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Reflection on the Gospel – Easter 3A, 4 May 2014 (Luke 24:13-35)

Extraordinary things can happen if we open ourselves to the presence of a stranger or “foreigner” on the road of life. That seems to be a key element in today’s gospel passage from the well-known and well-loved Emmaus story. Imagine two dejected disciples (Cleopas and possibly his wife) on Easter Day, on the road back from Jerusalem to their home in Emmaus, a few kilometres away. On their journey, they encounter the risen Jesus. At first, they fail to recognise him. Their sadness at his violent death has blinded them to the significance of the women’s account of the empty tomb. It has blinded them to what is happening before their very eyes.

Jesus engages them in conversation and holds up a metaphorical mirror to their experience of loss and grief. Their hearts ‘burn’ within them as he reveals to them the meaning of his death and resurrection in the light of their sacred scriptures. Yet still they fail to recognise the one whom they have described as “a prophet mighty in deed and word.” They invite him to share a meal with them and their eyes are opened: they recognise him in the blessing and breaking of the bread they share with him. He disappears from their midst. They cannot contain the joy they have experienced in realising that Jesus is now alive and once more present to them, but in a new and transforming way.

Cleopas and partner go straight back to Jerusalem to share this good news with the other disciples. Now all the assembled disciples experience powerfully the presence of Jesus in their midst. They too pass over the women’s story; the appearance of the risen Jesus to Peter is the ground of their new faith. As the story continues beyond today’s reading, we learn that they too will share a meal with him and he will open their minds to understand the scriptures. Everything will fall into place. The fear that has paralysed them will fall away. They will not only understand Jesus’ death and resurrection in the light of the scriptures. They will be ‘clothed with power from on high’ to exercise their role as witnesses to this great mystery.

Extraordinary things can happen to those who are hospitable enough to “break bread” with “foreigners” in whom they do not immediately recognise God’s presence. If we open our hearts and our homes to those who seek a welcome on our shores, we might come to participate a little more deeply in the joy of the resurrection.

 

 

Reflection on the Gospel-Easter 2A, 27 April 2014 (John 20:19-31)

Not so long ago we used to speak of the Sundays ‘after’ Easter. The terminology has changed and we now speak of the Sundays ‘of’ Easter. In other words, we now recognise that the liturgical readings and prayers for each Sunday between Easter and Pentecost invite us into different movements of the one great symphony of resurrection faith.

The first scene in today’s gospel has the disciples hiding behind closed doors ‘for fear’ of those who had handed Jesus over to be executed by the Roman authorities. As supporters of someone executed on a political charge, they had reason to be fearful. Jesus appears among them, offers a greeting of peace, and tells them that he has been sent by God, his ‘Father’. They receive from him the gift of the Holy Spirit. He sends them in turn to bring peace and to mediate the forgiveness of God through the power of the Spirit. The story invites us as believers to place ourselves in the shoes of the earliest disciples. It invites us to receive the gift of the Spirit, to emerge from behind the doors that close us in on ourselves and that prevent us from rising above the fear of reprisals in the pursuit of justice and peace.

The second and third scenes in today’s gospel focus on Thomas who was not with the other disciples when Jesus first appeared in their midst. Thomas seems to trust only his own first hand experience. We all know people like Thomas. They test our patience because they seem to lack imagination. Then they make big statements when they come around to understanding what everyone else has known for a while. If we think, however, that those who hear in the first place are any better than Thomas, we need to note that the doors are still closed eight days later! The simple fact of knowing has not dispelled the fears. Even those who do believe and trust often need time to take the gospel message on board.

While Christians continue to celebrate Easter, our Jewish sisters and brothers have been marking Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day (April 27-28). We might join our prayers with theirs for the many who died at the hands of those who allowed their racial fears and prejudices to take unimaginable directions. We might also pray for the courage to challenge all forms of discrimination and shameful brutality in our own times and the strength to open our hearts and our homland, without fear, to those who seek refuge among us.

 

Anzac Day will begin with Mass at OLMC at 9.00am followed by the march in Sunbury at 10.00am concluding with the Prayer Service led by the Anglican Vicar and Catholic Priest. The wreaths will be laid within the Prayer Service at the War Memorial.

Three months ago we began planning for Lent and Easter, meeting on two evenings for a total of four hours.
Every week, our team of volunteers cleans our two churches. Each Sunday, our musicians lead us in prayerful music.

The Annual Priests Mass was celebrated last Tuesday by 240 Melbourne priests active and retired, ministering in parishes, colleges, hospitals and prisons. During Mass we renewed our vows of priestly commitment and the Oils for the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Anointing of the Sick were blessed. Then we had lunch together.

