17 March 2013 – St Patrick’s Day

Isaiah 43.16-21

Philippians 3.8-14

John 8.1-11

Once I met a woman who told me that the biggest crisis in her married life was the time she found out that her husband was unfaithful to her. He was having an affair with another woman for over a year. She was shattered and consulted a close friend who asked her one question: “Do you really love your husband still in spite of this?” When she answered that she did, her friend said she should confront her husband and tell him she was prepared to accept him back. She did and now many years later the marriage is working well. But at that time it wasn’t easy and many would not have been surprised if she had refused to forgive her husband and not had given him another chance.

She reminds me of today’s gospel that is primarily about who God is and how he treats us. Like the woman in the story Jesus gives the woman caught in adultery another chance. Instead of sending her to her death, Jesus sends her to life. Jesus is telling us as clearly as he can who God is and how he acts towards each one of us. We feel that if we do good we will earn or merit a heavenly reward and if we consistently do bad God will punish us. What Jesus is saying is ‘If I look on you with God’s gaze of love, with God’s forgiving attitude then you are totally and freely loved and forgiven’.

It is God who decides all this. We cannot make God’s love and forgiveness depend on our worthiness or goodness. What a misunderstanding of how God relates to us. Unfortunately it is not our human experience. We often want to exact revenge or punish those who hurt or wrong us. Not so God – it is so far from the God Jesus is witnessing to. Of course that does not mean if God loves me like that I can sin merrily. In fact it is the very opposite – realising how very much God loves me so unconditionally I will try to respond by trying to please him. I will pray to be able to do the same to others as God does to me. Just as the woman in the story who forgave her husband. He later told a friend that having been forgiven by his wife he would spend the rest of his life responding to her marvelous love for him even though he didn’t deserve this because of his actions.

The first reading from Isaiah briefly recalls Israel’s past and tells them that ‘God is doing a new deed’. Our God is not a God who keeps reminding us of our past sins. His focus is much more on what he can still accomplish in our lives from now on no matter what our past has been. It is as if he is saying to us – ‘you haven’t seen anything yet!’

So a group of Scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman who had been caught committing adultery. It is interesting to note that the man had not been brought along and obviously Jesus immediately sees the double standards here. Jesus’ gesture is one of forgiveness of the sinner but also a rejection of the cruelty toward the woman and the double standards towards women and men. The woman because she is a woman sins seriously, while the man’s sin is seen as less serious. Jesus sees the inconsistency and tenderly tells the woman who has sinned to ‘go away and don’t sin any more’. The other double standard and inconsistency that Jesus is condemning is also our own constant practice. Don’t we often criticise others whilst ignoring our own sinful behavior; sometimes the very thing we condemn in others? Jesus here rejects the practice of all of us who say one thing and do another. If we are very honest with ourselves we all know that inside each of us are many thoughts and desires that we would not want others to know about. We don’t necessarily put them all into practice but we could. And do we not in some areas of our lives?

When the Scribes and Pharisees persisted with their question to Jesus trying to trap him, he refuses to get involved in a debate about what the law allowed or not. He knew what the Law of Moses taught just as they did, so he refused to play word games with them. Instead he simply tells them that those without sin should cast the first stone. Immediately the accusers become excusers. They were very quick to accuse the woman as well as humiliating her, but now they are equally as quick to excuse themselves when they hear the words of Jesus. In fact the only person in the scene who had a right to condemn her, Jesus, had not the slightest interest in doing so. And when all had left Jesus is left alone with the woman. As St. Augustine puts it, only misery and mercy remained.

Jesus does something for the woman that goes beyond the law.

The law condemns, Jesus forgives.

He shows how God deals with sinful people, that is, with each of us. He changes our view of God. At the same time he asks us to change our view of sinful people. Each one of us, no matter what our sins are, has the capacity to change. Our sins are not the sum total of who we are. They are parts of who we are, for sure. But God can do a new deed for and in all of us if we allow him.

“Lord Jesus, thank you for showing to us again in this gospel that you have no interest in condemning us. You do not deny that we sin but you constantly give us new opportunities to change. Help us by your Holy Spirit to be ever ready to excuse others for their failings as you do ours. Amen”.

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA.

10 March 2013

Joshua 5:9-12
2 Cor 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

There is a widow, who lives not too far from us who has two sons. One is hardworking and obedient, the other has been causing her great problems for years. He is an alcoholic, has been in and out of prison a number of times for stealing. He continually promises his mother that he will change but so far has not. Her relatives and friends tell her to throw him out of the house and have nothing more to do with him. But she says she cannot do this as he is her son and she loves and forgives him despite the great shame and suffering he causes her.

She reminds me very much of the father in today’s story. We are told a man had two sons. Evidently, the younger brother is a scoundrel. Even his decision to return home is based on self-interest. There are three people in this story. Let us turn our attention away from the prodigal son, so-called, because the parable is mainly interested in the father.

Isn’t it hard to believe fully the parable of Jesus? What human father would have acted in that way? We would call him a crazy father since he knew what type of character his son was and yet he gives him half the share of his inheritance. The son is true to form and spends it wastefully on a life of debauchery. What is unexpected is not so much that the father welcomed him back but that he holds a great feast for him.

To accept the son back, to forget everything, to begin things again as they were before may be acceptable. But to organise a feast, to kill the animal that was being kept for the big occasion, to give the son, a cloak, a ring and sandals as if for a sumptuous marriage celebration – that is impossible to imagine.

But the parable does not speak in a way we human beings do things or are accustomed to act. Our parable is speaking of God exactly as he is. God is the prodigal father who runs towards the lost son, clasps him in his arms, without asking for any explanation, without giving him a scolding or criticising him.

To tell us who God really is, Jesus tells us this story and invites to be a participant in the telling. God is so different from what we expect God to be. It is so different from our experience that it is hard to imagine that this is who God really is. Usually we say to ourselves ‘if I were God this is what I would do, especially in the case of someone convicted of a very serious crime’. But I am not God and my ways are not God’s ways which is exactly what Jesus is trying to get us to accept.

God is extravagant. He is extravagant in his love and mercy towards us. He comes to meet us as we are, sinners, often so undeserving of his love. Yet he comes to us to lead us to a terrific feast in heaven, the foretaste of which is the Eucharist. Jesus is trying to help us to a different way of looking at God. Because for the most part we have been brought up with the idea of a profit and loss God. That is if we are good we will be rewarded and if we do bad we will be punished. This is difficult to reconcile with today’s parable.

Look at the experience of Jesus. He spoke to sinners who listened to him – Matthew and Zaccheus the tax collectors who defrauded others; prostitutes, people caught in adultery, social and religious outcasts, like the 10 lepers. He broke the Sabbath when the higher law of love for another human being demanded this. No wonder all these people flocked to Jesus to hear his liberating message. Yet he still challenged them as he does us to turn away from attitudes and behaviours that are not life-giving or life-empowering for others.

Jesus met the elder son in the Pharisees and lawgivers of his day, many of whom were locked into their own conviction that they were right and knew the way to earn God’s acceptance and a place in his kingdom. They thought they had rights over God and guarded him jealously. Jesus understands these people too and tried his very best to get them to come to know God as he really is but they were too engrained in their ways and finally got rid of him because he was too subversive, according to their way of thinking.

Basically Jesus came to teach us who God really is. He came to bring the Good News of freedom, to invite us all, sinners and virtuous alike to the banquet. We may not want to accept this, we may not want to sit down with those we consider unworthy.

Which of the two sons in the parable do I identify most with, the younger son or the older one? Maybe there is part of each in me?

The most important question of all is this: Who is the God I believe in?

Is it the prodigal father Jesus describes for us today?

Do we fail to see the sheer gratuitousness of God’s love and so fail to understand the gospel message? Do we convert the Good News of Jesus into a mere set of obligations or laws sometimes empty of moral worth because they no longer serve their original purpose?

St. Paul invites us to be ambassadors of the newness of the message of Jesus, of a God who has a feast prepared for us.Will we be ambassadors of this good news or ambassadors of a God of fear and sanctions?

“Lord Jesus, help us to accept fully the great Good News that God is exactly as you describe him in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Help us to spread this message by the way we live our lives as Christians”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

3 March 2013

Exodus 3.1-8,13-15
1 Cor 10.1-6,10-12
Luke 13.1-9

Some time ago a woman said to her friend that she felt God was punishing her for some sins of the past. It seems she had had an abortion and also an extra-marital affair as well as having stolen some money. Six months earlier her husband was tragically killed in a car accident and a few months previous to that her only son died after a short illness due to cancer. She was convinced now that God was taking revenge by punishing her for her past sins.

Sad to say there are many Christians as well as people of other religions who also believe that God does this. It is certainly a very false understanding of who God is.

We usually see Lent as a time of penance, with the focus on fasting, which can indeed be helpful. But it is better to view it as a call to repentance as Jesus does in today’s gospel. The real meaning of this word ‘repentance’ is not so much a turning away from sin to virtue or going from bad to good. It is much more correct to see it, as the gospels tell us today, as a ‘new way of looking at who God is, at life, at reality’. The gospels, that is the Good News of Jesus, were given to us to free us from a narrow and oppressive view of sin and its consequences. And especially to come to know God as Jesus revealed him, not a false idea of God as the woman in the story had.

The two events that Jesus uses in today’s gospel underline an important aspect of his message: there are no connections between sin and the misfortunes that may happen to us, whether their cause is human (Pilate, Luke 13.1) or accidental (verse 4).

By this statement Jesus goes against a very common concept of his time and perhaps ours also according to which diseases, misfortune and poverty are the consequences of sins committed by people in those situations. Thus, in addition to their harsh lives, the poor and sick are burdened by a painful sense of guilt. Sin carries its own inbuilt punishment, it is not of God’s doing.

The Good News is that Jesus came to free us from all the things that enslave us, like concepts such as this. Thinking like this can prevent us from facing the real causes of poverty and other evils by attributing them to some type of fatalism – that we are totally at the mercy of events and cannot do anything to overcome our situation. This is like the statement ones hears from some fundamentalist groups: ‘the devil caused me to steal or commit adultery etc. What a wonderful escape route for me instead of accepting my responsibility for my sin!! These attitudes also present erroneous images of the God of love and life.

Putting it very clearly, sinning is a failure to bear fruit according to our talents and possibilities, as Jesus states in the short parable that follows (v. 6-9). God is waiting for our good deeds and is very patient. Jesus in fact turns the question around by asking another of his hearers: “Is the real miracle not so much about those who have been struck down but rather that you have escaped?” So he follows this by the parable describing God’s incredible patience which passes all understanding. God keeps on coming into our lives looking for fruit and when he doesn’t find any he keeps on giving us more opportunities and time. As St.Peter says “Think of God’s patience as your opportunity to be saved

In the second reading St. Paul gives us an important principle for interpreting the Old Testament: what is narrated here is not merely something belonging to the past: instead it conveys a message for us now. The first reading from the Book of Exodus describes the moment when God entrusts Moses with the liberation of his people. God gives him that mission because he heard the cry of his oppressed people enslaved in Egypt and he wants to lead them into the freedom of the Promised Land where they can build a just society.

This is the immediate context of the revelation of Yahweh’s name, which is often translated as ‘I AM WHO AM’. Nowadays scripture scholars tell us that a better translation is ‘I AM THE ONE WHO IS FOR YOU, WHO IS WITH YOU”. God is revealing himself as being with us in our struggles, in our pain. He is not the God who punishes, rather he does everything to help us to be free, most especially in using humans like Moses, like you and me to bring about his reign here on earth, a reign of justice, love and peace.

If then we see repentance as a call to look at life and others as God, as Jesus does will we not be amazed that God is totally on our side, especially in times of tragedy and suffering? He asks us to bear fruit by focusing ourselves on how best to help others to have a better life, a life unburdened from guilt and whatever materially, spiritually or psychologically still keeps us enslaved, keeps us unfree.

“Lord Jesus, help us repent in the sense you ask us to. Open our eyes to come to know God, your Father and ours too, as God really is – a God whose last desire is to punish us. Rather help us accept him totally as a father who seeks, by using others and us to free people from all that enslaves them. Jesus, Emmanuel, the God who is always with us and for us, increase our faith, our trust in this total reality. Amen.”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA.

24 February 2013

Genesis 15. 5-12, 17-18
Philippians 3.17 – 4.1
Luke 9.28-36

Some time ago an elderly man was telling me that when he was 22 years old he was attending university. He had been born and raised a Catholic. However, at that time he had lost interest in going to Church. He still prayed a bit but not much. He felt that religion had little to offer him.

One night on his way home in a bus from the university he had a vision. It came totally unexpectedly, out of the blue. He felt he was surrounded by God’s love. As he looked around him at the other passengers in the bus he felt convinced that they were truly his brothers and sisters and felt totally at one with them. On leaving the bus this incredible experience vanished never to return. But it had a profound effect on his life. He started to attend Mass regularly, prayed daily and got involved in charitable activities. He said he often wished the experience would return as it was so powerful and life transforming for him but it never did.

He reminds me very much of the experience of the three disciples on the mountaintop with Jesus in today’s gospel.

When Jesus took the three disciples with him as he went up the mountain to pray he was transformed or transfigured. It is important to note that it was while he was at prayer that this happened. If we commit ourselves to pray often to know and do God’s will, little by little we will find ourselves being transformed too. It seems that Jesus is saying that everyone has this potential in his or her lives of being transfigured too, provided we pray and seek to work for God’s kingdom here on earth.

