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Looking anew at the Nativity scene (Dwelling on the Word of God, Sunday 8th January 2016)
| Posted on January 7, 2017 at 3:37 PM |
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 After Jesus had been
born at Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of King Heron, some wise men came
to Jerusalem from the east. “Where is the infant king of the Jews?” they asked.
“We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.” Today's Gospel (Matthew 2:1-12): In contrast to the wise men in today’s Gospel, we live in a
world of instant access to news. Through
television and the internet, we have access to the most up-to-date news of all
genres 24 hours a day. Indeed we are
bombarded by news from across the world and it is difficult to disconnect from
this stream even with concerted efforts.
The wise men were likely men of contemplation. Before setting out on a
long and arduous journey, carrying with them precious belongings, they would
have spent much time noticing and pondering the meaning of the star rising in
the west. They likely discussed this at
length between them, having their own doubts and misgivings about their
quest. How puzzled would they have been
to find their journey’s end, not in a palace, but in a stable – had they got
this right? And there, in the silence of the night, their efforts and faith
were rewarded as they saw the wondrous sight.
They saw that which prophets had long foretold and nations sighed for. The Lord at his birth. What would we be willing to do or sacrifice to
see this sight? To us, Jesus’ birth may
seem like “old news”. Repeated
re-enactments and a multitude of nativity images can numb us to the awe we
should rightly feel when contemplating this scene. We face different challenges from the magi in
our time. Theirs was a time of quiet and contemplation, of expectation and
hope. They saw this wondrous sight for
the first time, having no idea what they would see. Our is a time of noise, instant gratification
and cynicism. We have ‘seen it all before’.
Plus Christmas is really over now isn’t it? It’s time to move on to a
new year! But like the wise men we are asked in the readings today to search in
the silence for signs of our Saviour’s coming and to remain open minded about
where and when we might encounter Jesus.
Taking the promptings of our innermost soul and no little share of
faith, Jesus will guide us through uncertainty and darkness, to behold His face
in all its glory. It is worth spending
time contemplating what the wise men saw and asking God to give us the grace to
see this scene anew, so that we can honour and praise him with all our hearts as
they did. |
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. |
Aiming for the narrow door to be one with God
| Posted on August 18, 2016 at 2:33 PM |
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 We must aim for the narrow door‘Through towns and
villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him
“Sir, will there be only a few saved?” He said to them, “Try your best to enter
by the narrow door, because, I tell you, may will try to enter and will not succeed”’ This year the pass rate for Higher Grades in Scotland was
77.2%. The chances of winning the UK National Lottery is 1 in 45 million. As
humans, we love statistics and take comfort in them. They help us feel like we
know where we stand, what the likelihood is that we will succeed and fail. In today’s Gospel passage Jesus is asked a
seemingly straightforward question: what is the success rate of people getting
to Heaven? Wouldn’t it be great to know
the answer to that question? Knowing the
exact proportion of people who ‘make it’ might just give us the comfort we need
to know that our future rests with God.
But the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, does not give an easy answer to
the question posed to him as he makes his way to Jerusalem. Instead he uses it
as a training opportunity; his message seems to be that we should not compare ourselves
with others, and that we should focus and strive for the Kingdom, aiming for
the narrow door. We may tremble at the
seemingly harsh and sobering reply Jesus gives; and so perhaps we should. But a healthy fear of the Lord is important
and a great virtue. We can also take comfort in today’s second reading: ‘My son, when the Lord
corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when He
reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones He loves and He punishes all those
that He acknowledges as His sons”’ It would do no good for an athlete to know the statistical
chances of obtaining a gold medal in his or her sport, but instead a good coach
would push them hard to reach that top prize regardless of statistics.
Similarly, we need the same push to win the greatest prize of all. We should
not fall into despair and resign ourselves to being one of those locked out of
the Kingdom, and we should not doubt God’s unfathomable mercy. But neither
should we grow complacent and lazily take our salvation for granted. Jesus
shows us the narrow door. He is the
way we must follow, bearing our crosses and sufferings as He did, using them to
shape us into saints, and all for God’s glory. |
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. |
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? |
Finding hope in Peter's weakness
| Posted on March 22, 2016 at 1:09 PM |
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 From today’s Gospel: ‘Simon Peter said, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus
replied, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now; you will follow me later.’
Peter said to him, ‘Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for
you.’ ‘Lay down your life for me?’ answered Jesus. ‘I tell you most solemnly,
before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times.’’ This small passage from today’s Gospel follows on nicely
from our reflection on yesterday’s Gospel when we compared the simple love Mary
had for Jesus in needing to be close to him with Martha’s need to be on the go. In being so preoccupied Martha missed out on
precious quality time with Jesus, a mistake Mary was not prepared to make. And today we have Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples,
claiming that he would lay down his life for Jesus. That, you would think, is a step up from the
love shown by Mary. And it is. And Peter would, of course, eventually become
a martyr for Christ in Rome. But for now
Jesus has an unfortunate surprise for Peter.
He tells him that he is going to deny him. Imagine your best friend, or even your
spouse, telling you that they know you will betray them in some way. You, like Peter, would be very disappointed
to hear such news! But then don’t we
betray people every day, denying their true value as fellow human beings and
children of God? Don’t we gossip,
complain and criticise other people behind their back on a regular basis? These are human weaknesses and no human is
exempt from them. Even St Peter fell
into this trap! So, in that sense, we
are in good company. But, like St Peter, we are called to greater things. We are called to overcome our human weakness
and realise the hurt caused by some of our actions. How can we forget the look on Peter’s face in
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ when he heard the cock crow? How can we forget the way he then rushed to
the feet of Mary and sobbed uncontrollably as he clung to her garment,
realising how foolish and weak he had been?
We are all capable of moments of weakness in our
lives, even to the point of mistreating or even denying those most precious to
us. The next time you fall into this
trap look for the comforting arms of your mother Mary, just as Peter did, and
seek reconciliation with Jesus in the Sacrament of Confession. This is how we can overcome our weakness and
become saints. If Peter can do it, so
can we. |