LITURGY NOTES FOR THE 28th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Twenty Eighth Sunday of the Year

October 15^th 2017

Suggested formula for recognition of indigenous people and their land.

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand

We pay our respects to them for their care of the land

May we walk gently and respectfully upon the land.

or

I acknowledge the living culture of the ……..people,

the traditional custodians of the land we stand on,

and pay tribute to the unique role they play in the life of this region.

or

As we gather today let us acknowledge the local traditional custodians of this land,

and the first people that live in our own respective areas

.........for they have performed age-old ceremonies

of storytelling, music, dance, celebrations and renewal

and along with all Aboriginal people,

hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal Australia.

We acknowledge this living culture and its unique role in the life of Australia today

and acknowledge with honour and respect our Elders

past, present and future and pay our respects to those who have,

and still do, guide us with their wisdom.

Finally, we acknowledge with shame that much suffering

still endures to the present generation.

We pray today with faith and hope

for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and ourselves

that God’s mercy and justice will walk

in our lives, our communities and in the heart of our nation.

‘We have passed beyond the imaginable limits of violence.

Can we pass equally beyond the imaginable limits of non-violence?’

          

Readings

First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-10

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 23:1-3, 3-4, 5-6

Second Reading: Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20

Gospel Reading: Matthew 22:1-10

Penitential Rite

§  Jesus, you offer us the joy of forgiveness, acceptance and love: Jesus, have mercy.

§  Christ, you came to invite all peoples into your circle of peace: Christ, have mercy.

§  Jesus, you invite to your banquet of love the weak and the humble, as well as the strong and the healthy: Jesus, have mercy.

Or

• Christ Jesus, you are bread for the journey: Jesus, have mercy.
• Christ Jesus, you are the wine of compassion: Christ, have mercy.
• Christ Jesus, you invite us to feast at your table: Jesus, have mercy.

Opening Prayer

God of goodness and kindness,

your love is the foundation of our lives

and you invite all peoples to the banquet of life.

May we welcome with open arms

people from all places and all nations,

the poor and the rich, the weak and the strong.

Prayer over the Gifts

God of goodness and kindness,

you prepared a table

for the sick and the healthy,

the poor and the rich,

for saints and for sinners.

May Jesus’ presence

rouse us from all fear

and lead us to the feast to which you invite all.

Deliver Us

Deliver us, God of goodness and kindness,

from our fearfulness

that prevents us from accepting your invitation

to follow your Son.

Keep us from all that divides us

and lead us forward in hope

to the coming among us in power and mercy

of our Christ Jesus, our.

R/ For the kingdom..

Prayer after Communion

God of goodness and kindness,

we have celebrated the liberating presence

of Christ Jesus among us

Accompany us in life

through the Holy Spirit of your Son,

that together we may make

the impossible come true:

a world of justice and love.

Prayers of the Faithful (Please note that some of the prayers below are specifically appropriate for Anti-Poverty Week beginning on Sunday October 15. They have been edited but resources from 2015 Anti-Poverty Week Prayer Guide prepared by the Salvation Army and Caritas Australia)

Introduction: Let us pray that all those we encounter may hear and accept the Good News of Jesus to participate in the banquet of life. Let us say: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God will provide for all peoples a banquet of food and wine, may we be mindful of, and struggle for, a fair share of the earth’s resources for all peoples and that the poor nations achieve debt relief, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God will remove the mourning veil that covers the peoples and nations of the world, may we engage with out world to bring peace and freedom to those we encounter each day, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God will wipe away the tears from every face, we remember the people living with HIV/AIDS and living with the Ebola epidemic and seek to achieve a fair distribution of health care to those unable to access it, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God calls all peoples to share in the banquet of life and peace, may we work for the total inclusion of all the excluded people who remain at the doors of the church and society, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God has given us the gift of creation, may our hearts be converted so that we are mindful of the waste, neglect and destruction that we bring to the environment, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God has lovingly made all people with dignity, may those who are teachers of the Gospel work to overcome the recurring discrimination against people who are socially, economically and ethnically different, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God will wipe away the tears of those who weep, may we give consolation, strength and seek justice for those for those who have experienced loss of loved ones recently and those who have been deprived of liberty let us pray: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God has given us many good things for our sustenance and life together, our world throws food away and wastes water as people are hungry and thirsty in many parts of the world, especially in East Africa: may we find ways for those with much to share with those who have too little food, water, education and healthcare, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God has given us Jesus as the Peace-child: may we find the way to peace for every mother’s child in a world where there is war among the nations and violence within our cities, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because God sends people to help in the social services of our nation, we pray that their resolve be strengthened and that we see God’s plan for creation, we pray:  Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because leaders and politicians have the power to bring about change, we pray that they will in struggling with all forms of poverty in our nation take the side of the poor and resist the voices of greed, profit, self-interest and complacency and make bold choices for the well-being of all people, we pray:Be our life and joy, O God.

·         Because many people without shelter have been neglected, may our nation adopt policies and strategies eradicate homelessness and commit to radical hospitality as a way of life, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God

·         Because God’s Son became a refugee with no place to call his own, may we look with mercy on people who are fleeing from danger, who are homeless and hungry, by working to bring them relief, advocate for justice, and seek to inspire generosity and compassion in the hearts of all especially those in leadership, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God

·         Because many people within our nation live physical and mental illness, and addictions, we pray for healing and that medical professionals will be able to have adequate resources to minister to those in need without judgmentalism or biase, we pray: Be our life and joy, O God

Concluding Prayer: God of goodness and kindness, you hear the prayers of those who call upon you.  Hear our prayers that we may be strengthened to live the life you have offered us knowing that we can do all things in him who strengthens us.

Notices:

October 15 World Mission Sunday

October 15 International Day of Rural Women

October 15 Anti-Poverty Week begins

‘School should be a place where each young person

is known and cared for and a place which is inclusive

and open, regardless of personal or family

circumstance. If young people don’t feel included

because of poverty-related reasons, they are very

much at risk of severe, lifelong disadvantage.’

Gerard Stafford, Former School Principal

Poverty, hardship and education

_ About 10%of Australian children (that is, about half a million children) live in a family which is suffering poverty or serious hardship.

_ More than one quarter of all homeless people are families with children.

_ Children from poorer families are six times more likely to go to school without breakfast than students from wealthier backgrounds.

_ Families pay more of the total cost of their children’s education than in most other developed countries.

_ Social disadvantage is the main cause of differences between children’s level of educational achievements (greater than in many other countries).

_ Children from poorer families are twice as likely as those from wealthy families to have very low levels of literacy and numeracy.

_ 40%of students from disadvantaged backgrounds leave school before year 12, but only 20%of students from high socio-economic backgrounds.

_ Children who do not complete year 12 or its equivalent are twice as likely to become unemployed as those who do.

October 17 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

October 19 Sinking of the SIEV X (2001)

Further Resources

The Cure of Troy

Human beings suffer.
They torture one another.
They get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured.

History says, Don’t hope
On the side of the grave,’
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles.
And cures and healing wells.

Call miracle self-healing,
The utter self revealing
Double-take of feeling.
If there’s fire on the mountain
And lightening and storm
And a god speaks from the sky

That means someone is hearing
The outcry and the birth-cry
Of new life at its term.
It means once in a lifetime
That justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.
Seamus Heaney

But then, once in a lifetime
the longed for tidal wave
of justice can rise up,
and hope and history rhyme.
Believe that a further shore
is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles.

Seamus Heaney, 1939-2013

For a nonviolent person, the whole world is one family

Mohandas Gandhi

Women are responsible for their children, they cannot sit back, waste time and see them starve.

Wangari Maathai, environmentalist, an advocate for women's rights, an anti-poverty crusader, a political reformer, an educator, and an international peacemaker, was the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize. In Kenya, she served as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife. She founded the Green Belt movement in Kenya..

African women in general need to know that it's OK for them to be the way they are -- to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence.

Wangari Maathai

The privilege of a higher education, especially outside Africa, broadened my original horizon and encouraged me to focus on the environment, women and development in order to improve the quality of life of people in my country in particular and in the African region in general.

Wangari Maathai

All through the ages the African people have made efforts to deliver themselves from oppressive forces. It is important that a critical mass of Africans do not accept the verdict that the world tries to push down their throat so as to give up and succumb. The struggle must continue. It is important to nurture any new ideas and initiatives which can make a difference for Africa.

Wangari Maathai

All of us have a God in us, and that God is the spirit that unites all life, everything that is on this planet. It must be this voice that is telling me to do something, and I am sure it's the same voice that is speaking to everybody on this planet - at least everybody who seems to be concerned about the fate of the world, the fate of this planet.

Wangari Maathai

We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind. To do so effectively, the world needs a global ethic with values which give meaning to life experiences and, more than religious institutions and dogmas, sustain the non-material dimension of humanity. Mankind's universal values of love, compassion, solidarity, caring and tolerance should form the basis for this global ethic which should permeate culture, politics, trade, religion and philosophy. It should also permeate the extended family of the United Nations.

Wangari Maathai

If you have men (sic) who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men (sic) who will deal likewise with their fellow men (sic).

Attributed to St Francis of Assisi.

The future isn't something hidden in a corner. The future is something we build in the present.

Paulo Freire

Material goods and the way we are developing the use of them should be seen as God's gifts to us. They are meant to bring out in each one of us the image of God. We must never lose sight of how we have been created: from the earth and from the breath of God.

Pope John Paul II, On Social Concern, #29

The only dream worth having... is to dream that you will live while you’re alive and die only when you’re dead... To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or to complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.

Arundhati Roy, from The Algebra of Infinite Justice

The most profound motive for our work is this knowing that we share in creation. Learning the meaning of creation in our daily lives will help us to live holier lives. It will fill the world with the spirit of Christ, the spirit of justice, charity, and peace.

Pope John Paul II, On Human Work, #25

As individuals and as a nation, therefore, we are called to make a fundamental 'option for the poor.' The obligation to evaluate social and economic activity from the viewpoint of the poor and the powerless arises from the radical command to love one's neighbor as one's self. Those who are marginalized and whose rights are denied have privileged claims if society is to provide justice for all. This obligation is deeply rooted in Christian belief.

U.S. Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All, #87

What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man! Who can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment and death itself in vindication of his own liberty, and the next moment ... inflict on his fellow men [women] a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose.

Thomas Jefferson

We have pacified some thousands of the islanders and buried them; destroyed their fields; burned their villages, and turned their widows and orphans out-of-doors; furnished heartbreak by exile to some dozens of disagreeable patriots; subjugated the remaining ten millions by Benevolent Assimilation, which is the pious new name of the musket; we have acquired property in the three hundred concubines and other slaves of our business partner Sultan of Sulu, and hoisted our protecting flag over that swag. And so, by the Providences of God - and the phrase is the government's, not mine - we are a World Power.

Mark Twain

The vested interests - if we explain the situation by their influence - can only get the public to act as they wish by manipulating public opinion, by playing either upon the public's indifference, confusions, prejudices, pugnacities or fears. And the only way in which the power of the interests can be undermined and their maneuvers defeated is by bringing home to the public the danger of its indifference, the absurdity of its prejudices, or the hollowness of its fears; by showing that it is indifferent to danger where real danger exists; frightened by dangers which are nonexistent.

Sir Norman Angell 1872 - 1967

It is in the nature of imperialism that citizens of the imperial power are always among the last to know--or care--about circumstances in the colonies.

Bertrand Russell

Iniquity, committed in this world, produces not fruit immediately, but, like the earth, in due season, and advancing by little and little, it eradicates the man who committed it. ... justice, being destroyed, will destroy; being preserved, will preserve; it must never therefore be violated.

Manu 1200 bc

Every person born in this world represents something new,

something that never existed before,

something original and unique...

and every man or woman's foremost task is the

actualisation of his or her unique, unprecedented and

never-recurring possibilities.

Martin Buber, Jewish Philosopher

The worst forms of tyranny, or certainly the most successful ones, are not those we rail against but those that so insinuate themselves into the imagery of our consciousness, and the fabric of our lives, as not to be perceived as tyranny.

Michael Parenti

We must move past indecision to action. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City.

This world is full of suffering, distress, violence and catastrophes. People must decide: does that concern you or not? I say: look around, analyse the problems, ask yourself what you can do and set out!

Noam Chomsky, recipient of the Sydney Peace Prize, 2011

Well I'll make an effort to live up to the reputation of being disreputable.

Noam Chomsky.

Either there will be a world without war or there won’t be a world.

Noam Chomsky.

There is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.

Noam Chomsky.

Anarchists try to identify power structures. They urge those exercising power to justify themselves. This justification does not succeed most of the time. Then anarchists work at unmasking and mastering the structures, whether they involve patriarchal families, a Mafia international system or the private tyrannies of the economy, the corporation.  As soon as a person identifies, challenges and overcomes illegitimate power, he or she is an anarchist. Most people are anarchists.

Noam Chomsky.

The voice of protest, of warning, of appeal is never more needed than when the clamor of fife and drum, echoed by the press and too often by the pulpit, is bidding all men fall in and keep step and obey in silence the tyrannous word of command. Then, more than ever, it is the duty of the good citizen not to be silent.

Charles Eliot Norton, (1827-1908) American scholar

It is one thing to wish to have truth on our side, and another to wish sincerely to be on the side of truth.

Richard Whately, On the Love of Truth

Mourn not the dead that in the cool earth lie, but rather mourn the apathetic … the coward and the meek who see the world's great anguish and its wrong, and dare not speak.

Ralph Chaplin

Some people want to see God with their eyes as they see a cow and to love him as they love their cow - they love their cow for the milk and cheese and profit it makes them. This is how it is with people who love God for the sake of outward wealth or inward comfort. They do not rightly love God when they love him for their own advantage. Indeed, I tell you the truth, any object you have on your mind, however good, will be a barrier between you and the inmost truth.

Meister Eckhart

People must realize that even with all these comforts, all this money and a GNP that increases every year, they are still not happy. They need to understand that the real culprits are our unceasing desires. Our wants have no end.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, ‘Imagine All the People’

Each of the Iraqi children killed by the United States was our child. Each of the prisoners tortured in Abu Ghraib was our comrade. Each of their screams was ours. When they were humiliated, we were humiliated. The U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq - mostly volunteers in a poverty draft from small towns and poor urban neighborhoods - are victims just as much as the Iraqis of the same horrendous process, which asks them to die for a victory that will never be theirs.

Arundhati Roy, ’Tide? Or Ivory Snow? Public Power in the Age of Empire.’

Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying as his principle: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

It’s a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand.

Madeleine L’Engle

The bird who has eaten cannot fly with the bird that is hungry.

Native American (Omaha tribe) proverb

When it is genuine, when it is born of the need to speak, no one can stop the human voice. When denied a mouth, it speaks with the hands or the eyes, or the pores, or anything at all. Because every single one of us has something to say to the others, something that deserves to be celebrated or forgiven by others.

Eduardo Galeano, The Book of Embraces

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

Oscar Wilde

We must now surrender to the obligation to understand and to care. We must surrender ourselves to becoming conscious, thinking members of the human race. We must put down the temptation to powerlessness and surrender to the questions of the moment.

Joan Chittister osb

Feeling that morality has nothing to do with the way you use the resources of the world is an idea that can’t persist much longer. If it does, then we won’t.

Barbara Kingsolver, Backtalk

Great social forces are the mere accumulation of individual actions. Let the future say of our generation that we sent forth mighty currents of hope, and that we worked together to heal the world

Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty

My heart is moved by all I cannot save: so much has been destroyed. I have to cast my lot with those who age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute power.

Adrienne Rich, excerpted from ’Natural Resources’ in The Fact of a Doorframe: Selected Poems 1950-2001.

Today, the same Christ is in people who are unwanted, unemployed, uncared for, hungry, naked, and homeless. They seem useless to the state and to society; nobody has time for them. It is you and I as Christians, worthy of the love of Christ if our love is true, who must find them, and help them; they are there for the finding.

Mother Teresa

Wedding Feast Matthew 22:1-14

He is off

the planet again!

This Jesus

who tells folk stories

which upend

normality and our

credulity suspend!

Where on earth

is royalty ignored?

Since

when does the guest

stay away

from the wedding feast

of a prince?

Where’s any king

who would open his table

to the street?

To garbage collectors,

back packers, buskers,

homeless kids

and the dead beat?

One thing’s sure:

Christ’s quirky kingdom

cannot be

of this world’s making.

Here kings swank

and royal halls are crammed

with pomposity.

B.D. Prewer 1995

If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless, since their chief purpose is to make us bear with patience the injustice of our fellows.

Molière [Jean-Baptiste Poquelin] (1622-1673) French playwright

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: that is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

John Kenneth Galbraith, economist and author

God does not have hands, we do. Our hands are God’s. It is up to us what God will see and hear, up to us, what God will do. Humanity is the organ of consciousness of the universe ... Without our eyes the Holy One of Being would be blind.

Lawrence Kushner, Jewish writer and speaker.

There have been periods of history in which episodes of terrible violence occurred but for which the word violence was never used.... Violence is shrouded in justifying myths that lend it moral legitimacy, and these myths for the most part kept people from recognizing the violence for what it was. The people who burned witches at the stake never for one moment thought of their act as violence; rather they thought of it as an act of divinely mandated righteousness. The same can be said of most of the violence we humans have ever committed.

Gil Bailie

Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud. I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace.

Charles Sumner

Once there is seeing, there must be acting.

Otherwise, what is the use of seeing?

Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk and peace activist.