The three disciples saw that Jesus was speaking with Moses and Elijah. It is important to realise that they were talking to Jesus about his exodus or passing which would involve great suffering and finally his death on the cross. St.Paul reminds us in the second reading that our homeland is in heaven, that here we have no lasting city. Whilst Moses, Elijah and Jesus were talking about his exodus or passing, it also implies an exodus for us, a letting go or departure from everything which prevents us from living in full communion with God and with all others. This exodus is going to involve painful and unavoidable aspects of suffering and struggles for us in life as it did for Peter, aspects which we would like to avoid at all costs. Peter wanted to escape. Peter is mistaken. We cannot stop on the way as we follow Jesus. We cannot put down roots or seek refuge in a tent. Peter wanted to stay on the mountaintop with that incredible experience of seeing Jesus transfigured. Like the young man in the story at the start who had a somewhat similar experience and wished it to return again and again. It is the same for Abraham in the first reading.

God is asking Abraham to leave the safe world he knows. The faith rooted in Abraham’s heart makes him accept the adventure or challenge. He leaves where he was in order to enter a far better inheritance not only for himself but also for his descendents – the Promised Land that God would give them. But they did not see it then. They had to trust God would be faithful and would fulfill his promise fully later.

When Jesus went down the mountain with the three disciples they immediately faced the ups and downs of ordinary life. This is what Peter wished to avoid by staying on the mountaintop. The episode of the Transfiguration reminds us that our being Christians has to be lived in the midst of the ups and downs of daily life. We all have our own personal experiences of how difficult life can be. We know that we may have to face sickness, unemployment, being misunderstood, the sudden death of a loved one etc. God is no less with us at these times though it is harder to see and be aware of this. However, even if we are promised the fullness of the kingdom after we die, it has already here if we respond to God’s call.

We need to remember that Jesus fully entered into our human experience. Like us he experienced joy and good times with his family and friends. But he also suffered greatly, experienced rejection, betrayal by those whom he chose, the disciples. Yet he did not run up the mountain again or use his divinity to avoid any of this. He knows us fully from the inside. He shared our human struggles to the very last. He was not doing this just to give example. He was fully human and lived his humanity fully and all it involved.

How did he survive? How did he get through all these trials? Though he was in the world, he was not of the world insofar that he did not take on the values of the world which he knew would not lead to lasting peace and joy. He was faithful to his father’s promise. This meant that he repeatedly disengaged himself from the noise of the crowd to be alone in prayer with his Father. The disciples realised the importance of prayer for Jesus because he often went apart to pray. Can it be any different for us if we want to follow Jesus closely and deepen our relationship with Him, the Father and Holy Spirit?

‘Heavenly Father, give us the powerful Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray and to give time to prayer often. Help us to really listen to Jesus as you commanded the disciples when you spoke to them in the cloud on the mountaintop. Amen’

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

17 February 2013

Deuteronomy 26.4-10
Romans 10.8-13
Luke 4.1-13

A young Irishwoman I know had a very good job with a large company. She decided to leave the company and go to Ethiopia, a country suffering from severe famine. She said she felt the call of God to work with these unfortunate people. She wanted to be in solidarity with them. It meant leaving her home, family, country to risk all to be with these people. Of course her family and friends thought she was crazy and tried to get her to change her mind but she was determined to go. When she got there she had to live a very difficult lifestyle. Little clean water, at times not enough to eat. Several times she was tempted to return home and live the much easier and enjoyable life she was used to. But she stayed and was faithful to her commitment despite all the hardships involved.

This young woman reminds me very much of the gospel today. Jesus too left heaven and all that involved to be with us. He decided to enter into solidarity with us. He chose to take on a very difficult lifestyle. It meant depriving himself of all the comforts and happiness he could have had whilst on earth if he acted out of his power as God. But as St. Paul says in the letter to the Philippians ‘Jesus emptied himself to take on the condition of a servant and being as all humans are, he emptied himself even more, even accepting death on a cross’

So in the gospel today Jesus is tempted just as we are, even though he was filled with the Spirit. The devil comes and tempts him in three ways; the same ways men and women are always tempted. First, the devil tempted Jesus and us too to quench our senses and be filled sensually as if this will make us happy – the temptation to drugs, sex, drink, pornography etc.

Secondly the devil tries to seduce Jesus and us by the idea of having power over others. Here it can be political power, ecclesiastical power, employer power, parent power, teacher power etc.

Thirdly, the devil entices us to take God’s love and faithfulness for granted and to test his merciful love and protection.

Ultimately the devil is trying to make Jesus forget he is, as a human being like us, totally dependent on his father to care for him. He is tempted to act from a power stance and not from the will of God. The devil tries to tempt Jesus to cheat on his humanity and satisfy his hunger and to use his power to deny his Incarnation – that he really human and will not call on God power when the going gets tough. Just as the young woman in the story was tempted to go back to an easier way of life when life in Ethiopia was very tough, Jesus is being tempted not to accept fully his human condition and all the limitation that that involves. He wants to be in total solidarity with us, allowing himself to be tempted as we are and struggling to overcome the temptation, not to seek a quick fix. This was especially so in the Garden of Gethsemene when he was tempted not to go though with his Passion and death because he foresaw the terrible suffering and rejection it would involve.

I suppose what the devil is tempting Jesus to do is to take the road of instant gratification, a short-cut to immediate satisfaction. Jesus knew that this does not usually lead to long term peace and joy.

We must remember too that Jesus never worked a miracle for himself. It was always for the sake of others. Jesus is tempted to go beyond human limitation and use his divinity to make life easier.

In the first reading the Israelites are encouraged to remember how God brought them out of Egypt and freed them from oppression. But it took time and they had much suffering before they eventually escaped. The gospel tells us that it is a great temptation to forget we are God’s children, that he cares for us. We can be tempted especially in time of prosperity to forget God and act as if we don’t need God. Jesus was always very much aware of being a child of his heavenly Father and it was his constant awareness of that reality that determined how he would live his life.

The example of the gospel is clear: in his life Jesus proclaimed the primacy of God and his kingdom. We cannot use our gifts and talents for our own personal prestige or to dominate others politically, materially or spiritually. The attitude of Jesus must be our own and that of the Church. Its message and its power are not to serve itself but to serve God and his chosen ones, the poor.

As we begin our Lenten pilgrimage let us remember that Lent is not an end in itself, it leads by way of the cross to the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus and to his sending us the Holy Spirit. Rather than asking what we should give up for Lent maybe better ask what temptation we should not give into. The Good News is that Jesus knows from his own personal experience what it is to be tempted and the struggle to overcome temptation. He will not abandon us no matter how often we fail as long as we keep on trying relying on his Holy Spirit for help.

“Lord Jesus, it is never easy to overcome temptation. Help us not to rely on ourselves but to pray often for the gift of the Holy Spirit to be with us. Amen”

Fr. Jim Kirstein SMA

10 February 2013

Isaiah 6.1-2, 3-8
1 Cor 15.1-11
Luke 5.1-11

A certain man was told by the General Manager of a big company that he was to be appointed assistant general manager. However, instead of being delighted with this good news, he said that he did not consider himself worthy of this, as he had not continued his education after high school. Besides, he had to be honest and say he had spent a month in prison when younger for drunk and disorderly conduct. The General Manager assured him that the company had examined his educational background and also knew about his prison experience. Still the Board of Directors considered him capable of this new job.

We could call today “Good Excuse” Sunday. In each of the three readings – Isaiah, Paul and Peter feel they have very good excuses for not accepting God’s call. None of them feels worthy or capable enough.

Isaiah’s reply is “What a wretched state I am in, I am a man of unclean lips”.

Paul says that he hardly deserves the name of apostle, being the least of the apostles because of his persecution of Christians.

Peter tells Jesus after the miraculous catch of fish: “Leave me Lord, I am a sinful man”.

Each of the three knows that he is in the presence of the Holy One and they believe that they are totally unworthy of God’s choice of them. They experience what we might call ‘Spiritual Inferiority’.

This, of course, is whole point of today’s readings. God chooses us because he is good not because we are worthy. Jesus does not deny what Peter says about being a sinful man but he calls him in the hope that Peter will realise that the work Jesus is entrusting to him could never be accomplished by man or woman without the powerful help of God’s Spirit. It will take Peter, as it does all of us, a whole lifetime to realise how totally we need God’s help. So here Simon as he was then called gets a new name, Peter, a new job and a new image. All three take time to complete their transformation.

This is indeed Good News for each of us this Sunday. In that we are baptized, we too like Peter, are called to witness to God in the world. We may immediately reply that we are not worthy and that we are sinners, maybe even great ones – another case of spiritual inferiority!! But God considers us worthy and that is all that counts. It is not Isaiah, Paul and Peter who choose God. It is the very opposite and that is what matters. Maybe we don’t want to be called. Perhaps we can see the demands involved. We might prefer to opt out. If that is our choice then God will leave us free to do so if we wish. But we will never have the deep peace and joy we seek if we search for it in other places apart from God.

God sees the marvelous potential in each of us. Some of the great saints, like Teresa of Avila, Charles de Foucauld etc lived mediocre or in the case of the latter very sinful lives early on. But God then touched them and they responded. Do we not pray in the part of Eucharistic Prayer ll after the consecration ‘giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you’. If God considers us worthy who are we to object? We each have different roles to play in God’s plan to bring about his kingdom of truth, justice and forgiveness here on earth, be it as parents, priests, religious etc.

Peter had worked hard all night and caught nothing. Jesus asked him to try again. He could have objected saying he was exhausted or that there were no fish where they had failed to catch any. However, he responded to Jesus and tried again. Look at the result. Sometimes we too may get tired of trying to be good Christians. We may get bored, disillusioned with what we sometimes see going on in the church. We may want to give up on ourselves or on others who disappoint or even betray us. To all of us Jesus says, ‘try again’. I am with you. I count you worthy. You have great potential. But we must, like Isaiah, Paul and Peter, realise deeply that we cannot succeed alone. Like Peter we may fish all night in darkness, but Jesus invites us to call on his help. He will make our efforts fruitful in his own way and in his own time. When Jesus was not with them, they caught nothing. But when he was with them, what a difference? Not only a catch of fish but a great abundance. Their obedience was rewarded.

Ultimately of course it is only out of our own personal understanding of who God is that we will witness to others here and now. If we think God is out to punish us and send us to hell which is totally false then that is the God we will reveal to others. If my experience of God is of someone who loves me passionately and unconditionally, chooses me to work for him despite my failings and sins, knowing that I am forgiven, a loved saved sinner, then that is the God I will witness to.

“Lord Jesus, we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence to serve you and others. Amen”.

Fr. Jim Kirstein SMA

13 January 2013

Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

Some Christian traditions finish their ‘Christmas season’ with the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January). We in the Catholic Church however conlude the celebration of Christmas with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This feast is the beginning of the making known of Jesus to Israel and the rest of the world. Today we remember and celebrate the end of His “hidden life” and the start of his public ministry – to preach, to teach and to heal.

But in seeking to be baptised Jesus is associating himself with sinners. In today’s Gospel passage we read of the reaction of John to this (he was scandalised by it) but nonetheless Jesus insisted that John should baptise him. Through his baptism in the Jordan Jesus was confirmed as a Son; so too we through baptism are also assured that we too are children of God (cf. Romans 8:15-17).

Just as Jesus was confirmed as the Beloved Son, so too each one of us – through our Baptism – are confirmed as beloved sons and daughters of God. Many Christians fail to realise the great power that has been given them – the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Each of us, through baptism, have been called and chosen to make God’s Light shine in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. It is an awesome responsibility but as St Augustne wrote: ‘Jesus did not say succeed, but strive’.

Gregory of Nanianzus wrote: “Christ is baptised, let us descend with him that we may also ascend with him.”

Lord God, thank you for the gift of my baptism. Enlightened by Christ may I share that Light with all others I meet on my pilgrim journey. Amen.

3 February 2013

Jeremiah 1.4-5,17-19
1 Cor 12.31-13.13
Luke 4.21- 30 

A young woman had been with her boyfriend for some years and then one day she told him that she was leaving him. He was very upset and asked why. Her answer was that she found him too unpredictable. Some days he would be in very good form and then suddenly for no apparent reason he would become moody, even a bit depressed. She felt that she couldn’t continue the relationship as it was causing her too much stress trying to deal with his various moods.

In the gospel today we find the people of the town of Jesus, Nazareth, like that. At first they are astonished at the gracious words that came from his lips. Soon they start complaining as they know him well, one of their own. They wonder where he learned all his wisdom and how he was able to work miracles in nearby towns. Was this jealousy, envy or what? Rather quickly they get very angry with him and even want to kill him. Later on he would experience something similar. On Palm Sunday people put branches in his path and sang, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’. A few days later some of this same crowd cried out, ‘crucify him, crucify him’.

Should we not rejoice that our God is not a God who is moody so that we cannot be sure how he will be from one day to the next like the young man above? Our God is always a loving God whose only interest is our good, our peace, and our joy. A good prayer to make might well be ‘Thank you Lord for you being You’ that is, a God who is unchangeable, who is not moody, a God on whom I can rely totally all the time because he simply is LOVE.

