Fr Peter’s newsletter notes - January 2005

Posted on January 1st 2005 in Weekly messages

1st Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 9th January 2005

Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury's office has been busy putting out disclaimers that he still believes in God, a necessary action after the rather mischievous headline in a recent edition of the Sunday Telegraph. The trouble was compounded by the way he described how he would question his faith in the goodness of God following the recent earthquake and tsunami in South East Asia. The unintended impression was given that he, and other Christians, move from a position of clarity over God's existence to one of doubt every time something dreadful happens. This form of thought pattern is also fostered by the media's treatment of the latest natural disaster as always being the 'worst' in living memory, a claim that can only be made by those with no sense of history. Thirty years earlier, a largely unreported disaster struck Bangladesh when nearly half a million people died.

The existence of God is always a mystery even when all is going well. God as the Creator is the cause of why there is something rather than nothing. This philosophical mantra breaks down into ordinary language that the world as it is, and as I know it, is created and sustained by God. No God, no world. Why there is a world, of which I am a weak but conscious part, remains a mystery. All I can say is that whoever created it is greater than I, and indeed greater than any one thing that exists. Did God create the best possible world is a question to which I can never know the answer. He only created this one, along with its physical growth pains, the destructive power of which all can see.

Other religious leaders have also given their interpretation of these formidable events. Different Islamic leaders have explained that the earthquake is either due to God's will, or simply that God knows best. In one respect the Christian can agree, God is all good and all wise, so he knows best. It is also His continuous act of will that sustains the universe in existence. The danger with of such expressions is that they can be easily misinterpreted, and give the impression that God changes His mind in an all too human manner. God moves from mercy to anger in order to punish a particular group or individual for their sinfulness and wickedness. This line of thinking then raises issues as to why the innocent have to die along with the wicked in such numbers. The bliss of the afterlife does not really give an adequate answer to those who mourn their loved ones, if the afterlife of the merciful God is detached from what went before.

The Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, has explained how he must remain silent on the question why, and instead concentrate on the necessity to rebuild after this disaster, a scenario that the Jewish people have had to face numerous times throughout their history. This attitude forms the groundwork to the Catholic response. The events within creation, even the most destructive, will only reveal their meaning at the Redemption, when Jesus completes His conquest over sin and death. The end of the world gives the definitive meaning to its beginning by revealing its true purpose and identity. A reflection of this may be seen in the drive for life, so evident in the current aid efforts. This is an essential part of the Judaic-Christian heritage. That life takes its meaning from Jesus Christ, who both preached and established the new kingdom of God. Today that kingdom is only partially visible, though it can most definitely be found in the Church and should be visible in the lives of her members. The kingdom is a kingdom of comfort because Christ's Spirit is at work. It is a place of true comfort because with Christ death, however tragic the circumstances, death is never the final word. That final word is God's love which reveals that the barrier of death is porous, and that both the growth pains of the world, and the consequences of sin will in time be brought to an end.

2nd Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 16th January 2005

It has become apparent in recent months that demonstrating against attacks on faith is quickly growing in popularity. There have been recent demonstrations in Birmingham against a play that depicts immorality taking place in a Sikh Temple. Last week the BBC received 50,000 complaints over broadcasting 'Jerry Springer: The Opera'. All of this is taking place while the government is trying to pass on to the Statute Book a bill condemning incitement to religious hatred. The danger is that in this environment the Bill will become Law, and it will become more difficult to distinguish between legitimate free speech and religious vitriol.

It is important to remember that the Christian Churches have survived over the centuries without such a Bill. The law on blasphemy has very rarely been used. The Bill could well be used to stifle any religious discussion on the more unsavoury parts of some religious faiths, and on those faiths that rely on unverifiable visions. The concept of religious war, or jihad, is an integral part of Islam, and one of its modern manifestations the forcible conversion of British women to Islam. Is to complain about this issue then a legitimate cause for incitement to religious hatred?

The secular state and the average agnostic are singularly ill-equipped to deal with such problems. Their lack of understanding about the religious 'urge' in humanity makes them unable to distinguish between, on the one hand the product of genuine religious inspiration and, on the other, the product of original sin - a flexing of muscles to make a partisan point. To them all such sentiments are irrational and therefore should be legislated against.

Any attempt by a Christian to make such points is normally met with the response, 'what about the crusades, the Inquisition, etc? Unbeknown to the antagonistic agnostic, the Judaic-Christian tradition has a long history of self-examination under the eyes of the God of the covenant who demands the highest forms of conduct. Members of the Church do fail in their witness, but the continual ability to seek forgiveness and engage in acts of humility allow the believer to return to the path established by God, and is, I believe, one of the signs of credibility. The ability to seek forgiveness, and obtain mercy, both recognises the fallibility of humanity and the true mercy of God.

Consequently I think it necessary to distinguish what is truly blasphemous and anti-Christian and what is just offensive. Jerry Springer is certainly in the second category. His show is offensive, and the extensive use of bad language, as always, is evidence of a complete lack of imagination. He is of absolutely no danger to faith, as it quite simple to switch off the television rather than to sit there in spurious indignation. Far more subversive, I feel, was the Christmas edition of the 'Vicar of Dibley', which was timetabled in peak viewing hours. The trivialising of faith and the crudities expressed are much more dangerous in the long term, because it makes the religious life look fit for those with whom one would not wish to associate. Many Catholics enjoy Fr. Ted, and so do I, but I cannot help feel that there was something subversive about its intent. The exile of the three priests to Craggy Island is a true metaphor for the modern secular understanding of the place of faith in contemporary society.

The country neither needs a Law against incitement to religious hatred, which will only be used by religious militants; nor American-style mass-protests, including the publication of personal addresses of TV executives, tactics one normally associates with animal liberation extremists and not rational human beings. There have been far worse programmes on TV, and it is better to recognise that more damage is done in the mainstream than on the 'revolting' fringes of television culture. The trouble is that we find the mainstream attractive, so seek other targets rather than reforming our own viewing habits. We might complain about the secularising of culture, and the inability of society to have a critical understanding of religious inspiration, but the unfortunate thing is that we have so often unwittingly aided and abetted the process by accepting the norms of contemporary society as if they were absolute givens.

