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Standing up for God (Dwelling on the Word of God)
| Posted on November 11, 2016 at 5:47 PM |
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 From Sunday's Gospel: “But before all this
happens, men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the
synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors
because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Keep
this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself
shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be
able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and
brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will
be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be
lost. Your endurance will win you your lives” Jesus warns us time and again through the gospels that we
will be persecuted for believing in him.
We are perhaps tempted to brush over this, given the relative comfort
and freedom we enjoy as Catholics in the Western world of the 21 Century. And indeed it is unlikely that any of us will
be martyred for the faith, imprisoned or seized and brought before governors
and kings. So can we happily skip these
passages of scriptures, confident that they are not relevant to us, needed
perhaps for another time and place, but not now? I would suggest that we would do this at our
peril. Christians remain the most
persecuted people in the world today. But even in our apparently “tolerant”
society, Christian beliefs are scoffed at and looked upon scornfully. It is worth meditating upon in prayer: in what ways does your Christian faith
disadvantage you in the world? Do colleagues
laugh or look at you askance when you mention you went to Mass at the weekend? Do family members dismiss some of your views,
as they are based on faith and therefore are somehow less important? Do disbelieving friends aggressively try to engage
you in debate to point out the flaws in your theology? Do people stare if you say grace in a
restaurant before meals? To help us to consider this further, it is perhaps
worth pondering the times when we fail to stand up for Jesus for fear of
ridicule. Do we stay quiet when others
discuss ‘hot topics’ like abortion or same-sex marriage? Do we bite our tongue when we overhear someone
taking the Lord’s name in vain? Do we
agree with the relativist position “that’s true for you but not for me” when
challenged? These might seem like small
points, compared to the crown of martyrdom.
But these are the persecutions of our time, put in our path to lead us
to holiness. These are the “opportunities”
talked about in today’s gospel passage. We
must “keep this carefully in mind” and pray about these things, asking Jesus to
give us the grace to be bold and confident in his love and help. And we must look on any ridicule or challenge
as a blessing, ever keeping our eye on the prize of eternal life. In staying true in these small persecutions,
our souls will be prepared, with God’s grace, for martyrdom, should we ever be
called to that. |
Jesus' Call to Keep the Ten Commandments
| Posted on July 8, 2016 at 10:10 AM |
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 The Ten Commandments were written on two tablets of stoneSunday’s Gospel (Luke 10:25-37): ‘There
was a lawyer who, to disconcert Jesus, stood up and said to him, ‘Master, what
must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the
Law? What do you read there?’ He replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your
mind, and your neighbour as yourself.’ ‘You have answered right,’ said Jesus
‘do this and life is yours.’ But the man was anxious to justify
himself and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was
once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of
brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half
dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he
saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came
to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan
traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went
up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on
to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he
took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he
said “and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.” Which of
these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into
the brigands‘ hands?’ ‘The one who took pity on him’ he replied. Jesus said to
him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself.’’ Eternal
life in Heaven is where we all want to be.
And even for those who do not believe, the idea of living in comfortable
and joyful surroundings forever is a fantastic thought! But how do we get there? Well,
Jesus gives us two very straightforward commands. He tells us that we must love God with
everything we’ve got and we must also love our neighbour. Looks simple on paper doesn’t it? And in a way it is. It is, however, important to avoid
oversimplifying these commandments in order to suit our own busy lifestyles and
agendas. For example, we can’t simply state that we
love God and we love all other people and never follow this up with words and
actions to support our claim. If we are
going to follow Jesus’ commands we need to act upon them, and act with
conviction; a conviction that tells the world: 'this guy really does love God and he really does love other people!' Jesus’ commandments are a perfect summing up of the Ten Commandments (or Decalogue)
given to Moses by God. They are not a
watering down of the Ten Commandments and they are certainly not an attempt to abolish
and replace the Ten Commandments. What
Jesus does is present to us the Ten Commandments in a new way in order to aid
our understanding of them. He invites us
to rediscover the beauty and truth of God’s perfect law. It is worth remembering that the first three
Commandments concern love of God and the other seven concern love of neighbour,
hence Christ’s summing up of them by referring to love of God and love of
neighbour. This is also why God
presented the Commandments to Moses using two tablets of stone rather than one;
so as to distinguish between the call to love God and the call to love our
neighbour. In order to obtain eternal life our words and actions must be in keeping
with the Ten Commandments. We must
respect God’s clear instructions and, in a spirit of humility and love,
encourage others to do the same. The Ten Commandments:
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Unity in Christ
| Posted on June 17, 2016 at 11:11 AM |
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 Sunday’s Second Reading (Galatians 3:26-29): ‘You are, all of you, sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus. All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed
yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek,
slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Merely
by belonging to Christ you are the posterity of Abraham, the heirs he was
promised.’ This Sunday’s second reading reveals a teaching that is
fundamental to the Christian life, that of unity. Jesus Christ unites. He doesn’t desire to separate or divide. Rather, his intention is to bring all people
together in his name so that he can one day bring them to share in the glory of
the Kingdom of God. Do we unify people?
