Audio Reflections of Wednesday, September 13, 2017

To hear the Audio Reflections of Wednesday, September 13, 2017 click HERE

Wednesday, September 13, 2017 - When did you last say a positive word to someone? Will you speak a positive word to at least one person today?

To read the texts click on the texts: Col 3:1-11; Lk 6:20-26

The Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke is packed into one chapter of 30 verses unlike that of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, which extends over three chapters totalling 109 verses.

Unlike in Matthew’s, “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 5:1 – 7:29) where Jesus pronounces only Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12), in Luke’s, “Sermon on the Plain”, for each of the four beatitudes there is a corresponding woe. Also unlike Matthew, Luke speaks in the second person and not the third person, which has the effect of making the pronouncements more direct, more personal.

The first beatitude is addressed to the poor (not “the poor in spirit” Mt 5:3). This is indeed a scandalous statement because it overturns all conventional expectations and pronounces a blessing on those who are marginalized. They are promised the kingdom of God by being released from their marginalisation and oppression. It brings to light that God is making an option for the poor. The next two beatitudes concern hunger and mourning and could be addressed to the same group. The poor because they are poor are also hungry and weep. They are promised an end of their hunger in the promise that they will be filled and an end to their weeping and mourning in the promise that they will laugh. The fourth and final beatitude in Luke speaks about the disciple who will be hated, excluded, reviled and defamed. These are called to rejoice in their being reviled and promised a reward in heaven. They are also given as consolation the example of those who went through similar trails before them.

Corresponding to each beatitude, Luke has a woe. The first woe is addressed to the rich who have received their consolation already and so can expect nothing more. Those who have had their fill now and told that they will go hungry and those who laugh now will weep. Those of whom people speak well are compared to the false prophets.

When we look at the injustice, disharmony and poverty around us it is not easy to believe that our God is a God who cares for the poor. Yes, this God became poor in history to show us the way and how we are to live. If we can be a little less selfish, work in our own situations toward harmony and give a little something to someone else, we will be bringing God and his word to them.

Audio Reflections of Tuesday, September 12, 2017, the Holy Name of Mary,

To hear the Audio Reflections of Tuesday, September 12, 2017, the Holy Name of Mary,  click HERE

Tuesday, September 12, 2017 - The Holy Name of Mary

To read the texts click on the texts: Gal 4:4-7; Lk 1:39-47

The feast of the Holy Name of Mary is a counterpart to the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (3rd January). Its object is the Blessed Virgin Mary; the feast commemorates all the privileges given to Mary by God and all the graces received through her intercession and mediation.

In the reform of Pope Pius X, the liturgy of the Sundays, which previously had been generally replaced by celebrations of saints, was restored to prominence. The celebration of the Holy Name of Mary was therefore moved to 12th September though initially it was celebrated on 15th September to coincide with the eighth day of Mary’s birth.

The Hebrew name Maryãm may be translated "Bitter Sea," "Myrrh of the Sea," "The Light Giver," "The Enlightened One," "The Light Giver," and especially "Star of the Sea."  Miryãm on the other hand means Lady or Sovereign. The name of a person signifies the function and just as the name Jesus means “God saves from sin (Mt 1:21) so the name Mary means that our Lady is indeed our Lady and so our intercessor, inspiration and guide.

The text chosen for the feast of today concerns Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and is also the scriptural basis for the second Joyful mystery of the Rosary.

Since the angel does not ask Mary to visit Elizabeth, or even suggest it, the alacrity with which Mary goes to visit Elizabeth expresses clearly that Mary trusted the angel’s word. Mary’s greeting of Elizabeth results in a sign which is that the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. This could also indicate that the announcement of the angel to Zechariah that their child would be filled with the Holy Spirit is being fulfilled. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth is also able to utter an oracle which seems to have as its source, the Spirit of God. She recognizes Mary and the child in her womb as blessed. Not only has Elizabeth been blessed, because God answered her prayer for the gift of a child, she has also been blessed by a visit from the one who is called to be the mother of her Lord. The leap of the babe in Elizabeth’s womb was a leap of joy. John has already begun to fulfill his calling as one who would declare the Lord’s coming and prepare the way for him. Mary is blessed because she dared to believe in God’s word.

When joy or happiness is shared it is doubled; when sorrow or sadness is shared it is halved. The joy of Elizabeth and Mary on their respective vocations is shared by the other and hence, both experience a doubling of their joy. This joy is experienced by even the child in Elizabeth’s womb, because it is a genuine joy felt by its mother.

Life is too short to cry or be sad. Life is too short not to be happy or not to share in the joy of others.

Audio reflections of Monday, September 11, 2017

To hear the Audio reflections of Monday, September 11, 2017 click HERE

Monday, September 11, 2017 - How often have you made rules and regulations more important in your life than love?

To read the texts click on the texts: Col 1:24-2:3; Lk 6:6-11

This is the second Sabbath controversy story. Already at the beginning we are told that the day is a Sabbath and that Jesus goes to the synagogue to teach. In this context, his teaching is not only in words but also in deeds by means of a situation from life. 

Only Luke of all the three evangelists tells us that it was the man’s right hand that was withered. This was the hand normally used for work, gesturing and greeting. He would have had to do all of the above with the left hand, which ordinarily was not to be used in public. 

The scribes and Pharisees are also introduced into the scene, so that there are four parties: Jesus, the man with the crippled hand, the scribes and Pharisees and those who were in the synagogue. While the crippled man sees Jesus as a potential healer, the scribes and Pharisees pose an obstacle to the healing. Jesus makes a public example of the man. All will see what he is about to do. 