Reflection on the Gospel-Easter Sunday Year A, 20 April 2014 (Matthew 28:1-10)

After death, Jesus is cared for by a faith-filled man in the presence of two faith-filled women. These three people are fearless in the face of possible reprisals for their support of a “political criminal”. Joseph, who comes from Arimathea, a little village just north of Jerusalem, cares for Jesus out of his personal wealth, providing a clean linen cloth and his own newly rock-carved tomb. With his own hands, he performs the burial ritual, lays Jesus’ body in the tomb, and rolls the stone into place. The women disciples who witness the closing of the tomb are both named Mary. One is from Magdala, centre of a fish-salting industry by the Sea of Galilee, and the other is the mother of two male disciples. These women have contributed their goods and services to Jesus over the long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.
The two women set out at dawn ‘to see the tomb’. This seems a little strange until we realise that they are once again functioning as witnesses, this time to the dramatic opening of the tomb and the appearance of God’s interpretive messenger. ‘Seeing’ becomes a metaphor for insight. In the earthquake phenomenon and the allusion to lightning, there are echoes of other great moments of God’s appearing to Israel, such as the encounter with Moses and the giving of the Law on Mt Sinai.

The two Marys are the first to learn the news of Jesus’ resurrection. They are also the first to be commissioned to proclaim it. The women ‘see’ the place where he was laid. They obey the angel’s command not to be afraid but to go quickly to the scattered disciples and inform them that the risen Jesus has gone before them to Galilee, the place of mission, where they too will ‘see’ him. Resurrection life energises these faith-filled women disciples/apostles and negates the death-dealing power of the Roman Empire. Ironically, the Roman tomb guards become ‘as though dead’.

As the women hurry away from the tomb, Jesus comes to meet them. He addresses them with the familiar greeting, ‘Chairete’, a greeting of joy. This is the first appearance of the risen Jesus and it draws from the women a profoundly reverential response: taking hold of him, they fall down in worship, an action foreshadowed by the courageous but doubly marginalised Canaanite woman (15:25). Jesus reiterates the commission already delivered by the angel: not to be afraid and to let the men know what has happened. These same men will later be commissioned on the mountain top (Matt 28:16-20). Often, the temptation is to stay on the mountain, instead of recognising the appearances of the Risen One on the open road of life and getting on with the mission.

 

Reflection on the Gospel-Passion Sunday Year A, 13 April 2014 (Matthew 26:14-27:66)

Capital punishment is abhorrent to most of us, particularly when a just person dies for specious reasons or to political ends. Public executions of convicted criminals were part of life in the ancient Roman Empire. That’s what confronts us in today’s gospel, although the gospel writers pay little attention to the details of the death and suffering of Jesus. They are much more interested in the meaning of these events.

The Romans execute Jesus outside Jerusalem when the city is filled with Jewish pilgrims who have come there for the Passover festival. For Jesus’ friends and followers, every subsequent Passover is celebrated in the light of his death by crucifixion. They share their memories and reflect on the meaning of his death in the light of their sacred traditions. Every element of the Passover story, the ancient story of God’s deliverance of their ancestors from slavery, resonates with echoes of the experience of Jesus who is now present to them in a new way. It is not surprising, then, that the final events of Jesus’ life were probably the first part of his story to be committed to writing.

Though Matthew draws much of his material from Mark, he fashions the tradition into a new narrative and adds several distinctive features. “To fulfil all righteousness” is Jesus’ stated mission (3:15). He has declared “blessed” those who suffer for the sake of righteousness [justice]” (5:10-12). He now embodies his own teaching as the just or righteous one, the one in right relationship with God. The prayer on his lips as he faces death (Psalm 22) is that of the suffering just Israelite who is utterly faithful to his mission and whose trust in God never fails.

There are hints that Jesus’ death is not the end, but rather the beginning of the new age of God’s empire, a compassionate alternative to the brutality of Rome. In response to the high priest Caiaphas, Jesus points beyond death to his post-resurrection life “at the right hand of power….” Extraordinary signs follow his death: the tearing of the temple curtain; the trembling of the earth; the recognition of the Roman centurion and his companions that this man is of God; and finally, the opening of the graves and appearance of the dead in anticipation of the final resurrection.

The story offers the hope of reversal to all who witness the events surrounding Jesus’ death. It offers hope to the women who have followed him all the way from Galilee and “ministered to him”, to the male disciples who have deserted or denied him, to faithful disciples like Joseph of Arimathea, and even to his Roman executioners. It has the potential to bring hope to their counterparts through the ages such as those who keep watch for the innocent on death row or for desperate seekers of asylum.

