Isaiah 43 :16-21
Philippians 3 :8-14
John 8 :1-11
One of the common threads tying these three readings is the idea of leaving the past where it belongs: behind us.
“Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past” Isaiah 43:18
“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” Philippians 3:13
John’s account of Jesus calling on anyone who had never sinned to cast the first stone on a woman accused of adultery.
I read a progression in these iterations of God’s call to us to turn the page: leave the past behind, do this to focus your heart, mind and spirit on the greater goal of a more intimate relationship with God and finally, in the Gospel, that God is prepared to wipe our slate clean if we acknowledge and regret our transgressions.
It’s fitting that these are readings meant for Lent: a time of rebirth and rediscovery of our faith.
Dumping old grievances can be liberating: freeing all that time and energy invested in nursing whatever old grudge we may harbour is a lot of hard and ultimately fruitless work.
But dropping those complaints of the past and trying to learn the lessons that could be drawn from injustice, such as trusting in God rather than seeking revenge, are disciplines that do strengthen our spiritual bond with God.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Fourth week of Lent
Luke 15:11-32 is the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
It never ceases to amaze me how Bible verses, read at different times in our lives, can inspire such a variety of reflections. This seems especially true with Jesus’ Parables.
I have heard sermons on how the Parable of the Prodigal Son shows the shallowness and inadequacy of relating to God in a transactional manner: give me what I want and lets limit our interactions to this.
Or again, how sometimes the relationship is reduced to a plea for help in times of crisis. I imagine there must be a lot of this going on during this recession.
Last year I recall Fr. Joe focusing on the elder brother, who had served his father faithfully and was resentful that a feast was put on for the return of his younger sibling. Fr. Joe concentrated on this aspect of the Parable, if memory serves, to drive home two points: grudging obedience to God’s will blinds one to the benefits of doing so (do you really care to acquire the wisdom of living by God’s rule by going through the full gamut of the Prodigal Son’s experience?) and secondly, ask for what you want and if it’s truly within God’s will you will get it at some point.
Another reflection that comes to me is God’s amazing capacity for forgiveness and reconciliation. Despite all the Prodigal Son’s actions, when he showed he truly regretted them then all was forgiven and he was brought back into the fold.
I have a Protestant friend who once said to me that God’s offer of reconciliation through Christ as our sin offering is the best deal in the world. It certainly seems that way to me.
It never ceases to amaze me how Bible verses, read at different times in our lives, can inspire such a variety of reflections. This seems especially true with Jesus’ Parables.
I have heard sermons on how the Parable of the Prodigal Son shows the shallowness and inadequacy of relating to God in a transactional manner: give me what I want and lets limit our interactions to this.
Or again, how sometimes the relationship is reduced to a plea for help in times of crisis. I imagine there must be a lot of this going on during this recession.
Last year I recall Fr. Joe focusing on the elder brother, who had served his father faithfully and was resentful that a feast was put on for the return of his younger sibling. Fr. Joe concentrated on this aspect of the Parable, if memory serves, to drive home two points: grudging obedience to God’s will blinds one to the benefits of doing so (do you really care to acquire the wisdom of living by God’s rule by going through the full gamut of the Prodigal Son’s experience?) and secondly, ask for what you want and if it’s truly within God’s will you will get it at some point.
Another reflection that comes to me is God’s amazing capacity for forgiveness and reconciliation. Despite all the Prodigal Son’s actions, when he showed he truly regretted them then all was forgiven and he was brought back into the fold.
I have a Protestant friend who once said to me that God’s offer of reconciliation through Christ as our sin offering is the best deal in the world. It certainly seems that way to me.
Holy Week Schedule
Holy Week is definitely a full calendar at Blessed Sacrament parish. There is the reconciliation service on the Monday, the Chrism mass at the Cathedral on Tuesday, our incredibly moving Holy Thursday service on Thursday evening, and a number of services and masses during the Triduum.
The entire schedule is posted as a PDF file right here.
The entire schedule is posted as a PDF file right here.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Spiritual awakening and growth
Fr. Joe presided over the funeral Mass of a former Parliamentary Press Gallery colleague of mine this afternoon. Canadian Press photographer Tom Hanson was playing hockey last week when he suddenly collapsed and later died of a heart attack. He was 41.
The ceremony was very moving and, as usual, Fr. Joe’s gift for framing our daily experiences in a spiritual context brought solace to many of us who were still incredulous at Tom’s death at such a young age. I thought it would be helpful to share it with you.
Fr. Joe’s homily focused on how Tom’s life has changed, rather than ended. He talked about how we are given our lives, and our bodies, to use our five senses – touch, smell, feel, sight, and hearing – to develop our sixth sense, our spiritual sense.
I have often thought that funerals are for the living, so that we can say our goodbyes and reflect on the course of our own lives. I know many of my former colleagues to be either agnostic or atheist, so I wondered how they must be grappling with Tom’s death.
So I thought that Fr. Joe’s homily on life being a process of spiritual awakening and growth followed by a bursting forth into the spiritual realm to be very apt food for thought for believers, non-believers, and sceptics, and I wanted to share his message with you.
The ceremony was very moving and, as usual, Fr. Joe’s gift for framing our daily experiences in a spiritual context brought solace to many of us who were still incredulous at Tom’s death at such a young age. I thought it would be helpful to share it with you.
Fr. Joe’s homily focused on how Tom’s life has changed, rather than ended. He talked about how we are given our lives, and our bodies, to use our five senses – touch, smell, feel, sight, and hearing – to develop our sixth sense, our spiritual sense.
