Fullerton T

12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday we celebrate the 12^th Sunday in ordinary time. In the first reading, Jeremiah’s lament is about his treatment at the hands of his adversaries. However, since his message comes from God, he is convinced of the rightness of his cause and of God’s ultimate vindication of his servant. In the second reading we hear that Paul was the originator of what came to be called ‘the doctrine of original sin.’ He was writing to Christians of Jewish background who had been brought up to believe it was their obedience to the Law that justified them in the sight of God. But sin ruled the world before the giving of the Law and, Paul insisted, it was faith itself the gift of God rather than the law that justified them, set them free as today it sets us free as well.

The  Gospel message is quite simple Jesus tells us not to be afraid He does not disguise the truth that his disciples will be confronted by those who threaten, bully and intimidate others into submissive agreement. What our Lord said to His Apostles applies to all Christians including you and me in the practice of our faith. So today we think of all of those who have given us an example by living their lives in faith. These may be parents’ family members or people we have known we all have people who have shown us the way of faith. So as faith filled people Jesus teaches us that our only source of freedom and strength is the goodness of our heavenly Father the goodness that comes through Jesus himself. Furthermore, the discovery of this goodness carries with it the solemn obligation to pass on one’s blessings on to the people around us as we show our concern for others. Our world is full of meaningless hype and glitter, but the only truth that will prevail is the truth taught by Jesus passed down to us in faith. The courage ordinary Christians need today is often quiet and steady rather than dramatic and overpowering. Most believers will not face prison or martyrdom, but they do face pressures that test their faith every day.

It takes courage to remain honest in a dishonest environment, to forgive when resentment feels easier, to defend the dignity of the poor and forgotten, to remain faithful in marriage and family life, and to continue praying when God seems to be silent. We also need the courage not to be ashamed of the faith we profess. In many places, we are tempted to keep religion private, avoiding any mention of hope, mercy, justice, or the Gospel for fear of criticism or rejection. Jesus’ words, “Do not be afraid,” are spoken precisely for moments like these. He reminds us that we belong to God and are precious in God’s sight. Our world often admires power, success, and self-sufficiency. But Christian courage will always be different. It is the courage to remain compassionate in a harsh world, truthful in a dishonest world, hopeful in a despairing world, and faithful in a distracted world. Jeremiah’s words from the first reading become our prayer: “Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has rescued the life of the poor.” The believer’s faith finally rests not in human strength, but in confidence that God remains faithful through every trial that may be thrown at us. May we remain faithful in every situation we may find ourselves as God remains faithful to us.

11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

I am sure many people out there reading this are aware of what happened in Belfast at the beginning of this week. I live just a few minutes’ walk from where this attack took place and as I was leaving home on Tuesday morning there was a heavy feeling of hopelessness in the air. But there is also a sense of we must do something to stop this happening again and we must ask ourselves how many times this will happen before we do something to rectify the situation. This is a problem that the politicians and the governments need to solve and they really should stop and listen to what the people are telling them as many feel that they are being left behind. It is the people on the ground politicians and local people who need to come together to sort out the problems of our time which include immigration and all the associated issues that arise from it. We pray for Stephen Ogilvie, who sustained devastating injuries in the brutal and horrific attack on Monday evening as well as praying for his family and for peace in our country.

The Scripture readings for this Sunday are all about the great compassion Jesus has for the crowd who were his followers. In the first reading the Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai, where God speaks to Moses and tells him to convey a message to the people. God reminds the Israelites of how He delivered them from slavery in Egypt and declares that if they obey His commands and keep His covenant, they will be a treasured possession and a kingdom of priests. In the second reading, Paul tells us God showed His love for humanity by sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins while we were still sinners. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, we can be reconciled with God and receive the gift of eternal life. In the gospel, we hear how Jesus cared for the people and sent his disciples to do the same. Jesus wanted to bring the Kingdom of his Father to them, so he set out to heal them, and sent the apostles out to do the same in his name. His aim was to bring them the peace of God, to help them by healing their worries, their sickness, their embarrassment at being lost sheep without a shepherd as God was always the shepherd in Israel. When he called the twelve apostles he was making a New Israel, a new set of twelve tribes, as a permanent healing body, to make sure that the Kingdom of the Father and its peace and generosity would always be available to everyone everywhere.  He was not setting up a group of leaders, instead he was appointing his own helpers in spreading God’s Kingdom.  Do we make it our business to spread the Kingdom of God? Are we labourers in the vineyard, trying to bring God’s peace and healing to all the people of God? All of us are made in the image of God, and he gave us the task of following on his creative work. And then we are all called to follow Jesus, we are all called to make his message known to all people, those around us as well as the people at large.

