Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C 2013

10^th. Sunday (C)

(1 Kings 17:17-24; Galatians 1:11-19; Luke 7:11-17)

We have in today’s Gospel reading a very significant miracle performed by Jesus when He raised a young man from the dead.  What most impresses us today, perhaps, is not so much the objective fact of the miracle itself ... for we believe Jesus to have been – even here on earth -- the Son of God made man, One very capable of performing such an outstanding miracle ... but the human sympathy of Jesus which led Him to spontaneously involve Himself and perform so striking a miracle with such personal and tender compassion.   There are deep and most powerful human emotions involved here which secretly stir-up and evoke our own like involvement even today, for here was a woman of ancient times whose only son had just died, and who was, moreover, already a widow.  

Jesus was deeply affected by the personal situation of this distraught woman appearing before Him: a widow, her only son now also dead, walking alone though followed by a crowd of sympathizers; walking upright in body, though her head is bowed and her heart overwhelmed with grief, as tears blind her eyes.  She is getting on in years and, most probably, has little or no idea of her future livelihood and security, let alone any hope of love and companionship.  At the best, the crowd of sympathizers would suggest that she may find herself with some happy memories of friends and family; but will that enable her to face up to an empty and threatening future?

Was Jesus at that moment foreseeing and fore-suffering His own mother’s grief and loneliness on Calvary?  Possibly.

In the course of His public ministry Jesus was frequently compared, even mixed-up, with Elijah:

Jesus went on with His disciples to Caesarea Philippi.  And on the way He asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’  And they told Him, ‘John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.’ 

Now it happened that He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him.  And He asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’  And they answered, ‘John the Baptist.  But others say, Elijah ... Then He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’  Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ of God.’   (Mark 8:27)  (Luke 9:18-20)

Elijah was not only one of the prophets Jesus had heard of, but one whom He knew well – as would be shown at His Transfiguration when Elijah appeared with Moses speaking with Jesus – one who came readily to His mind at times: 

Jesus began to speak to the crowds: Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if your are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. (Matthew 11:7, 11-14)

Jesus would have been well aware of what we have just heard concerning Elijah’s miracle for the widow of Zarephath:

Elijah said to her, ‘Give me your son.’  Taking him from her lap, he carried the son to the upper room where he was staying and put him on his bed ... Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times, and called out to the Lord: ‘O Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.’ 

Had Elijah stretched himself out upon the child not only three times, but also in the form of a cross: with the prophet’s outstretch arms and full length body covering those of the child so that the warmth of life might be transferred from the prophet to the child by God’s goodness and mercy?

Elijah then took the living child and, we are told, gave him to his mother.  Is that why we hear that Jesus gave to his mother the young man -- an adult – though apparently still on the bier being held by its bearers?

After Elijah restored the living child to his mother:

The woman replied to Elijah, ‘Now indeed I know that you are a man of God.  The word of the Lord comes truly from your mouth. 

The word of the Lord spoken by Elijah was a prophetic word.  Jesus’ words were salvific words, words bringing salvation for mankind; and such words, Jesus knew, could only come from His Cross-transfigured heart and soul, body and being, words of life from the One Who would conquer death. 

Was Jesus at that moment foreseeing and fore-suffering His own mother’s grief and loneliness on Calvary?  Quite possibly. 

Saint Paul wanted to make most clear to the Galatians this aspect of the Gospel message in our second reading when he declared that:

The Gospel preached by me is not of human origin.  For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

And, of course, the Jesus He referred to is the Crucified and Risen Lord, for as he himself says in his second letter to the Corinthians:

The love of Christ controls us, and He died for all, that all those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him Who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.  Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. (5:14-17)

This meeting with the widow of Nain, this raising of her son from his coffin, bier, of death, was, moreover, most intimate.  Immediately before and, in St. Luke’s narrative, straight after, this incident at Nain,  Jesus restored to health the servant of a Roman Centurion and also:

                       

Healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind He bestowed sight. (Luke 7:27

On both these occasions He spoke directly to the attendant crowds.  But not here at Nain.

When the Lord saw her He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’

Words of most sincere sympathy, surely to be heard by her alone who so needed them.  Again, on approaching the dead man’s bier He simply touched the bier to stop the bearers and then addressed the young man himself saying:

            Young man, I say to you, ‘arise.’

And then, ‘Jesus gave him to his mother.’   All so tender and essentially intimate.

Was Jesus foreseeing His own mother and fore-suffering with her?  Quite probably.

Of course, the accompanying crowd could not fail to see and enthuse over what had happened, and they whole-heartedly cried out:

            A great prophet has arisen in our midst!

As did the widow of Zarephath when she said:

You are a man of God, the word of God comes truly from your mouth.

Here at Nain,  however, revelation is proceeding and there is something more; not that the people proclaiming realized just what they were saying, but was the Father perhaps once again witnessing to His Son, for: 

            All glorified God exclaiming, GOD has visited His people?