3rd Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 23rd January 2005

The identification of someone else's excessively materialistic lifestyle is probably one of the easiest things to do, fuelled as it is by an inevitable envy. Much more difficult is to identify our own lives as being excessively materialistic. The Church teaches that private property is one of our natural human rights which should be used to secure and protect life. These rights flow naturally from the first step of all moral practical reason, 'choose good and avoid evil'. The good of man is life itself, and this life is only made possible by the protection of each person's 'goods' such as his/her property, his/her name and his/her marriage. The Ten Commandments confirm this with their negative commands prohibiting, in all circumstances, certain actions that attack the 'good' of the person. The only way to love our neighbour is to follow the commandments.

The everyday difficulty with regard to property is not theft, which is always wrong, but what constitute the limits to 'secure and protect' human life. Once we leave home, the decisions become personal, and the only sure matter in this transition is that life will never be as cheap or as easy again! The limits will again change in the transition from single to married life. The Church in her wisdom leaves the individual decisions to the believer as to what constitutes a reasonable limit to possessions, and only identifies the basic principles: those relating to the making of choices, the avoidance of excess, and the recognition that all property ultimately belongs to God. The recognition of God's ownership of creation is not a role that should be usurped by the state, which might naively believe that it knows best how to allocate private property; nor is it a role that can be abdicated entirely to economic forces alone, since of itself the market is always blind and requires conscious guidance.

Instead of giving negative precepts about private property, the Church calls us to individual perfection which, in the case of the rich young man in the Gospel, meant 'go sell everything and come follow me'. Most of us are happy to follow but probably do not want to go that far and to sell everything! Few of us might feel that we can go so far, and indeed, as a parent, one cannot pursue that path in the same way as this would conflict with the fulfilment of the duty to bring up and look after one's family.

It is essential for the existence of the Church, however, that some do give up everything and go follow Jesus. This Sunday's Gospel telling of the call of the first four disciples demonstrates the all-consuming call of Jesus. They drop their nets, abandon their livelihoods, stand up and follow the Lord. The spontaneity and ease with which they did this is truly remarkable. It should serve both as an encouragement and a warning to us. As I sit in my presbytery gazing at my possessions, or in the kitchen looking at a mini-EU wine lake, I wonder how much of all this I really need. The answer is not all of it. Private property is necessary to protect the individual and family, and to allow life to flourish, but ultimately Christ is the source of true protection. He is the one who will allow life to flourish into eternity. The dangers of material excess is that we forget this basic lesson of Revelation, which has confirmed what could be known by reason alone, that God possesses everything. Jesus Christ shows that God loves, and this should give us the confidence not to have to place our hope in the material world.

4th Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 30th January 2005

This last week has seen a number of events taking place all over Europe on Thursday's Holocaust Day, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The moving pictures of ancient survivors returning to the site of their torture brought to mind something of the horror these people and countless others must have suffered in the death camps. One such survivor had written that she could never really explain to others what had happened, not because she was unwilling but because no audience would ever be able to understand and, however much she explained, her memory could never really be calmed. There is a power in silence, which is not the same as forgetting, but which allows for the situation to speak for itself. Some of us might have met one of those who survived, or members of their families or perhaps a member of the Allied forces who liberated the camps. What struck me about the two I knew well was their reluctance to talk about their experiences. As a young man greedy for knowledge, I wanted to know the details, but now I can see there is a greater dignity in silence and quiet contemplation. There is a sort of knowledge that is voyeuristic, that includes a spurious form of empathy, described today as emoting, that makes no absolute moral demands.

The account in the newspapers of political leaders taking the best seats, and leaving the survivors to sit out in the cold, and of some making a blatant attempt to justify their own political policies, makes it only too obvious that not much has been learnt from this stain on European history. The surviving victims, as representatives of all those who perished, should have taken central-stage. This atrocity took place because of a collective loss of sight over the dignity of individual with his or her inalienable rights. Their silent presence reminds us that the individual should be at the heart of every nation.

It is the failure to see the individual as unique that makes it all too easy to condemn different groups in any society and to dismiss them as in-human or sub-human and thus open to persecution. The intemperate language and actions used by too many single-issue fanatics - anti-vivisectionists and the anti-hunting lobby spring to mind here, together with their government supporters - are not the stuff of traditional politics and are just two current examples of this lack of grasp on the rights of the individual. At the other end of the scale is the genocide perpetrated in Rwanda, and now in Darfur, where whole peoples are condemned for their religion, race or colour.

The beginning of a way out is to recognise that our moral actions have more than an external effect on others, be it good or bad. Our moral actions also form us, and make us the person that we have become. The way we understand and act in relation to others, whether at home, at work, or in society at large, will make a difference to ourselves. To listen to the testimony of those who did survive the death-camps, and who were able to speak of their experiences, must be translated into a change of actions on our part if we wish to ensure that such a collective hatred never takes over in any nation again. The way not to achieve this is by a contentless emoting, an unfortunate trend in contemporary British life, as witnessed by politicians and TV journalists amongst others, wearing red poppies for weeks before Remembrance Sunday as if they were seasonal fashion items.

Instead when we listen or contemplate in silence the horror that these survivors experienced then we can recognise the gift of life that each unique individual possesses, a gift so cruelly taken in unimaginable numbers. This uniqueness will make us recognise, in front of God, that there exists deep within ourselves an internal summons to moral change, to recognise a universal law given to us by God, to do good and avoid evil. This will never remain abstract but instead govern our every moral thought and action. Only then will we become people of truth able to stand up to evil from wherever it may emanate.

The First Readings from the Letter to the Hebrews, 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Year A, Cycle I

The destination of the Letter to the Hebrews remains obscure, as does the author. The letter is composed as an exhortation to a struggling community and must have been written by during AD 70-80 and widely circulated, as Pope St. Clement mentions it in his Letters to the Corinthians. The letter is loosely structured around the Yom Kippur Liturgy (The Day of Atonement) and concerns the role of Jesus Christ as the perfect High Priest.

The Letter begins with a historical perspective that places Jesus as the last in a line of prophets, and the conclusion to a 'progressive education of humanity in the love of God'. The superiority of the Son to any of the prophets, and indeed of angels too, is owing to His exaltation and return to God after His death. (Monday).

God's chosen way of salvation was to send His Son in the flesh and who would be 'the man' presented in the Psalms. The fragility of the human condition, assumed by Christ, and the present situation of believers should not mitigate our belief in the triumph of Christ over death. This victory is achieved on our behalf, but the believer who shares in the same Holy Spirit is not simply a passive bystander (Tuesday and Wednesday).

The persecuted community is reminded under the present circumstances not to harden their hearts in imitation of their ancestors in the desert. The conditions of life might make any victory seem remote and barely credible. The victory is everlasting and the place of rest does exist. To share in this requires a continuous open and loving heart. Those who grow embittered will not inherit the promises. (Thursday).