How many does it take to metamorphose wickedness into righteousness? One man must not kill. If he does, it is murder.... But a state or nation may kill as many as they please, and it is not murder. It is just, necessary, commendable, and right. Only get people enough to agree to it, and the butchery of myriads of human beings is perfectly innocent. But how many does it take?

Adin Ballou, The Non-Resistant, February 5, 1845

Nonviolence is less a matter of ‘not killing’ and more a matter of showing compassion, of saving and redeeming, of being a healing community. One can only choose between doing good to the person placed in one's path, or to do them evil. To do good is to love a person; but not to do that is as good as killing them. To love someone is to restore them physically, socially, and spiritually. To neglect and postpone this restoration is already to kill.

André Trocmé

Reflections on the readings……

Isaiah’s vision reflects God’s vision – one that wants the good or shalom for all people. Where there is poverty and injustice, God wants people fed and justly treated. It has been said that the human mind is a factory of idol making. Whether our idols are gun ownership, nationalism, the flag and anthem, prosperity, consumerism - they tend to be grounded in ideologies that put our interests ahead of the well-being of others and God. God treasures innovation and creativity, even colouring outside the lines; yet true creativity – true freedom – emerges when we blend our vision with God’s vision for the well-being of ourselves and the world. Where there is nationalism and ethnic and racial division, God seeks to destroy whatever divides people. Do the people who prefer to put their trust in power, privilege and possessions really provide us with security? Or protect us from crisis? Isaiah knew of heaps of stones that once fortified the homes of the proud no longer stand. They failed to accomplish their task of keeping people safe and secure. The privileged may have walls to hide behind, but these are temporary. Isaiah is keen to reveal a God who is a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy and those in distress.

The message of the consumer society to those caught at the lowest rung of society is loud and unrelenting: You are a failure. Popular culture celebrates those who wallow in power, wealth and self-obsession and perpetuates the lie that if you work hard and are clever you too can become a ‘success’. The great gap between the world of glitter broadly understood and the bleak world they inhabit manifests itself in our diseases of despair—suicides, addictions, mass shootings, hate crimes and depression. Our oppressors have skillfully acculturated us to blame ourselves for our oppression. Chris Hedges (Faces of Pain, Faces of Hope  Truthdig https://www.truthdig.com/articles/faces-pain-faces-hope/) says that it is not by building pathetic, tiny monuments to ourselves that we become autonomous and free human beings but through acts of self-sacrifice, by recovering a sense of humility, by affirming the sanctity of others and thereby the sanctity of ourselves.  

This vision reflected in today gospel parable is different to the culture of narcissism and greed. The banquet symbolises God’s desire to gather and to be connected to all people. It is not about alienation or separation or sifting people in or out. Today this might be expressed in the term ‘option for the poor.’ God’s reign is like a wedding feast prepared for his son. We have heard the excuses. The one with the farm was too attached to his material possessions to hear God’s invitation; those with business interests preferred profit and wealth rather than a meaningful relational life. The violent ones drowned out God’s challenge because of their greed and selfishness.

The parable reveals Jesus’ love for us and the limits to which he will go to make sure that we have received this inclusive invitation.  But we can miss sharing in Jesus’ vision and the invitations for intimacy which includes doing justice, making peace, reflecting and seeing in the face of the other the face of Christ. We can be distracted by consumerism, discrimination, militarism, sexism, racism, fear, isolation, rugged individualism, nationalism, etc. To accept the invitation is the opposite to the spirit that puts nations on the verge of war or conflict; it is the very opposite to the spirit that puts us in a world of radical economic inequality and injustice; it is opposite to the spirit that would have us turn away from people who seek protection and security. This is not the agenda of those present at the banquet.

Matthew was putting this into the gospel at a time when the community had begun to be somewhat complacent and forgotten the thrill of making the reign of God happen, of reaching out to the poor and the downcast and the oppressed and drawing them in. Matthew was telling the parable to a community that needed to be energized, made aware once more of what the work of the Christian community is. It is important that we also acknowledge that many Christians have disregarded or devalued God’s continuing invitation to join the feast through the centuries. We need only consider how the church still continues to safeguard admission to the Eucharist where there are limitations on those who are welcome.

Matthew's parable seems strikingly violent. It cannot be taken literally. It is about generosity and rejection of generosity. In the face of rejection, all the street people are welcome. These images remind us the threat and subversiveness of God Reign in a world so huge social and economic barriers. Wealth and social status had God's approval. The rich and privileged would always be so, and the poor would always be in their service or their debt. The great upset in today’s parable is the general and open invitation. Social barriers are broken. What were the seats of the privileged are now open to anyone. Everyone is equal. The final shock or upset is that all are equal in God’s reign. This destroys any idea that one’s place within the Reign depended upon one's standing in sacred geography. God's Reign is universal - for all peoples and cultures.  This new era includes all people without ethnic, cultural or social bias.

The bottom line is that God’s reign is celebrated with the destitute and sinners. Table fellowship occurs with the poor, with people who seem to the world to be of no account, people who fall through society's cracks and live on the streets or hang around street corners. Some sleep in the underground stations, or on presbytery porches or underneath our churches and cathedrals. Mostly these are homeless people living with mental illness who risk abuse, assault or more seriously death. But this is where salvation takes place. Pope Francis has intimated that  God's loving kindness and mercy is attracted by our need, not our achievements or virtues. But we must also accept a God who becomes so vulnerable as to join us where we are.

The treatment of the guest seems puzzling. It has been suggested that this was added by Matthew to deal with conflict between the Christian and Jewish community. God is not a real stickler for propriety and protocol. Jesus’ social encounters show the importance of love and friendship. It is this man's fault that he does not have the proper garment having just come off the street and no less dressed than the other ‘street people’ at the banquet?

It is the mean and small of heart that deny themselves entry. This is a ‘hell’ where there is disconnectedness, isolation. The dress is reflected in concretely living out the sentiments expressed in the heart of God: love, care, passion for justice, friendship, warmth, generosity and joy. Do we ignore the deeper reflection that requires us to examine whether our deeds (‘wedding garment’) match what we profess.

Isaiah's vision animates and encourages us to collaborate with God in helping to bring about this new gathering of peoples. So, we roll up our sleeves and throw ourselves again into the work of peace making among enemies; caring for the poor; helping the voiceless find justice; nursing the sick and sitting with the dying.  Our daily works consist in sharing the good news in our words and daily works.

Jesus' life put flesh on this parable. By sitting with the poor, outcasts and sinners, he lives out God’s desire to be with us. When people unite with one another they are doing the work of love and taking the opportunity to be part of the transformation of society.

Beyond the strategy to save the party is the rich notion of God's generosity, enthusiasm and delight in all people not to mention the pain at their refusal to share the freely offered life.

So, the appropriate RSVP is not about clothes but about what is in our heart. It seems to be connected to living one’s life in love and friendship, peace and justice. The dress is reflected in concretely living out in one’s life the sentiments expressed in the heart of God: love, care, passion for justice, friendship, warmth, generosity and joy. If we talk to and/or care to observe we can see in the streets the poor and vulnerable people -drug addicts, street people, homeless, mentally – who tend to look out for one another whereas the mean and small of heart somehow are left behind. It can seem like ‘hell’ (even without knowing it) where there is disconnectedness, isolation, doom and gloom. Note: the end of last week's gospel, ‘The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.’

Isaiah's vision animates and encourages us to collaborate with God in helping to bring about this new gathering of peoples especially today where more and more people are seeking to erect walls, barriers and fences between people within countries and between countries. . So, we roll up our sleeves and throw ourselves again into the work of peace-making among enemies; caring for the poor; helping the voiceless find justice; nursing the sick and sitting with the dying.  Our daily works consist in sharing the good news in our words and daily works.

People like Jesus, Paul, Simon Weil, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Steve Biko were all caught up with the transcendent in their lives. This transcendence was intimately linked to the earth and the concern to bring justice, peace and healing. The poet, Edward Hirsch, urges us to wed our social consciousness to our mysticism. The late Father Pedro Arrupe (former superior general of the Jesuits) spoke of a ‘mysticism of the open eyes’. Simone Weil, never became a Christian thought very drawn to Jesus, found the heart of Christianity at the church door rather than inside. We cannot turn away from the ‘world’ to do mystic flights in isolated prayer, but we must kneel today and each day amidst the present day rubble, the various Ground Zeros in the world whether in Orlando, Las Vegas, Raqqa, Aleppo, Haiti, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Brewarrina and Bourke and Moree, the rubbish dumps of Manila, the railway tunnels in Sydney’s underground stations  that house the mentally ill, etc. Somehow, the gospel is calling us to not only wrestle with the angels in our prayers but with the demons in our daily lives especially those demons that tend to steer us, because of fear, to look away, to remain silent, to do nothing.

Each of us can take down the book of our lives and reflect on all the invitations that God has sent us. They have come in different shapes and sometimes we have failed to respond because, like the people in the gospel, we had things to protect and work to do. With some invitations we found ourselves among both the good and the bad as in the wedding hall. Uncomfortable with sharing the banquet with all the ‘street people’, we were careful not to identify with the mob. In the midst of all those missed opportunities, however, we remember, or are reminded of the times we did respond well.it was those times we came to Eucharist and recognised the faces of our brothers and sisters. It was the times we took heed of the challenge at the end of Mass, ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord’.

LITURGY NOTES FOR THE 27th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Twenty Seventh Sunday of the Year

October 8^th, 2017

Suggested formula for recognition of indigenous people and their land.

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand

We pay our respects to them for their care of the land

May we walk gently and respectfully upon the land.

or

I acknowledge the living culture of the ……..people,

the traditional custodians of the land we stand on,

and pay tribute to the unique role they play in the life of this region.

or

As we gather today let us acknowledge the local traditional custodians of this land,

and the first people that live in our own respective areas

.........for they have performed age-old ceremonies

of storytelling, music, dance, celebrations and renewal

and along with all Aboriginal people,

hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal Australia.

We acknowledge this living culture and its unique role in the life of Australia today

and acknowledge with honour and respect our Elders

past, present and future and pay our respects to those who have,

and still do, guide us with their wisdom.

Finally, we acknowledge with shame that much suffering

still endures to the present generation.

We pray today with faith and hope

for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and ourselves

that God’s mercy and justice will walk

in our lives, our communities and in the heart of our nation.

 

Readings

First Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14,15-16,19-20 R./ The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

Second Reading: Philippians 4:6-9

Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43

The Ten Words (inspired by the first reading from Exodus in today’s liturgy used by non-Catholics)
(Exodus 20: 1-21)

This is a moment of new creation:
blast of a trumpet and fire and smoke
and the people gathered at the foot of a mountain
and Moses on the summit, receiving words:

words that are beacons, words that cast shadow,
words that are fire sparks struck from stone,
words that are trumpet, calling to silence,
words that will echo through ages to come,

words that are the beating heart of a covenant,
words of requirement, words that are gift,
words that are bones in the body of a people,
words that are blood flowing into their veins,

words that are power, spoken to weakness,
words that are freedom because they are fence,
words that challenge us, words that summon us,
words that are song for a life-long dance,

words that are dwelling place, words of foundation,
words that are law, given in grace,
words that are signposts, words that are journey,
words that are a pathway pointing to peace.

This is a moment of new creation:
blast of a trumpet and fire and smoke
and we are the people at the foot of a mountain
and we have these words, and our heart for their home.

^{Copyright © 2014 by Andrew King}

Welcome Greeting (from Philippians 4:6-9)

May the peace of God,

which is so much greater than we can understand,

guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

May his peace be always with you.

R/ And also with you.

Penitential Rite

·         Christ Jesus, you have entrusted to us this earth to be cared for. For our neglect, Jesus, have mercy.

·         Christ Jesus, you have entrusted to us people to care for with love. For our indifference, Christ, have mercy.

·         Christ Jesus, you have entrusted to us our faith as a plant to grow. For our lack of care, Jesus, have mercy

or

·         Christ Jesus, you are the Way and you call us to follow you: Jesus, have mercy

·         Christ Jesus, you the Truth that guides our steps: Christ, have mercy.

·         Christ Jesus, you are the Life that strengthens us for the journey: Jesus, have mercy

Opening Prayer

God of the vineyard, you surround us with your care.

May we respond with our whole being to

your daily forgiveness and patience,

and the riches of life brought us by Jesus,

so that we may be a people that bears lasting fruits

of a justice animated by love.

or

God of the vineyard,

Yours is a reign of justice and peace.

You call us, your people, to tend to its growth in our world.

Bless the work entrusted to us,

that we may offer you an abundance of just works

and a harvest of peace.

General Intercessions

United with our Christ as branches of the life-giving vine, let us pray to God for the needs of our sisters and brothers, and let us say: R/ Tending God, hear the people you love.

1.      May the Church always remain young and faithful and inspire its members and the world with a sense of hope and deep love, let us pray: R/ Tending God, hear the people you love.

2.      May all Christian people show patience and compassion to people who go in different directions or disappoint us, and accept them as Christ us, let us pray: R/ Tending God, hear the people you love.

3.      May people everywhere respect all life by calling for an end to capital punishment in places where it is still used and make us mindful of the tragic illusion that life can be protected by taking of more lives, let us pray: R/ Tending God, hear the people you love

4.      May the human rights of people which are violated and ignored find respect everywhere, especially in West Papua, the Rohingyas, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and Palestine, let us pray: R/ Tending God, hear the people you love.

5.      May all people learn to recognise that all belong to the earth and share it with all other living beings, let us pray: R/ Tending God, hear the people you love.

6.      May all in this Christian community come with grateful hearts that we have been entrusted to care for the earth and all living things and respond with peace and justice, we pray: R/ Tending God, hear the people you love.

7.      May all who feel vulnerable, especially those whose lives are at risk -the very old and the very young and the unborn, the poor, disabled, imprisoned, unemployed, uneducated and those who live in the path of war, find support with one another and hope in the voices raised on their behalf, let us pray: R/ Tending God, hear the people you love.

8.      May people, especially young people, living with depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and other conditions that affect ability to cope with day-to-day life find support and true caring, let us pray: R/ Tending God, hear the people you love.

Concluding Prayer: God of the vineyard, as you tend to the earth and its people may we become what we are called to be and respond with love, compassion and justice everyday in Christ Jesus.

Prayer over the Gifts

God of the vineyard,

we bring these gifts of bread and wine before you

to celebrate the a new covenant

you have made with your people

through the death and rising of your Son.

May we we worthy of worthy of your trust

and respond with a deep faith expressed in service.

Deliver Us (based on the second reading)

Deliver us, Faithful God, from every evil,

and grant us your peace today,

peace among nations, in our homes and communites and with all things that live,

above all your own peace

which surpasses all understanding.

Direct our thoughts to all that is true,

all that is honest, beautiful and good,

as we prepare for the full coming among us

of Christ Jesus, our saviour.

R/ For the kingdom…..

Prayer after Communion

God of the vineyard,

you have gathered us in this eucharist  with Jesus ,your Son,

who has spoken your encouraging word and given us food

for building up your reign among your people.

Deepen our trust that Christ is with us all

and that he is the foundation on which we build.

Make us inventive and creative

in respectfully sharing the good news we have received

with all who are willing to listen.

Notices

October 10 World Mental Health Day

Further Resources

Reconciliation is the ultimate aim of nonviolence because nonviolence holds not only for the absolute inviolability of the human person, both friend and enemy, but maintains that human beings are ultimately one family, brothers and sisters to each other.

Niall O'Brien, Columban priest who had worked in the Philippines before his death

Tenants and Stewards Matthew 21: 33-46

A besetting sin

                of stewards

                or trustees

is that they begin

to think the place is theirs.

Most caretakers seem

                meek when they first

                take up the post,

but in a short time

all humility is lost.

Likewise the trustees

                of a church

                or public hall

soon start to put on airs

and think they own it all.

Unhappy the house

                where tenants

                call the tune,

they soon resent the owner

and treat it as their own.

They scheme and plot

                to retain tight

                their stranglehold.

Some would even kill God

to keep their stolen world.

© B.D. Prewer 1995

A Prayer to Abolish the Death Penalty

God of Compassion,
You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust.
Expand and deepen our hearts
so that we may love as You love
even those among us
who have caused the greatest pain by taking life.
For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance
as we fill up death rows and kill the killers
in the name of justice, in the name of peace.

Jesus, our brother,
you suffered execution at the hands of the state
but you did not let hatred overcome you.
Help us to reach out to victims of violence
so that our enduring love may help them heal.

Holy Spirit of God,
You strengthen us in the struggle for justice.
Help us to work tirelessly
for the abolition of state-sanctioned death
and to renew our society in its very heart
so that violence will be no more.
Amen.

Helen Prejean, CSJ

The church once changed society. It was then a thermostat of society. But today...the church is merely a thermometer, which measures rather than moulds popular opinion.

Martin Luther King, Jr

I’d like to say to us

as educators:

poor are those among us who lose their capacity to dream,

to create their courage

to denounce

and announce...

Paulo Freire

Every person born in this world represents something new,

something that never existed before,

something original and unique...

and every man or woman's foremost task is the

actualization of his or her unique, unprecedented and

never-recurring possibilities.

Martin Buber, Jewish Philosopher

God of all creation,

we gather in awe before you,

impelled by our longing for peace and harmony

among all human beings.

Here we are-

children of many traditions,

inheritors of shared wisdom and tragic misunderstandings,

of great hopes and humble success.

Here we meet –

in memory and truth,

in courage and mutual trust,

in love and promise.

In that which we share,

let us see the common prayer for peace;

In that which we differ,

let us respect the difference;

in our unity and our differences,

let us know the uniqueness that is God.

