November 2013

Christ the King – Thirty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “C” – November 24, 2013

From the Pastor /

In the time of Jesus, the people wanted to unite around a king, a new David, who would deliver them from their enemies and oppressors. At first, they thought that Jesus was such a Messiah. But in today’s Gospel, we see that, in the end, they rejected Jesus as their king, they mocked Him and handed Him over to be crucified. It was one of the thieves crucified with Him who recognized something of the truth of Jesus’ claim to kingship. He prayed, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Christ breaks down the barriers and divisions that we set up between ourselves because of our selfishness and fear. Christ establishes a new way for us to relate to God and to each other: His love is the life force of the kingdom of God.

Jesus is the most unlikely figure of a king. He is rejected. He is crucified. His kingdom is not of this world. The Kingdom of God, where Christ the King rules over the minds and hearts of all those who believe, will finally be revealed in heaven. But already, in the life of the Church, His body, the men and women of our world can experience the peace and reconciliation for which Christ came. As we gather around the cross of Jesus, we learn that His death overcomes our selfishness and sin; His resurrection empowers us to live His new life and even now to experience the reconciliation and peace of His kingdom. On this feast of Christ the King, then, let us celebrate the fulfilment of God’s plan, but let us commit ourselves once again to the ongoing work of reconciliation and peace in our world.

Christ the King – Thirty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “C” – November 24, 2013 Read More »

Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – “C” – November 17, 2013

From the Pastor /

In the face of the Church’s call to mission and evangelism, what do you think is the most effective way for Christians to spread their faith among others? Should we use all the techniques of advertising to persuade people that what we believe is worth sharing? Advertising is useful, but the problem is that the world is tired of hearing more and more words which often seem to have nothing behind them. When a group of very enthusiastic and wealthy Christian industrialists asked an expert on evangelisation what was the most effective evangelical strategy today, he gave a disconcerting answer. He said that empirical research showed the answer is martyrdom. After a long pause, one of the industrialists finally asked, “Can you tell us what the second most effective strategy might be?” It is not surprising that we look for an easier answer when the first answer may involve dying for our faith. We play down a central teaching of Christianity, which is the need to back up our words with actions – this is what Jesus means when He tells us to take up His cross and follow Him.

Today Jesus is dealing with another central teaching of the Gospel, which always appears in the readings as we come to the end of the liturgical year. It is about the end of the world. The scriptures teach that just as God created the world in the beginning, so God will bring it to its final consummation when Jesus returns in glory. The old order will give way to the new, but there will be upheavals and catastrophes before this takes place. This is what people fear; and so they play it down and put it at the back of their minds. Jesus does not give a date for the destruction of Jerusalem and the old Temple, but we know that it was indeed destroyed by Romans in AD 70. Yet that destruction did not trigger off the events of the end of the world as some feared. Jesus tells us that many other events will have to take place in the course of history before the end. We may find His talk of wars and revolutions, famines and plagues rather difficult, but in fact if we look round our own world such apocalyptic events abound. Jesus tells us not to be frightened by these events but rather to have confidence that in the end God will bring us through them and be victorious. He tells: “Your endurance will win you your lives.”

In the history of the Church, Christians have drawn strength from these words of Jesus. From St. Stephen onwards men and women have given the witness of their lives as martyrs. And persecution contuniues today. In many countries around the world, especially in parts of Africa, Asia and in the Middle East, Christians are not free to worship without harrasment. Since the turn of the millennium about 200 milion Christians are now under threat. Even in countries where Christianity is not persecuted there are opportunities to give witness when Gospel values are questioned. It may be on questions of marriage, respect for life, or justice and peace, but it takes courage to take a stand against the prevailing consensus. Jesus reminds us this Sunday that as we wait for the end in the midst of natural and social disasters we are called to have confidence in His final victory.

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Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – “C” – November 10, 2013 – Veterans Day

From the Pastor /

The letter to Hebrews does center on a word that we use quite frequently: sacrifice. The word Veteran stems from the Latin “vetus”, meaning old. We think of veterans that way, yet, today we look around and see those we call veterans of a much younger age. The parades are no longer for the old men in tight suits and campaign hats, but also for younger men and women, who have borne the battle. Barely a month before his death, Abraham Lincoln strode to the rostrum on the steps of the United States Capitol Building and gave one of the greatest speeches – his Second Inaugural Address. He ended his short speech with words that gave echoed down the long and dusty halls of history: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and for his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

Today, those words still hold as a receipt for a debt owed by a nation that sends its young folks off to war as surrogates for its citizenry. During that time, they are called troop, soldier, sailor, Marine, airman, Coast Guardsman…but once that service is ended, they are, forevermore, Veterans of the United States military. As veterans, they deserve a special place of honor in our society, and our culture, for they have written a blank check, backed by their own life, and serving in place of all of us who do not go, and to keep us all free. We best honor our veterans by working for peace, so that this generation of warriors might be the last.

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Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time – “C” – November 3, 2013

From the Pastor /

Zacchaeus’ great gift is not that he has led a disciplined life of prayer and goodness; he has become thoroughly sucked in to a life of wealth and position, even at the cost of marginalizing himself from his own people. His great gift is simply the desire he has to see Jesus. Not only does he want to see Jesus, but he is prepared to do whatever it takes to see Him – to find a space above the crowd, whatever the indignity of his action. Through hospitality with the Lord, Zacchaeus is changed – and his life emptied of some of what was holding him back from God’s love for him.

We live in a world that is not only unprecedentedly busy and filled with activity, but one that also prizes these things. Multitasking, working long hours, filling our schedules with activities – all these things are not only normal for many people, but things that are aspired to. The challenge is whether we can stop what we’re doing long enough to find a way of putting ourselves in a more spacious place, a place where we can see the Lord and He can look directly at us.

Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time – “C” – November 3, 2013 Read More »