The author again exhorts the community not to fail and be left behind. The gates of heaven are open to all who persevere. The Exodus was a liberation from slavery, followed by the long march through the wilderness into a place of rest. The believer strives for this place of rest only through remembering and living the liberation achieved by Jesus Christ. (Friday).

The First Readings from the Letter to the Hebrews, 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Year A, Cycle I

The ritual sacrifices conducted by the Jewish High Priest were the means by which the people cleansed themselves from sin. These earthly High Priests had to offer sacrifices for their own sins as well. Jesus Christ fits into this pattern of priesthood and, though without sin, shared in the limitations of human flesh. Instead of using ritual animals, Jesus offered Himself as the victim through His death on the Cross. He thus becomes both the eternal High Priest and Victim. (Monday).

The victory achieved by Jesus as the perfect High Priest completes God's promise first made to Abraham. Jesus Christ testifies to this unalterable divine bond with His own life. The believer participates in this bond through faith, and the certainty of its strength should give hope when confronted with all the vicissitudes of life. (Tuesday).

The eternal quality of Jesus' priesthood, one of the key concerns of the divinely inspired author, is the perfect embodiment of Melchizedek's priesthood. He was the mysterious figure without ancestry who gave peace offerings to Abraham after the war of the cities. The writer traces the origin of the Levitical priesthood to Melchizedek, as well as that of Jesus, thus validating the priestly actions of Jesus who was not of the tribe of Levi. (Wednesday).

The result of the resurrected Jesus' return to the Father is to validate his priestly actions, and demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the true 'tent of meeting', the place where man encounters God. The Temple extant in Jerusalem in Jesus' day is only a copy of the Temple that is His own person. (Thursday).

The author has demonstrated that Jesus' priesthood is eternally valid, and that He has established a definitive tent of meeting. These actions point to the establishment of a new and perfect covenant, unlike the previous one, and this covenant will be written on the heart rather than on tablets of stone. It is this covenant that forms the foundation for the moral and spiritual life of the believer. (Friday).

The First Readings from the Letter to the Hebrews, 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Year A, Cycle I

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews wished to demonstrate in a number of different ways that this new sacrifice by Christ is far superior to that of the High Priests offering their annual atonement for sin. (Yom Kippur). He first explains that the death of Christ on the Cross has a double effect. It removes all sin, including those unable to be removed by the earlier covenant, the sins of conscience. It is also a singular event so that, for the Catholic today, the Mass is a participation in the one sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, and not as the Reformers claimed the re-sacrificing of Christ, as though the event at Calvary was insufficient. (Monday).

The efficacy finds its power through the interior disposition of Jesus, as the one who has come to obey the will of the Father. The sacrifices of the past had a too mechanistic feel, actions done without passion or conversion. This emphasis on the interior disposition reflects the concerns of Jeremiah, quoted earlier by the author, and which is perfectly demonstrated in the obedience of Jesus. (Tuesday).

The effects of this sacrifice is to perfect all those who accept Christ as their unique saviour, since He sits with God in judgement over the world. The path to perfection requires our co-operation, but has become possible since a new law, a reflection of the new covenant, has been written on our hearts. (Wednesday).

The shedding of Christ's blood has definitely opened the way to God, and now the author exhorts the community to become remain worthy of such a sacrifice. They are to keep faith through an interior purification, to remain hopeful by holding steadfast to the promises, and to exercise charity and be conscious of the needs of the community. (Thursday).

The persecution of the community has been very public, and they have suffered much already but have triumphed over such adversity. The author encourages them to remember the past and continue to remain faithful as the end is not so far, and God will reward their perseverance. (Friday).

The First Readings from the Letter to the Hebrews, 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Year A, Cycle I

The community is being threatened with persecution and, to encourage them, the writer details the achievements of those who had not yet received the Christian dispensation. Despite their ignorance of things now known, these heroes of faith withstood persecution and suffered death because they believed, in what was to them, a future promise, a promise now known to be true. (Monday).

The cloud of witnesses, mentioned above, who received the testimony on trust now give it to encourage every believer in 'the race of Christian life'. The race is into an unknown future, but confidence can be drawn from the example of Christ who entered the unknown of death on the Cross, but who now sits at God's right hand. The victory of Christ confirms Jesus as the perfect High Priest, the content of the first chapters of the Letter. (Tuesday).

The writer moves from external threats to internal, and now explains that the sufferings undergone by believers may be seen as a form of divine education. This is a deeply personal form of knowledge. The analogy between God and a human father, who both loves and educates his child, establishes our vocation as sons and daughters. The reality of sin both in ourselves and abroad makes our spiritual education a long and arduous process. (Wednesday).

The reasons why the community has been asked to search for peace are now revealed. The destination every believer is struggling to approach is the heavenly Jerusalem where, as a result of Jesus' sacrifice, each one will be able to live in the company of God. This divine and human community contrasts with the terrifying and awe-inspiring encounter between Moses and the chosen people with God on Mt. Sinai. (Thursday).

The path to sanctity is advanced through the conscious and inspired pursuit of small, human scale acts of brotherly love, such as hospitality, concern, absence of greed and fidelity in marriage. This modesty of scope should look all the more possible with respect to the heroic lives of faith visible in the leaders of the community, now the saints of the Church. (Friday).

Fr Peter’s newsletter notes - December 2004

Posted on December 1st 2004 in Weekly messages

Second Week of Advent - Sunday 5th December 2004

This coming Wednesday will be the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The circumstances of its declaration were not auspicious, what with the impending collapse of the Papal States and the unification of Italy under a Piedmontese monarchy. This teaching has been potentially believed throughout the Church from the very beginning and was developed by the Church Fathers, from both the East and the West. The declaration of this dogma, which states that the Virgin Mary, though conceived normally, was preserved from any stain of original sin. She was spared because she participated in a unique way in the saving action of her Son Jesus Christ, whose historical saving action on the Cross and Resurrection transcends all times. The actions of God take place in history but come from the depths of His eternity, and so their effects are not merely time bound like our own.

God's mysterious choice of the Virgin Mary to bear His Son brought with it the special grace needed to fulfil her allotted task. The theology of the Immaculate Conception is thoroughly biblical, and is established on the angel's greeting to Mary, 'Hail Mary, full of grace'. The figure who anticipates the birth of the Virgin Mary, is the women mentioned in Genesis. Her offspring will crush the head of the serpent, and thus restore what was lost at the Fall. The image of the 'Daughter of Zion' spoken about by the Israelite Prophets refers for the Christian to the person of Mary, who is the perfect embodiment of the Jewish faith. This perfect faith will reach its fulfilment in the recognition of her unique role in giving birth to the Saviour; 'Let it be done to me according to your Word'.