May our courage match our convictions,

and our integrity match our hope.

May our faith in you bring us closer to each other.

May our prayer reach you,

and rain upon us as your peace

Amen.

Prayer to introduce International Day or Peace Interfaith Prayer Service at St David’s Uniting Church, Lindfield, September 21, 2011

The protest of Liberation theology against suffering is not limited to a single region. Every kind of repression, every cry of the poor, of the oppressed, of the marginalized anywhere in the world is an appeal to theology. … is it possible to live in peace and happily when you know that two-thirds of human beings are suffering, hungry and poor? It’s not only the cry of the poor we must listen to but also the cry of the earth. We must do something to change the situation – there won’t be a Noah’s Ark to save only some of us.

Leonardo Boff

Justice is nothing but love with legs. Justice is what love looks like when it takes social form.

Serene Jones

Don't look for meaning in the words. Listen to the silences.

Samuel Beckett quoted in Forty Days of Solitude by Doris Grumbach

Today’s dominant worldview is simply too biased toward anthropocentrism, materialism, egocentrism, contempocentrism, reductionism, rationalism, and nationalism to sustain the changes needed.

Gus Speth

The voice of protest, of warning, of appeal is never more needed than when the clamor of fife and drum, echoed by the press and too often by the pulpit, is bidding all men fall in and keep step and obey in silence the tyrannous word of command. Then, more than ever, it is the duty of the good citizen not to be silent.

Charles Eliot Norton, (1827-1908) American scholar

It is one thing to wish to have truth on our side, and another to wish sincerely to be on the side of truth.

Richard Whately, On the Love of Truth

To leave behind …[a] crude and highly patriarchal, hierarchical, materialistic, individualist, dependent, and class-biased understanding of God and of the Trinity seems…an essential step for the present and the future…We are constantly being invited to return to our roots: to communion with the earth, with all peoples and with all living things; to realize that transcendence is not a reality ‘out there,’ isolated, ‘in itself,’ superior to all that exists, but a transcendence within us, among us, in the earth, in the cosmos, everywhere.

Ivone Gebara

Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.

Frederick Douglass, (1818-1895), escaped slave, Abolitionist, author, editor of the North Star and later the New National Era August 4, 1857

People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.

George Orwell

With nothing can one approach a work of art so little as with critical words: they always come down to more or less happy misunderstandings. Things are not all so comprehensible and expressible as one would mostly have us believe; most events are inexpressible, taking place in a realm which no word has ever entered, and more inexpressible than all else are works of art, mysterious existences, the life of which, while ours passes away, endures.’

Rainer Maria Rilke, from Letters To A Young Poet

The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.    

Georges Bernanos

How you can win the population for war: At first, the statesman will invent cheap lying, that impute the guilt of the attacked nation, and each person will be happy over this deceit, that calm the conscience. It will study it detailed and refuse to test arguments of the other opinion. So he will convince step for step even there from that the war is just and thank God, that he, after this process of grotesque even deceit, can sleep better.  

Mark Twain

War paralyses your courage and deadens the spirit of true manhood. It degrades and stupefies with the sense that you are not responsible, that 'tis not yours to think and reason why, but to do and die,' like the hundred thousand others doomed like yourself. War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction, and irresponsible murder.      

Alexander Berkman

We should take care, in inculcating patriotism into our boys and girls, that is a patriotism above the narrow sentiment which usually stops at one's country, and thus inspires jealousy and enmity in dealing with others... Our patriotism should be of the wider, nobler kind which recognises justice and reasonableness in the claims of others and which lead our country into comradeship with...the other nations of the world.

Lord Baden-Powell

My kind of loyalty was to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.

Mark Twain

We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war.  

Albert Einstein

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;

the real tragedy of life is when people are afraid of the light.

Plato, (adapted for gender sensitivity)

The state has, in order to control us, introduced division into our thinking, so that we come to distrust others and look to the state for protection! But the roots of our individualism remind us that what we are is inseparable from the source from which all others derive; that coercive practices that threaten our neighbor also threaten us. 

Butler Shaffer

I am done with great things and big things, great institutions and big success, and I am for those tiny invisible molecular moral forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, yet which if you give them time, will rend the hardest monuments of man's pride.

William James

A time will come when a politician who has willfully made war and promoted international dissension will be as sure of the dock and much surer of the noose than a private homicide. It is not reasonable that those who gamble with men's lives should not stake their own.

H.G. Wells

The soul of our country needs to be awakened . . .When leaders act contrary to conscience, we must act contrary to leaders.

Veterans Fast for Life

What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.

Robert E. Lee, in a letter to his wife, 1864

The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.   

Robert Lynd (1879-1949), Anglo-Irish essayist, journalist

The cry has been that when war is declared, all opposition should therefore be hushed. A sentiment more unworthy of a free country could hardly be propagated. If the doctrine be admitted, rulers have only to declare war and they are screened at once from scrutiny.  

William Ellery Channing

Because we fear the responsibility for our actions, we have allowed ourselves to develop the mentality of slaves. Contrary to the stirring sentiments of the Declaration of Independence, we now pledge ‘our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor’ not to one another for our mutual protection, but to the state, whose actions continue to exploit, despoil, and destroy us.  

Butler D. Shaffer

I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.  

Abraham Lincoln

God of our relating

thank you

for hands across the table

for hands across the sea

for hands around the world

thank you

for eyes meeting across a room

for eyes opened to different lifestyles

for eyes shining in new friendships

thank you

for ears that can hear the beating of a heart

for ears that pick up the crises of the voiceless

for ears that respond to the pulses of the world

thank you

Kate Compston, England, from 600 Blessings and Prayers from around the world compiled by Geoffrey Duncan, Twenty-Third Publications, Mystic CT 2000

Most people are, at heart, well-meaning but, in action, hypocrites.  They will weep tears of blood over a child killed in the street.  They will accept, without a pang, the deaths of hundreds of thousands from malnutrition.  The loss of a lifeboat is an epic tragedy; tribal genocide is a paragraph hastily read, lightly dismissed.  Sixty dead in a train crash is a disaster; six million dead in the camps and gas ovens is an historical statistic.  The charitable will airlift a thousand tons of food to the victims of an earthquake; they will not raise voice or hand in defense of twenty thousand swept into the oblivions of the disappeared dissidents.

Morris West in Images and Inscriptions, HarperCollins, Sydney, 1997

May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

I realize that if I wait until I am no longer afraid to act, write, speak, be, I’ll be sending messages on a ouija board, cryptic complaints from the other side.

Audre Lorde

The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.

Archibald Macleish

You do not become a ‘dissident’ just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society.

Vaclav Havel

Wild intelligence abhors any narrow world; and the world of women must stay narrow, or the woman is an outlaw. No woman could be Nietzsche or Rimbaud without ending up in a whorehouse or lobotomized.

Andrea Dworkin

Has there ever been a society which has died of dissent? Several have died of conformity in our lifetime.

Jacob Bronowski

There is a language older by far and deeper than words. It is the language of bodies, of body on body, wind on snow, rain on trees, wave on stone. It is the language of dream, gesture, symbol, memory.  We have forgotten this language.  We do not even remember that it exists.

In order for us to maintain our way of living, we must, in a broad sense, tell lies to each other, and especially to ourselves.  It is not necessary that the lies be particularly believable.  The lies act as barriers to truth.  These barriers to truth are necessary because without them many deplorable acts would become impossibilities.  Truth must at all costs be avoided. When we do allow self-evident truths to percolate past our defenses and into our consciousness, they are treated like so many hand-grenades rolling across the dance floor of an improbably macabre party.  We try to stay out of harm’s way, afraid they will go off, shatter our delusions, and leave us exposed to what we have done to the world and to ourselves, exposed as the hollow people we have become. And so we avoid these truths, these self-evident truths, and continue the dance of world destruction.

Derrick Jensen, A Language Older Than Words

Reflections on the readings

If I was asked to sum up the gospel message of Jesus in a few words, it would be as 1John tells us: ‘My dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, for God is love. And this is love: not that we love God, but that God first loved us when God sent Jesus to be one of us. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God lives in them.’ Isaiah and the gospel refer to a vineyard. The reading from Isaiah is in the context of a love story – God in love with the people of Israel, with whom God has entered into a loving relationship. It has been an ongoing relationship of care. The Gospel message: God loves us. God loves us, and God loves us first. Unconditionally. Without limit. But the parable is of a long suffering God. We are as expected to love God and to love one another, but we don’t. The love shown us needs to reach out in love to one another, to all people, to everyone, without condition, without limit, but it does not. In Isaiah, as God looked for justice and love, for righteousness, there was violence and bloodshed and heard cries of distress. The people did not love one another or act with justice toward one another. This story is repeated in the gospel today, too. In God’s vineyard, there is violence and greed. Yet despite this, God still loves. God's love is without limit’; it is endless. God waits to be gracious to us. God loves us first and asks for our response.

Unfortunately, many like the scribes and Pharisees, people think they have earned God’s love by obeying the commandments, following dogmas. They (we) can’t. If we really opened ourselves to God’s love, to experience it and respond to I, we would burst out with love for one another and respect creation. But in our midst fewer and fewer people have more and more the world’s wealth and the great majority of people are getting poorer and poorer. Gross inequality exist because we live in a system that promotes entitlement and greed. It prompts people to set us walls against people who knock at our gates for security, who are homeless, who are poor, who are facing violence of all kinds – but we erect great walls.  We seem more and more addicted to violence whether in our communities, streets, homes. Domestic violence, violence against people who are different to us, violence against people in countries that have never posed any threat to us and harmed us.  There is violence in the rhetoric that exists between the USA and North Korea; the USA  and Venezuela, Cuba, Boliva, Iran and other countries. We need to listen more deeply to God’s message to us: to give up violence; refuse to wage war or support it in any way. We have to begin to let that experience of God's love overflow in us and reach out in love to one another, to every person. When I think of the messengers in the gospel being killed, I think of the sports’ people who have in recent times been attacked by making a simple gesture of kneeling during the national anthem to highlight various forms of injustice; or a rapper singing about same love at a football grand final when another singer could get away with singing a song at a similar event about killing a woman. Are these people rebellious ‘tenants’ or faithful ones. Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who was shot at the altar by those who considered him a rebellious tenant, spoke these apt words: ‘It is very easy to be servants of the word without disturbing the world: a very spiritualised word, a word without any commitment to history, a word that can sound in any part of the world because it belongs to no part of the world. A word like that creates no problems, starts no conflicts.  What starts conflicts and persecutions, what marks the genuine Church, is the word that, burning like the word of the prophets, proclaims and accuses;  proclaims to the people God’s wonders to be believed and venerated, and accuses of sin those who oppose God’s reign . . .’

The gospel parable is not about people in the past but about us. We are forced to ask ourselves serious questions. Are we producing the ‘the fruits’ God expects of us - justice for the excluded, solidarity, compassion towards the suffering, forgiveness towards those who have offended, raising our voices and acting in defence of people who are being oppressed? Otherwise, our lives and our Christianity become sterile. God will not identify with our mediocrity, our inconsistencies, deviations and lack of faithfulness. God depends on us to be a light to the world in which we live but God will find others who will produce justice and they may well be people not of our group, tribe, or community.

The gospel today is hard-hitting and again we cannot think of it as intended for ‘others’.  We see how people refused to hand over the produce from the vineyard to the owner.  It is like when we offer back to God a sterile Christianity. We might hear the gospel in terms of our care or lack of care of the planet. The violence in the vineyard applies as much to creation as to that perpetrated against our sisters and brothers. When it comes to care of creation  we have been remiss in our care for and exacerbated climate change by our arrogance: considering clear-cutting tree filled land as progress; the convenience of 100’s or more of highways and concrete parking lots; viewing recycling as an inconvenience and just putting coffee grounds down the sink; corporations dumping waste into rivers and streams or nuclear waste on indigenous land, discharging chemicals into the air, land-grabs for mining and dispossession of peoples, cutting mountain tops for mining exploitation. God’s creation is a gift for us to enjoy and nurture for generations to come. Many people fail to take responsibility for the planet because of personal costs to them without regard to those who follow and without regard to those in developing countries who have not been irresponsible or as irresponsible as those in developed nations. Our failure to care and nature is manifested by pollution, climate change, destructions of rainforests – again mostly in indigenous lands, and over-consumption. How much are we responsible for the current famine in South Sudan? What about the negligence that has led to so many die in epidemics? What kind of tenants are we when we continue to refuse to make a space for people who seek asylum from persecution and other life-threatening issues? What kind of tenants are we when we allow Indigenous Australians to continue to live in third world conditions and die 20 years earlier than others in the population? What kind of tenants are we when we continue to destroy the earth, the environment and our sisters and brothers in wars that we engage in?

Pope Francis has stated, ‘We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she ‘groans in travail’ (Rom 8:22)’ (Laudato Si’, 2). He also says that the environmental challenge that we are experiencing, and its human causes, affects us all (cf. Laudato Si’, 14) and demands our response. We can no longer remain silent before one of the greatest environmental crises in world history’ (2/15/16). What did we do to our vineyard? We cannot deny what is happening.

The gospel is good news. It reveals us to what is possible. The story need not have a tragic end. The fruits expected of us are still justice, right relationship with people and all creation if there is to be peace in our world.  All peoples of all places in every period of history are the intended recipients of God’s love revealed in Jesus.

Matthew 25 tells us that Jesus is to be found waiting to be served, among the hungry, the thirsty, the poor, the outcast, the stranger, the sick and the person in prison or out of prison. This is where the rubber hits the road. It is real people that we are called to serve – not some other in the beyond. Where do we find Jesus and serve him? The setting of today’s gospel is a workplace, a vineyard, and we are called to see signs of God's reign. Though work takes up much of our time, we do not often see the workplace, and our home life, or the person who shares our bed as places of encounter with God. They seem to be the least likely places we would expect to encounter God, but Jesus is saying that we must open our eyes and recognise that it is in these places that we see God's dynamic presence.

The continuing sending out of messenger after messenger and then his son by the owner reflects the foolishness of God. There is no limit to what God is prepared to do to show love for the vineyard, the people, the world and call us to conversion. There is no limit to the love that God has for us. We have been endowed with every opportunity for becoming who we are intended to be - individual and collective images of God who reflect the heart of God in the world. If first-century Jews were guilty of rejecting Jesus, many 21^st century Christians need to recognise ourselves in the picture. More than ever we continue to fail to God's love. When we put down Muslims, or homosexuals, we are rejecting Jesus. When we fail to care for the poor amongst us, we are rejecting Jesus. When we are ignorant because of our comforts to the cries of the oppressed around the world, we are rejecting Jesus. When we support preemptive war that kills thousands of people in another country (not to mention our own), we are rejecting Jesus. When we refuse to accept the calling of women to service in the church, we are rejecting Jesus. When we applaud harsher prison sentences on people, especially the poor or people of colour, we are rejecting Jesus. When we close our eyes to the use of pilotless aircraft to make war easier in the other parts of the world, we are rejecting Jesus. We are rejecting Jesus because it is the face of Jesus on each of these people that we do not recognise or turn away from. We must not make the mistake of applying the parables of Jesus to other people. We must recognise that they are applied to us today. So we're called to try to follow that way of love. If we do, then clearly what will happen to us is what Paul says in our second lesson today, ‘Put into practice what you have learned and then the God of peace will be with you and fill you with God's peace.’

LITURGY NOTES FOR THE 26th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Dear friends,

I have just returned from Rome this morning but in the interests of getting to some of you who may have been wanting some resources for this coming weekend I have put these together which are somewhat briefer than usual. I am sorry that some did not notice that I said that I would be away for four weeks and were left without any notes. I hope these help today but please be aware that mistakes today could be due to tiredness and onset of jet-lag.

Peace

Claude Mostowik msc

Twenty Sixth Sunday of the Year

October 1, 2017

Suggested formula for recognition of indigenous people and their land.

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand

We pay our respects to them for their care of the land

May we walk gently and respectfully upon the land.

or

I acknowledge the living culture of the ……..people,

the traditional custodians of the land we stand on,

and pay tribute to the unique role they play in the life of this region.

or

As we gather today let us acknowledge the local traditional custodians of this land,

and the first people that live in our own respective areas

.........for they have performed age-old ceremonies

of storytelling, music, dance, celebrations and renewal

and along with all Aboriginal people,

hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal Australia.

We acknowledge this living culture and its unique role in the life of Australia today

and acknowledge with honour and respect our Elders

past, present and future and pay our respects to those who have,

and still do, guide us with their wisdom.

Finally, we acknowledge with shame that much suffering

still endures to the present generation.

We pray today with faith and hope

for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and ourselves

that God’s mercy and justice will walk

in our lives, our communities and in the heart of our nation.

Homes, not jails  Neighbours, not strangers

    

 

Readings for the Day

Reading 1 Ezekiel 18:25-28

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14. R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Reading 2 Philippians 2:1-11 or Phil 2:1-5

Gospel Matthew 21:28-32

Penitential Rite

Christ Jesus, you the Word of God made flesh in our world: Jesus, have mercy.

Christ Jesus, you are the Word of God present in our hearts: Christ, have mercy.

Christ  Jesus, you are the Word of God active in this community: Jesus, have mercy.

Opening Prayer

God of mercy,

you desire life for all your people.

You know that we are weak and fragile

yet keep forgiving us.

May we have the mind and heart of Jesus

so that with him we may say our ‘Yes’ to you

with the deep love of those who have been forgiven

and be merciful to others.

