Jun 16, 2018
Reflection: Have full confidence. The kingdom of God is coming, even if slowly. One must live with the mystery of God. (619)
Gospel (Mark 4:26-34). It is the smallest of all trees; yet it grows into the biggest shrub of them all.
In this reading, we have two parables on the growth of the kingdom of God from small beginnings. In both, its beginnings are compared to a seed sown. The sower, of course, is Christ. The first parable speaks of the kingdom growing of itself, automatically, without human intervention. Christian understanding of God’s activity in the spread of the Gospel speaks the Gospel message not as human words, but in reality as the word of God which is at work in believers (see 1 Thessalonians 2:13).
Today, many within the Church are impatient with the slow pace of change. They want things to happen faster, and according to their wishes.
Today’s readings may have a few lessons to teach in this regard. One is that, at best, we are only co-operators with God. God is at work silently; the seed sown by faith can be working away quietly.
A further message is that we should always be full of confidence, confidence which has the gift of the Holy Spirit within each believer and within the Church as its foundation and its guarantee.
A final message, but far from the least, is recognition of the centrality of the word of God to Christian faith and practice. We often refer to Scripture as the word of God, and people call for more access to this word of God. But, to recall Paul’s words to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 2:13), the word of God is God’s message received in faith and working through grace within each individual believer and in the Church.
“Such is the mystery of the kingdom of God.”
All of this calls for an atmosphere of prayer and devotion, one in which we can work for true Christian living.
What has been presented in the various parables of the kingdom in the Gospel accounts gives only individual aspects of the kingdom, and the presentation of the growth of the kingdom as a seed growing of itself in the parables of today’s gospel reading is no exception. These parables do not imply that human activity is not required for the coming and the growth of the kingdom. We pray daily to God that his kingdom may come, which for Christian belief as for Judaism implies that his will be done here on earth. Jesus laboured for the coming of the kingdom through his teaching and his miracles, as in other ways. So did the apostle Paul. Necessity was laid on him to preach the Gospel, and the same held true for the Church down through the centuries.
The Church herself, and all believers, must do likewise in any age, including our own. The Church authorities must be in contact with the faithful, prepared to answer their questions and to be aware of their anxieties concerning religious matters whether of faith or morals, including points of moral practice. They must make it clear that the concerns of the faithful are being listened to, even when these disagree with Church teaching or her position on certain matters. But at the same time, the Church must proclaim the Gospel message in its saving entirety, and enter into the necessary dialogue with a secular society possibly in disagreement with it on certain matters, such as those relating to sexual issues, to marriage, and others besides. In issues such as these, lay voices can carry greater conviction than those of clerics, although not too many of the laity may be keen on taking on such a task.
But such is the mystery of the kingdom of God, from its beginning to our own day, a seed growing of its own, but still calling for proclamation, promotion, and defence.
Fr Martin McNamara MSC
May 19, 2018
Reflection: The Holy Spirit and Dialogue with the Modern Age
Gospel (John 15:26-27; 16:12-16). The Spirit of truth will lead you to complete truth.
In recent decades, in Catholic spirituality and liturgy there has been renewed interest in the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian life. This is particularly in evidence in the new Eucharistic prayers. One of them recalls that Christ, by rising from the dead, has destroyed death and restored life. They remind us that we may live no longer for ourselves but for him; he sent the Holy Spirit from the Father, as his first gift to those who believe, to complete his work on earth and bring us the fullness of grace. Before the words of consecration in the new Eucharistic prayers, the celebrant prays to God the Father to send the Holy Spirit on the offerings so that they may become the Body and Blood of Christ, and after the consecration, a similar prayer is addressed to the Father to look upon this sacrifice and by his Holy Spirit to gather all who partake of the Eucharist into the one Body of Christ, a living sacrifice of praise – a prayer that the community becomes a living Eucharist.
Central to New Testament and Christian teaching is the unity between God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and creation. The death of Christ is evidence of God’s love for the world. The life of the Father is fully in the Son, and Jesus’ wish is that this his own life and love, and that of the Father, be in believers.
For dialogue with our own age, this implies that all that is good in the world is from God, loved by God. All the manifold gifts and traits of humanity are from God, even in those who may not advert to this, or even believe in God – all the social concerns, the service of one’s fellows, all those gifts Paul speaks of in his letters.
Believers are carriers of this message in our own day or in any other. But together with this very positive message, and the call of believers to be witnesses to it, Jesus makes it very clear to his disciples that they should be prepared to bear this message in hostile surroundings and even in persecution. Part of the hostility they are told to be prepared for is indicated as attacks on Jesus’ person and message. They will need strong faith conviction, and this, Jesus promises, will come through the Holy Spirit, the Advocate for the truth of Jesus’ message, and the Comforter in their trials. The two great commandments according to the First Letter of John are faith and love of the neighbour, faith in Jesus Christ as Son of God against all opposition.
All this can be of significant help to us to day in our dialogue with questions of our age.
Fr Martin McNamara MSC
May 5, 2018
Reflection: God Loves
Our readings today turn things upside down a bit.
In our first reading, we see Cornelius and his household receiving the Holy Spirit first and then being baptized. The second reading tells us that God loves us before we love God or our neighbour. In the Gospel reading, God abides in us and invites us to abide in God.
God can do whatever God wants. However, we can imagine limits on God’s power. We sometimes say things to ourselves like, “God could never love me”, or “God will only love me if I do x or stop doing y”.