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception says something fundamental about our own self-understanding. The perfectibility of man is only truly possible through the action of God and not possible through the action of man alone. It is a lesson everyone has to learn, and it is a lesson that needs to be applied both to ourselves, to our neighbour, and to our society. The dream of a strong unified Italy, a vision that occupied the minds of so many Italian during the 19th century, including Alessandro Manzini and Guiseppe Garibaldi, was to establish a state founded on the perfectibility of human effort. This project like all such efforts did not turn out as expected. Both Manzini and Garibaldi were quickly marginalized by more sinister cabal of politicians and courtiers. Instead of the anticipated enlightened rule of the people, the House of Savoy, became, after the fall of Rome in 1870, the unsuccessful Kings of a unified country. The same sad journey is now taking place within the European Union whose flag has the twelve stars symbolic of the Immaculate Conception. Again the rejection of a Christian agenda with its inspired understanding of human nature has been replaced by the certainties of the Enlightenment about the inherent goodness of man. The only course open to such institutions is a blizzard of legislation regulating every aspect of life, because though they preach the perfectibility of man they cannot trust the citizen.

The doctrine does not reject the possibility of human perfection, but puts its attainment firmly in the hands of God. The difference between Our Lady and the saint is that she was preserved from sin while very saint, and repentant sinner is saved from sin through baptism moral formation and the pious use of the other sacraments, especially those of the Eucharist and Penance. Every saint has to struggle with temptation and conflicting passions in order to break through to that freedom which comes with a living relationship with Christ. The numerous saints that the Pope has canonised in recent years does not devalue sanctity but rather emphasise its possibility. The saint strives to achieve what Our Lady through an act of divine grace possessed naturally. The fact that a human being was chosen for such a great a task as to give birth to the Son of God should always be a true sign of hope.

Third Week of Advent - Sunday 12th December 2004

Just this last week the government, after many years of lobbying by environmental groups, has recognised the reality of 'light pollution'. Their agreed aim is now be to reduce the amount of intrusive artificial lights that blazes away irrelevantly throughout the night. The prevalence of nighttime lighting has obliterated from view most of the stars as well as disrupting the sleep patterns of humans and wildlife alike. Walking through the City of London at night can be a strange experience, with silent streets illuminated by vacant half lit office blocks. This is the epitome of complete lifelessness and has none of the reassurance of the natural darkness of night. It also stands as image of the fear of contemporary society for the dark, and the lifelessness of so much of its content.

The darkness can be pregnant with meaning. Indeed at night time it is only within the darkness that the different points of celestial or man-made lights can be glimpsed. The stars are always there but it is only at night that they may be grasped by the human eye. The moon and the stars illuminate the night sky without either being overcome by the darkness or in turn obliterating the darkness. They both need each other, and if one transfers this to the more obviously religious setting, then the light of Christ can only shine out from within the darkness. The brightness of the self-lit celestial city of Jerusalem, as described in the final chapter of Revelation, is not quite yet. The brashness of nearly all artificial light, the pale and artificial version of the celestial city blocks out all the subtle qualities of the natural forms of light, such as moonlight or candle light. These natural forms allow one both to simultaneously experience the darkness and see the light, and so to treasure the light as standing out from the dark.

This dark/light ambiguity is the subject of this Sunday's Gospel. John the Baptist had preached in the most colourful of terms about the impending judgement to be meted out on the unjust and impious who would die in a fire that would never go out. While languishing in the imposed darkness of prison John wants to know if the one who claims to be the Messiah is speaking the truth. Even to one, who according to the Gospel of St Luke recognised Jesus while still in the womb is now mystified. The signs are not as he expected. He will have to undergo a conversion himself, of discerning through the darkness the sparks of light. The Messiah has not removed the ambiguity. The light of Christ is never that overpowering, but it is most certainly there, as can be discerned in the healing actions of Jesus Christ. As St John the Evangelist writes, 'The light has come into the world, and the world will not overcome it'. Jesus tells the Baptist's disciples to open their eyes and penetrate the darkness to see the works of God already mysteriously present. They, like us, will have to search out the seemingly invisible within the darkness.

The season of Advent both prepares us to receive God's immanent arrival but also to recognise His existing presence in our world and in our lives. The light of Christ does not shine out anonymously. It can only shine out through the Church and through the actions and lives of Christians. Faith is not simply looking into the darkness to find the light, but also of becoming individually a source of light. Too often it can be our own selves and our settling for all the glitzy forms of artificial light that constitute our culture, that makes us fail to see that it is Christ's light within us that should illuminate our path through life. The ambiguity between light and dark will never disappear within this world, but that does not mean that we have to settle for ambiguity of our faith. Advent is the time to penetrate the darkness and both see and share in that light of the world.

 

Fourth Week of Advent - Sunday 19th December 2004

I do not think there can be a single child who has never thought at one point or another, that their parents are deeply embarrassing, even if in a moment of self-reflection the child can see that it was completely unintentional on their parents' part. Every parent according to their child is out of date in terms of music, fashion, language, rules of behaviour etc. I am sure the children of the publicity seeking fathers4justice must be cringing every time they see them on the television dressed as Batman, Robin or Spiderman. Which child really wants an attention seeking parent? Their protest has little, I believe, with the true nature of fatherhood, which displays itself in the particular virtues of constancy, dependability, and denial of self. These virtues by their nature cannot be advertised or turned into photo opportunities. Hence these true virtues are being marginalised in contemporary society, and being replaced by the spurious concepts of modern fatherhood as full of public gushing emotion rather than the quieter silent virtues of commitment.

The popular Christmas story has little time for such fatherhood, and St Joseph normally has a silent role in any school nativity play. However if one reads St Matthew's account, St Joseph has a decisive even if it was a silent role. There is no trace of any recorded conversation and his thoughts about the mysterious pregnancy of Mary remain unrecorded. All the reader is told is that he was a 'just' man, and being so, wished to spare Mary any further embarrassment and so to divorce her informally, an action necessary even for those who were just engaged. The traditional marriage customs of the time allowed the angel to tell Joseph to take Mary to his own home. The angelic command and the description of the unique spiritual circumstances of her conception., found a ready practical answer through his charitable action, an action made possible through his grace-filled justice. Throughout St Matthew's account of the infancy, unlike that of St Luke, the Virgin Mary remains completely passive, and it is Joseph's actions under the instruction of divinely inspired dreams that brings God's will to completion. Joseph's acceptance of Mary into his home was not a one-off gesture, but a life-long commitment. Joseph's justice was constant and dependable, two of the most important qualities of true love. The welcome given would make Jesus his legal Son, and thus a 'Davidid', and so would complete the prophecy of Isaiah that the Virgin would conceive a son, who would be of David's line.

