that during Pentecost, the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke in diverse languages, astonishing a multinational crowd in Jerusalem as each person heard about God’s wonders in their own language.  In the Second Reading we are told  if we live by the Spirit, not the flesh, we will be aligned with God. Christ’s Spirit in us promises life despite our mortal bodies. Led by this Spirit, we are God’s children, heirs with Christ, sharing in his glory through our sufferings. With the feast of Pentecost the seven weeks of  the Easter season have come to an end with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person. “Peace” was John’s prayer for his readers as it is for us as we listen to this gospel reading and our world needs peace more than ever in these days of conflict in many places. Jesus emphasized the importance of obedience to his commandments as a sign of true love for him he also promised the Father would send an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to be with his followers forever.

This Spirit would teach the apostles and us and remind us all of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus and the Father will dwell with those who adhere to these teachings.  When they saw Jesus their fear turned into great joy, and their Anxiety turned into relief. The lack of spiritual direction turned into a sense of deep spiritual grounding. The divine presence stood close to them and with the divine presence came a great sense of peace of spirit mind and soul. We in our time have the divine presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and it brings Joy and spiritual grounding to all those who come to meet him in the sacramental life of the Church. Gathered for Mass and other liturgies we bring all our concerns to god  in prayer because our prayers  raise our hope in the power of God made real to every generation through the Holy Spirit.  Most of the time the problems in our lives just don’t go away by themselves very often we need to stop and think and pray things through.  If we pray about the problems as well as thinking them through we will find that they are much easier to deal with.  Through the Holy Spirit our relationship with God satisfies the  longings  of our hearts and brings us the deep peace of God which is beyond all understanding.  Because of God’s faithfulness, we give thanks, offer sacrifice, and once again present our needs this Pentecost Sunday as we remember the presence of God who is with us through the happy and sad times that are part of our daily lives as we thank God for his enduring hope filled presence among us.

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31 May 2025

Ascension

This weekend we celebrate the ascension. In this feast we celebrate Christ ascending into heaven and then taking his seat at the right hand of the Father. Our lives are made up of so many different times and places of leave-taking and that is what Ascension is really about Jesus leaving the Apostles to return to the Father. Jesus has called the ragged, group of disciples, scattered after his crucifixion, back to himself to form them, fragile and doubtful as they were, into a community for mission to go out into the world  in the name of God.

The Apostles must have felt awful as  Jesus  was leaving them even though he told them that I am with you yes to the end of time.  In the First Reading  Jesus instructed the apostles to wait for the Holy Spirit the paraclete and then ascended to heaven to the right hand of the father. In the Second Reading : we are told that Christ entered heaven to appear before God for us, sacrificing himself once to remove sin. We are called to  trust and approach God with sincere hearts, holding firmly to the hope that is within us. This Gospel reading is all about the past the present and the future. Jesus has little to say, but he is definite about what he has to say when he speaks. The disciples did what he told them to do. He asked them to meet him on the mountain, and they did that. Like any gathering of people, 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. The redemption and salvation off the world was to begin at Pentecost and continue through the generations, until the end of time. It would seem, that he was in a hurry to take his leave of them, so that his plan for  our salvation 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 should follow him as well which was so hard then and especially hard in the world of today. Over the years so many things have changed in the Church and society. However two things that have not changed are the person of Jesus himself and his message as they are ever old and always new.

At  Easter and in  the weeks since we have been remembering the great events that have brought salvation to the world as we proclaim that Jesus is alive and  with us where we are in 2025. The feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost help us to realize that we are part of a long tradition of faithful faith filled disciples. All of us have our faults and failings, but our call is to be faithful witnesses to Jesus and what he teaches us. As a result of the actions we take and the things we say the people around us will know that we are followers of Jesus who are called to be the hope filled presence of God in the world today.

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24 May 2025

6th Sunday of Easter

This weekend we celebrate the 6th Sunday of Easter and soon we will celebrate Ascension and Pentecost Sunday. At the council of Jerusalem Paul and Barnabas receive endorsement of their policy of admitting Greeks and other pagans to the Church without requiring them to observe the law of Moses. Paul sees clearly that Christs coming means freedom for us. We are no longer bound by restrictions and laws if we observe the commandment of Jesus to love, Love God and others. The love of Christ will be the light illuminating our whole lives.  