These are illusions and untrue. Jesus tells us that God loves us as we are. It is because God loves us that we can love, grow, and change.
We cannot earn God’s love. Rather we receive it as a free gift. This is the source of our joy. For this reason, we are a grateful people, a humble people, a people who give thanks to God. Eucharist means to give thanks. If we allow ourselves to be forgiven and loved, then the Spirit of God’s love will abide in our hearts and can flow out to others and back to God.
Fr Con O’Connell MSC
Mar 26, 2018
RESURRECTION IS NEW LIFE
Jesus died. He didn’t seem to die, he didn’t play dead, he died. As a human being He breathed his last on the Cross and died. On Holy Saturday his dead body lay in the tomb. He was completely helpless, completely dependent on His Father.
On Easter Sunday the Father raised Jesus from the dead. He is risen. Alleluia.
Of course, it is the human Jesus who was raised from the dead. Jesus as Divine did not die, could not die. It was Jesus’ humanity which died and was raised. This is our hope as Christians. This is why we shout and sing alleluia.
For just as Jesus’ humanity was raised from the dead so shall ours.
But what does it mean to be risen? It doesn’t mean a return to this level of existence. Rather it means moving on to a better kind of existence, to live the very life of God.
This is good news but not just for when we die. The risen life, began to grow in each of us at our baptism. It continues to grow as we open ourselves each moment to the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The new life of the risen Christ shows itself in us as we love God and our neighbour. When we spontaneously love others because it just seems the right thing to do that is the Spirit of our risen Lord alive in us.
And so we rejoice and sing, Christ is risen Alleluia.
Fr. Con O’ConnellÂ
Mar 15, 2018
Reflection & Dialogue: We preach the Gospel not to please mortals, but to please God.
Eternal voices: Christ, Peter, Patrick. Messages for St Patrick’s Day
 
On this feast of our national apostle there are many voices inviting us to listen. It is Christ himself who speaks when Holy Scripture is read in the church, and this voice is addressing Church authorities and all of us through the prophet Amos: “Go and preach to my people”, preaching to all to be faithful to the covenant, to the teaching of Christ and his Church. The voice of Paul in the liturgical readings reminds us that there will always be accusations (not all of them true), difficulties and obstacles to the preaching of the Gospel message. The voice of Paul also reminds us of the need of honesty and transparency for all involved in teaching the Christian message. Then we are reminded of the “voice of the Irish” to Patrick to return to Ireland and walk again among its people. His voice and his prayer for our fidelity are still with us. Then we have the voice of Jesus concerning Peter to have confidence, since his Saviour has prayed for him that his faith may not fail, but that he might confirm his brothers and sisters in this faith.
And now as we have a call for a new evangelization we have the successor of Peter gently, but firmly, calling on the Church to return to her true self. Shortly before he retired, Pope Benedict XVI reminded the Church that while she was in this world she was not of this world. In his very first days is office Pope Francis has called on the Church to be faithful to her true self, and called on believers help facilitate a spiritual renewal or face the possibility of the Church being considered a compassionate, pitiful, NGO. Not of course that the Church is not concerned about such work; it is central to her mission. But her fundamental call is her relation to Christ her founder, and participation in his sufferings and resurrection.
It is hoped that reflections such as these may help on this feast of our national patron, to revive the fervour of the faith he preached and lived. Let us pray with Patrick himself that God may grant that he may never loose the Irish people which he possessed for himself at the ends of the earth.
Martin McNamara MSC
Mar 14, 2018
Reflection: Christ’s victory is that of believers.
Gospel (John 12:20-33).  “When I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself”.
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Reflection. Christ is speaking to us and encouraging us in today’s Gospel reading, since, as the Second Vatican Council (Document on Sacred Liturgy, paragraph 7) reminds us, Christ is present in his word, as it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church.
A message with believers in this dialogue with ourselves and the society in which we live from today’s Gospel reading is that for Christ his crucifixion is a victory, his victory over all forces opposing his saving work, this “world”, the power of the devil and any other power. Jesus says all this to give confidence to his followers. He has given his victory to them. “I have said to you so that you may have peace. In the world you will have persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world” (John 16:33). The same message is for believers of all generations in time of attacks on their faith. Christ and the Holy Spirit are in their hearts and consciences to strengthen then. “The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4), meaning any force trying to draw you away from Christ and the church. A little later the same writer gives the encouraging words of the victory of faith over adverse forces (“the world”); “Who it is who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4).
The victory of which Christ speaks, won by him and given to believers, presumes that believers remain united with him, taking Jesus’ example of the grain of what, and dying to one’s passions and sinful ways.
If we pass from reflection to dialogue with “the world”, with the society of our own day, sometimes unbelieving, we can bear the advice of 1 Peter 3:15-16 in mind: “Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence”. Believers are involved in social life at all levels, the cultural, the political and others as well. But in all this they believe in the prime demands of Christ, recalling his words: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). The same would hold true (and much more so) for country, political party or anything else. There cannot be question of country or political party first and one’s Christian religion (which means the demands of Christ) afterwards. If such assertions are made, it can clearly be pointed out that allegiance to Christ and his Church does not take from political or cultural commitments.
It may not be too often that a person is called on to decide between allegiance to Christ, one’s religion, Church or political party or country. There is, of course, no intrinsic incompatibility between allegiance to Christ, the Church and social commitments. The contrary is the case, as devotion to God and Church has inspired and continues to inspire, involvement in community development.
Martin McNamara MSC