Prayers of the Faithful

Let us pray for the needs of our all our sisters and brothers here and everywhere in the world who are victims of unjust systems. Let us say: R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May all members and leaders among the people of God by guided by the mind and heart of Jesus in serving God and people faithfully, we pray: R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May we, as we commemorate the International Day of Nonviolence this week, take the difficult road every day of seeking to hear the other and embrace the other as a brother and sister so that we can have a just peace in our families, communities and nation, we pray: R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May the leaders of nations learn from the humble Jesus to use their power to serve the common good and work for peace rather than to abuse and destroy, we pray: R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May we, as commemorate the end of this Season of Creation and the feast of St Francis, be aware more and more how we show our reverence for God’s revelation in, and gift of, creation by the way we share, consume, and respect all that lives and breathes on the earth, we pray: R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May we, despite government controls in the face of terror threats, continue to reach out to one another in respectful relationship with people who are unfairly vilified because of their ethnic, social and cultural background or religious beliefs, we pray: R/Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May we be challenged to look critically at the systems within society that do not bring life and find constructive alternatives that lead to greater social cohesion, we pray, R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May the peoples of Africa undergoing drought and famine receive food, water and basic facilities as the rich nations evaluate the true causes of such events and their responsibility, we pray: R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May all who work in the mass media, recognise their responsibility to respect people and the truth so that peace and understanding may be better served, we pray: R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May leaders of nations; church leaders; pastors, employers, doctors and nurses, all in their own way be mindful of their responsibilities for the well being of those they serve, we pray: R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

§  May all who are sick: those in hospital, in nursing homes, or confined to home by illness or infirmity, and those who feel forgotten be remembered by their families and friends both in prayer and in loving care, we pray, R/ Guide us by your word, O God.

Prayer over the Gifts

God of mercy,

we bring before you this bread and wine

which will become for us the body and blood Christ.

May our offering express that our willingness

to enter into his dispositions

of total loyalty to you by service to all people.

Prayer after Communion

God of mercy,

your Son Jesus has broken for us

his bread of peace as a friend at table,

and spoken your word of forgiveness.

May we show that forgiveness to one another

and encourage each other

to be mindful of your presence in all we meet.

Notices:

October 1 International Day of Older Persons

October 1 Bali bombings were 20 people were killed and over 100 injured in 2005

October 2 International Day of Nonviolence

October 4 Feast of St Francis of Assisi

It is time to knock down the walls of social exclusion.

Further Resources

The Church of Christ must be an inviting Church, a Church with open doors, a warming, motherly Church of all generations, a Church of the dead, the living and the unborn, a Church of those before us, those with us, and those after us, a Church of understanding and sympathy, thinking with us, sharing our joy and sorrow, a Church that laughs with the people and cries with the people, a Church that is not foreign and does not act that way, a human Church, a Church for us, a Church that, like a mother, can wait for her children, a Church who looks for her children and follows them, a Church that visits the people where they are, at work or at play, at the factory gate and at the football stadium, and within the four walls of the home, a Church of those in the shadow, of those who weep, of those who grieve, a Church of the worthy, but also of the unworthy, of the saints and the sinners, a Church not of pious pronouncements, but of silent helping action.

Cardinal Franz König, former Archbishop of Vienna. König spoke these words two years before his death in 2004 at the age of 96.

In our world's history, peace has never prevailed where justice was absent. Injustice is the garden that nourishes terrorism.

Tom Feeley

I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists. I tell them that I was also a terrorist yesterday, but, today, I am admired by the very people who said I was one.

Nelson Mandela

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)

Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil but as a necessity, or even a duty.

Simone Weil (1909 - 1943), Gravity and Grace, 1947

The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.

Harold Pinter, 2005 Nobel Lecture

If you're going to care about the fall of the sparrow you can't pick and choose who's going to be the sparrow. It's everybody.

Madeleine L'Engle

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God … It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

Marianne Williamson

One cannot be aware both of the history of Christian war and of the contents of the gospels without feeling that something is amiss.

Wendell Berry, from his introduction toBlessed are the Peacemakers

Whatever God does, the first outburst is always compassion.

Meister Eckhart

It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.

Eleanor Roosevelt,in a 1951 radio broadcast

"If we choose to live nonviolently, we will have to do more than pledge never to kill another. Our nonviolence must push us to reject every weapon of mass destruction, every war, and every gun right down to the refusal even to slight another person. This way of active nonviolence will enable us to change our unjust political structures and redistribute the world’s goods equally. From now on, we will uphold the sanctity of life and treat everyone with the deepest respect." 

Mairead Maguire

Compassion is a verb.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Reflection on the readings

This week we see Jesus in confrontation with the temple priests, who demand to know by what authority he teaches what he teaches. ‘Who do you think you are?’ What gives you the right, Jesus, to do and say these things in this holy place? Jesus turns the tables on those who challenge his authority by posing a difficult question. He turns their question back at them by asking if John’s baptism was from God or by human authority. They avoided answering by saying they didn’t know. Jesus then leads into today’s parable of the story of the father with two sons whom he asked to work in the vineyard. One says No, he won’t, but later goes to work. The other says Yes, he will, but does not. When asked by Jesus, which one did the will of the father, they answer the first.  Here again Jesus astonishes or shocks them by saying to the religious leaders that prostitutes and tax collectors will enter heaven before you do, for you couldn’t recognise John’s righteousness, but they could, right away. And even after you saw it, you wouldn’t change your mind.

As we face the nuclear threat concocted by the USA and North Korea we might ask ourselves whose side will we be on. There is obviously no good side to be on. We have faced in this country and also the USA and other countries people who have not been considered as those who did the work in God’s vineyard. Might not these have been the people who protested the war and refused to serve in the military but took on other tasks assigned to them as medics. They were asked to do an overwhelming task which felt wrong to many of them when they were called to dehumanise other people (the so-called ‘enemy’) which would enable them to kill and kill. Might not the people who have stood up, in various ways, to the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and refused to enter into the dehumanisation of desperate people seeking asylum whilst risking vilification and abuse themselves. Who are those knowingly or unknowingly doing the will of God who sees all as beloved sons and daughters. The people who resist and say ‘no’ to war and yes to ‘just peace’, who say ‘no’ to abuse of vulnerable people and ‘yes’ care and justice have taken sides. They do not believe in simple answers from the government (and this applies to governments the world over) that is often sinful and immoral, racist, wasteful and bullying whether it is in choosing solutions that violent when dealing with conflict or violent when dealing with desperate and vulnerable people who seek help, care and security in the face of oppression in their home countries. The priests in the gospel refused to take sides. Their actions reflected on which side they were on. Silence kills. Inaction kills. They kill people or break their spirits.

Jesus had already spoken of the importance of doing God’s will. Merely proclaiming, ‘Lord, Lord’ (7:21), is not enough. Words need to go with actions where our response means being reverence to God and all of God’s creation, but respectful and act with compassionate service to our neighbours, our sisters and brothers. It is not only talking about, but doing, the will of God. It is about ‘walking the talk’. Pious feelings and beautiful words do not cut it. We would not expect it from those so-called prostitutes and sinners spoke about. We cannot be smug as followers of Jesus. From my experience, around us have been, and still are, people who have no explicit faith profession or adherence to a Christian community, yet do what we might associate with God’s reign: they sit in solidarity with the poor; they stand in the rain or challenge unjust and inhumane structures; we have seen how undocumented people, Jewish people, or even LGBTI people who helped people in recent US disasters were asked to not come back by some Christian church groups. I have seen the same people year in and year out at rallies to stand with people facing eviction from then tenancies, or calling for peace in our world. But I have been told that they are raggedy bunch of people, often very left wing people or socialist types and not to be associated with. But these are often the ones present. In terms of today’s gospel, these might be the ones who have by their lives said ‘yes’ to a reign that is compassionate, humane and spirit filled. According to Paul, as we also see in the gospels, Jesus’ constant ‘yes’ was always something that had flesh on it.

Jesus hammers the point home: notorious sinners—those who had originally said ‘no’ to God—will take their place with God in God’s reign. The religious elite are still outside the fence. I wonder if there might be some of this in the present same sex marriage debate – a debate that is not about changing Church teaching but changing the law of all in this land. Two bishops have cut their ties with other bishops by calling for respect, compassion, justice and fear, but are being treated as recalcitrant. It was said recently that one of the bishops was concerned about people who have not bed whilst others are concerned with who people share their bed!! There is has been little about the real justice issues of peace vis-à-vis the nuclear threat, the genocide being committed against the Rohingya people, the homelessness that many young and old have to endure Who is saying ‘yes’ to God and who is saying ‘no’?

Each one of us has to ask ourselves who we identify with in the Temple court that the gospel refers to. Gospel. What Jesus asks of us does not come naturally. It can be costly. It can also be costly if we not do what is asked of us. Love is a choice. It calls for determination. It might mean standing alone at times but it helps to have others in the community in solidarity with us. Like water that flows into any crack it can find, and difficult to be controlled or contained, God’s reign appears in surprising places, and flows into the lives of those that we might prefer to keep out of God’s reign.  May we be challenged and inspired by the radical, offensive inclusivity of God’s reign. God’s life – God’s living water – can flow into any person’s life that has even the smallest crack open to it. So today’s gospel again touches on the essential question of political, economic and religious systems: who is in and who is out. Jesus makes it clear that God’s love –that living water – is available to all even those who are least likely to find a places to belong. Going back to Paul, it was Christ’s compassion and his solidarity with humanity where he took on everything that was human in order to show us what we are invited to become.

LAY MSC NEWSLETTER   AUGUST 2017.

Contents

From the Director                 

Third International Conference of the Laity of the Chevalier Family   

Chevalier and the Organization of the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family             

 

FROM THE DIRECTOR

An international meeting of the Lay MSC was held in Sao Paulo in Brazil in July.  At that meeting Alison McKenzie from Australia was elected as the first General Secretary of the Laity of the Chevalier Family.  The group includes not only those who share the charism of the MSC, but also of the OLSH Sisters and the MSC Sisters.  Our warm congratulations to Alison.

This newsletter will include only a copy of the paper given by Hans Kwakman at the meeting and a summary of the meeting by Fred Stubenrauch who was the other Australian representative at the meeting.

May God’s blessings be with all of you.

                        Jim Littleton MSC

Third International Conference of the Laity of the Chevalier Family

Countries represented included Australia, Brazil, Republic of Congo, Senegal, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Dominican Republic, United States, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Korea, Philippines, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands. The Tri-Generalate was represented by Sr Merle Salazar (OLSH), Fr Wahyudi (MSC) and Sr Bonaventura (MSC Sisters) Each day began with a reflection presented by a different country and each day ended with the celebration of Eucharist again by a different country. Speakers presented talks on several topics and a lot of time was spent discussing the “Guidelines” document and voting for nominees for the position of General Secretary. NOTE: The “Guidelines” document is titled “General Guiding Principles and Statutes of the Laity of the Chevalier Family”. This document was approved by the assembly of those present and will be published widely in the near future. The General Secretary of the Laity of the Chevalier Family together with the International Council will have responsibility for overseeing the development and organisation of the Laity of the Chevalier family.  Alison McKenzie was elected to this position and together with her deputy, Doris Machado (Brazil) will begin the process of selecting an International Council early next year. There were 75 lay people and 25 professed (MSC priests, OLSH sisters and MSC Sisters). Twenty countries were represented and six languages – translators were kept very busy especially when people spoke passionately and quickly! There were translators English /Portuguese; Portuguese/Spanish; Portuguese/French; Spanish/English; Dutch/Portuguese; English/Spanish, Portuguese/Korean. The Third International Conference of the Laity of the Chevalier Family was held at the Santa Fe Centre, Sao Paolo, Brazil from the 16th to the 26th of July 2017.                                                                                       By Fred Stubenrauch   “Spirituality without Borders: Vision and Mission of the Laity of the Chevalier Family”

Countries represented included Australia, Brazil, Republic of Congo, Senegal, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Dominican Republic, United States, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Korea, Philippines, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands.

The Tri-Generalate was represented by Sr Merle Salazar (OLSH), Fr Wahyudi (MSC) and Sr Bonaventura (MSC Sisters)

Each day began with a reflection presented by a different country and each day ended with the celebration of Eucharist again by a different country.

Speakers presented talks on several topics and a lot of time was spent discussing the “Guidelines” document and voting for nominees for the position of General Secretary.

NOTE: The “Guidelines” document is titled “General Guiding Principles and Statutes of the Laity of the Chevalier Family”. This document was approved by the assembly of those present and will be published widely in the near future.

The General Secretary of the Laity of the Chevalier Family together with the International Council will have responsibility for overseeing the development and organisation of the Laity of the Chevalier family.  Alison McKenzie was elected to this position and together with her deputy, Doris Machado (Brazil) will begin the process of selecting an International Council early next year.

Travelling to Brazil was quite an event as our flight from Australia scheduled for Sunday 16^th July was cancelled. I was lucky enough to be accommodated overnight in Sydney but our OLSH and PNG friends not so. They spent some 36 hours on planes and in airports.

Tuesday 18^th

Rita Cleuren gave an overview of the development and growth of Laity of the Chevalier Family over the past 20 years, from the first International Gathering in Issoudun in 1999 to Santo Domingo in 2008 and Brazil in 2017.  Much of this development has been guided by Rita and other members of the European Committee.

Most of the remainder of the day was spent in getting to know other people present and in exploration of the theme of the conference.

Wednesday 19^th

The topic for the first session was “In What Way was Jesus a Border Crosser?”.

This was presented by Sr. Merle Salazar an OLSH sister from Philippines who is now attached the Generalate in Rome.

Jesus crossed, ignored, went around, and used borders. He left some intact, some changed, some destroyed and made some new ones.

She reminded us of a story Nick Harnan MSC told at the meeting in Santo Domingo :  (something like this)

         

             After he died Jesus called people from all countries together. “How will what I have commenced be continued?” A person who was a good preacher said, “I will do that”.  So the Dominicans were begun.  Another said “ I care about the creatures of the Earth and about the very poor so I will look after that aspect”.  So the Franciscans were born.  After many spoke up about continuing some aspect of Jesus’ nature he said, “And who will spread my love as answer to the ills of society?”  A quiet parish priest from Issoudun said,  “I will do that”. So Spirituality of the Heart was continued.

 

In the afternoon session, Sr. Mercy Mejia Benitez MSC from Guatemala, presented a talk “ Jesus’ Image of God and His Spirituality”.

Images of God can be counterproductive to our understanding of God sometimes in conflict with our images of Jesus. She used texts from New Testament to describe Jesus. Images of light to the world, good shepherd, resurrection and life, way of life, the true vine, meek and humble of heart.

Thursday 20^th

The Brazilian Laity led us on a pilgrimage to the basilica at Aparaceibo about 2 hours bus trip away. It was the 300^th anniversary of the discovery by a fisherman of a headless statue of Mary in the river.  In the time since many miracles have been attributed to the statue. Originally a small chapel was built and it has over the years grown into a massive structure – very imposing with decorative tiling and many impressive statues. There is a TV studio, a huge canteen, many eating areas, candle shop, a gift shop, parking for hundreds of buses and cars plus a whole shopping centre with massive food hall and kiosks that sell all sorts of things!!! I was even able to buy a phone charger there!  Mass was a spectacular affair with a MSC bishop and 30 MSC priests presiding. Music was good with enthusiastic singing and announcements similar in volume to those at a rock concert. There were literally thousands in attendance and this was supposed to be a quiet day!

 

Friday 21^st

This is to be our (Australia) day!

We started with very moving liturgy prepared by Alison during which the video of Anne Gardner OLSH receiving her recognition as Senior Australian of the Year was shown.   The topic of my presentation was  “Fr. Chevalier’s Vision: A Mission Without Borders”.  It seemed to go well with some positive comments after and a few wanting a copy!

 

Alison’s followed with a presentation on the above theme from Australian context and it was very well received.  After her talk Alison provided two questions that generated much discussion especially about how to involve young people in the lay MSC movement.

NOTE: We will provide our presentations by separate email to any who would like them – just send me an email request.

 

There followed a presentation by Hans Kwakman MSC “ A New Concept for Organisation of the Lay Family;  The Role of Laity in the Chevalier Family”

Note: This paper is included in this edition of Lay News

 

Saturday 22^nd

We were divided into language groups and encouraged to reflect on the topic

 “The Future and Vision of the Laity of the Chevalier Family”.

Later in the day we voted for the acceptance of the “Guidelines”. They were accepted unanimously. One person from each country plus four members of the International Committee were allocated voting rights.  There followed several reports of formation in some (selected) countries. I will write more about this for a later edition.

Sunday 23^rd

We were taken on a pilgrimage that began on a bus at 7:00 am to Mass at Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur – about 1 hour drive. This was a huge event. As we arrived the first Mass was coming out – more than 1000 people.  Once again it was an ‘event’ with great music and singing. All the Ministers of the Eucharistic wore a grey uniform and looked very official. After Mass we were fed downstairs and then travelled to the OLSH Provincial House – very neat with vegetable gardens and many quiet places in the grounds. The sisters run a school there for disadvantaged people teaching English and practical skills. More food and entertainment followed!

Next we travelled by small bus to the parish of San Miguel. The MSC had asked the bishop for a parish in a poor area, in the slums (not a favelo we were quickly reminded). Very poor housing and crowded. Our guide explained that people are attracted to Sao Paulo as a ‘dream’ place to be and when they get there find that things are not as they imagined. We visited three churches and each one provided some sort of ‘school’ and food bank.  At the last one we were fed (again) and entertained by a band and dancers – a bit like square dancing.  The parish priest later told us that the people were grateful for our visit as most people try to avoid them.