St Joseph could act as he did because he was an upright and just man. His virtues should be our virtues, and if they are then we will be able to welcome Jesus into the homes of our hearts, and offer Him a permanent home rather just some temporary seasonal accommodation.

As this will be the last newsletter of the year, may I wish you all a very blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

The Gospel readings from the Second week of Advent, Second Week of Advent, Year A, Cycle I

St Paul introduces and concludes his Letter to the Romans by emphasising that the content of the Good News, which he was commissioned to preach, was promised through the prophets. The mysteries of faith, now evident in Christ, were predicted by Scripture long ago. The New Testament builds upon the foundation of the Old, and whereby the Jewish Scriptures do have their own integrity, the fullness of their meaning is only revealed through Jesus Christ. This is most evident in the prophecies of Isaiah, whose extracts the Church uses in Advent and Lent.

The coming of the Messiah will lead to an ecological transformation, a restoration of fertility. The emphasis on God's glory preserves both His divine otherness and his immediate closeness. Human preparation for the divine coming consists in preparing a highway to the holy city, Jerusalem, otherwise the heart. (Monday)

The coming of glory will bring comfort to the people. The Good News will be proclaimed and will be spoken with consoling words. The time of darkness and punishment is over, judgement has been passed, and now is the time to build the road in preparation for God's return. (Tuesday)

The prophet preaches against idolatry and astral worship which has replaced the covenant between God and His people. The God who saves is the God who creates. The sense of discontinuity with the past, which the Jewish exiles felt in Babylon is coming to an end. The people should wait in eager hope for God's and their return to Jerusalem. (Wednesday, replaced by the Feast of the Immaculate Conception)

The Lord is described as the Redeemer', the one who will pay the necessary ransom. His actions will bring about the previous mentioned ecological transformation, and where there was desert, water will flow and life begin again. (Thursday)

The prophet gives a communal lament over the failure of the people, through their own fault, to experience the promises given to Abraham. Yet this lament is not the final word, and now is the time to heed the coming of the Lord. (Friday)

The Nativity according to St Matthew, Third Week of Advent, Year A, Cycle I

The two Evangelists, St Matthew and St Luke both present the same basic Christmas story but with startling differences. St Matthew emphasises the role of St Joseph which is passed over in silence by St Luke, who instead gives the Virgin Mary the most prominent role. Each account is worthy to be studied by itself in order to enrich our understanding of the Church's account that brings the traditions together. The Matthean account begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ which demonstrates that He is both the Son of Abraham and the Son of David. Jesus has a special place in the sacred history of Israel. The timing of His coming is also propitious. He will cross from the third age, that of Exile, and initiate the time of Redemption. The genealogy reflects the steadfastness of God despite appearances and some of the curious unions that continued the blood line. The foreign women mentioned in the genealogy reflect an opening to a worldwide mission of salvation. (Friday Week 3)

The nativity of Jesus has none of the Lukan detail. The dual paternity of Jesus is emphasised. He is legally a Davidid, through the acceptance by Joseph of the angel's message to welcome Mary into his home. Jesus Christ is also Son of God, through the action of the Holy Spirit, and thus fulfils the prophecy from Isaiah. The names Jesus, 'God saves' and Emmanuel, 'God is with us' indicate both the mission and the method. (Sunday Week 4 Year A)

The visit of the wise men demonstrates how contemplation of worldly mysteries, the appearance of the star, finds their completion in the prophecy on the location of the birth, and in worship, the donation of the three gifts. The foreign origin of the wise men again emphasises the universal scope of Jesus' mission. (Epiphany)

The story now turns violent, with the journey to Egypt and the massacre of the Innocents. Many of these details and the subsequent return to Nazareth (which fulfils an ancient prophecy) may be seen in the story of Moses' birth and earliest years of avoiding the wrath of Pharaoh, while the new born Israelites are murdered. Jesus will be the new Moses and more.

The Nativity according to St Luke, Fourth Week of Advent, Year A, Cycle I

St Luke's account of our Lord's Nativity, in contrast to that of St Matthew, involves a stepped parallel between the announcements and births of both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. This account also includes three prayers from the Virgin Mary, Zechariah and Simeon which explain the scriptural fulfillment of each of these events, prayers that have become those of the Church. These first two chapters about the circumstances around Jesus' nativity have a much stronger jewish feel than the rest of the Gospel, and were included by the Evangelist as part of his establishing 'an ordered account', and of demonstrating that the birth of Jesus is a new Genesis.

The account begins, after an opening prologue, with the announcement to Zechariah of the impending birth of a son to his barren wife, Elizabeth. The prayers of this faithful but aged couple are answered by an intervention by God. The name to be given 'John' alludes to God's mercy. This mercy will not be a private affair to the couple alone but will bring joy to the world. He has been marked out from the beginning to be the prophet of the Messiah, and his upbringing will be very similar to the great prophets of the past.

The angel Gabriel's greets Mary with the message, 'Hail Mary, full of grace'. This title shows that God will bring about a unique situation through Mary, the divine conception of the child Jesus. He will fulfill the promises made of old, and will be the Son of God who establishes the kingdom. The greeting also points to Mary as the daughter of Zion, and the embodiment of the hope of Israel. Our Lady's perfectly structured human faith may be seen in her silence at the message, her pondering and questioning of the angel, and her final assent to the will of God. The Annunciation demonstrates the perfect relationship between divine initiative and human response. The first recognition of Jesus by John occurs when Mary brings to an end Elizabeth's seclusion. The leap of the child John in Elizabeth's womb causes a canticle of praise to pour fourth from Elizabeth's lips. She recognizes what God has done to Mary, and how her kinswoman's perfect faith allows God to act in this particular manner.

Elizabeth's canticle of praise is responded to by Mary. (The Magnificat). She, praises God for everything He has done, firstly towards herself, but also for His continual reversal of the lowly condition His servants' find themselves. This final reversal through Mary brings to mind the first promise made to Abraham, and demonstrates His fidelity to His chosen people.