God indeed, God-made-man, was visiting His People in Jesus our Saviour Who would be stretched out on the Cross of Calvary for love of men, and Whose death and Resurrection would give life to all those touched by the words of His Gospel; because, although :

Preached by (Paul), (that Gospel) is not of human origin, but came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

That revelatory report of Jesus -- the crucified and risen Lord -- has spread throughout the intervening ages indeed, and has reached us once more this day to refresh, inspire, and comfort us with the truth it brings and the beauty it contains for us.  Truth because it is a revelation of the Risen Lord Who was crucified for us; truth because Jesus is ever the Way, the Truth, and the Life.   And Beauty, because:

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in  the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord ... I believe I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!  (Psalm 27: 4, 13) 

Truth guides and sustains, beauty inspires and comforts; so let us ever seek to embrace God’s Truth in all its Beauty as we hear and strive to understand, embrace and put into practice, the authentic Gospel proclaimed to us in Mother Church, the Immaculate Spouse of her Risen Lord and Suffering Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Corpus Christi Year C 2013

 Corpus Christi (C)

(Genesis 14:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26; Luke 9:11-17)

In our first reading from the book of Genesis we heard of Melchizedek, the mysterious priest-king of Jerusalem, whom the Psalmist (Ps. 110) would later refer to as a priest-for-ever of God Most High.  This great figure, Melchizedek – whose name means King of righteousness – came to meet Abraham and his men as they were returning victorious from battle with Chedolaomar, the former overlord of the land.  Abraham and his 300 strong force of warriors were exhausted after the battle, and Melchizedek arrived with bread and wine to refresh them.

Let us just stop here for a moment and wonder at the wisdom of our God!  Our psalm reading today -- based on ancient traditions going back perhaps a thousand and more years before it was composed some 400 years before Jesus – puts Melchizedek before us as a King of Righteousness, a Priest of God Most High, bringing bread and wine to meet the battle weary Abraham and his exhausted men.  Since Abraham is our father in faith, as St. Paul tells us and as we say in the canon of the Mass, who cannot recognize that here Melchizedek foreshadows Jesus?  For Jesus comes to meet us, children of Abraham, wearied and wounded in our battle not merely with flesh and blood but, much more importantly, with Satan’s baleful power over the world and our very selves.

Jesus once took upon Himself our load of sin and death and, by rising from the dead, destroyed Satan’s dominion and power over us, before ascending to heaven in His own now glorious Body of flesh and blood and thereby opening up heavens portals to human kind once more.   Now, Jesus comes to us offering a share in His victory and in His triumph through our faithful partaking of His bread and wine become the sacrament of His own most precious Body and Blood, the only food fit for the spiritual refreshment and eternal nourishment of all, who, like Abraham our father in faith, are answering God's call to journey towards a newly-promised and heavenly homeland.

People of God, my brothers and sisters in Christ, there we can catch a glimpse of  God’s all-embracing wisdom and wondrous beauty; enough surely to encourage us to lovingly trust His great goodness and gratefully praise His most holy Name.

Next we are told that:

Melchizedek blessed Abram, with these words: "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.  And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand".

With such words we have some indication of the nature and purpose of our Eucharist; and we are helped in such an appreciation by taking note of the difference between Jesus’ fulfilment and that which Melchizedek had originally  foreshadowed.  Melchizedek was, we are told, a priest of God most High; a very mysterious figure indeed, but one who could not fail to do what all priests of ancient times were appointed and expected to do: bring God’s blessing down upon mankind in need.  Such priests were also channels for ascending gifts of praise and sacrifice for God from men … but those gifts being offered up were not always expressions of pure praise and heart-felt thanksgiving, many being ultimately made simply to facilitate the bestowal of further targeted blessings from God.  

When the time of fulfilment came, none could have imagined that the ultimate Priest of God most High would be His very own Son, made man; whereas Melchizedek had been a merely functional link between God and man, Jesus, on the other hand, is an infinitely Personal link uniting God and man in His very Self; and the reciprocal love between Jesus and His Father would always, and in everything, be the originating source, definitive model, and eternal fulfilment of every blessing received and expressed by men:

            Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace to people of good will. 

Such is the Christian fulfilment of the original prophetic words of Melchizedek: 

 

Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the Creator of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High Who delivered your foes into your hand. 

            Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace to people of good will.

Such is Jesus' purpose present in Holy Communion: to give glory to His Father by bestowing blessing and -- through His Spirit -- salvation upon His disciples.

