2nd June 2019

The Ascension of the Lord
World Communications Day

Change is frightening, because it deals with uncertainty and that makes people insecure, which is why most people don’t generally like transitions. And yet, life is full of moments when things have to come to an end and we need to begin anew. The feast of the Ascension is a point of transition… a new beginning for the disciples!

The farewell scenes prior to the Ascension in all four Gospels are reported differently, without much description of the physical happenings. The focus of the Ascension is not on the physical – the spectacular ‘rising up’ or ‘being taken up’; but on the words of Jesus to his disciples – to proclaim the Good News to the whole of creation. Jesus knows that this is not going to be easy, especially since He would not be physically present with the disciples. And so He promises to continue to be with them in a new way – through His Spirit!

The message given by Jesus to His disciples is also true for us, who are His followers in the world today: we must communicate the Good News. May we be guided by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, to faithfully carry out this mandate.

“Sound beliefs do not enter into the hard and disobedient heart… I choose to follow not men or men’s beliefs, but God…”  – St. Justin the Martyr

Today is the feast day of St. Justin the Martyr (100-165).  He was martyred alongside some of his students. He is considered the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos in the second century. Logos is God’s Word, the principle of Divine reason and creative order. 

In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius writes, “As we continue to make progress in the spiritual life, the movement of the good spirit is very delicate, gentle, and often delightful.  The good spirit touches us in a way that a drop of water penetrates a sponge. When the evil spirit tries to interrupt our progress, the movement is violent, disturbing, and confusing.  The way that the evil spirit touches our lives is more like water hitting hard upon a stone.” ( Spiritual Exercises, 335)

There is a painting of St. Ignatius by Noreen Mallory, a Canadian artist.  Ignatius is holding a stone in one hand, a sponge in the other. Two tear drops fall from his eyes, one on the sponge, one on the stone. God can only enter a heart that is soft, accepting, humble, compassionate.  The heart that is closed-off to others, to love, cannot be penetrated by God’s love. Ignatius calls hearts “to every increase of faith, hope, and love, and all interior joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly, what is God’s love, filling us with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord” (Spiritual Exercises, 317). The “enemy of human nature,” what Ignatius calls the devil, brings only confusion, darkness, anxiety, raising obstacles brought on by false reasoning.  This enemy can only attack a heart closed-off to God’s love.

WE ALL KNOW that desire drives people to do things they never would have imagined unless that kind of fervor had played a role. Crimes of passion are committed by people otherwise considered mild-mannered, law-abiding, or incapable of such deeds. Likewise, the desire to achieve, to serve, or to know God has provided the drive behind many extraordinary accomplishments.

While passion is often considered an explanation for antisocial behavior, it is not a valid excuse. Desire can be harnessed, doused, indulged, or set aside; it’s entirely our choice. The apostle Paul makes the point many times that even though desire is a potent force, our passions certainly fall within the parameters of self-control.

While desire is implicated in a boatload of sins (the Bible refers to evil desires, human desires, sinful desires, corrupt desires, lustful desires, deceitful desires, harmful desires, etc.), the scriptures also point to desire as perhaps the key ingredient, or catalyst, to spiritual growth.

1st June 2019

St Justin, Martyr

The entrance antiphon sets the theme of proclamation, ‘O chosen people proclaim the mighty works of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light!’

An eloquent and informed speaker – Apollos – teaches about Jesus. Though his knowledge is sound, he is still open to learning and experience; he travels and interacts with listeners to uphold Jesus as the Messiah. The psalmist shouts out the Good News: ‘All peoples clap your hands, cry to God with shouts of joy…God is king of all the earth.’

In the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples that joy exists in communication with the Father. The intimacy between God and believer is intensified and faith grows strong. This knowledge is necessary because Jesus is about to leave his disciples, and he wants them to know that he will still be with them – and us – in the Eucharist, in the gatherings of believers, in the proclamation of the Word, in the action of the Holy Spirit, and in those whom we serve.

It is only when we encounter Him that we can exult and rejoice in our God!

Saint Justin, Martyr (- 165)

He was born at the beginning of the second century in Nablus, in Samaria, of a pagan Greek family. He was an earnest seeker after truth, and studied many systems of philosophy before being led, through Platonism, to Christianity. While remaining a layman, he accepted the duty of making the truth known, and travelled from place to place proclaiming the gospel. In 151 he travelled from Ephesus to Rome, where he opened a school of philosophy and wrote defences and expositions of Christianity, which have survived to this day and are the earliest known writings of their kind. In the persecution of 165, in the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, he was denounced as a Christian, arrested and beheaded. The transcript of his trial by the prefect of Rome, Rusticus, has also survived: it can be found in today’s Office of Readings.

Justin treats the Greek philosophy that he studied as mostly true, but incomplete. In contrast to the Hebrew tendency to view God as making revelations to them and to no-one else, he follows the parable of the Sower, and sees God as sowing the seed of wisdom throughout the world, to grow wherever the soil would receive it. When we dispute with people who disagree with us, we would do well to assume that they too are seeking wisdom and have found truth of a kind. Since there is only one God and one Truth, it is our task not to contradict or belittle their achievement, but to show them how their strivings and searches are ultimately fulfilled in Christ. This is harder to do – not least, because we have to take the trouble to understand our own faith thoroughly – but it is ultimately more worthwhile.