Like the chosen people of Israel, we are counted a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation. We are called to minister to the people in our own time, taking responsibility for our own mission.  No one can tell us exactly where and when we are to respond to Jesus’ call. We will just have to look out and see and hear the way Jesus did. And through our baptism, that is what we are being prompted and empowered to do. As Blessed John Henry Newman wrote: He called us first in baptism; but afterwards also; whether we obey his voice or not, he graciously calls us still… Abraham was called from his home, Peter from his nets, Matthew from his office, Elisha from his farm, Nathanael from his retreat. The call that Christ makes to us takes us onwards, It is a call to be the church of the future just as the Apostles were called to be the Church of the future at its beginning. Jesus’ mission is to the lost sheep. It is his desire and endeavour to bring together, those he pities, those he looks on with love.

Today we pray for each of us: “Help us see what you want of us, help us not settle on being just occasional Christians, but “full time Christians.”  Give us sensitive sight, your eyes, for the world. Through the words of the Gospel may we hear again our own call to be emissaries of God’s love and bearers of Good News. May we allow the kindness and compassion of God to touch our own lives and the lives of those around us wherever we are.

5TH SUNDAY OF EASTER

In this weekend’s first reading, we see how human the first Christians were. Some were Palestinian Jews, while others were gentiles of Greek origin. When food was distributed to the widows, those of Greek origin complained that they were often passed over. Tensions were bound to arise since each group had different ways of thinking and acting.  The second reading, from the First Letter of St. Peter, uses the image of “stone” or “rock.” Peter, referring to Isaiah’s prophecy, tells us that God the Father long ago had established His Son, Jesus, as the “cornerstone, chosen and precious in his sight.” Peter, with warm and welcoming tone, urges us to come with hope and trust to the living stone of salvation, and there to become ourselves a holy temple. Of course, there’s a price to pay. Through our own sufferings, we offer sacrifice and praise to the Father along with the Son. All of this happens through our Baptism and the power of the Holy Spirit. Then comes a warning. Just as many have rejected this rock of salvation to their own condemnation, so too, if we attempt to bypass Christ, then we will ourselves stumble and fall. Peter quotes Isaiah as his authority for referring to Christ as a stumbling block to those who reject Him.

This Gospel Reading is about Jesus and the disciples. He is helping them get ready for his suffering and death. For the apostles this was a huge reversal from the adulation of the entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the despair of the Cross on Good Friday. Remember when he asked them whether they would leave him, along with the rest of the crowd? Now it is he who is leaving. They are stunned. Peter’s reply at that time might even be appropriate now. “Where will we go? You have the words of eternal life” Jesus tells them as he tells us now. “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You have faith in God, have faith also in me.” The straightforward meaning of this directive is, you know how to trust, you do it with God. Use that same trust with me. This trust in Jesus and in God is also what we are called to these days.  There is much division within the world community and there is also a lot of division within the lives we lead as people who follow along the way the truth and the life that we are called to by Jesus. Jesus speaks to us not at us.  His presence is in the word proclaimed in the Assembly of the people of God gathered together.  His word is proclaimed to us in the readings from scripture as well as in lived example of others in the community where we live.  We come to Church week in week out to hear the Word.  We come to share the joys and sufferings of all the community gathered together.   We make a spiritual communion with Jesus; risen from the Tomb We don’t stay in Church all the time as the hard pew might well become the soft bed.  