Therefore, as disciples of Jesus, it is our first duty on receiving Communion to join wholeheartedly with Jesus in giving praise and glory to God the Father Who, through the death and resurrection of His beloved and only-begotten Son, has saved us from death’s thraldom, and wills to protect and preserve us from the ever-recurring insidious power and poisonous presence of sin by His Eucharistic Gift of the Holy Spirit:

If, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For you have received the Spirit of adoption through Whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”   The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him.  (Romans 8:13-17)

In our response to Jesus' second purpose for our reception of Holy Communion, ‘peace to people of good will’, we must bear in mind the teaching of St. Paul who tells us: 

Those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith;

(God) redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3: 9, 14)

Notice that teaching of St. Paul, People of God: reception of the Eucharist only bears fruit on the basis of our faith; Jesus' purpose can only come to its fulfilment through our co-operating faith.  

Jesus still provides food for His People through the unfailing faith of His immaculate Spouse, our Mother Church; but His demand for our personal and individual contribution still remains too, and the contribution each of us has to bring to the Eucharistic Table is our own faith in Jesus; a faith not simply to be presumed in adults but repeatedly, actively, renewed and deepened, if the food He gives us is to be absorbed and become spiritually fruitful in our lives.

God has redeemed us through Christ Jesus; from Whom, by faith and the Eucharist, we receive His promise of the Spirit Who will guide Mother Church into all truth, and form all of us, her children, into an abiding and ever-closer oneness with, and ever-surer likeness to, Jesus our Lord and Saviour, for the glory of the Father. 

However, we too often think of ‘being one with Jesus’ in an exclusive sense: extending our individual commitment to Him in all situations; intensifying our personal aspirations towards, and deepening our personal love for, Him at all times.   But there is more than that required, because Jesus prayed repeatedly and most explicitly that we should all enter into a true oneness-of-disciples, into the Church His Body, the fullness and crowning glory of which He Himself is, as its Head.   Only as living members in and of that oneness, in that whole which is His Body because He is its Head, can we become, individually and personally, one with, like ‘unto’, Jesus.

I do not ask for these only but for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.  The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are One, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me.  (John:17:20-23)

Our awareness of belonging to, and being in, the Church one with our brothers and sisters all over the world, should occupy a most serious part and be given most serious expression in our catholic living, as many people from very different backgrounds can show us.  How often do you hear of those who have received blessings of all sorts committing themselves to great personal efforts to show their gratitude for what they have received?  Why should terrorists, fanatics and radicals, be the only ones to claim bonds with brethren suffering the world over? Have not we Catholics and Christians thousands, indeed millions of co-members of the Body of Christ suffering deprivation and want, trials and persecutions, because of their – and our – faith?

On receiving Holy Communion, therefore, first of all be most eager and ready to give sincere thanks, glory, praise and honour, to our heavenly Father.  Then, renewing your faith in Jesus’ presence and the Father’s goodness, welcome the Spirit whom Jesus bestows; for though Jesus' own Eucharistic Presence in us passes quickly, He comes, however, to bestow the abiding Spirit to remain with us in all the circumstances of our subsequent life.  Welcome, therefore, open your heart to, both Jesus and His Gift; and pray that the Spirit may abide in you and rule in your life so that you may be radically re-formed in the likeness of Jesus for the glory of the Father in heaven.

Finally, never forget Mother Church.    As we heard in the Gospel reading:

(Jesus) gave (what He had blessed) to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied.

It is still the same today: we are satisfied with heavenly food from the table prepared by Mother Church.  The food is, indeed, from Jesus, but It is given and presented to us, as Jesus willed and established, through the priests of His Church.  Jesus has promised that He will never forget His Church; and so, although children here on earth do easily and all too frequently forget to give thanks to and for those nearest and dearest to them, we who, as children of Mother Church, are disciples of Jesus aspiring to become true children of the heavenly Father, must never fail to thank God for Mother Church, and to ask His continued blessing on her, and on her world-wide family, whenever we receive God’s food from her table at the Eucharist sacrifice.

Holy Trinity Year C 2013

The Holy Trinity (C) 

(Proverbs 8:22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15)

Our first reading makes clear one most beautiful aspect of our relationship with God: the fact that the very wisdom of God is not alien to us, it is not a closed book to us; in fact, it is delightful for us to learn of and learn from, to appreciate and understand, the wisdom of God manifested in all His works and experienced in all His dealings with us:

Thus says the wisdom of God: ‘The Lord possessed me ... the forerunner of His prodigies of long ago, at the first, before the earth.  When the Lord established the heavens I was there ... beside Him as His craftsman.  I was His delight day by day, playing on the surface of His earth, and I found delight in the human race.

There, wisdom brings about the closest union between God and man, in that God delights in His wisdom, and His wisdom delights in us...

                                     

And now we turn to the New Testament:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  (From John 1)                                                                                         

Oh the wonder of God!  The book of Proverbs written at least 600 years before Jesus is found to be in such profound harmony with the Gospel of St. John whose words open up to us the marvellous beauty of the wisdom hidden in those Proverbs written to prepare God’s People for the coming of Jesus so far in advance, so long ago!!