Isn’t that real Good News in the gospel today? That God loves us totally and unconditionally whether we are virtuous or sinning. That is why in the second reading St. Paul reminds us about the true nature of love and therefore who God is. Instead of reading the text as ‘Love is always patient, kind and so on we can put in the name of Jesus in place of the word ‘love’ etc. Maybe we may get a clearer understanding of who God is.

Another aspect of the gospel today is that believers in God, followers of Jesus may try to monopolise God and even try to put God at their service. As Christians and Church we have done so in the past and may still fall into the same temptation. Those with Jesus in today’s gospel were scandalised by the two examples he gave. He said that in these two historical incidents it was not to the Jews that God sent the prophets Elijah and Elisha but to those regarded as pagans or heathens by the Jews. What we think we know may prevent us from paying attention to what is new, especially if it comes from what is insignificant and marginalised. The Lord may well be challenging us through those we do not know how to want or appreciate now. Hopefully we may do so later on.

Two obvious examples in our times are Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. They fought for the dignity of their peoples, that even though they were black they were entitled to the same rights as all others regardless of the colour of their skin, their religious beliefs, their social standing etc. MLK was assassinated for his efforts as later on Jesus was. What are our prejudices that prevent us being open to God speaking to us through those we consider beneath us, dislike or even hate, such as homosexuals, those with AIDS, those no longer married to their original spouses but now with new partners etc.? Would this be the loving response that Paul invites us to live in the second reading?

At the end of the gospel passage the crowd forced Jesus out of the town to a hill (eventually the same scenario at Calvary – it was outside the town of Jerusalem and on a hill where Jesus was executed). They wanted to get rid of him because he spoke the truth; challenged them to become aware of their prejudices which blinded them to the truth. They asked him to work the same miracles for them as he worked elsewhere. Here we have a classic example of wanting to manipulate God and saying we will only accept him if he corresponds to our desires, our needs. But God knows well if they would not always be good for us and so his answer then is ‘no’ but are we open to hearing this?

At the end of the gospel Jesus walks through the crowd and they can do nothing about it. Sad to say Jesus may walk right through us too and we may fail to see him because of our prejudices. The Jesus of Nazareth was too human for his townspeople. How could God come in such an ordinary person such as a carpenter? That was how God came then and how he still comes. If we fail to see him in ordinary events, in ordinary people today we may never see him in our lives and he may have walked right through our midst and we may have failed to be aware of it.

“Lord Jesus, open our eyes to the many ordinary people and ways through which you come to us daily. Help us to become aware of our prejudices that prevent us being open to the new ways that you use to visit us. Teach us how to love better, how to love more. Thank you above all for you being You – never moody but always loving, compassionate, forgiving. Amen.”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

27 January 2013

Nehemiah 8.2-6,8-10
1 Cor 12.12-30
Luke 1.1-4,4.14-21

Some years ago I was travelling by plane from Ireland to England. Next to me was a young man. When I asked him what his work was, he replied that he was connecting with a plane in London to fly to the USA where he was going to study for some years. After that he would get a good job, work very hard, make lots of money, marry and raise a family. He had a programme marked out for himself and he intended to carry it out.

Today’s gospel from Luke speaks of the Messianic Programme of Jesus Christ.

He states quite clearly what his objectives are. He will commit himself to a program of liberation on all levels. He wishes to bring good news to the poor by telling them that they don’t have to accept that poverty is their lot and that they are condemned to it for life. In most countries especially in the South World the Church is trying to put this into practice by working to empower the poor, involving them in projects that will raise their dignity and give them a sense of self worth.

Jesus also wants captives to be freed, not just people in prison but people imprisoned by fear, enslaved by drink, drugs, money, status, prejudices, self-destructive attitudes, a wrong image of God and what real religion is about, etc. In what way are we captives? Where do we need liberation or freedom? Do we ask the Lord to show us and to give us the Holy Spirit to respond?

Prior to this vision given by Jesus he had spent a long time in the desert guided by the Holy Spirit. Obviously he had pondered and prayed about his vocation. Having clarified it for himself he returns from the desert and under the influence of the same Spirit reveals his program to Israel. It is interesting that he doesn’t pull it out of a hat. He quotes from the prophet Isaiah what God had been revealing to Israel over the centuries. God’s preferential option is for the poor and the marginalised, those who have little status in society.

It is as though he is giving us a key to understand what he is about with his choice of this text. We all know the importance of keys. We use them all the time. If we lose a key to an important place like our house, we are locked out. Or if we lose our car keys when away from home it can cause great difficulty for us. We also speak of keynote addresses which give the central thrust of a meeting etc. So Jesus today is giving his keynote address for his life’s work.

In fact, he is offering us a choice and it is a rather radical one. In our world today very often we are judged by what we do, have, wear or possess, be it money, power, academic degrees, property etc. Jesus is inviting us to think differently. He is not denying that money, a degree, etc are important but he challenging us as to the importance of all these things in our lives. Ultimately he is offering us a program for liberation and social justice. How will we respond?

I wonder how my young travel companion got on in life. He gave me the impression that if he got his act together he would succeed. Did he ask God for help? Jesus is going to depend on the Holy Spirit to carry out his program. He says it clearly: “The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.” Jesus also needs us. The Good News is that Jesus is inviting you and me to participate in his vision for life. We all have been anointed with the Holy Spirit in baptism and confirmation. We are the anointed ones of Jesus. When we go forth from the Eucharist we are missioned to participate in the program of Jesus. The secret of life according to Jesus is that the more you focus on the good of others including the needy, poor, marginalised etc the happier you will be. But this is a very hard lesson to learn when the advertising world is spending billions to get us to accumulate more and more implying that this will give us lasting happiness.  We can be those who are blind, blind when we chose possessions instead of also sharing and helping our brothers and sisters in need.

Yet so many wonderful people, hopefully ourselves, try to follow the program of Jesus as outlined today. When he ended up his statement he said ‘this text is being fulfilled today even as you listen’. And it is by so many in many places. These past weeks with the disastrous earthquake in Iraq we see many countries already responding with help. We hear of ‘prisoner support groups’, people contributing so charitably to International Aid Agencies. We hear of young people and not so young too going to famine stricken countries – surely there is the Spirit at work through the generosity of these people.

“Lord Jesus we thank you for the invitation to work with you to help those most in need be it in our own areas or abroad. May each of us be generous in responding to our baptism calling when we were anointed by the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

20 January 2013

Isaiah 62.1-5
1 Cor 12.4-11
John 2.1-11

Some time ago I celebrated the wedding Mass of a young couple, friends of mine. Both the Eucharist and the reception afterwards were joyous affairs. The young couple were very much in love and one could easily sense that they were determined to enjoy their wedding day. They intended the same for all the invited guests. And their mood seemed to have caught on. As far as I could see everyone enjoyed the day also.

In taking up the theme of a wedding in the gospel today, John the evangelist presents not only Jesus’ first miracle but he calls it a ‘sign’, as he does all the other miracles in his gospel. For John the miracle of Cana is a sign that points beyond itself to a much deeper meaning. This is the new creation and we share it. Jesus is replacing the old Jewish religious rites with the new wine which is himself. It is the best wine that is saved until now. Like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes there is a superabundance of wine. Not a stingy or small amount as humans might give out but God’s lavish generosity. It is saying that our God is a God of life, life that is abundant, still more and more abundant, life that we call eternal. It begins now according to St. John.

This event, the wedding at Cana is very meaningful. The God of Jesus does not usually reveal himself on a mountaintop or in a church in imposing majesty, but instead at a wedding, and in the company of friends. God is preparing us his people for a new covenant. Jesus is the bridegroom and he is inviting us to the wedding. This new relationship of God with his people is as different as wine is from water.

John tells us that Jesus asks the servants to fill six stone jars which were used for the Jewish ‘rites of purification’. Water and purification rites are referring to certain religious practices of Jesus’ day. From that time on religion will no longer be based on the law and constant washings or ablutions or on the observance of precepts undertaken out of fear of punishment and guilt.

This is precisely what John is saying here. The God that Jesus came to reveal is a very different God to the idea that the people of the time had of God. That was a God to be feared and obeyed lest they be punished. Jesus is telling us that God is not a God of fear and punishment as sadly so many people still believe. Also the God of Jesus is not a God distant from us and delighting in sacrifices of animals but Someone very close to his people, just as he would be present still at a wedding feast. He is a God who is that close to us sharing our joys and concerns. Of course the wedding feast is meant to be a joyful affair but later on in the life of a couple there will be difficulties. God will still be very close to them, concerned for them, supporting and encouraging them through their relatives and friends.

A relative of mine, a young man and his bride-to-be were sitting down in his father’s house one day when I went for a visit. They were preparing for their wedding. They were making a list of all the important things for the wedding Mass and the reception afterwards. One thing they didn’t bother writing down was to have water available at the reception. It was so ordinary that it was taken for granted that it would be there and so wasn’t worth mentioning in the list they were making. It is the same in today’s gospel. The 6 water jars that were there were so ordinary and part of every day life that they hardly merited a second glance. The guests would have automatically washed their hands in order to be purified. Yet these so ordinary water jars were chosen by Jesus to be the containers of the abundance of new wine. It seems to have been a pattern in the life and teaching of Jesus. He used very ordinary things like water jars, like flour, leaven, a farmer sowing seed, hens with chickens under their wings protecting them etc. to be the means of getting across his message. Do we fail to see that the same dynamic is still used by God? Today in the gospel it is a wedding feast, another time it will be fishermen at work etc. Where do we see God present in our ordinary daily experiences? God still comes to us throughout each day in very ordinary ways if we can become aware of this. He is very close to us, delighting in our celebrations and times of joy and very concerned when we are suffering or struggling.

If Jesus can change something like water into wine as a sign of his love for the young couple and in response to the sensitivity of Mary who noticed the lack of wine, can he not change us too into the kind of people that we are called to be? Do we believe this? Do we offer ourselves to him for this transformation or change? After all, isn’t this what we celebrate each time at the Transformation or Consecration of the Mass? We believe that God through his Holy Spirit changes parts of creation like bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. Do we pray that God can do the same with other parts of creation, you and me, to be better persons, better members of his family? Can he not use us to work together to make the world where we are a better place? St. Paul in the 2^nd reading reminds us that the Holy Spirit gives us a variety of gifts to bring this about. Do we pray to the Holy Spirit for these?

“Lord Jesus, as you changed water into wine at Cana we offer ourselves to you believing that you have the power to change and transform us too in ways that are best for us and for others. Amen.”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

6 January 2013

A Light for All

 Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:2-3; 5-6
Mt 2:1-12

Some years ago there was a missionary priest I knew who was working in Ghana. He loved nature especially birdwatching, taking great delight in seeing the lovely different colored birds one finds in Africa. Once he decided to take a few days vacation and went into a great forest not far from where he was working to observe the different kinds of birds. He took some food and drink. But after a number of hours of looking up into the trees he realized he was lost. However, he felt he could find his way out again. Two days later he was still lost and now having used up all the water he had brought he started to get dehydrated. So he then resigned himself to die. The next morning, and being very weak he was seen by a local Ghanaian hunter who chanced to pass by that way and in no time had guided him out of the forest to safety. He knows that this man saved his life by pointing the way out of the forest to him.

Many people in our world today are searching for a way out of difficulty and seek people to help them this achieve this, whatever name you call this person, be it a psychologist, a spiritual director, a guide, a soul friend etc.

In the gospel today we have the Wise Men who come from the East. They are searchers for the truth and discovered a star that they felt could guide them to what they were seeking. Eventually it did. Amazingly, they just found a small helpless infant in a manger with his parents and they had the humility to accept that this child was the answer to their search.

What is the star that guides you in your way through life?

Many people will seek to follow the star of power, money, fame, popularity etc. and for a time they may seem to have found that it works, but sooner of later they don’t have the deep peace and happiness that following Jesus gives us. But is it easy to say that for me Jesus is the guiding star in my life, that he is the light shining up the darkness of my life.

How real is Jesus for you and me?

Does he really make all the difference? (Personal witness).

The star guided the Magi or Wise Men to Jesus but, on the way, they encountered Herod who sought to destroy Jesus if he found him.

Who or what is Herod for me?

Is there a person, a relationship, some worldly ambition, some tendency to sin in my life that may lead me away from finding Jesus and allowing him to be truly the guiding star of all I do.

If there is something or someone why not talk to Jesus and ask him to help us overcome the difficulty.

Having met Herod and the Jewish leaders the text seems to suggest that the star disappeared. But once they leave that situation (Herod) it appears again and guides them to Jesus.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, God seems to disappear from our lives. Even if we try to be faithful, Jesus seems far away. Remember Joseph and Mary lost Jesus for 3 days on their visit to Jerusalem.

This may well be an invitation to be faithful to Jesus in good times and also in difficult times.

Again why not ask his help that we would be faithful at this challenging time?

The Wise Men offer their gifts to the child Jesus convinced that he is the one they were searching for. The Wise Men who came from afar were not Jews. They are outsiders in that sense.

Today’s feast, the Epiphany means showing or manifestation, is the feast of God telling us that he wants to be known and loved by all peoples, regardless of colour, race or language.

The Wise Men having found the child pay him homage. The account ends in a beautiful way.