Monday 24^th

Election of  the General Secretary:  Each nominee was announced and spoke.  Nominees – Doris Marchado (Brazil); Lynn Ditlow (USA); Silvi Barghon (France); Maribel Lopez (Guatamala); Hipolito Rosario (Dominican Republic); Ingrid Manzano (El Salvador); Alison McKenzie (Australia)

Election: There were 23 eligible to vote (1 each country and 4 International committee). Majority was to be 50% plus 1 i.e. 13.   After two rounds of voting Alison was declared elected with Doris as deputy.

Tuesday 25^th

Sr Marisa Aquino, OLSH from Brazil gave a lecture connecting “Pope Francis and Spirituality of the Heart”.  She drew many comparisons between Jules Chevalier’s charism and that of Pope Francis and made the point that Jules and Francis are separated by time but connected in Spirituality.

Evaluations followed and our then final liturgy. It was very moving as you can imagine.  We began the conference as strangers but ended as friends and confreres.  I returned to Australia

enthused about the future of the Laity of the Chevalier Family. There are many things to consider and much to do over the next years.

The next General Assembly of Laity will be in six years in a country to be  decided. Guatemala has offered but I fancy Korea but will probably be too old to go by then.  A wonderful enriching experience that strengthened my feeling that we are part of a thriving worldwide movement of great promise!!

 

Chevalier and the Organization of the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family 

                                                      by Hans Kwakman MSC, Sao Paolo, July 2017

 

The Chevalier Family will only have a future if it remains faithful to its identity as shaped by the charism of Fr. Chevalier. By saying so, I just repeat what, more than a century ago, has been said in other words by Fr. Piperon MSC: “If a religious family does not wish to perish, it must lovingly preserve the spirit it has received from the Founder.” What Fr. Piperon called “the spirit of the Founder,” today we would call “the charism of the Founder”. The charism or spirit of our Founder included the foundation of the Chevalier Family as a spiritual union of religious fathers and brothers, secular priests and groups of laity or individual lay persons as well.

In the first part of the following presentation, I’ll try to indicate Fr. Chevalier’s original intentions in erecting his Society of the Sacred Heart as being open for religious, secular priests and laity. Following generations misunderstood Chevalier’s intentions, but the renewed MSC Constitutions of 1985 restored Chevalier’s initial project. In a second part I’ll show that, just as in Chevalier’s time, today as well, the Chevalier Family needs a clear structure that will support the mutual responsibility of the three branches for each other, with special attention to the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family.                                                                                                                                    

The Chevalier Family will only have a future if it remains faithful to its identity as shaped by the charism of Fr. Chevalier. By saying so, I just repeat what, more than a century ago, has been said in other words by Fr. Piperon MSC: “If a religious family does not wish to perish, it must lovingly preserve the spirit it has received from the Founder.” What Fr. Piperon called “the spirit of the Founder,” today we would call “the charism of the Founder”. The charism or spirit of our Founder included the foundation of the Chevalier Family as a spiritual union of religious fathers and brothers, secular priests and groups of laity or individual lay persons as well.

In the first part of the following presentation, I’ll try to indicate Fr. Chevalier’s original intentions in erecting his Society of the Sacred Heart as being open for religious, secular priests and laity. Following generations misunderstood Chevalier’s intentions, but the renewed MSC Constitutions of 1985 restored Chevalier’s initial project. In a second part I’ll show that, just as in Chevalier’s time, today as well, the Chevalier Family needs a clear structure that will support the mutual responsibility of the three branches for each other, with special attention to the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family.                                                                                    

 

Part I: Chevalier’s original intentions in erecting a Lay                               Branch of the Society of the Sacred Heart

Someone, who clearly understood the originality of Fr. Chevalier’s charism, was the Jesuit Fr. Ramière, a friend of Fr. Chevalier and a sincere supporter of his works. He was the director of the “Apostolate of Prayer” in France and Editor in Chief of the French edition of the “Messenger of the Sacred Heart”.  In 1869, Fr. Chevalier needed the approval of the Archbishop of Bourges and the Vatican for his first draft of the MSC Constitutions. In these Constitutions, Chevalier did not only describe the spirituality and rules of the MSC Congregation, but also included a place for the Association of Secular Priests and the so-called Third Order of lay people.

In a letter to a lay-member of this Third Order, Fr. Ramière wrote: “In case the Vatican is not prepared to include secular priests or laity in these Constitutions, then the MSC Congregation will in no way differ from “one hundred and one” already existing Congregations.” Fr. Ramière understood that Fr. Chevalier was searching for something that in those days was new. Chevalier wanted to establish a Society in which people of different ways of life would come together, being inspired by the same charism and mission, either as religious men and women or secular priests or lay people. Chevalier really wanted to cross the boundaries of what was normally practiced in the Church of his day.

While remaining in their parishes and dioceses, the Secular Priests of the Sacred Heart would carry out the same mission as the Religious of the Sacred Heart. The lay people, united in a Third Order, would perform that mission, while staying in secular society and continuing to perform their daily occupations.  By officially approving Fr. Chevalier’s design of the Constitutions, both the Archbishop of Bourges and the Vatican accepted his wide-ranging plan for this new kind of Society.

From an earlier correspondence with some Jesuits in Paris, it became clear that Chevalier was searching for a structure which should function as an umbrella for people living either in or outside religious communities, with or without vows, while the religious Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, would form the core group of this big Society. The Jesuits offered a general plan for such a society, but recommended Fr. Chevalier, as the founder, to draft a more detailed plan himself.

So, in 1864, Fr. Chevalier came up with his own “Plan of the Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart,” in which he pointed out a basic principle of his vision: “In order to fulfill its mission the Society must spread as much as possible, but it will spread only so far as it answers the various aspirations of the people.” Chevalier wrote several documents in order to explain this vision in detail.

 

 

Each document opened with a description of the ills of the time. This fact clearly shows

Chevalier’s conviction that each of these three “branches” should participate in the same mission, in such a way that their presence and activities would be relevant to the renewal of society.  In a comment on this, Fr. Murphy notes: “Reading his early publications, about the nature and mission of his Society, I have the strong impression that (Fr. Chevalier) would have found it unthinkable, or perhaps even impractical, to speak of changing the world and its values without involving laity, for they were the ones more intimately immersed in that world. Religious priests, brothers, sisters, together with secular priests, had an essential role to play, and Father Chevalier stressed that. But if Christ’s mission was to be continued in the world on all levels of society, the role of the laity was at least equally as essential and at times even more essential.”

Chevalier emphasizes that the members of the Third Order should remain in their families, while continuing to occupy their regular positions in secular society. If those who were single would like to form communities, they should avoid "anything that gives the appearance of a religious house …, as being against our aim and harmful to the sort of good that this work is called to do.”

In March 1869, the Vatican granted the MSC Congregation a “Decree of Praise”, and by doing so, officially acknowledged the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart as a pontifical, religious congregation, with “the Association of Priests of the Sacred Heart” and “the Third Order of the Sacred Heart” as integral parts. In the first MSC Constitutions of 1877 the Association of the Laity is included in the chapter, entitled “The Aim of the Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart”.  That means, as Fr. Murphy notes that Fr. Chevalier, “wanted to incorporate laity into the specific life and mission of the Society.”

During the rest of his life, Fr. Chevalier attempted to carry out this broad vision with unflagging energy. In January 1878, he could write: “Today, (the Third Order) numbers about three hundred members spread through ... France, and also in Italy, in Belgium, England, Austria and Canada: every day new people join up.” However, Chevalier had to admit that his own confreres did not always understand the importance of the Third-Order. In a letter of 1900 to the Superior of the Province of the North, who complained about a certain confrere who did not support the Third Order in the Netherlands, Chevalier expressed his amazement by writing: “I wish that in our provinces and in our houses, everyone supports the Third-Order of the Sacred Heart... It would be more than strange that Missionaries of the Sacred Heart refused their collaboration and dedication to our works of the Sacred Heart.”

In spite of difficulties in finding confreres, who were willing to become “directors” of the groups of lay-associates, Fr. Lanctin MSC, the new General Superior, in a letter to the Vatican of 1904, could report that at the time the Third Order of the Sacred Heart numbered “nearly two thousand members spread throughout most of the Catholic countries of Europe”.

However, in 1907, a far-reaching change happened. An extraordinary General Chapter - not attended by Fr. Chevalier, due to reasons of health - introduced a comprehensive revision of Chevalier’s Constitutions, in use since 1877.  In two ways this revised version of the MSC Constitutions deviated from Fr. Chevalier’s original Charism and intentions. First, no longer was the Devotion to the Sacred Heart presented as a remedy for the ills of the times; and second, no place was given to the accompaniment of secular priests and lay people, who wanted to share in the charism and mission of the religious members of the Chevalier Family. Due to these radical changes, the laity were no longer seen as fellow members participating in the same mission and practicing the same Spirituality. Fr. Ramière’s fears had come true: the MSC became a congregation that in no way differed from so many other existing congregations that carried the title “Sacred Heart” in their name.

Finally, after the Second Vatican Council, the MSC Constitutions returned to the original inspiration of our Founder: “Our Founder wanted the fullness of mission to be realized in a global project with religious men and women, diocesan priests and lay people. He especially wished to have an association of lay people closely united with the professed members in their spirituality and mission (Constitutions of 1877). For this reason the Provincial Superior will promote this Association of Lay MSC. He will also encourage the members of the Province to collaborate in this work. He will appoint a coordinator to help in the development of this Association in relation to us, while respecting its lay character.”

In 2009, the three General Administrations of MSC men and women and the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart together with the Coordinator of the Laity of the Chevalier Family, issued a “Joint Communiqué” in which formation is indicated as a top priority of the whole Chevalier Family. In this document “the religious are encouraged to continue to devote time and energy to the formation of the laity.” In the same Communiqué the hope is expressed “that more and more laity themselves will become formators  for lay members of the Chevalier Family.” Totally in line with Fr. Chevalier’s intentions, the “Joint Communiqué” emphasizes that what is especially needed is “formation in our common spirituality,” a Spirituality of the Heart.

Part II:  The Organization of the Lay Branch of the                                                       Chevalier Family

In a document of 1865 concerning the Lay Branch, Fr. Chevalier stated that everyone,

 

married or not, who, in accordance with her or his social status within the world, wants to grow in love, is welcome as member of the Association, also called the ‘Third Order’. Members of the Third Order will attend an initial program of formation in a Spirituality of the Heart, and observe some basic rules. However, they should remain in secular society, with or without vows or promises, either as a single person, family member or in community.

Regarding the organization of the Third Order, Fr. Chevalier speaks of Directors and Superiors. The General Superior of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart or his delegate is the General Director. There might be also a need for diocesan and local Directors.  The directors have only an advisory function and are chosen from among the religious or secular Priests of the Sacred Heart. The administration of the Third Order consists of a General Superior as well as diocesan and local Superiors, each with their own councils, all chosen from among the lay-members.

In relation to Fr. Chevalier’s view of the organization of the Third Order, we should take into consideration that he wrote this document regarding the Third Order in 1865, at a time when the Congregations of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and the MSC Sisters did not yet exist, and the MSC Congregation had not yet been divided in provinces. For us it is important to notice that, in spite of many difficulties, Fr. Chevalier made continuous efforts to get the Third Order off the ground.  MSC would be responsible for the well-being of the Lay Branch by accompanying it on all levels; and the Lay Branch itself would be structured with a strong organization, supported by the laity itself.

Taking into consideration the developments of the Lay Branch in our day, it is appropriate that the role envisioned by Chevalier in the past and entrusted to the MSC, will now be played by the three Chevalier Congregations. That means that they will assign Spiritual Directors or Advisors, while the three General Administrations together will function as General Director. The laity itself will provide for the administration of the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family.

Today the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family is spread all over the world where MSC men and women as well as Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart are present. Groups of lay people of all cultures, orientations and compositions feel themselves a part of the Chevalier Family. Some are more closely connected to MSC fathers and brothers, others to the Daughters, others again to the MSC Sisters. Some groups are more devotional in their orientation, others are more socially oriented, others again put emphasis on reflection, meditation or deepening of faith, while for all the groups socializing is an important element of their gatherings as well.  In any case, they all want to follow the way of the heart as shown by Jesus Christ who loves with a human heart. 

 

Fr. Chevalier’s basic principle is clearly in the process of being carried out.  After all, he wrote: “In order to fulfill its mission the Society must spread as much as possible, but it will spread only so far as it answers the various aspirations of the people.” We are pleased to see that at present the Chevalier Family is able to offer an answer to “the various aspirations of the people.”  Or, to paraphrase a saying of Jesus in St. John’s Gospel: not only in the Father’s house, but also in the house of the Chevalier Family, there are “many rooms” (John 14: 2) available.

So, by proposing a well-constructed organization for the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family, it is not our intention to create boundaries or to restrict the variety of activities of the groups. The only intention is to give the “many rooms” of the Chevalier Family a solid roof, supported not only by our lay brothers and sisters themselves, but also by the religious members of the Chevalier Family: the MSC men and women and the Daughters.

Therefore, a central element in the proposed organization of the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family is the National Board (which may go by any other name). This Board consists of a representative of each Local Group in the country, along with the Provincial Superiors (or representatives) of the Congregations of the Chevalier Family, present in a certain country. Until now such a body only exists in a few countries. Some lay-groups are still dependent on the commitment of some religious and run the risk of disappearing, when the involvement of these persons comes to an end. In other countries, there does not yet exist a well-organized collaboration between the Chevalier Congregations in relation to the accompaniment of the local lay-groups. 

The main responsibility of a National Board would be to support a continuous presence of lay-groups in the country and guarantee the on-going formation regarding a Spirituality of the Heart of its members as well, “while respecting its lay character.”  A National Board will also be the body qualified to send official representatives of the lay groups of a certain country to the General Assembly, with the right to vote and to take part in elections. The establishment of a National Board needs the support and collaboration of the Provincial Administrations in each country.

Already the General Assembly came together twice before, namely in Issoudun and the Dominican Republic. This year (2017) it meets again in Sao Paulo. The intention is that the General Assembly will become a body which officially represents the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family, with the right to take binding decisions. Therefore, at least a part of the participants should be formally appointed, either by election or nomination, as official representatives of the laity of a certain country. 

At present the International Board or Executive Board only consists of representatives of European lay groups and meets twice a year. It is normally accompanied by        

representatives of the Tri-Generalate and a Spiritual Advisor. The proposal is to make it into an intercontinental, executive body of the General Assembly. To that end, at least some of its members should be elected by the General Assembly, e.g. the General Secretary and the first assistant. They should be given the right to invite some other people to become members of this Executive Board, preferably from different continents, in order to guarantee the intercontinental character of the Lay Branch of the Chevalier Family. We imagine that, due to the distances, communication among the members of the International Board will mainly be carried out by communication media, such as email, Skype and WhatsApp.

Finally, regarding our Spirituality and Mission, we purposely propose Guidelines, which are very basic. Every family of national lay-groups or even a local group might feel free, if they want to do so, to formulate their own Guidelines in agreement with their own cultural customs, as long as they remain faithful to the basic orientation of these general Guidelines.  In fact, our common Spirituality and Mission, inspired by Fr. Chevalier’s charism, is what brings us together, all over the world.

                                                                        Hans Kwakman, MSC 2017

LITURGY NOTES FOR THE 20th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Twentieth Sunday of the Year

August 20^th 2017

Suggested formula for recognition of indigenous people and their land.

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand

We pay our respects to them for their care of the land

May we walk gently and respectfully upon the land.

or

I acknowledge the living culture of the ……..people,

the traditional custodians of the land we stand on,

and pay tribute to the unique role they play in the life of this region.

or

As we gather today let us acknowledge the local traditional custodians of this land,

and the first people that live in our own respective areas

.........for they have performed age-old ceremonies

of storytelling, music, dance, celebrations and renewal

and along with all Aboriginal people,

hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal Australia.

We acknowledge this living culture and its unique role in the life of Australia today

and acknowledge with honour and respect our Elders past, present and future and pay our respects to those who have, and still do, guide us with their wisdom.

Finally, we acknowledge with shame that much suffering

still endures to the present generation.

We pray today with faith and hope

for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and ourselves

that God’s mercy and justice will walk

in our lives, our communities and in the heart of our nation.

“Interred beneath the runways and the sea are the sites of some of the first encounters between Indigenous Australians and British marines and convicts; places where they approached one another with ‘emotions of pleasure, astonishment, curiosity and timidity’ – exchanging gifts and gestures of introduction, touching hair, skin and clothes – each searching tentatively for proof of the others’ humanity.”

(Professor Mark McKenna From the Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories)

 

     

Readings

First reading: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7

Second reading: Romans 11:13-15, 29-32

Gospel reading: Matthew 15:21-28

Penitential Rite

1.       Christ Jesus, Son of David, you revealed to us the God of all people: Jesus, have mercy.

2.      Christ Jesus, you came to free all people and you died and rose for all: Christ, have mercy

3.       Christ Jesus, you hear the prayer of all who feel themselves marginalised and make yourself known to all those who seek you: Jesus, have mercy.

or

• Jesus, you healed all who called upon you: Jesus, have mercy.
• Jesus, you sat at table with sinners: Christ, have mercy.
• Jesus, you call us to love each other as you have loved us: Jesus, have mercy.

Opening Prayer

God of all nations,

you chose the people of Israel

to make you known to all the nations.

Your Son, Jesus, made it clear

that forgiveness and fullness of life are offered

to all who believe in him.