All of us have duties and obligations to family, work and the communities where we live.   When we’re confused about the decisions we should make, Jesus Himself will show us the Way. When we don’t know what is true and what is right and what is wrong, the Holy Spirit through the Church and the faith of its members will enlighten us. And when we are drawn into false pleasures that promise us life, Jesus will bring us back to real life and the joy of that life through the power of His love.  As we walk along the roads of life let us take up the call of Jesus in the gospel to trust in him and he will not let us down as we follow him.

4Th Sunday of Easter

This weekend we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday and the annual Day of Prayer for Vocations. We remember our call to follow Christ and the beauty of vocations to the ordained ministry and the consecrated life. As members of His flock, we are entrusted with fostering and supporting new vocations. Let us pray to the Lord of the harvest to send holy and generous laborers into His vineyard shepherds after the heart of the Risen Christ, who gave His life for the sheep. In the 1st reading continuing his address to the crowd near the Upper Room, Peter boldly proclaims that Jesus is both Lord and Messiah, and that salvation comes only through conversion and baptism. in the 2nd Reading Peter describes Jesus’ heroic love as the Good Shepherd, who endured great suffering and even gave His life so that His flock could come to eternal salvation and peace.

In this weekend’s Gospel we hear about Jesus the “Good Shepherd” who tends his sheep and the “Gate” through which they enter eternal life. The idea of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is a lovely thought because it is a well-known fact that the shepherd never leaves his sheep outside the sheepfold. If any are outside the sheepfold the shepherd will seek the lost sheep until they are found.  The wandering figure of the shepherd, anxiously tending his sheep to the point where he is willing to surrender his life for them, is the image Jesus uses about himself in this Gospel Reading. The good shepherd is not an image of religious authority that is involved with its own importance. The authority of the shepherd costs the shepherd, not the sheep. The image of the shepherd cannot be separated from how the shepherd cares for his own sheep. When we see how Jesus behaves as a leader, we see his tenderness and courage.   The parable of the Good Shepherd has many consoling truths and promises for people of every century, including ourselves in 2026.  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. 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.

3rd Sunday of Lent

As we gather this weekend to celebrate the Third Sunday of Lent, all of us are troubled by the news of the conflict in Iran. The United States and Israel initiated military action against Iran, resulting in the deaths of that nation’s leadership and many other people mostly civilians. This operation, called Operation Epic Fury, has drawn widespread criticism from the international community, as many nations have condemned the lack of proper consultation and authorisation for this act of war. In these uncertain times, we unite in prayer for peace not only in the Middle East, Ukraine, and all places afflicted by violence, but also within our own hearts that we may be people of peace as we journey towards Holy Week and Easter. In the First Reading we hear about the Israelites, thirsty and doubting God’s presence, quarrel with Moses. God instructs Moses to strike a rock at Horeb, miraculously providing water, and the place is named “Massah” and “Meribah.” In the Second Reading – we are told that Through faith, we are made right with God, gaining peace and the hope of sharing His glory. God’s love, given through the Holy Spirit, affirms this hope, shown in Christ dying for us.

The gospel reading from Johns Gospel tells us about the Samaritan woman. One of the responses for the Easter Vigil is with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation, and this sums up what this reading from john’s gospel is about. Jesus breaks the law to speak to a Samaritan woman who had come to Jacob’s well to draw water. What a surprise it must have been to her, when Jesus, tired, hungry and thirsty, asks her for a drink of water! He broke all the rules in speaking to her. Now, he keeps on talking, ignoring her hostility, aware that, in this unexpected encounter, the Father has provided Him with an opportunity for piercing the heart of this sinful woman with his love leaving an example for all those who thirst. Jesus suggests that He can give her living water that is far superior to anything she had ever tasted. We know that she had tried cheap love, and we presume she was no stranger to intoxication, power, and money! This isn’t a gentle lady who comes to draw water from the well, but a toughened cynic. Cynical with the world around her in her time as so many are cynical in our modern world for many different reasons. Jesus forgets His own needs and offers this woman living water that is spiritual grace. Finding her heart curious and open to this miraculous water, He proceeds to raise her vision. He asks her to go back and bring her husband to the well with her.  Of course, this is the turning point of the story. When He confronts her with the truth, she could have flounced off in righteous indignation and denial as many people do when confronted with the truth, but she doesn’t. In true humility, she accepts the reality of her life.  Because of her humility, Jesus floods her soul with grace. Dropping the bucket, she runs back to spread the good news. “I’ve found the Messiah!” And she had!  