Having learned of Herod’s wicked intentions which were revealed to them in a dream, they “left for their own country by ‘a different way’”. We can assume that their having found Jesus had transformed their lives, because in the Bible a change of path symbolizes conversion. Must not this be the outcome of our encountering the Lord: a transformation of our lives, the capacity to take another way that is truly life-giving. The Good News is that God will reveal this to us if we ask in faith. It is free.

“Lord Jesus, we believe that you are the Way, the only star that can guide us safely in life to that peace and joy that each of us seeks. May our daily lives be a manifestation, an Epiphany to others that you alone are worth seeking for and following. May we too like the Wise Men be searchers for what is truly life-giving, You alone. May our lives witness to this to others by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Fr Jim Kirstein SMA, Blackrock Road, Cork 

25 December – Mass during the day

Isaiah 52.7-10
Hebrews 1.1-6
John 1.1-5, 9-14

A teacher decided to take her class of 10 year olds to visit the crib and she asked them to bring a little Christmas gift for the baby Jesus. At the crib they put in their gifts next to Jesus. One boy gave a whistle, another a bag of peanuts, a little girl put in a small doll and the next little boy put in a small statue of the Sacred Heart. The teacher was curious and asked him why. He replied that he thought it would be good for Jesus to see what he would be like when he grew up!!

It is true for most of us that we like to know what’s coming next, especially as the New Year is so near now. The gospel we just read is like that. It is called the prologue or the introduction to the gospel of John and he gives us an idea of what is to come later in the gospel. But it also speaks to us of our human situation now. It is a gospel of hope and promise.

The first verse tells us very simply, recalling the opening of the Book of Genesis when God created the world. It says that ‘in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The Word is another name for Jesus. The verse says straight out that Jesus is God and towards the end of the gospel in Chapter 20:30-31 John says that the purpose of writing the gospel was that so we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

You might say we all know this. Do we really? My brother and many of my childhood friends no longer believe Jesus is God. And even for us, it is easy to say I believe that Jesus is God but how real is that in my life? When John says we are asked to believe that Jesus is God he is using the verb ‘to believe’ or the phrase ‘to have faith in Jesus’ in a special sense. He uses the verb ‘to believe’ or faith 94 times in his gospel and it always means ‘to be a true disciple of Jesus, to follow him closely, to do his will, to have a deep friendship with Jesus. So, is that true of you and me? God knows that only by doing this can we really be happy and he will do everything possible to help us develop our friendship with Jesus.

Next he says that Jesus the light shines in the darkness, a darkness which could not overcome it. This is telling us that in Jesus, the light of the World, there will be a struggle with the powers of darkness in his life but that he will be victorious over darkness, sin and death. Is this not true of you and me too? Don’t we know our own inner struggle against sin and the temptations that face us daily? The whole life of Jesus was involved in this struggle and he is reminding us here that if we really ‘believe’ in the sense I have just explained we too will struggle against sin and evil in our own lives. Jesus, delighted with our efforts to please him will give us the courage that we too will finally succeed with him at our side, even if we fail from time to time.

The next part in the prologue tells us the amazing fact that his own people, the Chosen People of God, for the most part would not accept him. But whoever did were empowered to become children of God. The mystery for me is why some people in the same family accept Jesus and others don’t. I know one family which has 2 famous priests in the family whilst the third claims to be an atheist. He is anything but a bad or a wicked person but he says that in all honesty he cannot accept Jesus as God. How grateful are we for the gift of our faith, how often do we thank God for it? Personally I don’t know how I could survive in life without my experience of having Jesus as my close friend. Why he would choose me is another mystery but he does and that is all that counts.

The other main aspect of today’s gospel is that The Word or Jesus became flesh. This incredible statement means that Jesus chose to empty himself to be as we are except that he didn’t sin. This means that God loves us so much he wants to be with us, just like two lovers always want to be close to each other. God is the great Lover of humankind and he desires to stay close to us. Though I ask myself why when I see the way I, we treat him. Often ignoring him, refusing to do his will, going our own way and then when we realise our sins or failings we turn back and there He is so full of joy that we are back that he delights in showing us mercy. God doesn’t give up on us. He is Emmanuel, God-with-us.

Today’s feast is speaking to us again of Jesus who is God, He who comes as the Light to show us the way in the darkness of this world and in spite of having to struggle is victorious. He invites us to join him in the struggle against the evil in our world. He desires greatly that we would accept his offer of friendship unlike many who refuse this. He became as we are so that he knows us from the inside, our struggles, our difficulties and our joys too. And finally he wants us to have the enduring love that he has for his Father so that here and now we may already start experiencing the deep peace and joy he came to bring us at Christmas.

“Lord Jesus. Why did you bother to come and live amongst us when you see how we treat you, often ignoring you or doing our own thing and yet you never give up on us. May we continue to be ever more grateful for your incredible choice of us and your unending love for us. May we be like the shepherds and the Wise Men so that may we continually adore, praise and thank you and offer you the gift you most desire from us, a deep, personal friendship with you.”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

25 December 2012 – Dawn Mass

Isaiah 62:11-12
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:15-20

Some years ago I was visiting my sister and she was very busy trying to cleanup after a party the night before and she hadn’t much time as she had to go out to her part-time job in the afternoon. We Irish have a reputation for hospitality. Just as we started to clean-up someone rang the doorbell and on opening the door we saw a family we knew but hadn’t seen for a long time with 3 small children. Of course we told them that they were very welcome and put out the best cups and saucers and gave them tea and biscuits with sweets for the small children. After 2 hours they decided to leave and said wasn’t it great we had nothing else to but entertain them. We just smiled and said nothing, though the temptation would have been to strangle them!!! As soon as they were gone we set about trying to do what we began to do, clean the place with 2 hours less available than before. Just to underline the importance of welcoming the unexpected guest who comes at the most unsuitable time God decided to give me a practical example.

As I was typing my homily this morning and trying to get it done in time, there was a ring on the bell at our front gate and when I went out I found an elderly man who wanted food and drink. I got the grace to see Jesus visiting me in him, gave him what he wanted and sat down next to him for as long as he ate the meal. Then off he went and I couldn’t laughing out loud and saying to God ‘You really were underlining the message just now weren’t you?

The totally unexpected guest can seem like a great disturber of our plans. We are up to our eyes in work and don’t have enough time for all we want to do. No matter how disorganised and easygoing we claim to be, which of us likes the unplanned and the unexpected? No one was ready for what happened at Bethlehem, from Herod to the High priest, to Joseph and Mary, they were all caught off-guard. The God of Surprises decided his time, his place and his way. Some like the prophet Isaiah had a very small idea but no one was certain.

The God of the promise became the God outside the walls, up in the hills, visited by the shepherds, warmed by animals, a child of frightened parents. Nobody could have predicted this, a powerless God-with-us. If we had known we would not have let this happen, we would have given them a bed at least. But it was God’s way and God’s time.

But then, when could we ever have a place ready for God-with-us? Where would we place him? Maybe it is better we don’t know. Can we allow him come when he will, where he will and let him decide the places that deserve God-with-us. Then we will allow God to be born where he wills.

So don’t hold your breath; be prepared to find him anywhere because Bethlehem can be any place. It can the office you hate, it can be the classroom that distresses you. It can be the bedroom ceiling you look at every day when you awake and wonder how you will pass the day. Your Bethlehem might be the corner of your heart that you consider unfit for God-with-us, it might be that dark memory that haunts you. It might even be the face you see every day and cannot love.

No matter where Jesus chooses to be born, it is not where we think he should be born. We will choose a 100 comfortable places for him and he will choose the one place that will disturb us, but this maybe the place where we need God-with-us, the place of our greatest discomfort may become the place where we are ultimately comforted. Let us ask God to reveal it to us.

“Lord Jesus, open our eyes and heart to see where YOU want to be born again in our lives. Let us realise above all that it is most probably the place where we are most uncomfortable. May we realise where it is and know that you are very happy to be born there since it is where we need you most. Lord, here is my heart, my life. Choose where you wish to be born and when and how, as I know that that is best for me. MARANATHA, COME LORD JESUS.

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

25 December – Midnight Mass

Joy for all the people 

Isaiah 9.1-6
Titus 2.11-14
Luke 2.1-14

A young couple got married 10 years ago. They came from well-off families and both were working. They were very blessed in almost every aspect of their marriage. They loved each other even more than when they were first married. But their biggest cross was that despite their great desire, they had no children. They spent a great amount of money in going to various doctors and having all the necessary tests but to no avail. They were even unsuccessful in trying to adopt a baby.

Then they heard of a certain doctor who claimed to have discovered a drug that could help certain infertile couples. But it was new and there were possible side effects because the drug hadn’t really been tested enough. The couple were so desperate that they agreed to take the risk so great was their desire to have a baby. Luckily for them the drug worked and they were blessed with a healthy baby. I don’t have to tell you that their joy was unlimited. So too was that of their families and friends. The joy that the little baby gave to so many was a marvel to experience.

Two thousand years ago another young couple had a baby in a stable in Bethlehem. This time the joy was not to be limited to the young couple, Mary and Joseph but as the angel told the shepherds in the gospel of Luke “You have nothing to fear! I come to proclaim good news to you. News of great joy to be shared by the whole people”.

On this Christmas night what is our reaction? Do we find it to be good news? Do we feel joy? Some may feel they have to experience a deep emotion or a kind of joy one experiences in hearing a family member has been totally cured of a cancer they thought would lead to certain death. Not so. The peace and the joy may simply be a feeling of deep peace and a conviction that whatever happens us in life the Christ-child will see us through it. It means also that even in time of suffering we somehow feel able to cope knowing God-is-with-us, Jesus Emmanuel, that God is holding us.

Maybe the difficulty is that we would prefer God to come with signs and wonders. Maybe with trumpets and a great firework display. God’s ways are just not like that. This is a very, very hard lesson to learn and accept. Why doesn’t God act as I think God should? But I am not God and He is, and our God is telling us very clearly and with great insistence and frequency that “His ways are not our ways” as the prophet Isaiah tells us. But will we accept it? As I was reflecting on the readings it struck me very strongly that Mary and Joseph were like many young couples expecting a baby. They lived in a small town and when the order came they had to leave their town of Nazareth to journey to Bethlehem to report for the census ordered by the emperor. At Bethlehem there was no room for them at the inn. But should we blame the other people seeking for shelter that night? Mary and Joseph were like many others who couldn’t find shelter. Joseph did what was possible and found a stable and so Jesus is born there. It is the beginning of the story of God who takes on human limitation and lives it out not trying to use miraculous ways to avoid this limitation. Jesus never worked miracles for his own comfort, to avoid limitation and suffering, always only for others. He ‘came and dwelt among us’ and went through the many human experiences of limitation in life that we go through. You see God in Jesus knows us from the inside. He lived our experiences. He knows our struggles, our difficulties. He knows what we are up against and so understands us. Isn’t that a wonderful God to have? That is a great reason for joy this night.

He is the God who chooses to be on the side of the poor and limited people of our world. He takes the side of the marginalised. He chooses to use Mary and Joseph. He also used the shepherds – a group despised by almost all the Jewish religious leaders of the time because due to the nature of their work they couldn’t attend the synagogue religious services except perhaps only from time to time.

For me Christmas is the story of a God choosing to come amongst us. He is a God who doesn’t choose to come first to the mighty and wealthy even though he cares for them and loves them too. But because most of us have to struggle to make ends meet, to live limitation, like not having as much money as we would like to have to give to our children what we would wish for them. God comes especially to the people who for the most part are not among the important ones of our world, except to their families and some friends. God walks by our side. So I really thank God for coming to us in so very ordinary ways, taking on our limitations, partaking in our struggles, encouraging us to keep going when we get a bit discouraged or even depressed etc.

But why do we find it so hard to accept his so very, very ordinary ways of coming to us as he did the first Christmas and still does each day? I suspect that if we were told the statue of the Sacred Heart in a certain Manila church started to show blood coming from the heart there would be thousands of people trying to get to see it. Maybe later it is discovered it is due to a leak of water dripping from the ceiling on to the red paint of the statue. I for one have no interest in such a display. Not because of a lack of faith but hopefully because I try to see God, the majestic creator of our Universe still revealing himself to me in the same very ordinary, limited ways today in the different people and events of daily life as well as when I pray.

When I saw for example as I came near the Church tonight a young mother picking up her small child who tripped, fell and was crying and she was holding him close to her heart to console him, I can see again a God in Jesus who allowed himself to be picked up by Mary his mother when he fell and was crying. When I see a young couple trying to get some seats in a bus as they travel home for Christmas and are told there is standing room only but they accept this limitation, then I see Mary and Joseph searching for space in Bethlehem and having to do with less than they hoped for without complaining, seeing this as part of life’s limitations. When I see someone diagnosed as having Aids and many of his family and friends reject him but some people who maybe don’t even believe in God showing him kindness, I can see Jesus as the 10 lepers approach and he doesn’t turn away, but actually touches them.

Friends of mine before they got married would spend hours and hours together even to staying out till 3 in the morning so that they could stay with each other as long as possible. They couldn’t bear to be apart for long. So too with Jesus. He wants to stay close to us. So Jesus came among us to invite us to enter into a deep personal relationship with Him. He is not a God who stays far off in heaven; he is a God who dwells or tabernacles among us. He is inviting us to draw close to him. He didn’t come in majesty and power lest he frighten us away but as one like us to show solidarity with us.    