Do we seek to be at one with others as we go about our daily lives? Or do we create divisions through pride,
selfishness and cynicism? Christ’s love demands unity, not division. If we love as Christ loves, we will
unite. |
Jesus brings great hope, even in death
| Posted on June 3, 2016 at 9:29 AM |
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 Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 7:1-17): ‘Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by
his disciples and a great number of people. When he was near the gate of the
town it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son
of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the
townspeople were with her. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. ‘Do not
cry’ he said. Then he went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers
stood still, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you to get up.’ And the dead man
sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Everyone was filled
with awe and praised God saying, ‘A great prophet has appeared among us; God
has visited his people.’ And this opinion of him spread throughout Judaea and
all over the countryside.’ The miracle performed by Jesus in this Gospel passage is one
of great hope. The woman, a widow, had
lost her only son. Can you imagine the
grief and sorrow that this woman must have been experiencing? Can you imagine how alone she must have felt
watching her only family being carried away for burial? She must have felt that nothing could take away the extreme pain that was now drilling through her heart. Yet moments later she would witness the resurrection of her son from the dead. Just when all had seemed to be lost, along came Jesus. We must never lose hope when death comes knocking at our
door. Whilst it is perfectly natural for
us to grieve and to feel sorrow when a loved one dies, we must always have
confidence in the one who makes all things new.
Jesus’ death on the Cross was not a pointless exercise. It was necessary so that our sins could be wiped
away and we could have eternal life. When your loved one dies, remember that Jesus is there. He has come down from the Cross and is
standing ready at the gates of Paradise, waiting to put his hand on your loved
one, waiting to bring them back to life. |
The Good News of Eternal Life
| Posted on May 24, 2016 at 9:19 AM |
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 ‘You will
shine in the world like bright stars because you
are offering it the word of life.’ (Ph2:15-16) Today’s Gospel acclamation is a beautiful
summary of our mission as Christians. At
a time when Christianity - despite being on the rise worldwide - is gradually being
eroded across the western world, this little piece of scripture is a timely
reminder of our call to evangelise. By evangelising and spreading the Gospel, as
instructed to by Christ himself, we aren’t simply passing on a simple
historical message in order to preserve it and keep it going for as long as possible. By evangelising and spreading the Gospel we
are offering people life. The Word of
God is life itself and if we allow it to penetrate our lives and the lives of
those around us the world will have life.