Lent is a time for us to let Jesus satisfy our thirst for the truth and life. Like that woman, we too have tried the wrong kinds of water to quench our thirst for happiness, satisfaction, and peace of mind without really finding it. The psalm in the Easter Vigil tells us that with joy we will draw water from the wells of salvation, and this is the time for us to find real joy and satisfaction of letting the Lord fill us with the grace during the season of Lent so that we will be able to enjoy the season of Easter. We will find that our joy is greatest when we share the gift of salvation with others by really listening to them, praying from the heart in a quiet place, reflecting on the Word privately or at Mass, and letting the Eucharist change us into the Body of Christ. The Samaritan woman reminds those who doubt, or struggle with faith that we are asked to stay in a conversation with Christ.  It’s all about shunning the type of thirst-quencher that doesn’t really satisfy and actively seek the Living Water that wells up to salvation that Jesus gives us.

6th Sunday in ordinary Time

The readings for this Sunday remind us to follow God’s commandments with our heart’s minds and our souls.  In the First Reading we are told that You can choose to keep the commandments and trust in God. God sees everything and gives you the choice between life and death, good and evil. In the Second Reading We share God’s hidden wisdom, planned for our glory, which the rulers did not understand. God’s prepared blessings for those who love him are revealed to us through the Spirit who knows everything. The gospel shows Jesus explaining the law. He does not remove it but calls us to live it fully. It is not enough to follow rules on the outside. We must also have love and goodness in our hearts. When he introduced the New Law of the Kingdom of God Jesus said something that was absolutely shocking to those heard what he told them that the holiness of the people had to surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees.

How could anyone be holier than the Pharisees who were supposed to be holy men”! They dressed well; they fasted said their prayers loudly for all to hear. But Jesus said that his followers had to be holier than the Pharisees. How could that be possible as they were the people that everyone held up as being good. Jesus explains, our external actions must reflect what we are really like. If what we do is not a reflection of who we are, then we are hypocrites. Hypocrite is the word that Jesus uses to describe the Pharisees. They were considered the righteous and holy ones who in truth were neither righteous nor holy in so many ways.  Jesus’ challenge was not only to his followers, but to the Pharisees and scribes as well. Their religious faith was to go deeper than exterior works the right motives were supposed to support right behaviour. His demands are high indeed! They seem impossible to achieve. The Pharisee spent a lot of time and energy fulfilling the Law like so many people today the law was more important than compassion.  They were of the middle class and unlike the desperately poor, who were most of Jesus’s followers, the Pharisees had the education and leisure to pursue purity of observance. What chance did the illiterate, overworked and burdened poor followers of Jesus have? For that matter, what chance do we have in fulfilling these teachings? And yet, Jesus calls for a holiness that surpasses those people who stuck by the letter of the law instead of the compassion of God! Jesus’ demands are more radical; his vision sharper; his expectations greater.

When we set our own record of doing good against the demands of Jesus in the Gospel, we can all come away feeling helpless. Our own efforts look so shabby against the clear unambiguous demands of the larger vision. May we be courageous in taking up the challenge that Jesus gives each one of us today that is the call to holiness living our lives so that people will see that we are faith filled people who live our lives with the compassion of God in our hearts. As we prepare for Lent, let us remember that God’s grace is always available to help us rise above our limitations. Through prayer, self-examination, and acts of charity, we are given the opportunity to draw closer to God and to one another. Let us approach this season of renewal with openness and humility, trusting that, with God’s help, we can grow in holiness and compassion, becoming true witnesses to his love in our world.