 

 

Reflection on the Gospel-5th Sunday of Lent Year A, 6 April 2014 (John 11:1-45)

Today’s readings touch into the most profound of human mysteries, the mysteries of life and death. To hold a new born child or to see a sick person restored to health is to experience the wonder of life. On the other hand, the unexpected death of a loved one can bring unimagined grief and pain. Death brings tears, even anger. Little wonder that “life” becomes a metaphor for transformation and new beginnings or that “death” so often signifies deprivation and loss.

The gospel reading is about the death and restoration to life of Lazarus, “the one whom Jesus loved”. It is the last of the seven “signs” in John’s “book of signs” that reveal the “glory” of God. It is also the greatest of Jesus’ signs. It functions as a catalyst for the events that lead to his death: “…from that day on they planned to put him to death” (11:53). It provides the occasion for Jesus to assert ‘I am the resurrection and the life” and to invite assent to that revelation of his identity. It reveals the compassion and tender heart of Jesus who weeps at the grief of Mary his friend and the death of her brother. It also reveals the goodness in the hearts of those “Jews” who share her grief and who come to faith in Jesus who raises the dead to life.

Though the story revolves around the plight of Lazarus, Martha and Mary are the characters who, with Jesus, occupy centre stage in the narrative and into whose faith journey we are invited to enter. The women are introduced before Lazarus. Martha and Mary are identified as “sisters” who live in Bethany. Are they blood “sisters” or sisters in their love of Jesus, their faith commitment to him, or both? Lazarus is Mary’s sick “brother”. There is no mention at the outset of his relationship to Martha, though she later claims him as her “brother”. Might they all be part of a little faith community in Bethany rather than biological siblings? A brief notice alerts the reader to the imminent death of Jesus: “Mary is the one who anointed Jesus with perfumed oil and wiped his feet with her tears”. The details of that story are yet to be narrated. The reader will later discover that Mary’s anointing of Jesus is “for the day of [his] burial”. As so often in John’s gospel, misunderstanding and irony function to bring the actors in the drama and us as actors in the theatre of Christian life to new levels of understanding and faith.

 

Study Tour of the Biblical Lands from 15 November to 18 December 2014.
Jordan, Israel, Palestinian Territories, Turkey and Greece.
Tour Leaders: Rev Anthony Dean cm & Dr Rosemary Canavan.

Information Session: Saturday 12 April at 2.00pm RSVP & further information:
Jenny Delahunt T: 9412 3314
E: jenny.delahunt@ctc.edu.au

Reflection on the Gospel-4th Sunday of Lent Year A, 30 March 2014 (John 9:1-41)

‘There are none so blind as those who will not see.’ Last week, we journeyed with a woman of Samaria from a superficial level of faith understanding to deeper insight into Jesus’ identity and mission and to stronger faith commitment. This week, we are invited on a faith journey with a man born blind and with the different groups of participants in the drama. All have the opportunity of coming to faith. Not all accept the invitation. Ironically, the blind come to see, both physically and spiritually, while those who are gifted with physical sight remain in spiritual darkness.

In healing the man born blind, Jesus performs the sixth of eight powerful actions or ‘signs’ in John’s gospel that reveal God’s power at work in Jesus and in the lives of those who seek life. The ‘signs’ invite the reader/hearer/viewer to accept Jesus and his revelation of God and God’s purposes.

Time features significantly in the story. Jesus heals the blind beggar on the sabbath. The Jerusalem authorities have already raised objections about Jesus’ sabbath healing activity (John 5). Once again they object that he is failing to observe the Sabbath. They label him a sinner. Ironically, in the final authoritative analysis, it is they who ‘remain in their sins’.

This story reminds us of the need to check out our assumptions. It also reminds us to accept the fact that we can be wrong about things we have always believed. It invites us to be open to see differently or from a new perspective. Jesus’ disciples, the parents of a man born blind, his neighbours, the religious authorities all operate out of unchecked assumptions. They mostly come to the wrong conclusions. Only those willing to admit that they have it wrong have any chance of coming to faith.

In the common estimation, the man was blind, so he or his parents must have sinned. Not so, according to Jesus. From the perspective of the authorities, Jesus heals on the Sabbath and is therefore a sinner. Not so, from Jesus’ point of view. The man was born blind, so needs others to speak for him. Not so, say his parents, he can speak for himself. He does speak for himself and quite eloquently, to the chagrin of the religious authorities. He presents them with the truth about Jesus but they refuse to accept the word of an outcast. Their reaction is violent: they drive him out. But Jesus goes in search of him and leads him to yet deeper levels of faith and understanding. You may like to read the story once more and put yourself in the place of the different characters. There is a little bit of each character in every one of us.