May your Church be truly a place of encounter

for all those who seek you,

where all obstacles and barriers are removed

and a place where the riches of all nations and cultures

reveal the thousand faces your goodness and love.

or

God of all nations,

all are invited to your table

where no one is a stranger.

Satisfy the hungerings

of those gathered in this house of prayer,

and extend to all the peoples

the joy of liberation, justice and peace.

or

God of all nations,

you see beyond our diverse races and creeds

to the value of each individual.

Remove from our minds and hearts

the prejudice that clouds our judgments

and degrades our capacity to love others.

Prayer over the Gifts

God of all nations,

you have prepared a welcoming table

for all who wish to come to you

from the diversity of the human family.

As we offer this bread and wine,

may we learn from Christ Jesus

to give generously to all those who ask

the food of love, mercy and peace.

Prayer after Communion

God of all nations,

in this Eucharist

we are  called to become one

in Jesus Christ your Son.

May his likeness be reflected

in the face of each person

and not marred or divided

by our prejudices and fears.

General Intercessions

Introduction: Let us pray to the God of all nations whose heart and presence is open to all who seek peace, goodness, love and justice. The response is: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That as we face ongoing tensions in our region, we may have the power to be gentle, strong in our forgiving, and have the vision to see and believe in a world that can be emancipated from violence, injustice and unnecessary suffering to others, and threat, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That all people who work to build peace in their communities may inspire others by their example and continue to be strengthened to continue despite difficulties and apparent lack of results, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That all people who have been affected by violence may find ways to rebuild their lives and find it in their hearts to move forward in peace and forgiveness, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That the church throughout the world; and believers who pray in every known language, may offer a generous welcome to all those who seek a home in the church, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That the nations of the world will seek nonviolent solutions to their differences, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That the people of Iraq, Gaza and Israel, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, (and………..) will be comforted in their afflictions, healed of ethnic tensions, liberated from foreign domination so that the land will be renewed, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That children who are forced to leave their homes because of poverty, violence or environmental disaster will find a safe home and a future filled with hope, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That the people who have languished on Australian offshore detention centres may eventually be granted freedom and security in a place they can call home amongst people who welcome them and befriend them, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That Church leaders may be attentive to the life and needs of today's world especially women and youth, and discover in all the aspirations, what leads toward hope in their lives, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That there may be room for the cultural riches of various peoples in the Church and in our own lives, which through many languages and forms of expression manifest the goodness and beauty of God, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That all of us here may be concerned about those who are not present because they are estranged from the Church: may our words and actions reveal Christ’s inclusive love to them, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That we realise that God is God of all people: may we especially in this time of uncertainty and fear: accept all people as our sisters and brothers with openness and without discrimination because of the destructive actions of a minority, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

·         That our approach to people who are different in whatever way may be continually one of acceptance and welcome, let us pray: Listen to your people, O God.

Concluding Prayer: God of all peoples and lands, listen to our prayers today and give us the Spirit of Jesus so that we may be open to all people and their needs.

Notices

August 23 International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition

August 26 The 2001 rescue of 433 asylum seekers by the Norwegian vessel MV Tampa, and the subsequent prevention of their disembarkation by Australian troops

August 27 Death of Dom Helder Camara osb in 1999

August 27 Refugee and Migrant Sunday Resources:

http://www.acmro.catholic.org.au/resources/migrant-refugee-kit/booklet

Further Resources

I'm going to speak to you simply as a pastor, as one who, together with his people, has been learning the beautiful but harsh truth that the Christian faith does not cut us off from the world but immerses us in it; the church is not a fortress set apart from the city. The church follows Jesus, who lived, worked, struggled, and died in the midst of a city, in the polis.

Archbishop Oscar Romero

The road to holiness passes through the world of action.

Dag Hammarskjöld, UN Secretary-General killed in the Congo on September 18, 1961.

God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.

Dag Hammarskjöld

’Freedom from fear’ could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights.

Dag Hammarskjöld

Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?"

Martin Luther King Jr.

I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice. I don’t want just any greatness for it, particularly a greatness born of blood and falsehood. I want to keep it alive by keeping justice alive.

Albert Camus

What is it to be a companion of Jesus today? It is to engage, under the standard of the cross, in the crucial struggle of our time: the struggle for faith and that struggle for justice which it includes."

Ignacio Ellacuria

Creator God, ground of my being and goal of my journeying,

I believe in You.

I believe in you more than I believe in my own complaints,

                                more than my anxieties and midnight fears,

                                more than my puzzlement and doubts.

Christ Jesus, source of my healing and joy of my desiring,

I believe in you.

I believe in you more than the boasts of the arrogant,

                                more than the duplicity of the cunning,

                                more than the cynicism of the embittered.

Holy Spirit, breath of my hoping and fire of my loving,

I believe in you.

 I believe in you more than the myopia of the clever,

                                more than the evasions of the cowardly,

                                more than the apathy of the negligent.

Holy God, you are far too big for our minds yet humble enough

                                to reside with the meek and the poor

                                and to craft beauty out of disasters.

I believe in you.

Yes! I believe in You!

Bruce Prewer

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function.

Garrison Keillor

God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, God's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny.

Garrison Keillor

Going to church no more makes you a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car.

Garrison Keillor.

Another world is not only possible,

she is on her way.

On a quiet day I can hear her breathing.

Arundhati Roy

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) German Dramatist

A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet

He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.

Edmund Burke(1729-1797) Irish-born British statesman, parliamentary orator, and political thinker

Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind.

Henry Miller (1891-1980) American writer

The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alternation of old beliefs. Self-conceit often regards it as a sign of weakness to admit that a belief to which we have once committed ourselves is wrong. We get so identified with an idea that it is literally a ‘pet’ notion and we rise to its defense and stop our eyes and ears to anything different

John Dewey

It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.

Sally Kempton

There is a growing awareness of the sublime dignity of human persons, who stand above all things and whose rights and duties are universal and inviolable. They ought, therefore, to have ready access to all that is necessary for living a genuinely human life: for example, food, clothing, housing, ... the right to education, and work...

Vatican II, The Church and the Modern World, #26

We exact your elements to make cannons and bombs

But out of our elements you create lilies and roses.

How patient you are earth and how merciful!

Kahil Gibran

Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it.

Pablo Casals

... when we seek guidance in terms of discernment and decisions we need to look not just to God in heaven, but also to what is being pointed out to us by the Body of Christ on earth, namely, our families, our friends, our churches, and our communities. ...  God does not speak to us through séances, and the most important things that God wants to say to us are not given in extraordinary mystical visions.  The God of the incarnation has real flesh on earth and speaks to us in the bread and butter of our lives, though things that have skin - historical circumstance, our families, our neighbors, our churches.

Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing,

At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.

Aldous Huxley:

Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder... And that is war in a nutshell. The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.

Eugene Victor Debs

The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own.

Aldous Huxley, English novelist and critic, 1894-1963

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

Albert Einstein - (1879-1955) Nobel Prize 1921

Until we go through it ourselves, until our people cower in the shelters of New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere while the buildings collapse overhead and burst into flames, and dead bodies hurtle about and, when it is over for the day or the night, emerge in the rubble to find some of their dear ones mangled, their homes gone, their hospitals, churches, schools demolished - only after that gruesome experience will we realize what we are inflicting on the people of Indochina

William Shirer, author 1973

The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity.

George Bernard Shaw

The civility of no race can be perfect whilst another race is degraded. It is a doctrine alike of the oldest and of the newest philosophy, that man is one, and that you cannot injure any member, without a sympathetic injury to all the members.

Ralph Waldo Emerson. 1844

As I watch government at all levels daily eat away at our freedom,

I keep thinking how prosperity and government largesse

have combined to make most of us fat and lazy and indifferent to,

or actually in favor of,

the limits being placed on that freedom.

Lyn Nofziger - [Franklyn C. Nofziger] Press Secretary for President Reagan

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may tread me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Maya Angelou

It is never too late to give up our fears and prejudices.No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof.What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle rain on their fields.What other people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

Henry David Thoreau

Making Peace

A voice from the dark called out,

‘The poets must give us

imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar

imagination of disaster. Peace, not only

the absence of war.’

But peace, like a poem,

is not there ahead of itself,

can't be imagined before it is made,

can't be known except

in the words of its making,

grammar of justice,

syntax of mutual aid.

A feeling towards it,

dimly sensing a rhythm, is all we have

until we begin to utter its metaphors,

learning them as we speak.

A line of peace might appear

if we restructured the sentence our lives are making,

revoked its reaffirmation of profit and power,

questioned our needs, allowed

long pauses. . . .

A cadence of peace might balance its weight

on that different fulcrum; peace, a presence,

an energy field more intense than war,

might pulse then,

stanza by stanza into the world,

each act of living

one of its words, each word

a vibration of light--facets

of the forming crystal.

Denise Levertov

I will not play at tug o'war.

I'd rather play at hug o'war,

Where everyone hugs

Instead of tugs,

Where everyone giggles

And rolls on the rug,

Where everyone kisses,

And everyone grins,

And everyone cuddles,

And everyone wins.

Shel Silverstein, American Cartoonist, Children's Author

Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.

Shel Silverstein

How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it. How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it. How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live 'em. How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give 'em.

Shel Silverstein

Anyone can slay a dragon, he told me,

but try waking up every morning

and loving the world all over again.

That’s what takes a real hero.

Brian Andreas, American Artist and Storyteller

For it isn't enough to talk about peace.

One must believe in it.

And it isn't enough to believe in it.

One must work at it.

Eleanor Roosevelt American First Lady

I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.

George McGovern, United States Senator, 1972 Presidential Candidate

Where there is faith, there is love;

Where there is love, there is peace;

Where there is peace, there is God;

And where there is God; there is no need.

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

True peace is not for the spineless or self-absorbed. It has nothing to do with passivity or resignation. Peace demands honesty. It entails the burden of duty. Peace requires deeds of love.

Johann Christoph Arnold

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.

Jimi Hendrix American Musician, Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter

We have all taken risks in the making of war. Isn't it time that we should take risks to secure peace?

J. Ramsay MacDonald, British Prime Minister

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States

Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud.  I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace.

Charles Sumner US Senator from Massachusetts

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem,

it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.

David Friedman

In order to rally people, governments need enemies. They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them. And if they do not have a real enemy, they will invent one in order to mobilize us.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, Peace activist, Author

Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is the numbers of people all over the world who have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience ... Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves ... [and] the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem.

Howard Zinn

An Outsider’s Faith

Matthew 15:21-28

He came unto this alien shore,

this weary Christ.

He looked to work no wonders here,

just take some rest.

My neighbours saw him as a crank

a weirdo priest.

I saw him as my one last hope

to save my child.

And followed him along the street

with my face veiled.

I needed to get close to him

and would not yield.

His friends thought me an unclean thing

too foul to touch.

They asked him to get rid of me

a pagan wretch.

I flung myself down at his feet

within his reach.

He placed his hand upon my head,

all heaven was there.

I told him of my daughter’s plight

and felt his care.

He send me dancing down the street

light as the air!

Ó B D Prewer 1996

There is nothing that war has ever achieved

that we could not better achieve without it.

Havelock Ellis, English Psychologist

I Refuse

for Camilo Mejia [U.S. Citizen Imprisoned Without Trial or Charges for over 3 Years]

I refuse to be used as a tool of war.

I refuse to kill on order.

I refuse to give my life for a lie.

I refuse to be indoctrinated or subordinated.

I refuse to allow the military to define all I can be.

I refuse to abdicate my responsibilities as a citizen of the world.

I refuse to deny the human rights of any person.

I refuse to suspend my conscience.

I refuse to give up my humanity.

I refuse to be silenced.

Do you hear me?

David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

All Aboard

On the Underground

passengers killing time between places,

the doors open

an Asian guy

fear burning his eyes out

stumbles in

while pursuing cops throw him down

to the subway's floor

and

automatically shoot him to death,

a public execution

carried out

at Prime Minister Poodles order

at killing times between places.

Stew Albert

The one gift of salvation coming from God through Jesus-Sophia in the Spirit upends power relationships, transforming all teachers, fathers, masters, great ones into servants of the little ones.

Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, She Who Is

A day will come when a cannon will be exhibited in museums,

 just as instruments of torture are now,

and the people will be astonished

 that such a thing could have been.

Victor Hugo, French Author & Novelist

Women are equally created in the image and likeness of God, equally redeemed by Christ, equally sanctified by the Holy Spirit; women are equally involved in the ongoing tragedy of sin and the mystery of grace, equally called to mission in this world, equally destined for life with God in glory

Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, She Who Is

I pledge allegiance to the world to cherish every living thing,

to care for earth and sea and air,

with peace and freedom everywhere.

Source unknown

Violence never again!

War never again!

Terrorism never again!

In God's name,

may all religions bring upon earth

justice and peace,

forgiveness, life and love!

Pope John Paul II, January 24, 2002

Reflections on the readings…..

The painful reality of people seeking asylum and people who are undocumented has caused some people remind us, at least Americans, of the saying on the Statue of Liberty, the “Mother of the Exiles’:

‘Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’

It suggests a challenge to actually cross the borders of the mind, the heart and into the world toward the ‘other’. A poetic remix of the words on the Statue of Liberty could be: ‘Give me those you consider dogs. Send these to me: the refugee, the alien, the foreigner, and more. Send the wretched refuse, the ailing daughters of ostracised women, because they yearn to be free.’ (Unknown source). We see this in the gospel story today.

One must wonder why Jesus would leave his familiar, comfortable territory and people—the disciples and the Pharisees—to enter a sort of red-light district, a place most people would not dare to go. Going there is socially unacceptable; it’s where the so-called outcasts, unclean, and undesirables live. The gospel passage is certainly uncomfortable and disturbing with Jesus’ response to the woman. We only speculate why the story was even told and what we are to learn from it, but we discover that the outsider finds a place on the inside of the heart of God.

A woman, a mother, gets in Jesus’ face to get him to heal her daughter when the pleas of the two blind men and the father of the epileptic boy received quick responses. Jesus has not ignored anyone before who pleaded for compassion. When he finally speaks with her, he insists he has nothing for her and that his mission is only to his own people.

If she only sought healing for herself, she might have given up, but she is a mother and usually nothing fuels a mother’s audacity more than concern for her child’s well-being. She kneels before Jesus but also blocks his way and his response is terribly insulting.

Unfortunately, she is one of the ‘dogs’ - a disparaging metaphor and derogatory term popular for describing gentiles. Whilst we might sentimentalise and befriend dogs but positive references to dogs in the scriptures are very rare… and often portrayed as scavengers. In many African countries, in Asia and in even Aboriginal communities, there are many dogs that are running loose. Nearly all are scrawny and roam around sifting through rubbish looking out for food. They seem barely tolerated or ignored.

In the gospel, the unnamed Canaanite woman reaches out to touch the door of God’s heart so that her daughter may be free. Mothers who have little enough to feed their children don’t toss sausages and crusts to the dog. That’s the worldview from which Jesus makes his comment to the woman in our Gospel. She asks him to heal her daughter to which he responds, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel... It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.’ Jesus’ attitude reflected the racial prejudice of most other Jews of his day. There was little positive to be expected from Canaanites who were demonised by the Jews much in the way that Muslims amongst us have been demonised in recent years.

We can grateful that Matthew included this moment where Jesus seems to act churlish. Through the bold words of a stranger, his mind and heart were changed. What seems a shocking story as it seems to portray Jesus mouthing prejudice; the story was told and retold because Jesus abandoned his apparent narrow view of his mission in favour of compassion and inclusion. The gospel writers portray him as saying what many people of his time would have: Israelites are God’s children; Gentiles are like the dogs. The good news is that Jesus did not remain bound by such distinctions. Though he allowed himself to be persuaded by this woman – it is not often the case in the church where women, gays and lesbians, people of colour, people from different cultures are concerned.

She will not back down. She continues to ‘nip’ at his heels. She takes Jesus’ metaphor and turns it back on him. Even the dogs get to eat the children’s crumbs; even the pets get the scraps that fall from their master’s table!’ She argues that that even on his own terms, there has to be something from him for someone like her.

This is the day that the gospel of Jesus goes to the dogs. Where those in power saw an outcast - Jesus sees a woman’s faith and love, and heals her daughter. God’s circle of love, mercy and compassion is expanded to include those once considered outsiders. The day the gospel went to the dogs is the day it came to us. We are the ‘dogs’ who have received the good news of the gospel! This marginal woman who is outside the field of Jesus’ ministry (‘It's not my job. I’ve got others to care for. I do not come from here’) challenges his ideas about his calling. He is not to set limits to it. Despite the double whammy being both a Canaanite and a woman, she is not afraid to confront this Jewish man named Jesus, who she knows can help her in her desperate need.  She goes against social and religious norms to obtain healing for her child. She speaks up and out to this man she calls ‘Son of David’ for mercy, not knowing what his response will be. She takes a stand, a risk, and crosses a borderline without knowing what his response will be. he seems to be short on empathy because he, like those who follow him, are concerned only with exclusivity in favour of their own people.

Despite resistance, she does not give up. No doubt she is accustomed to being treated this way, and continues to speak until she gets what she wants. She is not willing to allow the norms that might prohibit her approaching Jesus be normative. She goes against them and shows her humanity to Jesus: ‘Lord, help me.’ She is a human in need like any other human and so is her daughter. This woman shows how a person can be bold and brave in approaching God without fear. She has her eyes on the prize of the healing of her daughter, and nothing can deter her—not even an apparent insult from Jesus. Society’s strikes against her do not limit her faith, or her tenacity to reach beyond existential borders. Silence is not an option, only salvation and healing. She believes that her daughter deserves healing—health care—like any other person.