Before the healing, Jesus asks a question, which poses two sets of antitheses: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it. Sabbath observance is defined positively, not in terms of what one will do, but in terms of what one must do. The question brings out the dichotomy that existed in their own lives, because though they would not want a man to be healed from his illness on that holy day, they would have no qualms about discussing the “best way to deal with Jesus” on that same holy day. They preferred the law to life and love.

We might tend after reading this story to condemn the Pharisees and scribes. However, we too often behave as they did. We might attend a Eucharistic celebration and wish everyone in the church the peace of Christ, eat the same bread and yet come out of the church continuing to keep feelings of resentment and anger against our neighbours in our hearts.

Audio Reflections of Sunday, September 10, 2017

To hear the Audio Reflections of Sunday, September 10, 2017 click HERE

Sunday, September 10, 2017 - Together – not alone

To read the texts click on the texts: Ezek 33:7-9; Rom13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20

As a child in school I leant a poem which had great rhyme and meter and which when recited aloud with actions that accompanied it sounded good to the ear. It went like:

I had a little tea party

This afternoon at three

It was very small

        Three guests in all

        Just I, myself and me.

Myself ate up all the sandwiches

        While I drank up the tea

        It was also "I" who ate the pie

        And passed the cakes to me.

It was only many years later that I realized that it was one of the most selfish poems that one could recite. The focus in the poem was on one individual and one individual alone; I, myself and Me. This is surely not the Christian way of proceeding. In Christianity we are individuals but in and within a community.

In the Bible we come across certain passages that are as relevant and practical in our lives today as they were thousands of years ao when they were first written. Today’s readings are good examples of such passages. Together they reminds us that as faithful Christians it is our responsibility to reach out to the errant members of the community and bring them back into the fold. Christianity, is both an individual and communitarian religion and every one of us are our brother’s and sister’s keepers. They even go on to recommend practical steps on how to go about doing this. They invite us to review our ‘I-don’t-care’ attitude toward fallen and lax members of the Church, reminding us that it is our business to reach out to them.

As members of the Church, we are not just a priestly people who offer sacrifice; we are also a prophetic people, which means that we are God’s spokespersons. We speak on behalf of God. Today’s first reading is, in fact, a compact job description that God gave to the prophet Ezekiel on what it means to be a prophetic person. As sentinel or watchman, Ezekiel places himself as an intermediary between God and the people. He realizes that it is his responsibility as a member of the community to ensure that all in the community are saved from sin. He cannot be merely content with his own salvation. He must do whatever it takes to bring those who stray back to the fold.

The Gospel text from Matthew deals with discipline, reconciliation and the presence of the Lord. This text is part of the fourth discourse in the Gospel commonly known as the “Community Discourse”. The concern in these verses is with community or congregational life and not primarily about personal relations. Like Ezekiel, every Christian is also called to be concerned about other members of the community, since ours is a faith of a community and never of merely individuals. We act together, so we can help one another and so we can work to God’s name, thereby multiplying our resources and ability to do what God calls us to do. Our community is the lifeline to the experience of God and an example of the power of God moving among God’s people.

The procedures that Matthew suggests for bringing back an errant member of the community may seem stringent. However, when we realize that the point is one of radical care and concern and not self righteousness or vindictiveness, then they take on a new meaning. The errant member, the leaders of the community and the community are all protected from arbitrariness and self-centered actions.

While a private spiritual and prayer life is essential for each of us and we need to spend time alone with God, it is likely to become dry and turn inward, if it is not infused with regular doses of shared worship and prayer with others, gathered in the Lord’s name. The gathering together also signifies how important we are to each other and how much we depend on each other. Through our link to one another through Christ, there is a power in our community, uniting the values of God to our values on earth. This is how Jesus enables us to use God’s power for healing and life-giving love effectively among God’s people.We come together, we stay together, we work together in our Lord’s name, bringing to focus the presence of God and unleashing the power of the Spirit to transform our lives and the lives of all God’s children.

In the second reading of today Paul, speaking in a similar vein, challenges the community at Rome to show their love for one another in action. It is love which characterizes the Christian community and it is love which will sustain and nourish it. This love must also show itself as a commitment to justice – a love that never does any wrong to anyone. To be Christian thus means to be one who not only loves, but also one led by love to reach out to anyone who is in need. It is to be conscious of the fact that even if one member of the community does not feel part of the community, the community is not whole.

Audio Reflections of Saturday, September 9, 2017

To hear the Audio Reflections of Saturday, September 9, 2017 click HERE

Saturday, September 9, 2017 - St. Peter Claver SJ - How often have you made rules and regulations ends in themselves?

To read the texts click on the texts: Col 1:21-23; Lk 6:1-5

The episode is a Sabbath controversy, and is found also in Mark 2:23-28 and Matthew 12:1-8. Since Deut 23:24-25 allowed a person passing a neighbour’s field to pluck heads of grain with the hand, this does not seem to be the reason for the complaint of the Pharisees. Luke (6:1) alone states that the disciples were rubbing the heads of grain in their hands, which could be interpreted as threshing, and threshing was one of the forms of work forbidden on the Sabbath. 

In his response, Jesus refers to the incident from 1 Samuel 21:1-6 in which David confronted Ahimelech at Nob. The point that the Lucan Jesus makes is that if David had the authority to overturn Levitical rules and eat the bread of the Presence and even give it to his companions, because he gave priority to human need over ritual observance, so can Jesus, who is Lord of the Sabbath.

Rules and regulations are made so that there might be order in society and each will know his/her role. It is possible that sometimes they might become ends in themselves and take precedence over everything else. They can never take precedence over human need. All rules and regulations are at the service of humans and not the other way around.