Mary said YES to an incomprehensible mystery. 

31st May 2019

In Luke’s Gospel, we see two humble, God-fearing women who unexpectedly, yet rightly become the vehicles for God’s greatest work – the redemption of the world.

Through the narration of how Elizabeth’s baby leaps for joy in her womb, at the arrival of Mary, the evangelist already hints to the role of both unborn children. Elizabeth’s son, John, would grow to be the Baptist who would prepare the people for the arrival of Mary’s son, Jesus, their long-awaited Messiah.

The spontaneous response of Mary, who bursts into praise of God, has become one of the church’s greatest hymns known to us as the Magnificat. It proclaims God’s love, faithfulness and mercy toward His people.

Because Mary’s ‘yes’ paved the way for our redemption, we too can sing the Magnificat and our hearts can leap for joy, like John the Baptist in the womb. God has indeed done great things for us.

When going through difficult times, there’s the tendency to want to go back to the “good old days.” But there are two features about the good old days: first, they were never as “good” as we remember them; second, there’s no going back. In a church that finds so much beauty in tradition, we Catholics can be nostalgic too.

Today, we’re reminded that the early church faced its own challenges. The debate over circumcision was serious… would the church survive such disagreement? What rules for membership would they agree on? Thankfully, the apostles and elders didn’t look back. Instead, they looked to the future by relying on the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, for direction. Their trust was not in vain.

While disagreements and challenges remain in our Church today, the invitation is to look to the future, to trust in the Holy Spirit, whom God sent in Jesus’ name to guide and renew.

24th May 2019

Mary Help of Christians

Guided by the Holy Spirit, the authorities sent out Barnabas and Silas to the new Christian communities in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia, with a set of ground rules for both Jews and Gentiles. The shared commandments encourage the members of the different Churches to live in unity and to love one another equally, echoing the commandment of “love” given by Jesus.

Jesus set an example when He carried out the greatest act of love a man can have for his friends – laying down his life for them. The new commandment of Jesus does not replace, but rather complements the ten given by Moses. This is because ‘love’ is the basis of all our laws; for example if the first three of the ten commandments are concerned with love for God, the next seven are about love for one another; you cannot say that you observe the first if you do not observe the latter.

As followers of Christ, could we reflect God’s immense love in our many relationships and interactions with people?

Our Lady, Help of Christians

Australia, Shrewsbury, Poland, New Zealand, Southern Africa

‘This is your mother.’ Under the title of Help of Christians, Mary was chosen as Patroness of Australasia by the First Provincial Synod, convened by Archbishop Bede Polding, in Sydney in 1844. The fledgling colonies needed Mary’s help at that time, as the nation does today. We are helped through Mary’s powerful intercession, and through the example of her life that we find in the Gospels.

IMO

BALANCE

WHETHER YOU ARE the aging loved one or the adult child, the journey through aging is often stressful. Learning to maintain balance and reasonable expectations will minimize the strain on everyone involved.

Talk with each other about the frustrations or fears that each generation is experiencing, including feelings of weariness and vulnerability. Try to understand each other’s point of view. Work together to define some reasonable expectations. Remember that having a designated day to visit or a regularly scheduled phone call can help calm the anxiety of an older loved one and ease the guilt of an adult child. Creating a rotation system with other family members or friends will also provide a sense of security. Finally, consider how your dependence on others resembles your dependence on God.

20th May 2019

I will send the Holy Spirit in My Name.

“The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” (John 14: 26).

Monday of the 5th week of Easter. We are exactly three weeks to the end of the Easter Season and the Solemnity of Pentecost. In our Gospel of today, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit in His Name.

According to an ancient legend, Zeus and Hermes (the gods of Greek mythology), had once visited Lystra in disguise. But because they were treated badly by its inhabitants, they punished the people of Lystra. Perhaps this legend was what caused the people to react as they did towards Paul and Barnabas who visited them preaching the Good News. Seeing Paul cure a man who had been a cripple from birth, the people of Lystra believed them to be Zeus and Hermes who had returned. Not wanting to repeat the mistake of their ancestors, they decided to offer sacrifice in their honour! But the apostles declined the homage, clarifying that they were only human and it was God who healed the cripple through them – the God they had come to speak about.

In today’s Gospel, too, we hear Jesus speak about the same one true God, His Father. Jesus explains simply that one’s love for God is manifest in the willingness to follow His word, for His word is God’s word!

Today is the feast of St Bernadine of Siena (1380 – 1444), a Franciscan priest whose core ministry was witnessing to the power of the holy Name of Jesus. He worked in Italy and converted many through his faith in the power of the Name of Jesus.

Remember: “You are witnesses of these things.” Jesus had said to His disciples:

#1 The Death of Jesus.

#2 Testimony of Scripture to the suffering and death of Jesus: (Luke 24: 44 – 46).

#3 The Resurrection of Jesus.

#4 The power of the Name of Jesus.

God gave St Bernadine of Siena a special love for the holy Name of Jesus. May God the Father give us a similar faith and love for this glorious Name.

The ancient Church sang this hymn when they met for Sunday Mass:

“Because of this, [humility of Jesus] God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” (Philippians 2: 9 – 10).