“Lord Jesus, when will we learn the lesson you keep on trying to teach us. That you still come to us in limitation and ordinariness. But we often want a God of great signs and wonders which you are also. Often we fail to see you in the very ordinary people who continue quietly and humbly doing the best they can in difficult circumstances. Maybe we fail to have the joy you want us to have because we may be looking for it in the wrong places and people. Come Lord Jesus; open our eyes to your ways of being amongst us each day in ordinariness and limitation. Praise you Jesus.

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

11 November 2012

1 Kings 17.10-16
Hebrews 9.24-28
Mark 12.38-44

In a certain country an election was due to take place and the candidates were campaigning hard as the Election Day approached. It was a country, which at the time was mainly Catholic. One of the candidates went to 6 Masses the Sunday before and went to Holy Communion each time to impress the people that he was a holy man and deserved to be elected. Later it was discovered that he had had a number of mistresses but he wanted to show a public image that he thought would be acceptable.

In the gospel today the Scribes are concerned about their public image too. They wear long robes; want to be seen in the front seats of the synagogues, to have the places of honour at banquets, to make a show of lengthy prayers and to swallow the property of widows. Jesus is quite severe in criticising them because they are living a life of pretence, living a lie.

Are things any different today? Don’t we live in the world of image, the world of advertising where packaging very often is more important than what the package contains? Many politicians, film stars, rich and so called important people in public life; not forgetting some church leaders too, can be slaves to their public image. Wearing designer clothes only, wanting to be seen in public places, at big public gatherings in the company of famous people, undergoing cosmetic surgery may be examples. We may even try to impress our friends by our achievements, by the car we have, the house we live in, and our educational degrees we speak about.   Are we totally free of this ourselves? Is there not a bit of the Scribe in us all? Jesus wants us to be free of this type of slavery. That is why he tries to unmask it whenever he meets it.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was once filmed on TV in Calcutta among the very poor wearing an old cardigan and an old pair of sandals. Two weeks later she was filmed on TV again, this time visiting the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace where the queen lives. The queen was obviously delighted to see her and greeted her warmly and spent a good amount of time with Mother Teresa. At one stage the TV cameras showed Mother Teresa wearing the same old cardigan and pair of sandals. She clearly had not put on a show to impress the Queen of England. Her obvious goodness showed through and she was content to be herself without any packaging.

Having criticised the Scribes for their public pretence, Jesus wants to teach his disciples what is most important in the sight of God and so he draws their attention to a poor widow who put all she had to live on, two small coins into the Temple treasury. Her contribution had practically no value in itself but what Jesus remarked on was that it was all she had to live on. She gave her all to God quietly, without drawing any attention to herself. This was in total contrast to the Scribes parading themselves in public to impress others. A widow at the time of Jesus had no visible means of support. She couldn’t go out and get a job like now since that was not possible, so in giving her all she trusted God totally that somehow or other she would be taken care of. So she was a woman of great generosity and trust in God’s providence. In a sense Jesus is speaking about Himself. He held nothing back from God, from us. He gave his all to God, for us. That is indeed Good News. It cost a lot for the widow to give all. It cost a lot for Jesus to give all. What does it cost us to give ourselves to God and others? We may not have much money to spare, but what of our time, our care and concern for others? Do we spend time with people whom we find boring, unattractive, people from whom there is no gain financially or emotionally?  

What set the widow’s offering apart was not just its proportion to her means; there was something in her character that lifted the gift out of routine into the realm of sacrifice. No gift of love is too small, and nothing escapes the notice of God from whom no secrets are hidden.

The readings today tell of two stories of generosity. Both concern two very poor people-two widows. We wonder how someone who was as poor as the widow in the gospel was able to perform such an act of spontaneous goodness. One needs to have been faithful over many years to the practice of generosity to have had a heart like hers. It is not achieved by as few great deeds but by a lot of little ones.

To be confronted by the call of Jesus, whatever the plight of the world or the Church, is to discover that which needs to be done within our reach. Despair of the world or of the Church is a dishonourable escape route leading to nowhere. Jesus would have none of it. Like the widow he gave all that he had, one life among many. Yet behind and within his life lay the total love of God for each one of us. All the life, death and resurrection of Jesus show what can be achieved, not out of abundance, but out of the very little each may seem to have.

“Lord Jesus, in the gospel today, you present us with a choice. To be a slave to what others think of us and all the games we may choose to play to gain their approval or to be like the poor widow, quietly giving of ourselves generously to God and to others in gratitude to a God who gave his all for us? Help us to choose your way by the power of the Spirit. Amen”.

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

28 October 2012

Jeremiah 31.7-9
Hebrew 5.1-6
Mark 10.46-52

A man died and in his will he donated his eyes to his wife. Due to modern medicine and technology she was able to see for the first time at the age of 64. Her first words on being able to see apart from gratitude to God and to her late husband were: ‘incredible, but how can all you people who have always seen be so calm and seem so unaffected by all the beauty that surrounds you. Can’t you see the beauty in the faces of all others, be amazed at the different colours; look at the different shapes of all the trees, everything!’   Isn’t it probably true of most of us? – we seem to take it all for granted.

In the gospel today Jesus heals the blind man Bartimaeus and gives him back his sight. Bartimaeus is not only cut off from the beauty of the world; he is also cut off from other people. Some people believe that his blindness is due to his sin or the sin of his parents, so they think that he is also cut off from God.

It was as Jesus was about to leave the historical city of Jericho that the healing takes place. Jesus is now only 15 miles from Jerusalem where he will die shortly because of the blindness of the Jewish religious leaders, the Scribes and Pharisees. Bartimaeus sees what these others are unable to perceive. Very often the one who acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah come from the insignificant people of society, from those at the roadside; the marginalised, from people some try to silence.

Many of the readings of recent Sundays deal with blind people, people who look at life from their viewpoint only, so they remain totally blind to other possibilities. The eyes of the Pharisees are totally glued to the Law and the Commandments but seem blind to matters of the heart. The Rich Young man is blinded by his wealth and fails to see what Jesus is offering him. The disciples led by Peter are not much better. Their eyes are on the best places and they fail to see what Jesus is teaching them. So now today Mark tells us about Bartimaeus who was begging by the side of the road. So who really are the blind people? Who are those who see? Maybe those including ourselves who consider tranquillity and security the highest values and want to avoid all risks and to cling desperately to the old and familiar. Do I see or has Jesus still to open my eyes. Do I ask him to do this? Maybe I am afraid to.

Even though I may see physically, is it possible that I am blind spiritually, emotionally or psychologically? Physical blindness is not necessarily the worst kind. But the Good News of today’s gospel is that Jesus can do for us what he did for Bartimaeus if we have faith. Jesus said to Bartimaeus: ‘your faith has saved you’. But first of all we may need to ask Jesus to show us, if we really want this, to show us where we are blind and give us the healing. But if it is just to indulge ourselves maybe he won’t. Will we be prepared like Bartimaeus to follow Jesus along the road behind him – a road that could lead to suffering too?

So in the story we see Bartimaeus at the side of the road. He is not yet a follower of Jesus. He is blind so who told him it was Jesus? Who told you, me? Have I told anyone? Some people try to shut him up and prevent him from going to Jesus and so follow him. Have we had this experience? Or in any way by word or example done it to others. Above all, in the story we have Jesus. The crowd is all around him, shouting, pushing. Yet look at the sensitivity of Jesus who in spite of all this hears Bartimaeus shouting after him, maybe the only chance Bartimaeus will ever have. So Jesus calls him over. Others relay the invitation of Jesus, so again Jesus uses people to pass on his invitation today too. The man doesn’t delay but jumps up even throwing aside his cloak as it might hinder him. And when he reaches Jesus he is asked by Jesus ‘what do you want me to do for you?’ We might think, ‘Come on Jesus, the man is blind’. But no, that is not our God. He doesn’t force what might be our obvious needs on us against our will. Again the sensitivity and delicacy of Jesus. So he responds to the request of Bartimaeus because he knows that his faith leads him to trust that Jesus can heal him. God never forcefully enters into our lives but waits to be invited. Don’t you as parents and teachers have the same experience? Sometimes you know what is best for your children but you allow them the freedom necessary even to refuse and make mistakes.            

Finally Bartimaeus had to risk. As a beggar he was sure of a certain daily income. He had his place in the society of his time among his family, friends and fellow beggars. Now in following Jesus he takes the great risk of leaving that behind to follow Jesus not knowing where it might lead or what will happen to him. But he considers it worth the risk. Would you or I?

“Lord Jesus, we praise and thank you for the many gifts you give us, including the gift of sight. Open our eyes to all the areas of our lives where we are blind and unfree. Give us the Holy Spirit to take the risk of letting go of all that prevents us from following you more closely and having the fullness of life, beginning even now. Amen”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS

Sr Philomena McGuinness SSL shares some thoughts on the Feast of All Saints and the readings chosen for the Mass of that day.

In the times of great persecution of the early Church, there were so many martyrs that it was impossible to commemorate each one on an individual day. Eventually, when the Church was given an old Roman Temple dedicated to “all the gods”, the Pantheon became became a place to honour “All the Saints” and today’s feast was born.

The entire collection of Roman gods was called the ‘Pantheon’ and in ancient times, you could worship any of the gods whose statues were located in the niches of the building. The Pantheon was converted into a Catholic Church in 609 A.D. and dedicated to Our Lady and all the Martyrs.

On this feast of All Saints, we honour in a special way all the holy men and women who in their day-to-day lives have been challenged by the Gospel and have lived it generously.

First Reading             The Book of the Apocalypse 7:2-4, 9-14

A vision of the faithful followers of Christ rejoicing in his presence in the heavenly kingdom.

The Book of Revelation was written for Christians who were being persecuted for their faith towards the end of the first century. It is built on the promise that, after persecution, those who are faithful to God and to Christ will be delivered and gathered into the peace of God’s presence. At the time of writing, the persecuting force from which they were to be delivered was the might of the Roman Empire with its immorality, its materialism and above all, its demands that all its subjects should worship the Emperor as God.. All would have to cry ‘Caesar is Lord.’

Many Christian churches of Asia (a Roman province in the south-west region of Turkey) were under threat; the Christians there needed encouragement. A number of them had become martyrs; others would soon be killed and many of them were harassed by local authorities or even put in prison. The whole Book of the Apocalypse (Revelation) is a powerful message for persecuted Christians of the late first century for whom the great test was whether they would accept the standards of the Empire or remain faithful to the demanding standards of Christianity in a hostile world.

In today’s extract, after witnessing visions of the cosmic upheaval as the moon turns to blood and creation is clothed in darkness, the seer, John, hears the divine voice mandating the destroying angel to wait until a group of people are claimed as God’s own. He then has a first vision of an angel coming from the east, holding the seal of the living God and putting the seal on the foreheads of the Lord’ servants, that is, those who are ‘saved’.

Their number is 144,000, a symbolic number that should not be taken literally. It is not the exact number of those who will enter heaven. It refers to those members of the tribes of Israel who were faithful to the Covenant and benefit from God’s saving activity in the past through events like the Exodus and the return from exile. For the Jewish people this number signified completion: it meant twelve thousand people assigned to each of the twelve tribal units.

After this first vision, the second vision moves to the heavenly throne. It describes a great multitude that no one can count, of those saved by the blood of the Lamb, which is an image of Christ. These come from every nation, race, people and tongue. They all stand before God and in front of the Lamb; wearing white robes symbolising joy and innocence and holding palm branches in their hands as a sign of victory. They share in the victory that Christ has won over the powers of evil by his death on the cross.

Words of praise and victory are spoken and sung by a huge assembly. They are happily celebrating a heavenly Feast of Tabernacles (the most joyous of Jewish feasts.)

An interpreting elder confirms that that the victorious are those who have come triumphantly through tribulation and have not apostatised under threat of persecution.

Reflection

• Do I connive at and approve standards of behaviour that are built on a morality far from that of Christ? More pressingly, do I accept those standards for myself?
• The aim of the Apocalypse is to strengthen its audience’s commitment in the face of rejection and persecution. It attempts to bolster faith by assuring that everything has its place in the plan of God and that a final triumph is certain.
• In the late first century, people are already beginning to see more clearly that the Church is a community in which the dignity and value of each person is recognised as a child of God, without distinction of race, colour, sex or status.
• The heavenly court is an international assembly of ordinary people who have been faithful to God; real people whose struggles and frustrations come to a merciful end in the peace of God’s house. Dare I let myself hope for such a finale, the unity of all mankind, nations, tribes, peoples, languages?

Second Reading                                 1 John 3:1-3

In his love for us, God has made his children and destined us one day to see him as he is.

In this passage John invites his readers to be attentive to the fact that even in this life; they are really and truly children of God. As Christian believers we belong to God because they have been adopted in Christ. We are God’s children and in case there should be any doubt about it, John adds: ‘and this is what we are.’ We have been born to a new life and share, mysteriously but really, in the life of God. Therefore, we can be sure that each one of us is loved by the Father.

If the unbelieving world does not recognise the true status of Christians, it is because the world doesn’t recognise God either. John means by this that it has failed to recognise Jesus.

We have to await the coming of the Lord, to see him ‘as he is’ before we can arrive at full appreciation of our own identity, our own Christian reality – and only then, will we see clearly that our future state will be like the glorified state of Jesus.         