The curious circumstances surrounding the birth and naming of John is another occasion for a canticle of praise (the Benedictus) from the lips of the now loquacious Zechariah. The canticle has two parts, firstly a hymn of praise for the future liberation worked by Jesus Christ, and secondly the role of his Son, John. Liberation is both defined negatively as the release from the power of enemies, and positively as the true worship and holiness of life. The hymn emphasises the completion of the oath originally made by God to David and Abraham, and finishes with the definitive salvation for all those who live 'in darkness and the shadow of death'. John will have the task of preparing the way so that all peoples might embrace the salvation offered through Jesus Christ.

The Gospel reading for midnight Mass is best remembered for its poignant details about no room in the inn, and the chorus of angels singing to the shepherds. It is a scene that can and does melt the hardest of hearts. This Gospel passage begins though in a very different tone, that of the secular history of the Roman Empire. Luke wants to emphasise the contrast between the peace brought by the Emperor and that by Jesus, one a worldly peace based on military power, the other an eternal peace established on the power of God alone. In contrast to this political power Jesus was born 'on the road' ensuring a maximum unobtrusiveness, and the laying of the baby in the manger makes him 'the food' for the poor and dispossessed, all those on the margins, as well as for those who seek the child with good heart, the shepherds and later wise men. (Christmas Midnight Mass)

Fr Peter’s newsletter notes - November 2004

Posted on November 1st 2004 in

Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 7th November 2004

Last week Islington Council, the home of lost causes, demanded that a new Church of England school, for which it did not pay, must abandon its saint's name, St Mary Magdalene. Their argument was that such a name could well be offensive to members of other faiths, and that 'Church-going is now a much less significant part of people's lives'. Of course, what the Council's spokesman should have said if truthful was that the name offended him and that Church-going is of no interest to him. Too often anti-Christian sentiment is allowed to hide behind a purported desire not to offend those of different beliefs. This is the current form of anti-Christian action in this country, not outward persecution as such but the systematic chipping away at anything that stands for faith. The government has succeeded in changing the admission procedures to Catholic schools, with the unfortunate assistance of the Bishops of this country who, at the same time, still pay 10% towards any new building, despite having lost control of the admission process. I am glad to see that the Governors of the Church of England school are putting up a fight against the Council's attempts to impose its beliefs on others.

This promotion of the agnostic society by stealth is aided and abetted by a lazy journalism that is too ready to give simplistic labels to everything. Every newspaper has written that the Christian right from the mid-West elected President Bush but, as the vast majority of Americans are Christians, many must have voted for John Kerry as well. However, you would be unlikely to see a headline saying 'Kerry victory made possible by Christian left'. This demonstrates a journalistic laziness which speaks volumes about the prejudice that occupies their minds and which has replaced the diligent search for the facts on the ground.

Both examples show that the important issue for countless people, whether actively religious or not, is the possibility of being able to lead a moral life within a society that promotes moral values. The belief in 'nothing', and the practical rejection of God, cannot produce a society with lasting values. The only way to govern such an entity is with ever more draconian laws designed to eradicate any moral kind of thinking ('prejudice') in wherever form it may appear, such as Church schools. The imposition and promotion of this 'nothing' has now become a major concern, whether it be to the parent of school age children, and the American voter. After the recent sacking of Rocco Buttiglione, the same concerns will surface in relation to the structures of the European union.

For the last fifty years, we have believed that a vague form of Christianity has informed the social and political structures of Europe. Unfortunately, many examples in the public sphere now demonstrate that there is something else that animates these, a militant and pervasive atheism, dressed sometimes in the clothing of management and at others in the language of human rights with responsibility and devoid of a rational foundation - a veritable wolf in sheep's clothing. Some of the phrases used will have the ring of an older Christian order, but have now been warped to suit very different ends. These recent events can be seen as wake-up calls to politicians about the real concerns of the average person, who might not be an avid Church-goer, nor even particularly religious, but to whom a background faith form the warp and weft of life, both private and public.

Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 14th November 2004

A few days ago I was sorting out some papers in the Parish Office, and discovered a whole pile of documents relating to the Diocesan Education Department. They concerned the re-organisation of schools in West London, and particularly the establishment of a Sixth Form College in St Charles Square. This would involve the closing of the Cardinal Vaughan and Oratory Sixth Forms. All this is now past history, both schools have thriving sixth forms and the Diocese also has a well-established College. This would hardly have been a credible possibility if one believed all the published documents and media comment of the time. Much now looks so bad-tempered, ill-informed rather than reasoned argument, while the condemnation of parents, who only wanted the best education for their children, as 'evil' and 'selfish' looks offensive at worse and childish at best.

The papers interested me personally since I was a Chaplain and Governor to the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School for a number of years. More generally they also revealed much about institutional conflict within the Church and, by extension, throughout other large organisations. The case also shows the corrosive influence a few antagonistic individuals can possess in a closed environment. I am sure many city-workers who work in small teams unfortunately find themselves in a similar situation. This can be a very disheartening experience, and make one question the very purpose of applying any effort to the work at hand.

This Sunday's Gospel, the penultimate Sunday of the Church's Year, is Jesus' account of the circumstances surrounding the end of the world. The types of disputes mentioned above are hardly apocalyptic in extent but they do have a power to consume us. The advice Jesus gives is to remain steadfast and to keep your own counsel at first. The description of flashes of lighting darting from one side of heaven to another aptly describes most anger-driven conversations. A reasoned argument will always leave a trace, something on which our minds can work. A flash of vitriol, like a sparkler, is ablaze one minute but all that is left afterwards is either a bitter taste or an ugly burnt lumpy wire. The immediate temptation is to rush in, especially if something precious is perceived to be at stake but, as Jesus reminds us, 'the end is not so soon'.

The Gospel also tells us that the experience of conflict is the virtually necessary condition of being a follower of Jesus. This is all part of the birth-pangs of the world, not something that a believer especially searches out, but something for which he or she should be prepared. The resolution of conflict requires a certain level of self-detachment and, while not something easily achieved, is possible with some spiritual training. Jesus tells his perplexed disciples 'do not prepare your own defence'- in other words, do not race in with your affronted ego but step back and let God speak first to you. We have all been involved with disputes that could so easily have been resolved had both parties let God speak first. Often His words are silence: 'there is no real dispute'.