I have often thought that funerals are for the living, so that we can say our goodbyes and reflect on the course of our own lives. I know many of my former colleagues to be either agnostic or atheist, so I wondered how they must be grappling with Tom’s death.
So I thought that Fr. Joe’s homily on life being a process of spiritual awakening and growth followed by a bursting forth into the spiritual realm to be very apt food for thought for believers, non-believers, and sceptics, and I wanted to share his message with you.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Third week of Lent
“And do not grumble, as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel.” 1 Corinthians 10:10
Guilty as charged.
I frequently catch myself bellyaching about this, that and the other thing.
And I have been trying to train myself to count my blessings every day – albeit with varying degrees of success – since Lenten seasons past.
But I do accept that living within the framework God has set out for us in the Bible is a constant, daily effort.
And the effort is worth it.
I’m not sure whether it’s the final stage of winter or something else but the mood where I work is pretty glum and that can be contagious.
There is a controversy over city hall’s decision to deny an atheist’s group request to plaster city buses with messages asserting there is “probably” no God (non-believers often ask me for proof, so why shouldn’t I expect the same from them?) and that we should just get on with “enjoying” our lives.
I read two falsehoods in this assertion:
The first questions whether there really is a God who created what many scientists openly acknowledge to be a statistically impossible cosmic fluke (life on Earth).
The second part of the assertion implies that since we are here by virtue of an almost impossible fluke we are not bound by the kill-joy rules of this probably fictitious God.
Therefore, according to this flimsy logic, the disciplines urged in this God’s users’ manual for life – the Bible – such as don’t kill each other, be faithful to your spouse, and the Golden Rule (do to others what you would have them do to you Matthew 7:12) are a real drag.
I would like to see their proof that God does not exist because I’m afraid that their assertion of probability does not stand up to scientific scrutiny.
I do have a pretty good idea of what our community would look like if the moral relativism and no-holds barred lifestyle they advocate were to take an even deeper root in our society.
We would certainly have reason to grumble then. But turning our back on God, could we be justified in expecting Him to listen then?
Guilty as charged.
I frequently catch myself bellyaching about this, that and the other thing.
And I have been trying to train myself to count my blessings every day – albeit with varying degrees of success – since Lenten seasons past.
But I do accept that living within the framework God has set out for us in the Bible is a constant, daily effort.
And the effort is worth it.
I’m not sure whether it’s the final stage of winter or something else but the mood where I work is pretty glum and that can be contagious.
There is a controversy over city hall’s decision to deny an atheist’s group request to plaster city buses with messages asserting there is “probably” no God (non-believers often ask me for proof, so why shouldn’t I expect the same from them?) and that we should just get on with “enjoying” our lives.
I read two falsehoods in this assertion:
The first questions whether there really is a God who created what many scientists openly acknowledge to be a statistically impossible cosmic fluke (life on Earth).
The second part of the assertion implies that since we are here by virtue of an almost impossible fluke we are not bound by the kill-joy rules of this probably fictitious God.
Therefore, according to this flimsy logic, the disciplines urged in this God’s users’ manual for life – the Bible – such as don’t kill each other, be faithful to your spouse, and the Golden Rule (do to others what you would have them do to you Matthew 7:12) are a real drag.
I would like to see their proof that God does not exist because I’m afraid that their assertion of probability does not stand up to scientific scrutiny.
I do have a pretty good idea of what our community would look like if the moral relativism and no-holds barred lifestyle they advocate were to take an even deeper root in our society.
We would certainly have reason to grumble then. But turning our back on God, could we be justified in expecting Him to listen then?
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Second week of Lent
“About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” Luke 9:28-31
The story of the transfiguration is often read during Lent.
What strikes me about these verses, as with so many others by the Apostles, is the amount of time Jesus spent in prayer and meditation during his ministry among us.
At first I was surprised by a headline in a local paper that talked about the Church urging people to curb their use of text messages or computers during Lent.
Most people I know in Ottawa have a BlackBerry and it’s hard to imagine them putting those aside for 40 days.
But then the article went on to refer to a message by the Pope on YouTube in January where he warned against “obsessive” use of technology that “may isolate individuals from real social interaction while also disrupting the patterns of rest, silence and reflection that are necessary for healthy human development”.
It seemed to me that the message of the curb on text messaging might have been lost in its dissemination.
As odd as the request might sound on first brush, it makes sense in that rather than giving up desert for Lent, for example, this is a call to give time for prayer and meditation – consulting with God – during this transformative period.
The story of the transfiguration is often read during Lent.
What strikes me about these verses, as with so many others by the Apostles, is the amount of time Jesus spent in prayer and meditation during his ministry among us.
At first I was surprised by a headline in a local paper that talked about the Church urging people to curb their use of text messages or computers during Lent.
Most people I know in Ottawa have a BlackBerry and it’s hard to imagine them putting those aside for 40 days.
But then the article went on to refer to a message by the Pope on YouTube in January where he warned against “obsessive” use of technology that “may isolate individuals from real social interaction while also disrupting the patterns of rest, silence and reflection that are necessary for healthy human development”.
It seemed to me that the message of the curb on text messaging might have been lost in its dissemination.
As odd as the request might sound on first brush, it makes sense in that rather than giving up desert for Lent, for example, this is a call to give time for prayer and meditation – consulting with God – during this transformative period.
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