Moreover, our present relationship with God is only the beginning. Being children of God is a source of hope, but it also demands a response from us. Meanwhile, we must be close se to God in prayer, show the qualities of God in our actions – his generosity, forgiveness and openness – and live as witnesses to the love of Christ.

Reflection

• In the presence of Christ, our eyes will be opened, and we shall then truly understand what God has worked in us. What are the elements you look forward to in heaven?
• Who are the saints who have played a part in your life? In what ways does my sainthood manifest itself?
• How are we supposed to behave as we wait to meet Christ ‘as he really is’? We will be told that in the Beatitudes!

Gospel                                    Matthew 5:1-12

Jesus speaks about the qualities he wishes to see in his disciples. He makes wonderful promises to those who try to follow him.

The familiar Beatitudes are the Gospel reading today. They are the qualities that are to mark the followers of Jesus. They are a summary of the teaching of Jesus Christ. Many have recognised in them a portrait of Jesus himself.

One of the things Jesus is doing in this Gospel is enunciating a set of values that would be foundational in his kingdom he was putting in place. The important ones are poverty of spirit, gentleness, forgiveness, a hunger for justice, a passion for peace, a readiness to suffer in his name. These are very much at variance with pagan or worldly values such as pride, vindictiveness, belligerence, aggrandisement and war.

But more than enunciating a set of values, Jesus is describing (1) the stuff of which saints are made, (2) the characteristics of those who desire to participate in the life that Jesus would live and for which he would die and (3) the kind of people who would be citizens of his kingdom.

Reflection

• We see here the interior landscape of Jesus: poor in spirit, gentle, merciful, hungry for justice, pure in heart, a peacemaker – yet prepared to grieve and to suffer persecution in the cause of right. For most of the Beatitudes, there are gospel incidents in which Jesus sums them up: like the entry into Jerusalem as the gentle king on a donkey, or the love he shows in his welcome to sinners, or his bringing peace to those tortured by disease or contempt, or his purity of heart in his single-minded preoccupation with his Father’s will, and finally his acceptance of persecution for what he knew to be right. Any Christian may suddenly find him/herself face with similar challenges.
• Each of the ‘blesseds’ is a statement about something important in the Christian life. They are an ideal on how to live and how to find God close to us. We might ask for the grace today to live by this vision of life, which was at the root of how Jesus lived.
• If the qualities of the Beatitudes are not appreciated in our world, it is because the Kingdom of God is still to be established on this earth. This is why Jesus teaches us to pray, “Your Kingdom come.” (Mt. 6:10)
• Today we rejoice in all the saints of the Church, all the saints in our lives and what is saintly in each of us.   We thank God for all the holy and women who gone before us and those still among us today, who have enriched the Church and the world with their quiet witness to the Gospel, people whose lives are unheralded and whose names are unknown.   And if you feel thanked in the process, don’t feel confused!!
• Today’s feast includes all the saints who were never canonised: mothers and fathers who stayed faithful to one another and their families; single men and women who did good ‘unseen’; those who found God through the pain they endured; all those who never thought of themselves as holy but whose goodness was clear to those to them. Do I belong there?
• We belong to a community that has a history of goodness and fidelity to the Gospel. We are related to those who went before us, those who linked their belief to those who went before them. We are part of a chain of holiness. We belong to the sanctified brethren.
• We have our ancestors in faith who are blessed in heaven ‘a huge number, impossible to count of people from every nation, tribe and language.’ (Rev 7:9). And among them are counted people who know and love us. Today we salute them.
• We are a small part of a marvellous company of believers who struggle into holiness. The saints serve as models for us precisely because they were sinners like the rest of us. They inspire us. The only question is the extent to which we respond. They show us what we are capable of. Their standards and values are pointing in the direction we are to go. We feel their strength helping us and supporting us. This great company of witnesses spur us on to victory, to share their prize of everlasting glory.
• The annual celebration of ‘All Saints’ reminds us that the saints are not all alike. There are many different kinds of saints. It also reminds that the saints are not just those whose names are on some official list somewhere. Many saints, perhaps most saints, are not known to us by name.
• Finally, this feast reminds us that, to the extent that the life of Christ is still with us, we are all saints!! The only question is the extent to which we try to live a godly life as God’s children.

 Prayer

Lord, you have given us many friends in heaven.
Today we are grateful for the lives
of so many people of every age, church and century
who have done their best to live
in the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We ask for the ability to emulate them
and for fortitude in the face of the challenges
that face us in that mission.

In your goodness, give us fellowship with them
and unending joy in your Kingdom. Amen

7 October 2012

Genesis 2:18-24
Hebrews 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16

Once I worked in a certain African country. In a rather remote area we had a small chapel and about a hundred Catholics. Among them was a couple married for over 40 years. She was the only wife he had in spite of the tradition which allowed him more. It was an amazing fact that he didn’t take more than one wife because they were childless. There had been tremendous pressure on him over the years to divorce his wife or to take another wife. But he was adamant that he would never divorce his wife even though it would have been easy to do so. In our modern culture today this would have been accepted as rather normal. He always replied ‘I love her and I will always be faithful to her’. But it was almost unthinkable given the culture he lived in that he remained faithful to the one wife. There childlessness was always the woman’s fault. Women had little standing and hardly any rights.

In the gospel today the Pharisees are out to trap Jesus on the question of divorce. The law handed down by Moses allowed it in certain cases. If Jesus declared otherwise he would have been seen as going against the Mosaic Law. Equally dangerous for Jesus was the fact that Herod had taken his brother Phillip’s wife Herodius so Jesus could be seen in some way of accusing Herod for this. We know that John the Baptist was beheaded for condemning Herod’s decision.

It is interesting to notice the way the question to Jesus was put. ‘Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife, not is it against the law for a woman to divorce here husband. Divorce was a very real issue for the Jews at the time of Jesus as indeed it is today in many Christian churches. For the Jews there were two schools of thought regarding divorce. One had a much stricter interpretation than the other. The rabbis from this school of thought would have said that adultery alone was the only reason for divorce. In the other school of thought the Rabbis were much more liberal and lenient saying that the man could divorce his wife for almost any reason even to the extent of saying he could divorce her if she burned his dinner or if he found another woman more attractive than his wife!

Jesus widens out the discussion recalling the creation story in Genesis, where it is said that man and woman are created equal by God and have complementary roles. Jesus says that women are not things. They do not belong to men as a bit of furniture or as a garment does. Marriage is the union of equal beings. This is the first account of creation in Genesis ch.1. Today’s Genesis text comes from ch. 2 which can be misinterpreted to mean that as woman came from man, she is to be his helpmate and is therefore inferior to man. Both man and woman are made in God’s image and likeness.

Jesus tells us quite clearly that divorce is not part of God’s plan. God’s dream is that a man and woman who married are called to mirror the fidelity of God towards us. A married couple is asked to reflect the covenant love of God for his people, a God who never fails in this promise of fidelity to us. He will never abandon us. But God knows as Jesus knew that we do not live in an ideal world. We are not ideal people. It is very important to have ideals before us and to live by them. But being human and sinners we will fail despite our most noble intentions. We are dishonest if we think otherwise. Any couple married for a long time will say that it takes a lot of ‘I do’s’ for a man and woman to become husband and wife, it takes a lot of dying to self. We all know from experience that there will be a lot of mistakes and compromises called for. But God’s grace, his Spirit is always there to empower us if we call on it. Who doesn’t make mistakes from time to time? This is equally true of priesthood and religious life. It is a process and a lifetime’s work.

The Church must proclaim the ideal of fidelity in marriage. This is God’s dream for us but it can happen and does that two partners in marriage may be unable to sustain their relationship so that their marriage no longer functions. It has become impossible to live in peace with each other without destroying each other. Here again the Church has to echo the gospel. And THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS OF TODAY’S GOSPEL. It has to proclaim the message of God’s mercy, of his liberating forgiveness. The gospel gives every person a future. There is no human failure so great that it is completely hopeless and no longer open to God’s mercy. God is the God of the second chance and the third and so on. Do we not all know this from our experience? Is a relationship that does not work out the only exception? Not according to God.

Jesus often showed that people were more important than rules or laws. He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery (John 8). He offers her another chance to begin a new life. He spoke to and welcomed the Samaritan woman who had had 5 husbands and was at the time living with another not her husband. And he uses her to evangelise her townspeople. God works in strange ways.

“Lord Jesus, may we never condemn people whose marriages have ended in divorce. Let us remember our own failings and delight in the reality that you are a God of incredible forgiveness and understanding. Amen”            

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

20 May 2012

Acts 1.1-11
Ephesians 1.17-23
Mark 16.15-20

A couple were married for over 50 years when the husband died after a short illness. Like many others in such a situation, I wonder how the wife felt; probably terribly Alone, Abandoned, Desolate, maybe orphaned. Perhaps, many of us have experienced losing a close relative or friend too.

Most probably the apostles and disciples felt the same at the death of Jesus. Did they recall his promise when he had said to them ‘I shall see you again and your hearts will be full of joy’. This is rather unlikely if we read some of the post-resurrection accounts. The Feast of the Ascension is not a commemoration of his departure from this world but of his presence in a new way. The resurrection was not simply a reversal of his death and a return to old times. It was a radical transformation of his presence.

For the apostles the Ascension meant three things

1) It was an ending. One stage was over and another had begun. Formerly Jesus was with them physically. Now his presence is that of a firm faith knowing he is still working with them.

2) It was a beginning. They are to take the place of Jesus and continue his work. It is like his handing on the baton to them and to us to continue his work.

3) The Ascension gives the disciples the certainty that they had a friend not only on earth but also in heaven. There awaits them and us the self-same Jesus who on earth was so marvelously kind, compassionate and forgiving. To die is not to go out into the dark. It is to go to him.

Thus, the Ascension is not a farewell feast; it does not lament the absence of Jesus. Rather it celebrates the new way Christ became present to his people through the gift of his Spirit. For sure, Christ went away from us so that we no longer experience his physical presence but he is closer to us now than he ever was before. When Jesus was on earth he was limited like us in space and time. This is no longer true of him. He is, so to speak, out and about. He is present to us in an equally powerful but different manner. We can turn to him in any place, in any situation knowing he is there for us. It is important to realise that the apostles and disciples never regretted the departure of Jesus after his Resurrection and Ascension.

In Acts 1.8 our first reading today we heard: ‘you will be my witnesses …even to the ends of the earth’. So today’s Solemnity, like that of Pentecost are feasts of Christian maturity. They are a call to continue Jesus’ mission in today’s world and the difficulties we face there. The power of the Spirit is with us. In Acts today Jesus warned his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high, the promise of the Father. It is as if Jesus were saying to the disciples: ‘please don’t claim to be working on my behalf as my witnesses unless you wait for, receive and live out of the power of the Spirit. If not, you will fail’.

We must not look up to heaven lamenting the absence of the Lord like the disciples did in the first reading today. We must face here on earth what God asks us to do and keep our feet firmly on the ground. We must set out to bring his gospel, his Good News to the ends of the earth. This is why any attempt to keep Christians in an attitude of dependency and immaturity without real responsibilities and voice in the Church is contrary to the meaning of the feast we are celebrating today. The Second Vatican Council strongly emphasized this.

And it is happening. In comparison to when I was growing up when the priest did everything, now in very many countries we have Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, and the Laity as members of Parish Pastoral Councils, bringing Holy Communion to the sick, etc. In some countries because of the absence of priests, the laity do even more, like conducting funeral services, preparing people to be baptised and confirmed etc. This may not be enough for some who feel the Church is moving too slowly in this direction. But we need to pray more and more to the Spirit to lead us into the way of all truth, that we will have the courage to let go of traditional practices, which no longer serve our witnessing to Jesus.

Rather then than seeing the Ascension just as the departure of Jesus, we should see it as the sending of the Church on mission (in place of Jesus). Rather than seeing the Church as an orphan as a result of the Ascension of Jesus it needs to be seen as being given adult status by God, as being given responsibility to witness to Jesus Christ through the power of his Spirit.

And as St. Paul tells us there is a variety of gifts that is a variety of ways of being Church, be it as laity, priests or religious. No one group is called to dominate the others since we are all brothers and sisters of our one heavenly Father who uses each of us in different ways. If we want to compete with each other let it be in the area of service to the poor, forgiveness of our enemies, love of all God’s children no matter what unfortunate labels they are given such as – those with AIDS, prostitutes, homosexuals, alcoholics, drug addicts, divorced people etc.

‘Lord Jesus, we believe that you have ascended to be with your Father and that the real meaning of today’s feast is that each of us has been given adult status in your Church to be your witnesses throughout the world. Give us your powerful Holy Spirit to enable us to be effective witnesses of your loving concern for all’. Amen.

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

13 May 2012

Acts 10.25-26, 34-35, 44-48
1 John 4.7-10
John 15:9-17

A young man got married and he asked his wife if they could go, as part of their honeymoon, to a certain country where his best friend lived as he wanted her to meet him. On meeting the friend he introduced him to his wife with the words: “Here is the man you need to thank for my being alive today. He is what I call a true friend.”

Apparently when they were in high school together the young married man found out that he had had a very severe kidney complaint, with both kidneys in a very serious condition. Even though he had been good friends always with the other young man, he realized then what it was to have a true friend. His friend, on hearing of his possible death due to his serious kidney condition offered him one of his own kidneys. Luckily the kidneys matched and the gift of the kidney saved his life. I suppose not everyone would risk his own life to do this.