In the First Reading from Acts the Apostles decided not to burden Gentile believers with the Jewish law and what it required from them instead they asked them to avoid certain things.  In the Second Reading  from the book of Revelation we are told that the angel showed John Jerusalem, shining with the glory of god. It had twelve gates and foundations named after the tribes of Israel.  In the Gospel we continue to read the Farewell Discourse as Jesus makes a number of promises to the disciples. Throughout John’s Gospel Jesus speaks about his boundless affection for the Father and the disciples. Another favourite theme of John is that, just as the Father and Jesus abide together in love, they will also come to abide in the heart of the disciple. Jesus does not speak these words in the sense of foretelling the future, but rather to prepare the disciples for their daily ‘remembering’ of, and making his words and actions present, in their own lives. Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to the apostles as the advocate.  

Although Jesus had spoken to the Apostles and told them many different things, he knew them well and realized that they wouldn’t remember everything he said Jesus also knew that they would have to endure many struggles, difference and disagreement.  The Apostles would not see eye to eye on everything; they would have different memories of Jesus; they would emphasise different things. In the conflicts that would arise they would have to put their faith to work.  That is why he told them that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in his name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. These words are a direct pointer towards Pentecost and the gifts that the Holy Spirit would bring to them as well as us.  We don’t have the physical presence of Jesus with us the way his first disciples did when he talked with them around the table at the Last Supper, washed their feet, and gave them his reassuring promises. His farewell to them was a real farewell he was going, he would no longer be with them. But he assured them and us that he is present in a different way, through his gift of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus also promised the Apostles Peace  ‘A peace that the world cannot give.’ Sometimes we mistake this peace for our idea of quietness or tranquility, but the peace the Jesus gives is a peace that can be found even in the midst of turmoil. This peace is not something we can manufacture ourselves by our own power. It’s a gift that comes from Jesus, who doesn’t want to lose touch with us. Jesus chose his followers to carry out God’s plan of salvation. He chooses us today to do the same, he gives us a personal stake in the Kingdom of God.  We remember the great gift that the Holy spirit is it is the breath of God that unites us. If we keep on trusting in the presence of the Spirit of God in our lives we will have peace in the midst of any personal, family, or community turmoil that comes our way as well as someone who will keep us going along the right Road !

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16 May 2025

5th Sunday of Easter

This weekend we pray for Pope Leo as he begins his ministry as our Holy Father with mass on Sunday morning to inaugurate his ministry as the successor of Peter. We pray the Holy Spirit will guide him in his leadership of the Church as our shepherd and Father in faith. We also stop and say a prayer for all those who are doing exams over the next few weeks. Our world puts great store on education and often forgets the pressure that this puts on our young people especially at exam time. We pray 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 how good or bad  the exam results might be.

On this fifth Sunday of Easter, the scripture readings continue to describe the growth of discipleship and the conditions for the Kingdom of God. Membership in the Kingdom comes about by becoming members of the Church. The term church comes from the Hebrew word Qahal. It comes from a verb meaning called together. So, the Church is a group of people who gather together in faith, hope and Joy. In the First Reading from the acts of the apostles we hear that Paul and Barnabas revisited cities, encouraging disciples and explaining hardships they would endure for the  kingdom of God. They appointed church leaders, entrusted them to the Lord, and shared their mission success in Antioch, emphasizing God’s outreach to non-Jews. In the Second Reading John describes a new heaven and earth, with the old gone. He sees a splendid New Jerusalem and hears God proclaim His eternal dwelling with people, erasing all pain and making everything new. 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 with all that we see going on in our world. This means that we should love as Jesus loves, in order show the face and heart of Christ to a war torn 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. But this is not the case as Jesus wants us to be united with him and one another in love today right where we are. Jesus’ command to love one another is central to Christian life. He taught this lesson at a time when He knew He would be betrayed. Instead of focusing on His own troubles, Jesus emphasized the importance of loving others as he loved them. This teaches us that love should be the foundation of our relationships, even when life gets difficult. Helping and supporting one another in our faith and life journeys means being there for each other through both good and bad times. It means offering a listening ear, a helping hand, and a kind word. By doing this we follow Jesus’ example and build a community rooted in love and care. By loving and supporting one another, we live out the true essence of our faith and strengthen the bonds of faith within our communities. We are called as pilgrims of hope to build and  become that community of love showing the love of God to those around us especially during this Holy Year and at all other times as well.