 

Tickets are now on sale for the April Concerts.

    This will comprise  excerpts from Bach’s St Matthew and St John Passions and Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria.’
The choir will be supported by two professional singers—Alexandra Flood as Soprano and Lotte Betts-Dean as Contralto. They will appear with a hand-picked chamber orchestra.
Patrons in Gisborne and surrounds will be delighted to know that we have at last found a venue in Gisborne suitable for our concerts. This is the Church of Christ new auditorium on Saunders Road and will be the venue for the first concert on Sunday 6th April starting at 3 p.m. This will be followed on Sunday 13th April with a performance at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Kyneton also commencing at 3 p.m.
In traditional style both concerts will be followed by afternoon tea.

Reflection on the Gospel-Third Sunday of Lent Year A, 23 March 2014 (John 4:5-42)

Those privileged to act as catechists in the RCIA program over the Lenten period will be introducing the candidates to some of our most treasured gospel stories. In 1963, Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy called for the restoration of certain early Church practices. The two main features of Lent, baptism and penance, were to be given greater emphasis in the liturgy and in liturgical catechesis. More use was to be made of the baptismal elements proper to the Lenten liturgy. Some features that were part of an earlier tradition were to be restored. In response to this call, John’s stories of the Samaritan woman, the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus were moved from the weekday to the Sunday liturgy.

Thus, three weeks into Lent, the liturgy invites us to take a faith journey in the company of a courageous outsider, an unnamed woman from a despised religious group. She moves from bewilderment and misunderstanding to faith in Jesus and engagement in mission. The pursuit of water, a key baptismal symbol in the gospel tradition, provides the catalyst for a whole education in faith. A woman of Samaria comes to draw water from the well of Jacob, Israel’s great ancestor in faith. Jesus asks for a drink and elicits a bewildered response from the woman. Jews do not associate with Samaritans, the narrator explains. The woman’s response provides the opportunity for Jesus to move into an extended and constantly deepening exchange in which she proves herself as a knowledgeable theologian and worthy dialogue partner.

Commentators tend to focus on the woman’s marital status, usually in negative terms. Because she has had five husbands, many presume that she is a sinner although there is nothing in the text to support this position. Successive husbands may have died. Financial, religious or societal constraints may have functioned in her decision to remarry. The ‘husbands’ may symbolise the strange gods that claimed the allegiance of the Samaritans. There is no consensus among scholars.

At the outset, the woman views Jesus simply as a Jew who contravenes custom by asking her for water. She comes to accept him as the provider of living water. Jesus understands her life story and opens up the way for her to accept him as a prophet. She risks sharing her own convictions about the locus of worship and is gifted with new understanding and Jesus’ further self-disclosure. She leaves her water jar behind and brings others to faith in Jesus as Messiah and saviour of the world.

The Way of the Cross  will be held in St Anne’s Church every Friday night from 7.30pm to 8pm during Lent. The Way of the Cross is in the light of the Resurrection and follows Scripture. All are welcome.

A Lenten gathering will be held in the Parish Centre on Sunday 6 April after 10.30am Mass. An Easter movie will be shown from 12pm. We invite families to bring traditional food to share between 11.30am and noon. Those who bring food will be in the draw to win a Bunnings voucher worth $15.

The Friendship program at St Anne’s Primary school is for students who would benefit from spending one hour per week with a positive adult who relates well to kids. We need Mums, Dads, Grandparents and relatives or anyone over 18 years of age who has a current ‘Working with Children Check’. They would also need to have good listening skills, practice confidentiality and have some free time. If you are interested in participating in this program, please contact Marie D’Orazio on 9744 3055.

The Larrikin Priest will be visiting Sunbury at Memorial Hall on Tuesday 25 March at 7.30pm. Fr Bob will discuss ‘Social Cohesion and Community’. Cost $10 with all proceeds going to the Maguire
Foundation by the Rotary Club of Sunbury. Bookings can be made through www.rotaryclubsunbury.org.au

The Larrikin Priest will be visiting Sunbury at Memorial Hall on Tuesday 25 March at 7.30pm. Fr Bob will discuss ‘Social Cohesion and Community’. Cost $10 with all proceeds going to the Maguire
Foundation by the Rotary Club of Sunbury. Bookings can be made through www.rotaryclubsunbury.org.au

PETS ON THE GREEN

Pets on the Green will take place Sunday 16 March at 10.30am with the ministers of Sunbury’s Churches praying together and blessing our pets on the Village Green.