Where there is genuine conflict, the acceptance of Jesus as the Lord of history can help put our own particular case into perspective. This is not to deny the importance of the situation but rather of recognising the power of Jesus to heal and to resolve. Where a conflict remains irresolvable, then the need to discover why becomes imperative, and is something that can be achieved through prayer and reflection. At all times one must remain steadfast to the truth and not succumb to the temptation to use unresolved conflict as a cloak for our own personal ends. Everything will be resolved in the end by God, so this should always give us hope even when the opposite seems the all too likely outcome. All we need to remember for our own lives is that 'the end is not so soon', and 'that we are not to prepare our own defence'.

Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time - Sunday 21st November 2004

The exhibition of children's art, just opened in the Tate Modern, has been featured in the press with pictures of graphic installations of crack-dens littered with prostrate bodies lying on the floor and abandoned babies in carrycots. It looks from the pictures as highly provocative, but the attention to detail and the quality of execution make this into some form of work of art. However, a nagging feeling persists that it might be too much like an exercise in self-indulgence. It is always easier to speak from a position of ignorance but I have never thought that drug-taking was a necessary part of life, nor do I believe the propaganda of the drug-rehabilitation industry that it is always very difficult to stop. There is no reason why countless homes have to be burgled to fund a habit that could be changed easily. Too much of drug taking has become an excuse, and the product of the systematic abandonment of meaning and hope. In this way it affects all classes of peoples, whether city high fliers or teenage dropouts. It is at heart a spiritual problem, but this is the one area that no government funded body can easily admit. Because the deepest causes are not recognised, no bureaucratic endeavours, multiple announced police crackdowns, confiscation of bank accounts, and seizures of drugs at airports, etc., will solve the problem.

The average drug taker can so easily oscillate in mood from being the hapless victim to becoming 'universal conqueror', from an insatiable craving to unsustainable high. Both are inauthentic expressions of being human and respond to the worst aspects of the 'child' inside us. The difficulty is that the welfare state emphasises those baleful sides of humanity rather than the cultivation of virtue requiring the exercise of willpower and the making of difficult choices. The weak and vulnerable need to be looked after. This is the hallmark of a civilised society and a precept of our faith but, in doing so uncritically, a demand is generated that can never be satisfied since the impetus to change is lacking.

This anti-society of drug takers, their dependents and hangers-on are all part of Christ's kingdom. The 'coronation' of Jesus took place on the Cross, and is the place where He visibly demonstrated God's unfathomable love for humanity, good and bad alike. This love is to be accepted in a child-like but not childish way. The acceptance of Christ's love in our heart is not about turning us into hapless victims, nor of becoming 'superstars'. Instead, this acceptance should form the backdrop of our moral choices, and be the support that helps sustain our courage when the going becomes difficult.

Part of me wants to go and plant a cross in each of these installations at Tate Modern as an expression of hope, and as a challenge. The hope is the ultimate triumph over evil, and the challenge is to choose meaning over meaningless, and commitment over dissipation. The extent of Christ's rule is universal but the method of kingship is unique. It is not imposed but must be accepted, and the challenge presented to us is, as St. Paul describes, 'Be conformed to Christ'. To speak of 'challenge' might sound to some people as more 'Boys' Own' than modern catechetics, but the establishment of God's kingdom is only possible in the human dimension through the acceptance of His challenge. It gives the deepest possible meaning to our lives, and can help us overcome all those temptations to dissolution that are so ready at hand in contemporary society.

First Week of Advent - Sunday 28th November 2004

Just over twenty years ago, the Prince of Wales caused a minor storm similar to that of recent weeks with his comments on modern architecture. His description of a possible addition to the National Gallery as a 'monstrous carbuncle on a much loved friend' might have been intemperate but it certainly won public support. The original winning scheme was dropped and an alternative architect invited to design the now very creditable addition to the National Gallery. Needless to say, the architectural establishment, a coterie of self-appointed arbiters of taste, were up in arms over this royal intrusion into their own private domain of expertise. One architect of that time, now a Labour Lord, gravely announced that we must be living in fascist state to be dictated to by a royal over taste. These and similar foolish words revealed nothing other than the paucity of their arguments. As has become so apparent, most 1970s architecture is appalling, and all it needed was someone brave enough to say so.

Something similar has been taking place over the question of education. The paucity of the government's arguments over the merits of 'child-centred education' (which came in response to a private memo from the Prince of Wales), is revealed by its ready use of the litigant's claim in a court case that her employer, i.e. the Prince, used the expression 'people should not rise above their station'. As far as is known the Prince never used that expression, but the claim was enough for ministers to launch a rather undignified attack on the Prince. What has been lost is a proper discussion over what statement 'child-centred education' actually means.

Every act of learning requires an implicit acceptance of ignorance, otherwise there would be nothing to learn. Learning requires a basic humility both to the truth and to one's own lack of understanding, whether it is a particular subject at school or the deeper questions about the meaning of life. This humility can become the spur for a sustained effort and commitment needed for reaching the desired goal, whether it be an exam, a qualification, or a medal - sporting or military. A significant part of this striving is to reflect on the purpose and necessity of one's desired goals, and strange to say it is often failure that makes us complete these issues more profoundly. Perhaps they turn out to be illusory, or perhaps in-appropriate. Alternatively, something else might have emerged, a change of career or job for instance or, more profoundly, a life not dedicated to self but a life of service, whether to family, in the Church, or in society as a whole.

God is the ultimate goal in life, and gradually the Christian should realise that everything that deflects from this path has no lasting value. The vocation of the Christian is to holiness, and this is expressed in the ways of service mentioned above. The unifying principle behind these different vocations is the denial of our sinful selves, and the embracing of the Cross. This can and should make the Christian's life a 'living sacrifice'. A former Benedictine headmaster, when asked by a television presenter, for what did he prepare his pupils for in life, replied death, the ultimate acceptance of the Cross, as the gateway to life. The answer took the interviewer surprise.

The emphasis on child-centred learning at school is to turn this whole quest for holiness on its head. The child has now become 'God'. Little is made of the proper disposition to learn, and instead everything has become rights without concomitant responsibilities. At worst this turns every classroom and school into a film set of 'Lord of the Flies', or the antechamber to a Mad Max film. It is refreshing to hear the truth from such an unlikely source. In a providential it may act as a wake-up call as to the real purpose of catholic schools. The competition for high places in league tables has put immense pressure to downgrade the essence of Catholicism to just being 'nice', 'full of talents', and giving money to charity. I do not think the old monastic headmaster would be very impressed.