In the gospel today Jesus says to his disciples that ‘a man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends’ which he himself did in giving his life on the cross. He assures them that in the gospel he wants to call them, and us too, his friends. His relationship with them and us is not to be that of a servant. A servant is someone who does what his master commands as an obligation or because he is paid to do so. Jesus is emphasizing that his relationship with us is to be that of true friendship.

Then in today’s gospel passage he spells out clearly what that is to be.

He names a number of consequences of his friendship with us:
a) As the Father loves Jesus, so Jesus himself loves us.
b) He invites us to keep the commandments so that his joy will be in us and that our joy may be complete. This is not to be seen as an ethical or a moral command but rather as love in action. It is a friend telling us the secret of how we can be joyful.
c) He is prepared to lay down his life for us
d) He makes known to us all that he has received from his Father. Jesus has no secrets. He keeps nothing back. There is no hidden agenda. What a marvelous programme for marriage and community life.
e) He chooses us even though he gains little or nothing if we don’t respond. He gives his all.
f) He invites us to share in his work by commissioning us for this. He is the one who chooses us.

Above all he invites us to love because God is Love (first reading). We are to love him first and then others. If we open ourselves to his friendship he will give us anything we ask. If we don’t, he won’t be able to do this because we set all kinds of obstacles in the way. If we truly love Jesus we will know what to ask the Father as we would never think of asking anything contrary to God’s will for us and for others.

In each gospel, Jesus never starts calling people in large groups. In John’s Gospel, he calls Andrew and a friend. Andrew goes and calls Peter his brother. Later in that first chapter of John he calls Phillip and Phillip goes off and calls Nathanael. So the process seems to be: Jesus calls friends who, in turn call other friends. This is to underline the absolute call to friendship as part of discipleship. In Mark 1, Jesus calls 2 sets of brothers. Obviously they are not only brothers but friends and close to each other. Again, this is to underline the importance of friendship.

Would you and I describe our relationship with Jesus as one of close friendship? If not, why not? Why not ask him often for the gift of a deep friendship with him. That is what he longs for. We will certainly be the ones to benefit.

So in the gospel today Jesus is emphasizing friendship, love and joy. How much does our spirituality reflect this? In many ways maybe we are better as a Lenten people than an Easter people.

We have the Stations of the Cross but no Stations of Joy, a sacrament for confessing our sins and failures but no special sacrament for expressing our joy and gratitude to God, unless we name it Eucharist. And yet the main thrust of the Christ story is of Tragedy averted, Sadness overcome, Victory achieved.

One of the great experiences for me when in Africa was the marvelous spirit of celebration in our Christian liturgies, often taking 2 hours. Elsewhere one hears people hoping the priest will celebrate a ‘fast mass’ on Sundays. Is this because we cannot spare more time for God? So today God is inviting us to rid ourselves of a religion of sadness and fear. We have created God in our own image – we expected a judge, an avenger, even an executioner. Instead a child was born for us. And a baby who was is stretching out his arms asking for love and friendship. And eventually as a grown man he was crucified.

‘Lord, why is it that many people experience your message so little as joyful news. Open up our hearts Lord to your call to friendship, sharing, joy, love. Help us to be convinced of this GOOD NEWS first in ourselves and then to invite others to the feast of your friendship and love. Amen”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

5 May 2012

Acts 9:26-31
1 John 3:18-24
John 15:1-8 

A certain young man in his twenties had got into bad company. Soon he was drinking heavily and sometimes took drugs. He was warned once at his workplace that if his work did not begin to improve soon, he would be made redundant. In fact, his life was in a mess. About this time he met a young woman to whom he was attracted and he invited her for a meal. Very quickly she realized what was going on in his life as they shared their experiences. When he asked her out again she told him bluntly she didn’t see why she should go given his lifestyle. But she decided to accept provided he showed signs of change. After the second time out together he knew she might be the one he was looking for. As they became closer friends she told him clearly that unless he gave up drugs and heavy drinking she would end their friendship. Bit by bit he did change and they are now engaged. It was his relationship with her and her understanding that ultimately bore fruit. However, it was a process which took time.

Today’s gospel is also about relationships, communion and friendship. Just as without the help of his girlfriend the young man might have had a disastrous life, Jesus is telling us that even more so, we will not have the deep joy and peace we seek unless we are in a deep personal relationship with him and his Father. We will not be true disciples of Jesus if we remain far from him and don’t have his value system. Sadly, many Christians think that their religion is about keeping the commandments and if they do more good than bad in life they will go to heaven. For sure we have commandments and laws to guide us but ultimately Christianity is a Person, Jesus Christ and our relationship with him. Then the commandments will take their proper place. I can go to Mass on Sunday, say some prayers and do some good works which are very good actions. But I can miss out on the essential fact of Christianity, my relationship to Jesus, the Father, the Spirit and to my fellow human beings. Laws in themselves don’t give life.

We know deep down that life is about people, and people are about relationships, and relationships are about communication, sharing, forgiveness, all of which result in real love and friendship. Sometimes people who are lonely, or when they are old seek for something or someone to relate too. We may know people who live alone and who only have a cat or dog for company. But their need for a relationship of some kind is vital for them.

In the Christian life solidarity or a deep relationship with Jesus is the condition for bearing fruit. In the Old Testament, the part of the bible before the time of Jesus, there are a number of times when Israel is described as the vine planted by Yahweh. Sadly it often bore sour grapes because it had cut itself off from Yahweh. It did this by following false gods, worshipping idols of the surrounding peoples. Because it had abandoned Yahweh it got into all kinds of trouble. Eventually the Israelites were exiled for 70 years.

When we as Christians turn aside from worshipping God we naturally seek other gods to replace him. These maybe the gods of pleasure, money, status, drugs, sex or drink etc in a way that these are given a far too great importance in our lives. Usually at this stage we feel we don’t need God. Our own natural abilities will see us through whatever comes up in life. Yet Jesus today says very clearly, using the image of the vine that ‘cut off from him, we can do nothing’. The choice is ours. We can allow God to rule our lives or we feel we don’t need God. If we are trying to be faithful to God, he will prune or purify us in the sense that he will reveal to us what is not life-giving in our lives for ourselves and for those we relate to.

The image of the vine sketches a series of relationships of love which is the bond uniting the Father, Son and the disciples with each other. The key relationship is between Jesus and the disciples.

There is another beautiful image in today’s gospel, that of the ‘home’. Jesus says ‘make your home in me, as I make mine in you’. Isn’t he great to want to do this? Recently a friend was invited out to a business dinner by people he didn’t know too well. Obviously, he dressed fairly formally. He said at the meal because he didn’t know them well, the conversation was very polite and they were all a bit reserved. Then when he got home, he immediately changed into more comfortable clothes and slippers. He relaxed in an easy chair and chatted with his wife and family without having to watch his words. He was ‘at home’, he could relax and be himself. That is the kind of relationship Jesus is inviting to. He wants us to relax in his presence. When we pray we can tell him exactly how we feel or share our problems honestly knowing he will hear us with great love and compassion. We don’t need to put on any airs or graces. We can be ‘at home’ with him as he invites us to be.

‘Lord Jesus, thank you for inviting us into a close relationship, a deep friendship with you. Help us to realize that only you can fulfill our deepest needs. May we express our gratitude to you by the way we reach out to all others, especially those in greatest need of our help and compassion. Amen’

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

29 April 2012

Acts 4:8-12
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18

Some time ago I was at a wedding and at the meal afterwards, there was a couple, a man and a woman across the table from me. They were both about 40 and they seemed to be quite friendly with each other and when we started talking about various things I remarked that they seemed very good friends. At that they laughed and said. We are indeed, we have been married for 16 years and we really enjoy being married. There was something delightful about their relationship, the way they had such familiarity and mutual understanding.

The gospel today is about that. Using a scene very typical of the life of the people Jesus compares himself to the Good Shepherd, the one who really knows his sheep. He cares for them with great gentleness. He has a great familiarity with them. When I worked in Africa, as an effort to generate funds for our community we started raising sheep and we employed a worker to look after them. He was more than a hired man. He genuinely cared for the sheep. Once he was on vacation for some weeks, and when he came back, he remarked immediately that one or two of the sheep had got wounded. We had hired another man to look after the sheep during the other’s vacation but he never noticed anything wrong. It was quite clear to me that the relationship of the two men with the sheep was very different.

Today Jesus is telling us very simply what kind of relationship he has with the Father and the type of relationship he wants with us. Like the couple in the story he wants an easy familiarity with us. We don’t deny that Jesus is God but it would be sad if we used that as an excuse to avoid the deep friendship with us that he desires so much. If we were honest, where would we put our relationship with Jesus? Would it be high up the list of our relationships / or maybe not.

Once a friend of mine was on a long distance flight and he remarked how friendly the air hostesses were and seemed genuinely concerned for the passengers. As they left the plane the passengers were wished a good time by the hostesses. Ten minutes later my friend happened to greet the same hostesses as they left the plane and they just ignored him. He felt that all their care for the passengers was just part of the job they were given to do but once the job was finished, that ended their concern. Jesus leaves us in no doubt that he is not a hired workman, we know he did give his life for his sheep, reflecting the care, concern and love God our Father has for us.

I suppose just as Jesus, the Good Shepherd on earth mirrors God the Good Shepherd, where have we experienced modern-day good shepherds ourselves – dedicated, loyal, caring people. Maybe parents who spend time with their families, teachers who bring the best out of their pupils, nurses, doctors, who do a little bit extra for their patients, especially when you are vulnerable to show that you are special. These people are so good they wouldn’t do it any other way. They genuinely care for others, far beyond the call of duty.

A priest tells the story of being at the scene of a particularly bad accident. A young motor cyclist had had a horrific smash. It was 3 o’clock in the morning and a nurse on her way home from a dance stopped to help. She knelt in the dirt and the blood and her best efforts at mouth to mouth resuscitation were in vain. Finally she cradled the young lad’s head in her arms and cried and prayed. Her beautiful dress was ruined. The priest said it was a scene he would never forget. For him she was:

–          A good nurse

–          A Good Shepherd

–          A Christ figure.

We all know people like these. People who keep alive the work and example of Jesus the Good Shepherd today, often in very difficult circumstances and not always appreciated.

Today is often referred to as Vocation Sunday. Let us pray not only for vocations to the priesthood and the religious life and for the vocation of the laity, but that above all whatever our calling is, we would show that the example of Jesus the Good Shepherd was not in vain.

“Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, help us with the help of the Holy Spirit to be Good Shepherds to each other. Amen”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

22 April 2012

Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
1 John 2:1-5
Luke 24:35-48

Many years ago when I was a seminarian I went for a swim. In the swimming pool before me was a man about 70 years old. I noticed he didn’t swim about but just kept floating in the water. Later when he got out of the pool I saw that he had a very bad limp and his legs were badly scarred. We started talking and he told me that he had been a priest in China and was imprisoned by the communists and tortured in an effort to get him to give up his belief in God. He didn’t, of course, and paid the penalty. The amazing thing was that he wasn’t in the least bitter or hateful towards his former torturers.

Aren’t there many people like him in our world today? People who show the scars that result from being true to themselves. Like the scars of poverty. I know of someone who resigned from a well-paid job rather than involve himself in the dishonest practices of the company he worked for. The scars of shame some people bear because there has been a suicide in the family even though it was not their fault. Isn’t it true that we all pick up many wounds or scars going through life? For some it might be the scars of a broken relationship, the scars of addiction to drink, drugs, etc. The scars some people have from being sexually abused or those which result from from a severe depression.

In the gospel today Jesus bears the scars or wounds of being faithful to God. Rather than being untrue to himself he denounced the religious leaders of his day for leading the people astray. Many of these leaders were mainly interested in being powerful, rich, looking after themselves at the expense of the people entrusted to them by God. So Jesus appears to the disciples in the gospel to convince them that it is really the same person whom they knew before as their master and leader. Now glorified, he still carries the marks of his wounds, his scars. The simple truth is that there is no such thing as Christianity without the cross. If one follows Jesus in life he / she will bear scars or wounds. Jesus went back to his father with his wounds. He is saying that it is o.k. for us to be wounded too. That is how God loves and accepts us.

Sometimes people come to me and say, ‘Father, I have prayed and prayed for God to remove such and such a cross from my life but God doesn’t seem to care, to listen’. Of course, God does listen. Maybe the answer for the person is that in spite of a very difficult, life situation, they get the courage and strength to continue, when others would give up. Jesus never promised to take away all our crosses but he did promise to walk by our side carrying them with us.

Recently, I met a family with a badly handicapped child. Before birth, the mother knew this was a big possibility, yet she decided not to have an abortion. When the child was born handicapped the grandmother said. ‘Well, I suppose that we will all have to show an extra amount of love for this child’

Sometimes difficult situations draw incredible courage and love from people facing them. But let us not in any way romanticise them. They are not to be sought after but if they do come, Jesus has been there before us. He knows it is very costly to be faithful to God. A German theologian called it the cost of discipleship. He himself was hanged by the Nazis for denouncing the evils of Hitler and Nazism.