And it won’t be a temporary life that is over all too quickly. Rather, it is an eternal life. And this eternal life is not something that
is reserved for the select few. It is for
everybody, and God wants every single human being to share in this great
gift. So why doesn’t God just guarantee everybody
eternal life from the get go? In a way
He has, but He still expects something in return. He wants us to use our free will to turn to
Him and to accept His gift. This is
something that should be very natural for those of us raised as Christians. But what about those who are not so
fortunate? How will they ever come to
know about this gift? This, brothers and
sisters, is why Jesus selected disciples and established a Church. His Church is charged with guarding the
message of eternal life, and it is charged with sharing that message with
everyone, taking it to all four corners of the earth. And what is the Church? It is me, and it is you. Brothers and sisters, let us live out our
mission as disciples for Christ; taking the Gospel to all people. Let us leave
no stone unturned and no person untouched by the beauty and goodness of God’s
most incredible gift….the gift of eternal life. |
Pope Francis: to ignore the poor is to despise God
| Posted on May 20, 2016 at 7:05 AM |
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 Pope Francis, during his weekly general audience, has slated
those who turn their backs on the poor, suggesting that their ignorance means
that they despise God.The pope stressed that in the poor “we find Jesus himself:
whatever you did to the least brothers of mine, you did to me”. The message is clear: we are called to wake up to the plight
of the poor and to make sure we never ignore them. I recall one of Pope Francis’ early comments
on the poor. He said that we must get
close to them as Jesus did, and touch their wounds. Touch their wounds! It sounds strange that we would put ourselves
in a position to touch the cuts or sores, or even the diseased body of a
stranger. We may wince at the idea of
shaking the hand of a homeless person, knowing full well that those hands could
be carrying all sorts of germs that could make us ill. But that is what we are called to do! We are called to get close, because by
getting close to the poor and the needy we are getting close to Jesus. And we all know that Jesus will not cause us
any harm or give us anything we cannot deal with by his grace. It is also worth remembering that when Pope Francis refers
to the poor he is not just talking about the homeless or the financially
impoverished. He is also talking about
the poor in spirit; those who have perhaps lost their way in faith or who fail
to recognise the Goodness of God. We are
also called to accompany these people, as well as those who suffer a more typical form of poverty. |
Three Simple Tips for Catholic Families: Eat, Pray and be Merry
| Posted on May 10, 2016 at 12:23 PM |
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 1. Eat We Catholics like to celebrate with food! This is why it is important to eat together as a family and to enjoy the delicious food gifted to us by God and prepared by the hands of our mother or father. Mealtimes should be a time of great celebration and we should make an extra special effort to celebrate Sundays and Catholic feast days. You may even want to consider celebrating important dates such as your anniversary, showing your children that your marriage is something that is important to you and that you delight in remembering that special day. Why not bake a cake together for the occasion? And remember, no mobile phones or tablets at the dinner table! Encourage an environment free of technology, where everyone takes a turn to talk about the highs and lows of their day. Let the dinner table be a forum for openness and honesty among all the family; a sacrosanct place where the family basks in the joys and rallies in the sorrows of each family member. 2. Pray Prayer can take many forms and prayer
within the family unit is no different.
It is important that people pray as a family as best they can. Praying the Rosary as a family is a beautiful
way to express our faith and this is something that should be encouraged in every
Catholic home. You may want to make it
more interesting for younger children by introducing images or pictures to go
with the mysteries. And if one of the
kids kicks off, stop for a break, but remember to try and pick it up again another time. And start small, especially with younger kids. A few short prayers or a decade of the Rosary will likely suffice to begin with. It’s also very important to pray as a
family before and after meals. There are
a number of simple prayers suitable for this but even a simple ‘thank you Jesus’
will do! And remember, it is important that children
see their parents pray, so be prepared to set an example to your kids and make
sure you take them to Holy Mass every Sunday and on Holy Days of
Obligation. Be an example to them by
regular attendance at the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and consider becoming
more active in the life of your Parish. Children
will respond positively to your active participation in the life of the Church
and will see how important it is to you. Be willing to talk about your faith and don't be embarrassed if one of the kids asks you something you don't know. This is a great opportunity to learn as a family! Learning can be a form of prayer too! So don't be afraid to pick up the Bible or the Catechism or to even search Google for an answer. Let your children see just how interested you are to learn too.
And above all, let them see just how much you love Jesus by your prayer! 3. Be Merry As Catholic people immersed in
the love of Jesus Christ and with the sure and certain hope of eternal life, shouldn’t
we be immensely happy?? Our family life
should be full of fun and games. We
should be unafraid to dance and to waste time with our children. Just because God is at the very centre of our
lives doesn’t mean life has to be one big serious drag. The fact that God is at the centre of our
lives is the very reason we should be deliriously happy from the moment we wake
in the morning until our head hits the pillow again the following night. If those of us who are members of the Church
established by Jesus Christ and who regularly gather in his presence at Holy
Mass cannot be happy, then there is no hope for any of us! No hope!
So let us rejoice, let us be happy.
Let’s show our children that being Catholic is great fun! And remember, don’t complain or gossip about
people and don’t be too quick to criticise others. Such an attitude creates a negative
environment for children and leads to increased cynicism and scepticism; something
they themselves will only be too happy to take on board! |
Speaking about matters of faith
| Posted on May 6, 2016 at 12:32 PM |
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 Sunday’s First Reading (Acts 7: 55-60)‘Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven
thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At
this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with
their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned
him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called
Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this
sin against them’; and with these words he fell asleep.’ While sitting at my desk at work earlier this week a
conversation about religion was struck up among my colleagues. Religious chat is generally taboo these days
and where it does exist it tends to take the form of an attack on whatever
religion happens to be in the spotlight.
