The Second Vatican Council’s Golden Jubilee is the moment to discover its central insights
Posted on April 22nd 2012 in Weekly messages
Weekly messages
The history of attempts to legislate on matters of definition is strewn with failure
Posted on March 18th 2012 in Weekly messages
The temptation of Jesus Christ points to the existential threat to remain a faithful pilgrim
Posted on February 26th 2012 in Weekly messages
The last few years have seen much debate as to the origin of global warming, whether it is explained by pollution, or may be part of some long-term shifts in climatic patterns. Whatever the cause or causes of weather changes, it does seem paradoxical that technological advance is meeting its equal with the facts of nature. The implications of this have yet to be grasped, that men and women are finite beings, and do not possess an untrammelled dominion over the earth. They have an appropriate place circumscribed by a field of possibilities, also known as natural law. The source of the positive image of this human-natural relationship can only be God. The accounts of the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel are warnings against over-weaning human arrogance.
The Book of Genesis never just gives a negative assessment of the situation, and instead God leaves Noah and his family the sign of the rainbow to show His perpetual care for human life and all that this entails. This relationship on the natural level also points beyond to a supernatural destiny, since responsibility towards all creation requires a response from humanity being at the heart of creation. This spiritual ecology that finds its root in the image of the rainbow is not satisfied with a simply earthly resolution. The human soul needs to be healed from within if the supernatural destiny, to which each person has been called, is to be realised.
This healing has become possible through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and for St Peter, the flood and the rainbow were the images of the Sacrament of Baptism. The step from the natural to the supernatural is a very difficult one for many to undertake. The emphasis on human solutions to problems within the world, the success of technological advance, the web of political structures and the recourse to law to legislate on matters of conscience, all lull the unsuspecting agnostic into believing that the problems of the world can be resolved without recourse to conversion of the soul. The Christian does not decry any efforts to resolve worldly problems, but recognises that this endeavour requires continuous conversion.
The first step to conversion is to discover the sources of temptation that lie within us. This may possess a negative connotation but it is the necessary step to identify those many weaknesses so that the acceptance of God’s grace becomes effective in our own real lives rather than our pretend selves. The Gospel of St Mark, unlike that of St Matthew and St Luke, does not record any details about Jesus’ temptations. St Mark’s account is placed in the Prologue to his Gospel and, along with the account of Jesus’ Baptism, forms the spiritual co-ordinates of the main body of the Gospel. Jesus is tempted throughout His life, not with the obvious temptations that afflict sinful humanity, but with the life-long temptation to reject His role as the Suffering Servant. This is the temptation to abandon His mission as foreseen by the Father and to adopt the path Peter proposes, or to react against His accusers. Jesus does neither and remains steadfast in fulfilling the Father’s will.
The Temptations are placed by the Church at the beginning of Lent to encourage her members to reflect on their lives, to see where temptation lies, and also to see just how the death and resurrection of Jesus can have a real effect in bringing healing grace just where it is needed.