1st Sunday of Lent - Year B

Genesis 9:8-15; 1Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15

We are all a bit like Little Red Riding Hood - we all find ourselves picking flowers on our way to grandma's house. What those flowers are varies with each individual person - they may be money, comfort, pleasure, sex, material possessions, promotion, prestige, security or a host of other sinful, or just distracting baubles - what St Augustine calls 'the love of the world'.

We Christians, of course, are not on our way to grandma's house; we are on our way to the Father’s house, our heavenly homeland. The path we walk is Jesus, our Way, and the Holy Spirit of God is the Light which shows us where to place our feet.

Yet, as the journey of faith unfolds, and as the forest grows thicker, we are often waylaid by these glittering and immediately satisfying trifles the world has to offer. They all say to us, ‘Slow down, take a break, have a rest, you deserve it! Watch the cricket, read your novel, go out for the night.’ And we do.

And then, as bed time approaches we realise (fleetingly) that the whole day has been about us; our job, our relaxation, our affairs, and God has been forgotten. And we make a resolution (fleetingly) that tomorrow will be different – tomorrow, because right now we are too tired to read some Scripture or say the Rosary. So we mumble a Hail Mary or an Our Father and fall asleep.

For most of us, therefore, the stark proclamation of Jesus: Repent, and believe the good News, is essentially a call to repent of our busyness and the forgetfulness it induces.

Jesus put it another way in Luke 21:34: Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with … the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly like a trap.

I’ve deliberately left out his reference to sin here because, for the moment, I think it is good to focus on our daily routine (the cares of life), a most effective way to make our hearts coarse and incapable of anything more than a shallow and banal spiritual life.

Now to even realise this much, and to let it sink into our hearts, already requires that we slow down and the Church in her wisdom includes in her liturgical cycle a time dedicated to doing just that - she calls it Lent.

By an absolutely unrelated co-incidence the word lent in French means slow. This has nothing to do with the real meaning of the word Lent, which originally meant the season of Spring, but it does offer an opportunity to highlight the point I’m making: Slow down for Lent. Make time for prayer, fast from food and drink or some other good thing, and go to the help of your neighbour.

Immediately a question presents itself and there are many ways of answering it. The question is Why? Why focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving in this special way? Some will say ‘It makes us holy’; others will say ‘It clears away sin’; others will say ‘It gives us discipline’. These answers are all true, but how does the Church answer this question in our readings today?

Today the Church calls us to prayer, fasting and almsgiving so that we might renew our response to the Covenant.

Ok, so what is a covenant, what is the Covenant?

When two people make a contract it is usually about a third thing, like a piece of land, or a house, or an amount of money that is to be paid for a certain service. A covenant is an agreement between two people (or two parties) about each other.

So a man and woman come before God’s altar in the church and he promises her lifelong faithfulness and love as her husband and she promises the same as his wife. God comes and seals this promise and makes the two into one and they now live in the covenant of marriage.

Incredibly, God has made a similar nuptial covenant with us, his Church. He has said ‘You will be my People, and I will be your God’ and this eternal Covenant was sealed in the Blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross: This is the Blood of the New Covenant.

The life of a Christian, your life and mine, is a Covenant life; we are his People – he is our God. Lent is a time for remembering, renewing, restoring, enhancing, refocussing our response to this Covenant because ‘the cares of life’ and ‘the love of the world’ have distracted us from it and made it hazy and distant.

When a Christian lives a life which is true to the Covenant it is very clear to all around him - his family, friends and enemies - mainly because his is happier than those around him. And one important reason for this happiness (among many others) is because we know who we are, and we know the meaning of our life: I belong to God who loves me and calls me to eternal life.

To be perfectly honest, there is not a Lent which does not find me standing with an embarrassingly large bunch of flowers in my hand; they are so consoling, so colourful and so diverting. I pray for myself, and for you too, that together we might empty our hands of all emptiness and fill them with love of God and neighbour – treasure that will last.