But that is not all, far from it!  Jesus in the Gospel reading assures us:

The Spirit of Truth will guide you to all truth.  He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you.  Everything the Father has is Mine.

It is indeed, as I have just said, delightful for us to learn of and learn from, to appreciate and understand, the wisdom of God manifested in all His works and in all His dealings with us; but it is still far more delightful, and indeed sublime, for us to be able to appreciate and understand, and even to share in – according to our natural capacity and personal measure – the very life and love that flows between Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for:

The Spirit of Truth will guide you to all truth. 

He will guide us into all the truth that is Jesus’ about His Father and all the truth that is the Father’s about His Son; the Spirit will guide us into all truth, truth that enlightens and truth that inflames, truth that guides and truth that comforts; and in all the stages of our growth and spiritual development the Father will be our Goal, Jesus our Guide and Companion, the Spirit our Strength and our Sustainer.                                                                                                                                                                   

All this is, I say, delightful for us, because, by our very nature, we desire and long for happiness; but, without God’s calling us to Himself we – fallen, sinful, and weak creatures that we are – so easily seek for happiness where it cannot be found: in selfishness and pride of all sorts.

As our first reading showed us, creation was indeed a joyful work of wisdom and love, and there are bonds of deep compatibility and joyous sympathy between ourselves and the rest of creation because God created the whole universe with mankind as its crown through His Wisdom (God’s craftsman and His delight) and His nurturing and hovering Spirit of love.  Son and Spirit, the Father’s two creating hands!    And such bonds with creation are not just the indirect result of God’s creative activity, they are directly willed by Him for our well-being and creation’s greater good, for mankind is the channel of God’s presence to creation and also creation’s voice for the praise and glory of its creator:

The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.  The Lord God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name.   (Genesis 2:15, 19)

Praise the Lord from the heavens, sun and moon, all you stars of light!  Praise Him from the earth, mountains, fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowl.  Let them praise the Lord for He commanded and they were created.  (From Psalm 148)

Mankind is part of, and open to, the whole of creation as its custodian before God.

He is, however, unique in the whole of creation in that he is made for, and called to, God; to share in God’s own life and blessedness as His true children through faith in Jesus by the power and working of His Spirit:

God created man in His own image; in the divine image He created him, male and female He created them

Selfishness and pride -- in all and whatever forms -- are directly contrary and always harmful to man’s very being.  That is what Our Lord made clear to us when, asked what was the first commandment of all, He answered (Matthew 12:29-31) saying:

‘The Lord our God is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.’ 

There we can appreciate that love of neighbour is associated with and conducive to love of God, whereas selfishness – be it self-love or self-solicitude – is alien to both.  Ultimately love of neighbour becomes one with love of God when Jesus Himself is seen as our neighbour ‘par excellence’.

Dear brothers and sisters, we should indeed rejoice and delight in today’s solemn worship of the most Holy Trinity, because of the glory and the beauty of the Divine Personal relationships being gradually revealed to us, with the Father as our Origin and  Goal, the Word-made-Flesh our Saviour and our Guide, the Holy Spirit our Strength, our Sustainer, and our Comfort ... relationships into which we are invited and being gradually initiated here on earth, through our life as disciples and members of Jesus in Mother Church.

We thank the Father for calling us to Jesus first of all.  We love and admire the Father for the wondrous beauty of His truth (for Jesus spoke what He heard with, received from, His Father; while the Spirit speaks not of Himself but calls to our minds all that Jesus taught us) and for the splendour of His grace in Mother Church, and for the often secret gifts and sometimes quite personal blessings that have kept, helped, guided and rejoiced us on our way with Jesus.

We look to Jesus with boundless gratitude for revealing the Father to us, for bestowing the Father’s Promise, His own most Holy Spirit, upon Mother Church and endowing her with His own most precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist; for His total love for us in His sacrifice of absolute commitment to His Father’s will; and for the Church He founded -- His Body and our Mother -- which treasures and infallibly hands down to all succeeding generations the ever on-going inspiration of His words of wisdom and love, beauty and truth, in her Scriptures, and lovingly pours out His healing and sustaining grace through her Sacraments of His abiding Presence with us.

We look and listen for the Holy Spirit Whom we can neither see nor hear, nor even point out any certain tracks or proven traces ... but Who is constantly opening our eyes and ears to appreciate and embrace the living memory of Jesus Our Lord, His unforgotten and unforgettable teachings, His Eucharistic and sacramental presence with us at all times and in all situations.  We humbly await and even tremulously expect Him Whose presence we can never experience with present awareness but Whose condescension and favour we can most gratefully and joyously recall in the secret depths of our hearts new-born with the life of Jesus for, and before, our heavenly Father.