The Readings from St Paul's Letters to Titus, Philemon and the 3rd Letter of St John, Thirtieth-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

Towards the end of his life, St Paul commissioned Titus to build on the foundations he had established on his missionary journey to Crete. This involved appointing presbyters and overseers for each community. Apart from possessing a strong moral sense, each candidate had to have a secure understanding of the 'unchanging message' and be able both to teach and defend to it. This letter shows an emerging 'Christianity' that involves both tradition and teaching authority. (Monday)

St. Paul emphasises to Titus the close connection between right conduct following from right faith. He uses the classic Greek concept of 'teaching for life' (paidaea) with its emphasis on piety, moderation and justice, and places this process in a Christian context. This is a life lived between the two comings of Jesus Christ. This type of teaching, he considers, is best conducted by older men and women, who can in their wisdom bring the younger generation to its spiritual senses. (Tuesday)

The temptations to wrongdoing, from which Titus and his community were liberated, are the same from which we are being liberated. The rite of baptism initiated a new way of living that would put into practice the compassion showed by Our Saviour. Thus the Christian way would be marked by obedience and gentleness. (Wednesday)

St. Paul writes to Philemenon, a brother Christian on behalf of his slave, Onesimus, who has deserted his post but in the meantime has become a Christian. The point of St. Paul's argument is not for the abolition of slavery but for the transformation of existing social relations with the power of the Gospel. Eventually this process will lead to the transformation of all social relations and the abolition of every form of slavery. (Thursday)

St John, the most mystical of New Testament writers, does emphasise the centrality of the Incarnation, God becoming man, as the fulfilment of divine love. The Christian's ability to love, a divine command, is the imitation of the love Christ showed us. (Friday)

The Readings from the Book of Revelation, Thirtieth-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

The Book of Revelation is the most obscure book in the New Testament. As a literary work it is both partly apocalyptic, the description of the final battle between good and evil, and partly prophetic, the need for conversion in life and morals. The judgement of God is harsh, yet it is the judgement of the Lamb who represents the victory of the crucified Jesus. The ethos of the book, with its clash of empires, the good and the evil (Rome), contrasts strongly with that of St Paul's Pastoral epistles which recommend a de facto accommodation with the Roman Empire.

The author writes to seven Churches to warn them of the impending crisis. In many ways the situation facing them differs little from that facing Church communities today. Each Church is both commended and censured. The Church in Ephesus is complimented for its steadfastness through persecution but also reminded about its lack of fraternal charity. (Monday)

The Church in Sardis is castigated for its failure to life up to its original promise. The community is now dying though, as always, a few faithful remain. The last city, Laodicea, a city renowned for its material wealth, is suffering spiritual poverty. (Tuesday)

The book now moves from the earthly to the heavenly, with a vision of God's court which is dominated by an empty dazzling throne. The elders are historical figures surrounding the throne and recognise God as the 'Lord' who has revealed Himself in the history of the chosen people. (Wednesday)

The vision moves forward, and the scroll containing the details of God's redemptive plan is opened by the Lamb since he has brought its contents to fulfilment through his own self-sacrifice. (Thursday)

The bitter-sweet taste of the scroll reflects the simultaneous triumph of the Church and the persecution of believers. The act of eating by the author initiates the author's worldwide prophetic mission. (Friday)

The Readings from the Book of Revelation, Thirtieth-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Cycle II

The vision of St. John now moves to that of the Lamb, the central image for the crucified Jesus, who offered His life as a perfect sacrifice. The actions of the Lamb have revealed the full meaning of God's love, and those who have accepted and imitated His suffering can now participate fully in the victory that is expressed in the heavenly Liturgy. (Monday)

The end will be brought about by two events. The first is the harvest, to be conducted by Christ, but this is not something that believers should fear since it is the fitting consequence of the planting of the seed of faith. The opposite is true of the second, the vintage that expresses divine judgment passed on the wicked. Even though every believer knows God does forgive, God cannot tolerate evil as such. Those who die unforgiven can only realistically expect God's wrath. (Tuesday)

St. John now begins his description of the seven plagues that will herald the end of time. The sea of glass evokes images of the crossing of the Red Sea by Moses, and the singing of the song of deliverance. Now the sea is the final judgement and the song celebrates the opening of salvation to all the nations. (Wednesday)

The final plague has now destroyed Babylon, the code name for Rome. The city was condemned for her idolatry and her luxury. This city is every place where the pursuit of money and sexual licentiousness has replaced the worship of God. Even the most powerful city cannot resist the judgment of God. However, amidst all this destruction is the quiet call to join the wedding feast of the Lamb. (Thursday)

The vision of the final judgment shows that death has no further purpose. It was never in the original intention of God. Everyone will be judged on their own merits. The Lamb has revealed the mercy of God but this does not preclude the possibility of everlasting annihilation. The reading of books emphasises that it is in this life that we choose God, and conform to His ways since, after the 'first death', no further meritorious actions are possible. (Friday)

The Gospel readings from the First week of Advent, First Week of Advent, Year A, Cycle I

The Gospels presented by the Church for the first week of Advent emphasise both the present moment and the universality of the message. The recognition of both is the best preparation for celebrating the first coming of Jesus at Bethlehem, as well as the last coming at the end of time when He will judge the nations. The centurion in the Gospel shows the type of faith needed to accept Jesus. The servant is the first Gentile to be healed in Matthew's Gospel and therefore points to an impending universal mission on the part of Jesus and the Church. This 'soldierly' humility preserves the dignity of the supplicant as well as recognising Jesus' unique power to heal. (Monday)

The knowledge revealed by Jesus is nothing abstract but is rather a committed knowledge established on a personal relationship, a relationship that can only flourish on child-like trust. The disciples can begin to know what the previous generations, mentioned by Isaiah, can only aspire to grasp. (Tuesday)

The universality of Jesus' message is emphasised by the pagan setting of the feeding of the multitude. The God of Israel has power over other peoples as well, but these, like us, need educating through the word prior to being feed. The sympathy of Jesus for the crowd will ultimately lead to His self-sacrifice, and His body and blood will be the food for everlasting life. (Wednesday)

The new community, those who have listened to the Sermon on the Mount, will establish a true foundation on Jesus Himself only if their listening is followed by action. The faith is neither just that of the head or the heart, but of an active good life that continually reflects on the acceptance of Christ. (Thursday)

Jesus does take pity on the blind men who encounter Him, as He takes pity on us. They both recognised their obvious blindness, but also of the ability of Jesus to heal them. Both aspects require a humility of spirit to accept our spiritual/moral blindness and the need to seek Christ's singular healing. (Friday).