It would be wonderful if I could announce to you that Pope Benedict had decreed that this Lent we should all seek happiness by having a daily soak in a spa, burning essential oils in our homes, and wearing a crystal round our necks. That would make my message a little easier to deliver. However, as always, our Holy Father, our good Holy Father, has repeated the tireless message of Lent once again – Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving. Let’s get busy.

Ash Wednesday - Year B

Joel 2:12-18; 2Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

Australia has been shocked by the ferocity and destructiveness of the recent bushfires. My whole parish in Morwell was covered with black ash. It covered outdoor furniture, cars, footpaths, everything; it even found its way indoors, through open windows and air vents – ash everywhere.

For those directly involved in and affected by the fires ash is a symbol of all the desolation and death they caused. Ash is what’s left when the fire has done its work; it is dry, choking, bitter tasting and ugly.

Those of us who have visited bushfire scenes know that television bulletins cannot do justice to the reality. The swirls of powdery ash around our feet, the still smouldering trees, the smell of ash in our noses, the dry crunch of every footstep, and above all, the silence, the emptiness, the ‘nothingness’ of the bush, everything black (or white where the fires burned hottest), everything gone.

In stark contrast to all this is the often repeated intention from fire victims who lost everything, ‘We still have each other, we can rebuild.’ Of course, the rebuilding will be different. Trees will not be planted so close to houses this time, firebreaks will be created, perhaps bunkers will even be constructed. Hopefully, there will be a new way of going about the business of living in the bush.

This morning I am going to take some ash and place it on your forehead. This ash is the same symbol of desolation and death produced by the latest fires but with a few differences.

Firstly, this ash will be placed on your forehead at your request. No one will force you to come up to receive it; it will be purely voluntary. You will be saying ‘Give me this ash as a symbol of the destruction I wish to have happen within me this Lent; the destruction of my evil passions, the clearing of all the undergrowth in my life that is hindering my journey towards God, the destruction of all my empty attachments. I want it all cleared so that I may be free to travel more safely and more quickly.’

Secondly, the ash will be placed on your forehead in the shape of the Cross; not ‘a cross’ as some people say, but ‘the Cross’ – the Cross of Christ. This means that the ash is for us a symbol both of annihilation and of hope. As the Cross is the Christian symbol of salvation and hope of eternal life, so the cross of ashes on our forehead is for us an invitation to freedom from sin and new life.

Thirdly, the ashes will be blessed and mixed with holy water. We all know the explosion of green that follows rain on a burnt-out forest; the leaves burst from the very trunks of the blackened trees. Ash and water is a potent mixture for new life and today, at the beginning of our Lenten journey of prayer, penance and almsgiving, we ask God to plant the seed of his grace into our efforts, to make them fruitful.

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Isaiah 43:18-19,21-22,24-25; 2Corinthians 1:18-22; Mark 2:1-12

The gospel today shows us two groups in action - a large group (a crowd) and a small group (four men).

The 'crowd' is a major player in the New Testament. It is interesting to look a little more closely at it.

Wherever Jesus went he was followed by the crowd - enthusiastic, eager, thronging.

• Mk 2:13 - He went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd gathered about him...
• Mk 5:21 - And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
• Mk 9:15 - And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him … ran up to him and greeted him.
• Mk 3:9 - And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they should crush him ...

Jesus always distinguished his followers from the crowd.

• Mk 4:11 - He answered them, ‘The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables…’

Jesus leaves the crowd …

• Mk 4:36 - And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat…

Jesus dismisses the crowd …

• Mtt 9:25 - But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

Jesus escapes from the crowd …

• Jn 6:15 - Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone...

But he also has compassion on the crowd … he feeds them

• Mk 8:2 - I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground...

Jesus teaches them …

• Mk 2:13 - He went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them.

The crowd is of its nature fickle, unthinking, and unreliable.

• Mtt 21:8 - Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, "Hosanna…"
• Mk 15:11 - But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. … And they cried out again, "Crucify him."
• Mk 14:43 - And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

Sometimes individuals come out of the crowd into relationship with the Lord.

• Mk 5:30 - Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling.
• Mk 9:17 - Someone from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit".