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10 May 2025

4th Sunday of Easter

This weekend we pray  a prayer of thanksgiving to God for our new Holy Father Pope Leo 14th.   We pray that he will be a good shepherd for us as we follow Jesus united as one family of God with the Holy Father our bishops, priests, deacons, religious and the people of God throughout the world.  The fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday it is the day when we pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. In the time of Jesus, a shepherd usually had responsibility for about fifteen or twenty sheep whom he accompanied day and night. Both shepherd and sheep got to know each other. The shepherd was responsible for keeping the flock together and safe, for leading it to good pasture, for binding up wounds. The sheep depended on the shepherd for life.

We Christians believe that Christ is our shepherd, leading us to the fullness of life.  We may find this language of ‘sheep’ and ‘shepherds’ strange, but beneath the imagery is our belief that God is a gentle, caring and just shepherd of the flock.   In the First Reading  from the Acts of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas preached to Jews and Gentiles, then facing jealousy and persecution they  continued to spread the good news that word of the Lord is. They left Antioch, filled with joy and the Holy Spirit because of what happened there. In the Second Reading  from Revelation we hear that John saw a great crowd from all nations worshiping before God’s throne. They are protected and led by the Lamb, who wiped away every tear from their eyes. In the Gospel Jesus tells us My sheep hear my voice; “I know them, and they follow me. Our challenge today is to tune in to the voice of Christ asking us to know, love and follow Him. In our world of instant communications we listen to the voices of so many others.  But do we listen to the voice of Christ, who speaks to us through Prayer, Scripture, the Sacraments, nature, and other people?   The image of the shepherd cannot be separated from the way that the shepherd actually cares for his own sheep. Jesus the good shepherd challenges us not to leave the lost sheep behind: Jesus said “I have come to seek out and save the lost so that all may be saved.”   

All of us know people who have wandered away from the Church, who have lost their sense of belonging, who feel they have no faith community to belong to. How will they know they are welcome back if no one tells them? How will they be helped back if no one offers to make the journey with them?  The good shepherd asks us to make the journey with them as people who have listened to his voice calling us to follow him. Jesus the Good Shepherd is for all of us  and we should listen to his voice amidst the trials of our daily lives. Many of the voices we listen to in so many places in the world claim to speak for the good of everyone, but they lead us astray and disappoint us but our Faith and Hope in Jesus does not disappoint. Pope Francis once said, “that with Jesus life becomes richer and that with him it is easier to find meaning in everything. The Gospel of the Good shepherd is a  hope filled call for  us to follow Jesus the loving shepherd who seeks out the lost sheep and rejoices when they are found .

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06 May 2025

CONCLAVE 2025

Tomorrow morning in St Peters Rome the Mass for the election of the new pope will take place at 10am local time during that mass we pray that the Holy spirit will inspire the Cardinal Electors to elect the pope. Later in the day  the Conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis will begin at 5pm when the Cardinals will process from the Pauline Chapel into the Sistine Chapel. There they will take the oath to maintain the secrecy of the conclave under pain of excommunication. Then everyone else who is not an elector will leave when the master of ceremonies declares extra omnes which means all those who are not allowed to remain must leave. Then a Cardinal will give a reflection on what they are about begin and the first ballot will take place. Many people have said they want a more Conservative or a more Liberal pope but it doesn’t work that way as people want what they think is good for everyone else.

The way it works is that all of us should pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire the Cardinals to elect  the Pope who will be a source of unity and a bridge builder within the Church.

O God, eternal shepherd,

who govern your flock with unfailing care,

grant in your boundless fatherly love

a pastor for your Church

who will please you by his holiness

and to us show watchful care.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

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26 Apr 2025

Divine Mercy Sunday

This Sunday we celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter Divine Mercy Sunday we pray for our Holy Father Pope Francis who died on Easter Monday and whose funeral took place earlier today. As Catholics we feel like sheep without a shepherd as we have lost our spiritual Father. The umbrella over the cross keys in the icon above indicates that the pope has died and we are in a period of mourning called sede vacante.  In the days ahead we are asked to pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire the Cardinals when they meet in conclave to elect a new pope that they will  make the right decision by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

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 2000 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 and here we are all these years retelling the story once again.  In the First Reading  The apostles, performing signs and wonders, gathered in Solomon’s portico, held in high regard despite others’ hesitance. Their number grew rapidly, and the sick were brought to them; even Peter’s shadow was sought for healing. All who came wee healed. In the Second Reading  John, exiled on Patmos for his faith, receives a vision from Jesus on the Lord’s day. Instructed to write, he sees Christ among lampstands, falls down, but is reassured by Christ, the eternal, resurrected one holding keys to death and Hades.