Despite initial resistance, Jesus gives in to this foreigner and embodies God’s mercy for all. Through engagement with the other, it is possible to learn of their human need—that is, that they are not dogs but humans, who have feelings, needs, and children, who desire mercy and healing like everyone else. Through this encounter, it is possible to see—even if the disciples do not—that we are more alike than different, that we are all children of God.

The gospel illustrates a new inclusiveness. Faced with human need, Jesus is persuaded that people matter most. No one is excluded. No one can be treated like dogs. There are many ‘dogs’ in our community who know what it is like to be shut out, told to wait, given second best, or even neglected. This woman gives them a voice. And Jesus listened! The challenge for us is to hear the questioning voice of God through this woman’s (or anyone’s) demand for attention and dignity.

Isaiah warns us about boundaries and how we can treat people as ‘dogs’ either in word or action. Isaiah points to God's invitation to outcasts, including sexual outcasts (for some reason this was left out in the text!!) and foreigners, to the messianic banquet: women are still deprived of full ministry in the churches and many other people [gays] are still alien in most churches, mosques and synagogues. Their liberation is still of no great concern to many bishops, rabbis and mullahs who cannot imagine such people amongst them. But they are persistent, though on the margins, and seek God’s liberation and intimacy. Paul too saw a special place for ‘outsiders’ in God’s plan beginning with those who were non-Jewish. If Christ died for all - then no one can be dismissed; no one can be considered a ‘dog’, no one can be excluded from God's all-embracing and relentless love.

Today, God’s questioning voice might come through the challenge to Israel’s exclusivism and territorial claims over Palestinian territory or US and Australian exceptionalism. That questioning voice might come through the faces, cries, heartbreak and deep losses experienced by people seeking asylum. That questioning voice might come through the child who wants reassurance that she or he is unconditionally loved. We see in the pagan woman of the gospel voicing her prayer, ‘have pity on me, Lord.... My daughter/son/grandchild is tormented’ through parents, friends, loved ones for those who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, or experienced abuse or found themselves mixing with the wrong crowd.

Jesus, like the prophets, encourage us to live differently. They try to take us beyond the narrow confines of our lives in order to respond to those whose spirits are crushed by poverty, trauma, and abuse, whose intellect and imagination could lift whole families and villages out of poverty but for the lack of education; whose bodies are wounded or killed by hunger, disease and violence. Those narrow places today are clearly visible in the resistance to climate change, to accepting asylum seekers, to seeing people who are different to us in looks, culture, religion or ethnicity, to seeing other ways of dealing with conflict rather than violence. That might be particularly relevant as we are quick to condemn Muslim people for any misdeed of others.

Jesus continues to go beyond the narrow places in his many encounters as also with the woman in the gospel today. We are not always good at listening. We give quick answers, justifications, rationalisations and clichés to dismiss the suffering of others. What a difference it would make if we and our leaders were open to listening to others. How might things be different if we had tried to listen to the Muslims in the world rather than embarking in a crusade against them? If we had listened we might have understood how they see things and then related to them interacted differently. Like the Wall through Gaza, we can psychologically build walls that keep others at a distance or out of our lives. Walls divide us but do not protect us. Walls are broken down by listening to those on the ‘otherside’. Getting close enough to see, hear, touch, smell and taste the reality of others makes the difference. By listening to the stories of those different from us, we find similar but unexpressed voices within us. Listening to another’s story is the beginning of a new understanding and the beginning of compassionate action. People who have been blatantly racist, prejudiced, homophobic have allowed walls to be broken down when they get to know another whom they have dismissed: an Aboriginal person, a Muslim person, a gay person, a drug addict. They have found that there is another story and another reality.

We need to attend to the voice of the nameless, the outsider, the refugee and the ‘other’. If one theme is calling to us is that of welcoming of the stranger. There is much to do in discovering and learning from the variety of cultural gifts within our nation. We can grow together as Jesus allowed himself to be open and changed in his view through the stranger, the Gentile woman.

We meet ‘possibilities we have never dared to dream’ of when God is allowed to speak to us through strangers especially those vulnerable strangers within Australia today are made up of asylum seekers and refugees (terrorist, Muslim, dog) We can engage with the other by sharing stories that transform our hearts and enable us to see things differently. In the gospel story, through dialogue and the sharing of stories and perspectives led into a transformative healing experience for herself, for her child, and for Jesus. The call to follow Jesus demands that we go beyond labels and stereotypes to recognise that each one of us is a child of God. An the tipping point for us is where orthopraxis (correct action) overrules orthodoxy (correct doctrine).

A brave and faithful woman challenges Jesus, and he discovers, and we discover too, that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Canaanite from Tyre or Sidon or anywhere else. All those boundaries and barriers we make so much of: ethnicity, class, nationality, upbringing—so many barriers, so many divisions—none of them matter.  What matters is the person before God—every single person.  The 'dividing wall of hostility' is broken down in Christ.

LITURGY NOTES FOR THE 18TH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR/ FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION.

 

Eighteenth Sunday of the Year/ Feast of the Transfiguration

Suggested formula for recognition of indigenous people and their land.

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand

We pay our respects to them for their care of the land

May we walk gently and respectfully upon the land.

or

I acknowledge the living culture of the ……..people,

the traditional custodians of the land we stand on,

and pay tribute to the unique role they play in the life of this region.

or

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land where we are now gathered,

(the ……)  and recognise that it continues to be sacred to them.

We hail them: as guardians of the earth and of all things that grow and breed in the soil; as trustees of the waters – [the seas, the streams and rivers, the ponds and the lakes] - and the rich variety of life in those waters.

We thank them for passing this heritage to every people since the Dreamtime.

We acknowledge the wrongs done to them by newcomers to this land and we seek to be partners with them in righting these wrongs and in living together in peace and harmony.

   

Readings

Reading I Is 55:1-3

Responsorial Psalm Ps 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18

Reading II Rom 8:35, 37-39

Gospel 14:13-21

Penitential Rite

1.       Jesus, you are the bread that gives life to the world: Jesus, have mercy.

2.      Christ, you are the bread that strengthens us on the journey of life: Christ, have mercy.

3.       Jesus, you are the bread that gives us fullness of life: Jesus, have mercy.

or

1. Christ Jesus, you nourish us with your word: Jesus, have mercy.
2. Christ Jesus, you feed us with your own body: Christ, have mercy.
3. Christ Jesus, you call us to proclaim your word and share bread with others: Jesus, have mercy.

Opening Prayer

Compassionate God, [or: Abundant God]

Jesus, your Son,

gave food to all who were hungry.

Make us compassionate

and able to see the needs of those

who hunger for dignity, justice, and liberation

and as we work to bind their wounds

and appease their hungers

so that others may recognise that it is you

who nourishes us with your food and drink.

Prayer over the Gifts

Compassionate God, [or: Bountiful God]

we thank you for this bread and wine

which become for us

signs of Jesus’ presence in our midst.

May this bread of life strengthen us

and the wine of joy give us hope.

Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.

........We lift them to God.

Let us give thanks to the Living God.

........It is right to give God our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,

for you offer us the banquet that feeds us abundantly

and fills us with your presence.

You strove against the darkness and chaos,

and you prevailed,

bringing forth creation in all its miraculous abundance.

You challenged your servant, Jacob, face to face,

and gave him your blessing and promise.

From his family you formed your covenant people,

in whom your glory, your law, and your worship

were revealed to the world.

But now, in these last days,

your Messiah, Jesus, has emerged from among them,

bringing your compassion and healing to all.

Though he was cursed and cut off for the sake of his people,

you raised him from death.

Now in him you offer food for our deepest hunger,

and it is in holding tight to him

that we see your face and receive your blessing.

Therefore with .....

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Deliver Us   [after ‘The Our Father’]

Deliver us, Abundant God, from every kind of evil.

Keep us free from all kinds of judgment or condemnation of others.

Help us to accept and appreciate each other

and to prepare together in joy and hope

the full coming among us

of Christ Jesus, our Savior. .

R/ For the kingdom..

Breaking of the Bread

We break this bread

as a sign that Jesus himself was broken

to give us his life.

Let this breaking also be a sign

that each of us is willing

to share one's food and life with others

and to live together in peace with all.

The peace of Christ Jesus be with you always. R/ And also with you.

Prayer after Communion

Compassionate God, [or: Abundant God]

As Jesus multiplied the bread to feed the hungry,

multiply in us a capacity to love

so that we spread your peace with justice.

May we strive to act justly

by sharing generously the gifts we have received.

General Intercessions

Introduction: We pray in the spirit of the Jesus whose heart was filled with compassion for those who were hungry and thirsting.  We pray in response: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

1.       For the pope, bishops and priests: that they strive to satisfy without compromise the people's hunger and thirst for the Good News – a news of love, justice, truth and hope, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

2.      For those in authority: that they will make decisions that service humanity through peace and development rather than military spending that is designed to destroy human life and the life of the planet, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

3.       For people who continue to suffer the effects of nuclear weapons in Japan; Agent Orange in Vietnam; and white phosphorus and depleted uranium in Iraq, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

4.      For political leaders, scientists and economists of the world: that they may generously cooperate to solve the problem of hunger in the world and bring to a hungry world not only food but also dignity, justice and peace, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

5.       For all our leaders that they may satisfy the hungers of the human family, particularly those hungering for freedom, understanding and human dignity, by proclaiming without compromise the Good News, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

6.      For the sick and the lonely, those living with disabilities and discouragement: that our love and concern may be signs to them that God does not abandon them, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

7.       For all of us here: that we may not concern ourselves alone with the immediate needs of ourselves and our families, but hunger for the higher goods of God's word and for the Eucharist, , we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

8.      For the whole church, that it may assist people everywhere to discover and express their deepest aspirations and enrich them with the values of the family, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, satisfy our hunger for you, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

9.      For people who are sick and lonely, for people living with disabilities and with HIV/AIDS, for people who are discouraged, for people who hunger for love and acceptance, that our concern and love may be a sign to them of God's closeness, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

10.   For our world that hungers for peace, that as we commemorate Hiroshima Day today,  we may join with all who live in conflict to remind them of our common humanity, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

11.   For all people who do not have enough of what they require to sustain life, especially the people at the moment in the Horn of Africa, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

12.   For all present here today, that we may occupy ourselves with immediate needs of family as well as hungering for your word in our lives by our generosity towards those we encounter, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

13.   For all those who hunger for shelter, for work, and for food, for all those who hunger for justice and equality - that they not lose their dream of living one day in a community where each person is given according to his or her need, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

14.   For all those in our worldwide community who have died of starvation and for the millions of women and men who have not even a piece of bread to eat - that the world's abundance will be shared equitably, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

15.   For all people whose pain is unknown to anyone and who suffer without anyone to care for them, and for the people who care for other people without acknowledgement, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

16.   For all those people and institutions who continue to use language that discriminates, leaving to one side ‘women and children’ - that we all might make greater efforts to be respectful with our language, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

17.   For those who have loaned vast sums of money without due care to developing countries and yet refuse to lift from them the eternal yoke of debt - that they may recognize the terrible burden debt places on families in these countries, we pray: Satisfy our hunger, O God.

Concluding Prayer: Abundant God (or: Generous and loving God), gift us not only with a deep hunger for you, but a hunger for love, justice, freedom and compassion for all.

Parish Notices

August 6 Feast of the Transfiguration

August 6 Hiroshima Day

August 6 Anniversary of the death of Pope Paul VI

August 9 Nagasaki Day

   

In the face of the man-made calamity that every war is, one must affirm and reaffirm, again and again, that the waging of war is not inevitable or unchangeable. Humanity is not destined to self-destruction. Clashes of ideologies, aspirations and needs can and must be settled and resolved by means other than war and violence.

Pope John Paul II, Appeal for Peace, Hiroshima, Japan.

Nuclear deterrence as a national policy must be condemned as morally abhorrent because it is the excuse and justification for the continued possession and further development of these horrendous weapons.

US Catholic Bishops, The Morality of Nuclear Deterrence

The time has come to rid planet Earth of nuclear weapons-all of them, everywhere. Nuclear weapons, whether used or threatened, are grossly evil and morally wrong.

Cardinal Danneels, Statement to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee

‘.the arms race is an utterly treacherous trap for humanity, and one which injures the poor to an intolerable degree.’

Second Vatican Council Gaudium et Spes [Church in the Modern World]

This Conference resolves to call upon our respective governments to urge all nations to agree by treaty to stop the production, testing, stock-piling and usage of nuclear weapons and to press for an international mandate for all member states to prohibit nuclear warfare.

Archbishop Martino, Apostolic Nuncio, UN

We must all pray that no human hand will ever again do what has been done here.

Mother Teresa, Nagasaki, Japan.

(Today) excessive nuclear arsenals, their continued spread, and proposals to further develop and use them underscore the need for much deeper cuts in nuclear weapons and ultimately a global nuclear ban.

US Catholic Bishops 2003

Further Resources

Faith in an incarnational God will not allow us to ignore the physical world, nor any of its nuances.

Barbara Brown Taylor,

We do not detach ourselves from things in order to attach ourselves to God, but rather we become detached from ourselves in order to see and use all things in and for God.’

Thomas Merton

If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time.

But if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine,

then let us work together.

Lilla Watson, Aboriginal Elder and activist

At its core, global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God's creation and the one human family.’ You can read more about what we as Catholics can do at this website: http://www.catholicsandclimatechange.org/

U.S. Bishop's Statement on Climate Change (2001)

May I say to my Christian friends as powerfully as I can,

the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about love not hate,

acceptance not rejection.

It celebrates the essence of one's humanity.

It calls people beyond the prejudices

of tribe, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.

It challenges those who have elevated their religious convictions

to the realm of infallible or inerrant truth.

But even more powerfully it calls

those of us who claim to be disciples of this Christ

to stand at the side of those our world would victimize,

to counter the rhetoric of religious prejudice,

to risk our lives for justice,

and to do it quite publicly.

Bishop John Spong

We learn to see the face of Christ - the face of Christ that also is the face of a suffering human being, the face of the crucified, the face of the poor, the face of a saint, and the face of every person – and we love each one with the criteria with which we will be judge: ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat.’

Archbishop Oscar Romero

This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century –solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.

Elie Wiesel

We kill at every step, not only in wars, riots, and executions. We kill when we close our eyes to poverty, suffering, and shame. In the same way all disrespect for life, all hard-heartedness, all indifference, all contempt is nothing else than killing. With just a little witty skepticism we can kill a good deal of the future in a young person. Life is waiting everywhere, the future is flowering everywhere, but we only see a small part of it and step on much of it with our feet.

Hermann Hesse, German poet and novelist.

…...most men have bound their eyes with one or another handkerchief, and attached themselves to some one of these communities of opinion. This conformity makes them not false in a few particulars, authors of a few lies, but false in all particulars. Their every truth is not quite true. Their two is not the real two, their four not the real four; so that every word they say chagrins us, and we know not where to begin to set them right.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance, 1841

He who would do good’ wrote William Blake, ‘must do so in minute particulars. General good is the plea of the scoundrel, the hypocrite and the liar.’ It is also the plea of most political ideologues who do not hesitate, and often in the name of ‘the People’, to persecute in minute particulars for the sake of the general good.

Jeremy Taylor's, Ag Pleez Deddy, - a South African musician

Independence…. [is] middle-class blasphemy. 

We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth

George Bernard Shaw

Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.

Buddha, Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta

I am a part of all that I have met

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Let us not measure the church by the number of its members or by its material buildings…. Many buildings have been stolen from her and turned into libraries and barracks and markets.  It doesn’t matter.  The material walls here will be left behind in history.  What matters is you, the people, your hearts.

Archbishop Oscar Romero

Respect for human dignity and belief in the equal dignity of all the members of the human family demand policies aimed at enabling all peoples to have access to the means required to improve their lives, including the technological means and skills needed for development. Respect for nature by everyone, a policy of openness to immigrants, the cancellation or significant reduction of the debt of poorer nations, the promotion of peace through dialogue and negotiation, the primacy of the rule of law: these are the priorities which the leaders of the developed nations cannot disregard. A global world is essentially a world of solidarity!

Pope John Paul II, Audience with President Bush, July 23, 2002

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall--think of it, always!

Mahatma Gandhi

What our leaders and pundits never let slip is that the terrorists -- whatever else they might be -- might also be rational human beings; which is to say that in their own minds they have a rational justification for their actions. Most terrorists are people deeply concerned by what they see as social, political, or religious injustice and hypocrisy, and the immediate grounds for their terrorism is often retaliation for an action of the United States.

William Blum, US writer

For what is the crime of burglarizing a bank, compared with the crime of building one?

Bertolt Brecht

God of Justice,

open our eyes

to see you in the face

of those who are poor,

those who are oppressed and marginalised..

Open our ears

to hear you in the cries

of those who are exploited,

those considered to be nothing,

those abandoned and dismissed.

Open our mouths

to defend you in all places:

in public places,

at our work,

in our schools and universities,

in our workplaces and our streets,

as well as in our private deeds.

Remind us that what we do

to the least ones,

we do to you.

Amen.

C.M

The most common way people give up their power

is by thinking they don't have any.

Alice Walker

Action is the antidote to despair:

Joan Baez

Prayer for Peace

May we be filled with the strength to seek peace.

War will not end when the guns are silent.

Violence can never lead to peace.

May we be filled with the courage to seek peace.

We grieve for the harm to our own country.

The degradation suffered here and in Iraq.