In today’s Gospel we see one of the worst characteristics of the crowd … it often blocks the way to Jesus.

• Mk 2:4 - (the men carrying the paralytic) … they could not get near him (Jesus) because of the crowd...
• Mtt 20:29 - And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the roadside, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent...
• Lk 8:19 - Then his mother and his brethren came to him, but they could not reach him for the crowd...
• Lk 19:3 (Zacchaeus) And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd…

The other group we see in the Gospel today is a small group of four men. These men carry a litter on which lies a paralytic. They are bringing him to Jesus but the crowd stops them. Undaunted they devise a plan. They work together to lift the man up onto the roof. They take the tiles from the roof and lower him down to Jesus.

This small group shows concentration, unity of purpose, determination, perseverance, initiative, patience, resourcefulness, courage, imagination, energy and love. It is not a group at all, really, it is a community - a community of love - an evangelising community which brings others to Jesus.

• Which of these two groups best represents our Parish? Are we a crowd or are we a community?

• What do we wish to be? A crowd or a community?

• Do we make it easier or harder for others to find Christ?

• At the very least, the journey of this parish must be from ‘crowd’ to ‘community’. How do you think we might achieve this?

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46; 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1; Mark 1:40-45

The Gospel today is not just about leprosy otherwise it would be irrelevant to most of us here since we don’t have leprosy. Nevertheless, the message of the Gospel today, and also, of course, the message of the Church, is: Jesus can heal you. Jesus can make you clean.

But we have to stop thinking in terms of physical diseases. We have to go to the level of sin; that is really what Jesus came to take away. If he is not curing you or your loved one from some disease, or taking away some difficulty, it is because it is not his will to do so; it is not his will to intervene.

Leprosy has always been a clear image of sin. It is contagious, disfiguring, repulsive, cuts us off from the community, and causes death. We can see our bodies but we can’t see our souls. Leprosy we can see; sin remains invisible.

But God can see our soul. He can see whether it is diseased and ugly, dead or alive.

The Good News is that although Jesus, for the good of our soul, may delay healing us of disease, he is ‘dying’ to heal our soul from sin. How? Well, if it’s a matter of an everyday sin (a venial sin), Jesus has ALREADY relieved us of that burden during the Penitential Rite of the Mass. Indeed, every time we make a sincere act of sorrow our venial sins are forgiven. However, if it’s a matter of a grave sin (a mortal sin), we have only to come to the priest in Confession and acknowledge that sin to him. In Jesus’ name he will forgive that sin or those sins and relieve us instantly of that burden. What’s stopping us; what's stopping you? The leper in today’s Gospel was not allowed to approach Jesus but he did. What’s stopping you from approaching Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation where he is waiting, longing for you - to set you free?

• Are you ashamed? Are you frightened? Are you proud?
• Are you in denial about your sin? - I have no sin.
• Are you uncertain about whether to confess to a priest?

To all of them I say “Well don't be!"

Don’t be ashamed. Don’t be frightened. Don’t be proud. Don’t be uncertain about whether Jesus wants to use a priest to forgive your sins. He sent lepers to the priests and he sends sinners to the priest.

I sit in that confessional every weekend but very few people come. Is that because no one commits mortal sin anymore? No. It is because today people deny they have mortal sin: I have no leprosy! This is certainly one of the grave evils in the Church today; the denial of mortal sin.

Are you not sure whether you have sin? Whether you are a leper? The priest will tell you .. don’t worry about that. In the Old Testament if people thought they might have leprosy they went to see the priest and if they thought they had been cured they went to see the priest. Jesus told the leper in today’s gospel to go and see the priest.

And what would I say? I would say what the Church says (assuming full knowledge and full consent):

• Using contraceptives because you want to avoid pregnancy? - you are in sin;
• had a tubal ligation, vasectomy? - you are in sin;
• sleeping with someone outside of marriage? - you are in sin;
• divorced and then remarried outside the Church? - you are in sin;
• consulting fortune tellers or mediums? - you are in sin;
• had an abortion, or advised someone to have an abortion? - you are in sin;
• deliberately missing Mass on Sunday? you are in sin;
• going to Holy Communion without confessing grave sin? - you are in sin.