 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 hope  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 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. 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.  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. 

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. 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.   May all of us be witnesses to the Hope, love  and mercy of the Gospel as we try to bring the caring face of God’s love to the people wherever we are.

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18 Apr 2025

GOOD FRIDAY

The origin of this day is traced back to Jerusalem and the veneration of the relic of the true cross.  This act of veneration stressed the cross as a symbol of victory.  In our good Friday Liturgy it is not the veneration of a crucifix, which would narrow it down to the historical moment of Jesus’ suffering and death.  Instead we venerate the Cross it is the sign of Jesus death on 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.  When we think of the death of Jesus on the cross we realise that 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 is a sign that all of us recognise, it is a sign of the completeness of the love that God has for each one of us faults and failings included.  It is not accidental that the Passion according to John is always read on this day.  This account shows that Jesus is 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, or our imitation of Jesus’ humility.  Instead  the focus on the cross as a reminder that we are beneficiaries of this event here and now in our own time. The final words of Jesus from the cross say it all for us, “It is accomplished!”  Jesus was not overcome. On the contrary!  He has overcome and the fact that we are celebrating Good Friday in 2025 bears witness to this.  When we go up to venerate the cross we should allow the cross to move us to be better people. Consoling, comforting and challenging the people we meet with the hope filled values of Jesus and the Cross.

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16 Apr 2025

Mass of the Lords Supper

Lent has ended and now we begin the Holy Week Triduum for the Holy Year of Hope. There is a saying that hope springs eternal and in the Holy Week Triduum we celebrate  the hope of Holy Thursday we go to the despair of Good Friday and then on Easter Sunday we  go back to the greatest hope that all of us have that is the resurrection. The word Triduum is the Latin for the three days Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. We should not think of the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil as three separate events, all three form part of one single extended liturgy. In fact at the end of the Mass on Holy Thursday there is no dismissal and blessing instead we accompany Jesus to the Altar of repose and then leave in silence. In the same way there is no formal beginning and end to the Good Friday liturgy we enter in silence and again we leave in silence.

This three-day liturgy concludes with the solemn blessing at the end of the Easter Vigil or at the morning Mass on Easter Sunday.  On Holy Thursday In the first reading from exodus we hear about the blood sacrifice on the door posts a sign that the people inside would be spared, freed from slavery and death. The death of Jesus becomes the Christian Passover, the sign of gods liberating love. We hear Paul’s account of the institution of the Eucharist in the second reading when he tells us this is what I have learned from the Lord and I am passing it on to you.  These readings make us aware that the institution of the Eucharist is tied to the demand of mutual love  and respect for one another.  On this day  we act out Jesus’ command by participating in the foot washing.  When supper had ended, Jesus took water in a basin and a towel and began to wash his disciples’ feet. He then commanded his disciples to follow his example by giving such loving service to others. Following the celebration of the Eucharist, we move in procession  with the Blessed Sacrament to the  chapel Of reservation there we keep watch up to midnight.  

On Holy Thursday we all bring our different stories here to the table of the Lord.  And we know there will be times when we will be sore, hurt and wounded; when there will be no one to talk away the terrors of the night; when we will occupy the garden of grief alone.  But Jesus has already travelled that road and stands with us. The liturgy on Holy Thursday evening is a meditation on the essential connection between the Eucharist and Christian love expressed in serving one another. Christ is not only present in the Eucharist but also in the deeds of loving kindness offered to others through us. We are the ones who make ‘real’ the presence of Jesus in every smile, kind word and loving action. As I said at the beginning hope springs eternal and we are called to be people of hope filled faith who look out for one another, people who follow Jesus  example by giving such loving service to others. It’s not just about “me” It’s about “us” and our hopeful journey of faith during these days of Holy Week and Easter and beyond as we go on into the future.  

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