Fifth Sunday of the Year

The presence of

the incarnate word

shines at the heart

of all creation.

Teilhard de Chardin sj

Some years ago, Stephen Fry said in an interview that God is ‘…an evil, capricious, monstrous maniac - a bastard for having invented cancer and insects that burrow into children’s eyes. Because God is the creator of everything and all-powerful, God should/could do something to change the situation’. Many people speak of 2023 as year that was challenging as they faced loss, illness, and anxiety. For many, hope seemed elusive. No doubt we all know what it feels to be broken-hearted and sometimes despairing. Jesus shows us a God, not a distant uncaring observer, but who listens and sees, and suffers alongside people, builds bridges and is close to the broken-hearted (Psalm). This God is not aligned with those in power, who abuse power, who make war on the innocent, and who build walls rather than bridges.

Third Sunday of the Year

The presence of the incarnate word

shines at the heart of all creation.

Teilhard de Chardin sj

The readings from Jonah and Mark call us to widen our horizons and reset our priorities. We see that people designated outsiders, even enemies, can be more ready to recognize and respond to God than those who consider themselves God’s People. The call is to be open to the wisdom and goodness of those designated different.

Two disciples ask Jesus, “Where are you staying?” It is followed by an invitation, “Come, and you will see.” Open your eyes and respond! In today’s first reading, a number of verses are omitted. Why? The reading omits the warning that Eli’s house will fall because his sons, who are priests, were corrupt and nothing done to stop them. Hearing God’s message, Samuel overcomes his fear of telling his caretaker and benefactor that he must find his prophetic voice.

Manifestation of Jesus to the Peoples of all Nations

Epiphany saves Christmas from sentimentality. The God who comes to us in the birth of Jesus will die as Simenon foretold and Matthew prefigures today when threatened by a tyrant. There is the paradox of being rejected by his own and accepted outsiders. It is to recognise that Jesus is present in a manger surrounded by messy and smelly animals in a poor town. It is as the Magi found after following the star, that we can learn to look for him, not in a palace, but in the most ordinary people, places and situations. Taking a different route as did the Magi, means not returning to the symbols of power as in Herod, and coming home to ourselves.

Feast of the Holy Family

Luke has told us because of God’s intense love for us God has entered our world: dwelling among us, dining, rejoicing, crying, healing, bleeding, and triumphing with us. We see Jesus being introduced to a wider faith community by his parents, to be part of a new creation –a new family. But as Simeon prophesies, it will not end happily for Jesus, his parents, and certainly not for many children slaughtered at the time. It continues in a world that can be dark and hostile in form of ongoing hostility between nations, between groups, the arms trade and vilifying language And God cries with those distraught mothers as well as those today.