When Jesus appears in the gospel, he asks the disciples for a piece of fish in order to eat it and encourage them to believe it is really he who has risen. He didn’t ask for much, a piece of grilled fish. God continues to ask each of us to give whatever we can, to share with him what is possible. He still does it, but today he wants us to share with his body here on earth, his children now living in our world. So each of us has this ability – to share what we can with Jesus, now present in his people. It will still cost and maybe we will be scarred or wounded in responding to his call. The scars of those who try to look after an aging parent, of the great patience demanded from caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease. The scars of continuing to love a teenage son who has disgraced the family by taking to drugs. The scars of accepting without a judgmental attitude and truly loving a member of the family found to be suffering from AIDS etc.

The Good News is that God gives each of us the capacity to be faithful to him in those around us. Rather than running away from the problems if we try and deal with them, knowing God is there with us, then the cross, the wounds, the scars, the crucifixion will be a prelude to the glory the Risen Christ experienced. But this deep peace and joy, which comes with the resurrection, is already ours here below. Heaven begins already as St. John says. Today we live in a world for which pleasure is the goal for very many. ‘If you want it, do it or have it’. Sadly, we know what results when people follow blindly the pursuit of pleasure. Jesus never claimed that following him would be easy. He once said to Peter when many started leaving him and abandoning him. “Will you also go away?” Perhaps today Jesus is putting the same question to us. Hopefully our answer will be that of Peter – ‘Lord to whom shall we go. You have the message of eternal life and we believe that you are the Holy One of God’

‘Lord Jesus, crucified and risen, give us this conviction too. Amen’

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

Easter Sunday – 8 April 2012

Acts 10:34, 37-43
Colossians 3:1-4
John 20:1-9

Many years ago I knew a young married couple, very happily married. Then after 15 years of marriage the husband died suddenly. Sadly they had had no children. For the widow life all but ended with her husband’s unexpected death. She said to me at that time that the sun would never shine for her in her life. She didn’t see any point in living. She was totally devastated. This went on for about 4 years. Being the quiet retiring person she was, she had depended very much on her husband and after his death, she felt totally alone. Others helped her for awhile but then they had to look after their own families. Then with the help of a few close friends and her faith in God, she gradually started to live again. In fact, because her husband was no longer there to depend on, she had to develop talents she never knew she had. Bit by bit she grew in self-confidence and now this woman thinks nothing of travelling to the far end of the wold alone where before she would hardly go a 100 kilometers. She had matured out of all recognition and the sun certainly shines again for her in her life. But I know that it was her faith in God and the support of a few friends, which made all the difference. But it took time.

Perhaps Easter Sunday is something like that. Up to the moment of the Resurrection, after the terrible death of Jesus on Good Friday, the disciples of Jesus were devastated. The one they had leaned on was gone. They never imagined Jesus would be taken prisoner and crucified. In that instant their dreams evaporated like that of the woman when her husband died suddenly. The disciples experienced a dreadful loss and no doubt were shattered, their hopes taken away in those short few days. They were also afraid for their lives and half expected to be caught and punished by the religious leaders who plotted the death of Jesus and had him crucified. For them too at that terrible time, they never expected the sun to shine for them again in their lives.

In today’s gospel, a woman no less, Mary of Magdala reports to Peter and John that the tomb is empty. In nearly all the Resurrection accounts, it is the women who first experience the Risen Jesus. Women at that time as in many places still were looked down upon. This may be why the disciples did not believe them. It seems that the proclamation of life of the Risen Jesus starts with the very people who were marginalised and who count for little in society. In any case the curiosity of the 2 is awakened and they run to the tomb. Peter sees the linen cloths on the ground in an empty tomb. He did no more than merely ascertain the facts. However, it is said of John that he ‘saw and he believed’ even though his own faith was not yet perfect because the full impact of the vision of faith of the Scriptures had no yet dawned on him. It took Thomas even some days to surrender and accept – very consoling for us. To discover fully how rich faith is, takes time and growth and God in incredibly understanding and patient.

Maybe we all stand condemned in some way by the woman interviewed on an international radio programme. Because of modern technology, after an operation she was able to see for the first time in her life at the age of 54 and her comments in that radio interview were. “I cannot understand how all of you who were born with the gift of sight can be so unmoved by the beauty of life. You seem to take it all for granted – the beauty of a flower, the marvels of dimples on the hands of a new born baby, the serenity in the faces of old people who are content with life.etc. etc. I feel she is correct. Faith is like a new way of seeing. The resurrection does make a difference. If we believe our eyes are opened to enormous possibilities. Jesus was in a tomb for 3 days and then burst free from its darkness and the stone that imprisoned him. For me, that is my experience of resurrection. Whilst the empty tomb has its importance I know that I have experienced much freedom because of the gift of faith in the resurrection of Jesus God gives me. Like Mary Magdalene who went in the dark and found an empty tomb Since Jesus was not there it was indeed darkness, but later in meeting Jesus a new light dawned for her and all other believers.

The resurrection doesn’t mean that we gloss over pain, suffering and difficult daily life situations, but it does give us a new vista or outlook on life. It gives us the freedom to face the dark side of life, and even death with confidence knowing that Jesus broke the bonds of human limitation and slavery in our lives. Jesus is alive and if we really have experienced the joy of the Risen Jesus in our daily lives we don’t have to wait until we die to experience resurrection now – deep joy, peace and serenity because of Jesus, now alive and out and about. In the first reading today Peter says that he and the disciples are now witnesses of all they saw Jesus doing even if for a few days they were paralysed by his death and seeming failure. If you and I have experienced the Risen Jesus at work in our lives, like the women who lost her husband suddenly, if we are faithful despite the great difficulty of these times of loss Jesus is there with us then and he will surely help us experience the sun shining again.

“Thank you Lord Jesus for the gift of our faith in the resurrection. May we be witnesses of gospel joy and peace to others till searching and doubting. Amen.”

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

PALM (PASSION) SUNDAY – 1 April 2012

Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Mark 14:1-15, 47

Many years ago a famous artist wanted to paint a picture of Jesus as a young man. He searched around for a model and eventually found a very handsome young man. Years later the same artist wanted to paint a picture of the Last Supper, but had difficulty in finding a model for Judas. Eventually he did, someone with an evil-looking face which put fear into people who looked at it. You can imagine the artist’s surprise when he discovered that it was the same man he had chosen as his models for Jesus and Judas. Between the first painting of Jesus and the second on of Judas at the Last Supper the young man had got into bad company and had committed many crimes. This was reflected in his face. From a young man with much potential he had become an evil person and failed to reach his capacity for greatness.

We should see this Holy Week as one unit. It includes the suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus as well as the sending of the Holy Spirit. There is the joy of today’s opening gospel of Jesus entering Jerusalem and getting an enthusiastic welcome from the crowds. But soon the picture changes to darkness, suffering and death. Very probably some of the people who welcomed Jesus enthusiastically on Palm Sunday with shouts of ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ were among those who cried out for his death a few days later, ‘Crucify him, crucify him’. Just like the story in the beginning, the same young man who acted as a model for Jesus also modeled as Judas. Do we not do the same from time to time?

Each one of us has this capacity, that for greatness and that for evil. We all know from our own personal experience that we can do many good acts, but we are conscious that we also do what we know is wrong, evil and sinful. We have the ability both to help and to hurt others, sometimes within a matter of minutes. For me the amazing fact is that Jesus who is God never punishes us, certainly doesn’t send anyone to hell. He is sad, very sad for sure when he sees that our bad or evil behavior hurts others but he never, never, never punishes us. If you/I read the gospel account of Mark’s Passion narrative today amazingly there isn’t one word spoken by Jesus about condemning, even those who put him to death. He is upset when they are unkind to the woman who anoints him, but not statement about punishment or that he will get even with us later. This continues to astonish me as and it confirms John 3.17 where it says that ‘God sent his Son into the world not to condemn it but to save it’. This is probably the most difficult aspect to accept fully about God. God never punishes, God never judges unto condemnation, occasionally he judges unto conversion in the hope that people who cannot accept his gentle approach might be pushed to respond by his challenging words. My mind is constantly overwhelmed with the idea of a God who does not punish – ever. It is we chose not to accept God’s love, God’s friendship. The rejection of God comes from our side. The rejection of us by God is just not possible since GOD IS LOVE. But God will never force his love, his friendship on us. It is always an invitation to us.

In today’s gospel story in Mark, Jesus says or does very little. It is the various actors in the drama who decide for themselves what their relation to Jesus will be. They either accept or reject Jesus. It is the same for us. We decide by our way of life whether we want to be for Jesus and accept his way or we turn away and go our own way. We choose. It is up to us and God will not force us. Today’s gospel is another offer from God to us. Will we choose Jesus today or not?

The key to today’s Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday liturgical celebration is the second reading from St.Paul’s letter to the Philippians. “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus”. Though Jesus was in the form of God he emptied himself and went down to the lowest depths of human degradation and humiliation, taking on all that we deserved from our sinful, non-loving behaviour. Dying naked on the cross and as a convicted criminal his totally self-sacrificing attitude was accepted by God the father. Jesus descended to the very depths of degradation and darkness, to the depths of feeling rejected by God that many experience. He answered with a totally loving surrender and so won for us the possibility to do the same no matter how low we sink as humans. This shows us in the most profound way what Jesus in his love for us was prepared to do to draw us back to his embrace.

“Lord Jesus, your love for us is beyond understanding. No wonder St. Paul described it as the foolish love of God. Help us to turn to you fully in humble gratitude. You alone are the Way, the Truth and the Life. You alone are Love. Give us the Holy Spirit to love you and others as fully as we can for this is what you ask of us. Help us to show to all how valuable they are to you no matter how far they have sunk into evil patterns. Amen.

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA

25 March 2012 

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Hebrews 5:7-9
John 12;20 –33

Some years ago the late pop idol Michael Jackson came to Ireland to give a concert. The tickets for the concert were very expensive. Nevertheless, a young relative of mine aged about 17 at the time, wanted so much to see Michael Jackson in a live concert that she went to great trouble to get a ticket. Even to get into the stadium where the concert was staged demanded a lot of struggle due to the crowds and the tight security. The people had to be in their seats 5 hours before Michael Jackson appeared on stage. However, those present didn’t consider that as too great an effort. They wanted to see Michael Jackson at any cost.

In the gospel today there are some Greeks, that is some non-Jews who want to see Jesus too, so they go first to Philip and Philip calls on Andrew and both go to Jesus to tell him. The Greeks’ request to Philip was ‘we would like to see Jesus’ I don’t know what they were hoping to see when meeting Jesus but his answer is first of all rather strange. He talks about a process of dying. In reality if they or you or me want to see Jesus we must know what to be prepared for. Seeing Jesus is not just like seeing Michael Jackson where we have a very pleasant and enjoyable time and go home probably feeling very good. To SEE Jesus is not just to look at him, which is presumably what those Greeks wanted (maybe like Zaccheus who climbed a sycamore tree to get a better look at Jesus as he passed by underneath and got far more in that Jesus went to his house to eat with him). To SEE Jesus is to enter totally into his way of thinking, to understand WHY he had to suffer and die and rise again. Like the grain of wheat, Jesus had to let go of everything, including his own life, in order to bring life to himself and many others. In the process both he and we will be transformed. If we cannot see this as the core of Jesus’ life we have not really seen him. But Jesus goes further and says that we must have the same way of thinking. Anyone who loves or clings to his life will lose it. (We think of someone like Howard Hughes the billionaire who lived the last part of his life as a lonely, fear-filled recluse).

Are we ready for what Jesus asks? Are we afraid to let everything go if necessary? Is Jesus asking too much? Let us have no doubt. Jesus too was afraid, deeply afraid. Today’s gospel says it clearly ‘Now my soul is troubled. Father, save me from this hour’. But as the second reading today, the Letter to the Hebrews says ‘he learned to obey through suffering’. Imagine that if we can.

This then is the core of Jesus’ message. To see him is to lose one’s life. Not easy to accept. Yet to die is to give life and we do this and often are not aware we are following the pattern of Jesus

We think of parents with 3 children. Another pregnancy not planned for occurs and they accept to give life rather than making a different choice, which would make things less demanding for them. We think of priests, sisters, many good lay people who renounce a family of their own and go to war-torn or famine stricken countries to aid the victims often at great cost. Some give their lives in the process. We think too of many young and not so young people who commit themselves wholeheartedly to the well being of others, people living alone, handicapped people etc. We think of the efforts married people go to bring up their children with values often counter to those in a purely consumerist or materialist world etc. etc.

It is true that giving oneself in love for the sake of others is an exacting process. Yet the paradox seems to be that it is in dying to our own desires and needs to serve others that we are much happier as a result. It seems to be a clear law of nature, that in seeking our own happiness and comfort only we will never find it. But like Jesus, it is in seeking to make others happy and trying to alleviate their sufferings even at much cost to us, that brings happiness to ourselves too. Jesus wasn’t trying to tell us in today’s gospel that if we follow him that in dying to our own desires and needs at least a good deal of the time, we will be rewarded with heaven. He is telling us that in trying to make others happier now that we ourselves will also share in this now, which I presume what heaven is about. We will continue this experience of happiness in the next life.

“Lord Jesus, we would like to see you too. But sometimes we are afraid to get to close to you because we have a good idea of what it may involve. Help us to see that following you is far more than just saying prayers and going to Mass in daily. Help us to live out the consequences of our prayers and masses in giving ourselves for others. Give us your powerful Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see you and to have the same attitudes and outlook as you had. Amen.’

Fr. Jim Kirstein, SMA