Solemnity of Christ, Heart of the Universe

Today’s solemnity was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and is marked by the Catholic Church as well as many Protestant churches. It came about in the context of the rising nationalism, fascism and secularism in 1920s Europe. The intention was to remind Christians that their ultimate allegiance lay with Christ Jesus and to encounter him in our everyday lives by finding him in people that we see needing our help. The most urgent priority is to see the face of God in every human being and especially those who are most vulnerable in our midst. Today’s gospel tells us where we can find him. But do we see? Do we want to see? It does involve risks and emerging from beyond our comfort zones.

Thirty Third Sunday of the Year 

When reading the scriptures, the backdrop must always begin with God’s loving presence, a God who is passionate about humanity. What we read, hear or experience must be held against this image especially when we read a parable such as the one today that depicts God like the master who locks a door to someone who has failed, made mistakes or done something foolish. The God of Jesus does not have unbending performance standards; who insists that our choices need be the right ones. 

32^nd Sunday of the Year

Today’s Gospel reminds us that God’s surprising presence can come upon us at any time. It is unpredictable. Surprise or unpredictability is an important way that God has chosen to be associated when calling or sending or encountering people. God in Jesus has been returning in the unpredictability of our times with the call to keep awake and be prepared for encounter with God. Life presents us with lots of unknowns and we need to be ready for them. Maya Angelou says: ‘Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.’

Solemnity of All Saints Day

Five years ago I had the good fortune to discover Nadia Bolz-Weber and her book, Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the Wrong People, a collection of stories how flawed and broken and failing people can catch the light of grace and the beauty of God. The ‘saints’ she lives and worships with are the awkward parishioner with the bad breath and baggy pants she avoided at her church, the pink-haired teenager she sat beside on a plane ride to a Lutheran youth gathering, the bishop she pastored through the death of his wife who later killed a woman whilst driving drunk. These people remind her of the people Jesus surrounded himself. 

Thirtieth Sunday of the Year

In Matthew’s Gospel, at the intersection of two approaches to law, Jesus boldly faces the lawyers out to trip him up by reducing all 613 commandments in Israelite law to one word: love. It must have been a shock to have studies, argued, made applications and even nit-picked to have these 613 commandments reduced to one word and move God's law from a courtroom setting to the street of practical living.