This time it was the Catholic faith; my faith. I was asked to explain the Catholic Church’s
belief in the Eucharist. No easy task in
a very secular environment I can assure you.
But I tried my best to explain it in terms acceptable to the ears of my
audience. My colleagues listened to what I had to say and once I had
finished a stony silence followed. This
was followed soon thereafter by a change of subject, diverting away from the ridiculous
notion that a piece of bread and a cup of wine could be turned into the body
and blood of a two thousand year old Jew.
The truth is, my colleagues probably felt not only confused but also a little
uncomfortable by all the body and blood chat.
And I can assure you that I most certainly felt uncomfortable with
having to explain it to a cynical crowd.
Yet our discomfort at explaining our faith can never match
the discomfort that must have been experienced by the Christian martyrs. In today’s first reading St Stephen shows
incredible courage as he stands before a cynical crowd and tells them that he
has seen ‘heaven thrown open’ and that he has also seen ‘the Son of Man sitting
at the right hand of God’. Despite
knowing that such words would likely lead to his death he was still not afraid
to speak them. And he even echoed the
words of Christ on the Cross when he begged God to forgive those who were
killing him. Like any human being in
that situation he would have been absolutely terrified, but he never once
denied his faith in order to save his earthly life. It’s not easy to talk about our faith to others. We can feel embarrassed, afraid, and even
silly. But thankfully the UK is not like
the world St Stephen lived in. It is a
place where, despite some arguments to the contrary, people are generally free
to talk openly about their faith. We
must not be afraid to use this freedom, but to do it sensibly and
proportionately. Our world needs a
message of love, mercy and peace; a message that was so profoundly illustrated
in the words and actions of St Stephen just before his death. We can give the world hope with our message;
a message that comes in the shape of one man….Jesus Christ. |
Do you love Jesus?
| Posted on April 29, 2016 at 10:11 AM |
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 Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone loves me, he will
keep my word.’ This very short excerpt from Sunday’s Gospel is so simple, yet
it is jam packed with significance. Read over Jesus’ quote ten times. Do you love Jesus? |
Will you wash the feet of those closest to you tonight?
| Posted on March 24, 2016 at 7:00 AM |
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 In today’s Gospel we hear about the washing of the apostles’
feet by Jesus. Peter was very resistant
to this as it seemed completely absurd to have Jesus do such a thing. This was, after all, God made man, the
Saviour of the world! It should surely
be the other way round would have been Peter’s thinking. Yet Jesus makes it clear that this is something he must
do. Firstly, he makes it clear that “unless
I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” This is a clear link to our Baptism and its
fundamental importance in our salvation.
It is also a link to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where we are once
again clothed in the white robe of our Baptism and brought to new life. Our inheritance, it seems, is dependent on
living in accordance with Christ’s teaching, and this is achieved through our
acceptance of and living in the Sacraments of his Church. Christ’s washing of the apostles’ feet is also a sign that he is here to serve rather than be served. It is also considered by
many to be an important sign of the priesthood and its role in taking the love
of God to all people. And this is what I
would like to focus on for a moment.
Despite being in the knowledge of the intolerable pain and suffering he
was about to endure, Christ took time out to perform this simple but critical
act of love. And that is what we need to
take from this special moment between Jesus and his apostles. It was an act of selfless love; a visible sign
of how man should treat man. Jesus
wanted to show this love to his apostles so that they would then do the same to
others. This Holy Week, are you prepared to wash the feet of those
closest to you? While we may participate
in the washing of the feet during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper we must also
remember that our homes and families are small churches too. So after tonight’s Mass when you get home,
consider washing the feet of your family and perhaps take turns doing so. And while this is something that can be
initiated by any member of the family, perhaps those of you who are fathers can
take the lead. Men are called to follow
in the footsteps of Jesus and tend to their own flock in the same way that
Jesus did. And what better way to do
this than to replicate Christ’s actions and wash the feet of those closest to
you? While simple, this act of love
carries with it an incredible power, the power of Christ who makes all things
new. And for those of you with children
in your household, it will create a real sense of intrigue among them and they
will no doubt want to learn more. It’s a
great opportunity to explain to them, in simple terms and by action, just how
much Jesus loves them and how much you love them too.  |