It does not matter to God whether we are in your Sunday best and going to Mass every Sunday because he can see our souls as plain as the nose on our face, and if we are in mortal sin we are to God as ugly as lepers, even uglier.

It does not matter to me if the church is filled to the brim with parishioners if they are not in communion with Jesus and his Church; in other words, not in the state of grace.

If you are in mortal sin there is something you must do first, you must go to confession.

Jesus can make you clean and Jesus wants to make you clean through the absolution given by the priest. What could be more simple?

Do you know that Jesus is so eager to take away our sins that he is willing to become a leper for us? Look at what happens in today’s Gospel: The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived.

Jesus is willing to make himself a leper for us; what more could he do? So what’s keeping us? What’s keeping you?

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Job 7:1-4, 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23; Mark 1:29-39

Today is the 5th Sunday in Ordinary time and for the last three weeks the readings have been looking at the man Jesus setting out on his mission to preach the Good News of the Kingdom.

On the 2nd Sunday we saw Jesus inviting the disciples of John to follow him to ‘come and see’ where he lived. We see their excitement as they return home after spending only a day with him and announcing: We have found the Messiah!

Then on the 3rd Sunday we saw the attraction Jesus has for those seeking the truth. He calls four men to become his apostles and they follow without hesitation.

Last week, the 4th Sunday, we saw Jesus teaching in the synagogue and all were impressed by the authority of his teaching and astonished at the power of his word which could give orders even to unclean spirits.

And today we meet him once again in the Gospel. We see him at work; we watch him in action. We draw closer to him, trying to get to know him and understand him a little better.

So what do we see about Jesus in today’s Gospel?

• We see a strong, energetic, busy Jesus, working hard to spread the Good News of the Kingdom. From the synagogue where he cast out the evil spirit from a possessed man he went straight to Simon’s house and cured his mother-in-law. Then crowds came and after sunset he is still working. Long before dawn he got up for prayer: let us go elsewhere (let us keep moving) … he went all through Galilee.

• There is a sense of urgency, of mission, of energy, of driven-ness. Jesus is like the sower of seed who doesn’t stop to look back where the seed has fallen but one who goes on sowing.

• We see a man of great simplicity and power. Jesus comes to the bed of Simon’s mother-in-law and takes her by the hand and helps her up – her illness now gone. The words of Jesus and the deeds of Jesus are one and the same thing, equally powerful. Simplicity and power!

• We see a man of prayer, a man who keeps his priorities straight; his relationship to his Father stays in the first place. A man who refuses to let the busy routine dictate the terms of his life. A man who defends the spiritual from the practical, as well as from the temptation of popularity.

• Finally, we see a man who is busy teaching us. Not only by what he says but by what he does.

This Gospel shows us one of the greatest and most significant aspects of what Jesus came to teach us. When he goes off to preach elsewhere and leaves behind all those who are not yet cured and who are still suffering he shows us that he did not come to take all this away. He could have gone on curing till there was no one left to cure but in moving on he showed us that he had not come to inaugurate a paradise on earth without illness or suffering.

Nor did he exempt himself from suffering.

Jesus came to show us by the example of his life and death that the way to happiness and eternal life was through the human situation – and not around it.

Jesus did not come to take away our suffering but to show us how to make it – in union with him – a vehicle to eternal life. He came to bring happiness IN our human condition – and not through exemption from it.

• Do we live our Christian life with a sense of urgency, with a sense that the day will come when it will end and that then it will be too late for all the things we need to accomplish?

• Are we simple and humble about how we deal with others or do we have lots of self interest? Are we simple about our good deeds?

• Are we people of prayer? Do we put energy into our prayer? Do we make time for prayer, even getting up early, like Jesus? Do we look for a time and a place, every day? If Christians are serious about their Christian life they will pray.

• Are we constantly praying for exemptions from suffering; for privileges, for favours? Or do we pray for the strength to remain happy and at peace in these sufferings?

Our present life is a special time of grace, a time of favour. Let us set to work before it runs out.