The contagious of fear and distrust,

The restriction of freedoms,

The quashing of dialogue and dissent.

We grieve the terrible wounding

of those sent off to fight in a war

that is questioned all over the world.

We grieve the rupture of families here and in Iraq.

May we be filled with the compassion to seek peace.

We are members of one human family.

We grasp the horror of war in all its forms.

And we struggle to embrace the suffering of all

with love and compassion.

May we be filled with the endurance to seek peace.

Recognizing our weakness.

We call on the God of mercy and compassion

to guide us in the days ahead.

May we be filled with the vision of peace.

Dominican Sisters, Houston, Texas.

O God,

you came to bring peace,

to offer reconciliation,

to heal the separation between people,

and to show how it is possible

for men and women to overcome their differences

and to celebrate their unity.

You revealed your God as a God of all people,

a God without resentments or desires for revenge,

a God who cares for each one of His children

with an infinite love and mercy

and who does not hesitate to invite them into His own house.

But our world today does not look like a world that knows you.

Our nations are torn by chaos, hatred, violence, and war.

In many places, death rules.

O God,

do not forget the world into which you came to save your people;

do not turn your back on your children who desire to live in harmony

but who are constantly entangled in fear, anger, lust, violence, greed, suspicion, jealousy, and hunger for power.

Bring your peace to this world,

a peace we cannot make ourselves.

Awaken the consciousness of all peoples and their leaders;

raise up men and women full of love and generosity

who can speak and act for peace,

and show us new ways

in which hatred can be left behind,

wounds can be healed,

and unity restored.

O God, come to our assistance.

O God, make haste to help us.

Amen.

Adapted from A Cry for Mercy, by Henri J.M. Nouwen

Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. Why is he there? And I tell you this morning that he's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this.

Lt Gen William Boykin, speaking of G. W. Bush, New York Times, 17 October 2003

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.

Aristotle

It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do;

but what humanity, reason,

and justice tell me I ought to do.

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the readings

It is hard to read the Gospel story of the crowd which is fed without thinking about the reality of poverty in our world. When the hungry Oliver Twist asked, ‘Please, sir, I want some more,’ he had obviously not imbibed the culture of the work-house which Charles Dickens described as a place ‘without the inconvenience of too much food.’ The plaintive cry for ‘more’ is getting louder in East Africa as countless people experience hunger, water shortages and concomitant diseases. 16 million people are on the brink of starvation desperately needing food, water and medical treatment whilst we have the ‘burden’ of so much choice in our supermarkets, water flowing from our taps and high-quality medical care. This alone would make it almost impossible for us to relate to the millions of people just existing in deplorable and desperate conditions on the other side of the world.

The readings tell us that God hears the cry of the poor. Jesus hears that cry, too. Does the church and society in general hear the cry of world and of creation? Jesus’ hearing the cry of the poor is come out of his humanity and ability to connect with people, especially those who most marginalised and oppressed. It is this kind of seeing and hearing that results in the silencing of prophets and ultimately Jesus himself.

Failing to avoid the crowd, whilst trying to find an isolated place to grieve the killing of John the Baptist, Jesus responds with ‘compassion’ for a people left poor, excluded, isolated, leaderless and needlessly dying for political reasons by an oppressive system. There is also ‘rage’ or ‘fire in the belly’ because this is not how the world should be or how people should relate to one another. The Bible is filled of stories of refugees and the hungry, like today, where much of the population of antiquity lived on the razor’s edge of food insecurity, lack of shelter and the threat of exile or extinction. The number of displaced people in the world just hit a record high exceeding 65 million. One in every 113 people on the planet is now a refugee. Around the world, someone is displaced every three seconds, forced from their homes by violence, war and persecution. More than half the world’s refugees are children, many travelling alone or in groups in a desperate quest for sanctuary, and often falling into the clutches of people traffickers.’ 

The miraculous that occurred in the gospel was not a ‘popcorn miracle’ where five loaves became 5000 or two fish multiplied by 3000. The woman, the mothers in the crowd, must have followed Jesus’ example. What mother would not on leaving home for a day in the wilderness not pack food for her husband and children? They opened up what they had and shared with the people they had just encountered. It was a ‘miracle of enough.’ Everyone shared. So even the improvident were able to eat with plenty left over – 12 baskets Matthew tells us. But this miracle was not just about food. John Dominic Crossan says that the ‘miracle of loaves and fishes’ was not just about food but about just distribution. That is how God reign operates. God gives food, drink – the earth itself – to all without cost. This is what Jesus’ followers are called to imitate here and now. Today’s readings are not just about food and drink; they’re about just food and drink. They’re about sharing God’s free gifts rather than turning them into commodities to benefit the 1%.

Jesus feelings of compassion and rage guide his actions, choices and responses. They give birth to an alternative hope which is acted out by Jesus in making the love of God visible and present in our world. Jesus, being with people, shows that God is with people. Not just the men counted but the women and children, the elderly and poor, sick and even disreputable people, and today with indigenous people, people with various sexual orientations, the asylum seekers and the stranger. Here before Jesus, and us, is humanity. The gospel sets for us what discipleship involves – ‘you give them something to eat; don’t send them off to get food; don’t blame them for not having enough, or being unemployed, or for any other predicament. The central message is: ‘You give them something to eat yourselves.’ The intention is to model the whole gospel and his life for us.

When we hear the phrase ‘Not counting women and children’ various reactions are possible. The feeding story—and, in a quite different way, Jesus’ later encounter with a Canaanite woman—highlight the importance of women, surplus food, and children. Matthew often, does not highlight the known insiders (such as Peter) but nameless women, and today a generous child, who will represent the model of faithfulness. But bad things happen when women and children are not counted – they are actually more and more marginalised. As we reflect on this phrase we are reminded that our nation had its own version of ‘not counting’. Until 1967, it applied to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were not counted in the census. Now in 2017, they demand to have a voice too.

In 2011, Archbishop Desmond Tutu told an audience that God calls us to be partners in changing a ‘crazy’ world of extreme economic inequality. ‘Dream God’s dream. Dream as you go out into a world that is so unequal. Dream of a different world.’ He said, ‘When someone is hungry we do not see samosas floating down from heaven. If that hungry person is to be fed, this omnipotent God waits on us to be God’s partners so that the miracle of feeding the hungry happens.’

Tutu spoke out strongly against the current state of the world and its ‘obscene’ inequality where children die of preventable disease because they cannot afford very cheap vaccines; where many go to bed hungry when others wonder what they are going to do with their surpluses; where we spend billions on defence budgets when a small fraction would enable children everywhere in the world to have clean water to drink, enough food to eat, decent homes and affordable healthcare. Tutu told university graduates, ‘We need you to dream God’s dream of a world, a different kind of world, a compassionate world, a caring world, a sharing world. God says ‘I have no-one, except you.’ God says ‘Help me, please help me to realise my dream'‘.

To respond effectively as disciples, we need to have a contemplative attitude if we are to see deeply and respond humanly to the needs of others. To see more deeply can cause a wound within ourselves. To see, to recognise, to be aware, must inform all that we do – our relationships with others and our response to our world. It is also being open to surprise. People often not given a voice or left marginalised often can enrich us when we least expect it. Those who have lost the most, those who have paid the greater price in terms of lost hopes and dreams, those who are the so-called ‘losers’ know things about the world that those who are considered ‘winners’ or privileged do not. ‘From the lowest rung, you see things that aren’t visible from the top or the centre…. The unlucky know more of the world and its vulnerabilities than the lucky; the weak have a far better sense of that than the strong.’ [Mark Peel]. In many ways, the solutions to their problems and their needs are found within themselves and among themselves. And in the gospel today, Jesus hears the cry of the poor and puts their needs above his own – whether it be acceptance, companionship, friendship, presence, intimacy, respect, or food. These are the ones we are called to respond to: those not counted, not valuable, not respected, not numbered or included and often not even remembered. How we respond, how we rage at the injustice becomes the measure of our faithfulness and a sign of our friendship with Jesus and the quality of our worship.

The task can seem enormous. The gospel tells us about the many thousands who were fed by a little bit of bread and fish. The point of the story is precisely the hopelessness of this equation. The resources of the Gospel always seem hopelessly dwarfed by the world's power, the world's hunger, the world's sin, and the resources that the world itself seems to offer.

We are reminded that we are with the bread of life. We have what we need to feed the world. We do not need to go anywhere to buy anything. We have the resources already even though they often seem over matched, hopeless, dwarfed, nonsensical, even wishful thinking. We might feel puny and pathetic, not up to the task of feeding a hungry, greedy world. The point of the gospel today is to take up the challenge to roll the dice on the reality of the gospel. It is adequate to the task, both of feeding the world and defeating ‘empire’

Speaking of today’s Gospel, Henri Nouwen referred to the value of small things (Jesus, A Gospel, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y.: 2001). God chooses the small things that seem insignificant to the world, whereas ‘worldly wisdom’ prefers what is large, quick, efficient, impressive and elaborate. The little we have was/is enough for Jesus. In the feeding, according to Nouwen, a great mystery becomes visible. This is the way of God who will take the small things, like the little love we have, the little knowledge we have, the little advice we have, the few possessions we have, and multiply them. Another writer puts it this way: ‘each drop of empathy waters the flower of peace’ (Simon Baron-Cohen, Zero Degrees of Empathy: A New Theory of Human Cruelty, AllenLane, London, 2011).

Mother Teresa tried to impress upon her sisters that ‘Charity begins today. Today, somebody is suffering. Today, somebody is in the street. Today, somebody is hungry. Our work is for today. Yesterday has gone, tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today to make Jesus known, loved, served, fed, clothed, sheltered. Do not wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we will not have them if we do not feed them today’ (The Joy of Loving, compiled by Jaya Chalika and Edward Le Joly, Penguin Group, New York: 2000).

It may be comforting to think of Jesus working a miracle with bread and fish. If Jesus doesn’t do the same for ‘those starving people,’ then how can they be our problem? But what if St. Teresa was right: Christ has no hands but ours? What if Jesus’ words to the disciples — ‘Give them some food yourselves’ — are words meant for us today? Whatever happened on that hillside so long ago, the lesson is this: There is more than enough. Whoever says otherwise is the devil speaking. There is abundance, and all we have to do is believe it and live as if we believe it. Then we will have the deep satisfaction of knowing that because of us, a stranger on the hillside of this world is also fed.

God’s gracious covenant with humanity is a challenge for us to recognise the dignity and humanity of all people, and to ensure that our attitudes, our ethics and our worship are free from exclusionary or diminishing language and practices, from dominance and power abuses, and from compliance with any system that unfairly oppresses or disadvantages some in favour of others. Essentially, we are called to become the people of God, welcomed at God’s table, and living as global citizens with a world-centric perspective and a God-inspired longing for healing, justice, peace and inclusion of all. It’s a dream, perhaps, but one worth striving for.

Jesus’ words to the disciples continue to ring through the centuries to us: ‘You feed them’. There is an old African concept – ubuntu – which simply translates as ‘human kindness’, but its scope really extends to (in the words of Liberian peace activist Leyman Gbowee) ‘I am what I am, because of who we all are’. We are one human race, more interconnected than we can even realise. While we may feel removed from this crisis in the safety of our island home, we are nonetheless part of a global community. May Australians fill their hearts with ubuntu, exude compassion and humanity in the face of this crisis, and show humanity to others. (Phoebe Williams This is not 'natural selection': east Africa is in the grip of a famine emergency The Guardian July 24, 2017)

Reflections for the Feast of the Transfiguration [August 6]

Today’s mountain-top scene is an important turning point in the Gospel story. It is a threshold moment, which makes a new alternative future possible.  God calls us beyond the boundaries of our comfort zones whether that space is physical, cultural, religious, racial or one’s own family. As we focus beyond ourselves the impossible becomes possible.  God’s word subverts our familiar world.

The Transfiguration for us, as for Jesus, is a matter of getting close to who we are, who we are meant to be, who we are meant to become. It was a transforming moment. The truth is that there is more to Jesus than the disciples thought.  Where they had been enmeshed in the give and take of life, where survival means knowing what is what and looking out for number one, Jesus points to a different way of relating. There is no room for mere observers but entering into a circle of giving and receiving.  The prophets often pointed to a vision of a transfigured world.  Jesus lived that in his life, death and resurrection. It is an image of humanity as it was meant to be.  

The ‘cloud’ in the gospel conceals and reveals. Clouds can conceal shapes, and can reveal shapes. 62 years ago a new kind of cloud took on an ominous meaning for the world in the shape of a mushroom. There was a blinding flash in the gospel story which was transfiguring. There was also the blinding flash of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which was disfiguring. This flash can enlighten us and give us an insight into what we are capable of: the capacity for evil and the capacity for good. 

We are called to see that the basic power of the universe is not the atom’s destructive power but the power revealed in Jesus: God’s steadfast and binding love for each and every creature in the universe. This love holds us together, sustains us at every moment, and will come again to transfigure all things; the love that submitted to death for sake of all creation; the love that the forces of division and hate, of war and destruction cannot ultimately withstand.   Jesus seems to always climb a mountain when he needs a new horizon - when the human struggle was draining, the demands great, the misunderstanding of his mission - the day to day blindness to the greater visions of the prophets - the dreams of God. 

At its best, the church is the place to come to regain perspective - stretch the vision of our horizons beyond the day-to-day fickleness of joys and disappointments.  There is a cry for a faith that makes sense in the streets, face to face with the concrete needs of others.  The experience on the mountain gave the disciples a glimpse of the glory that got them out of the pressing crowds, away from the angry voices of the threatened, past the personal satisfaction of being part of a healing or miracle. It was to stretch their imaginations and desires beyond the limited roles of healers, miracle-workers, and teachers to see that they were part of a much larger picture. They were the instruments of a divine justice and compassion which would require a lot more courage than they imagined. Today's feast is a powerful opportunity to hold out to us and to others the hope-filled image of God’s transforming power.

Jesus’ experience on the mountain is put at the centre of the gospel. Jesus is in dialogue with history: Moses and Elijah, in one moment, and his sleepy disciples in the next. It was here that he was given the heart, the courage, to make it possible to take the way of the Cross: to send Judas from the table of the last supper with a kiss, to look Pilate in the eye, to forgive the mindless cruelty of the soldiers and the betrayal of his own friends.  The transfiguration changed the shape of his understanding; it was consciousness-raising for him. Might not suffering of the poor and oppressed in history still be an unmitigated disaster if Jesus had not had this experience?  If we look at the shocking photos of famine in East Africa, the ongoing torture of prisoners in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, the human rights abuses still perpetrated at Guantánamo Bay, the devastation of cities in Iraq and Syria, and so many other places such as the Mediterranean Sea and near to home on Manus Island and Nauru we see the suffering of Christ, the Human One [Son of humanity].

Our history continues to be a holocaust of human hatred and the slaughter of innocent people.  George Bernard Shaw, in Don Juan in Hell has the Devil ask,

‘Is Man any the less destroying himself for all this boasted brain of his?  Have you walked up and down the earth lately?  I have; and I have examined Man's wonderful inventions.  And I tell you that in the arts of life man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery all the slaughter of plague, pestilence, and famine.  The peasant I tempt today eats and drinks what was eaten and drunk by the peasants of ten thousand years ago, and the house he lives in has not altered as much in a thousand centuries as the fashion of a lady's bonnet in a score of weeks.  But when he goes out to slay, he carries a marvel of mechanism that lets loose at the touch of his finger all the hidden molecular energies, and leaves the javelin, the arrow, the blowpipe of his fathers far behind.  In the arts of peace, Man is a bungler. . . there is nothing in Man's industrial machinery but his greed and sloth: his heart is in his weapons. This marvellous force of Life of which you boast is a form of Death:  Man measures his strength by his destructiveness. . . Man, the inventor of the stake, the gallows, the electric chair, of sword and gun and poison gas. . . above all, of patriotism, and all the other isms which even those who are clever enough to be humanely disposed are persuaded to become the most destructive of all destroyers.’ 

For decades we have lived with the reality that we have the capacity to destroy every life form God so lovingly created. This is an extreme, dramatic example of how we on earth can treat one another, how fearful we can become when we are threatened, how easily we can forget why we were created, despite what God desires and longs for us to become. It illustrates how easy it is for us to pervert the energies God has created. The Gospel reminds us of a deeper reality - that God insists always on having the last word. The dazzling, blinding white light cast on the mountain declares that God insists on transfiguring hell into heaven. God will not let the hell of Hiroshima be the last word. God will not let the selfishness and inhumanity of nuclear annihilation win out. The power of God can transfigure the events of August 6, 1945 into a level of restraint in the way nations settle differences. The power of humanity to destroy and dehumanise one another is ever before us but we do things differently – we can negotiate with North Korea, we can end the state of war that has existed for decades, we can listen to their concerns of fear and the memory of extreme violence during the Korean War and after.

On the mountain top and at the bottom of the mountain [our world] God’s voice can be heard: Listen to Jesus! We are to listen to him to understand what true religion is about.  It is the religion at the bottom of the mountain and which engages with our world – not the ‘shrine’ religion that Peter wants to establish [three tents]. This suggests the ghetto, remaining in the boat, keeping away from the world and from people in their need. This message is that religion is to be about the active engagement of the people of God with the gospel of liberation.  It is not about settling down to build shelters, practice cosy fellowship, building maintenance organisations, etc.

Jesus does not point away from the world.  He is the incarnation of God, the embodiment of God's love.  The one who is transfigured will soon be disfigured and points to the disfigured in the world.   The brokenness of humanity, the parts we all experience and the parts we are responsible for, must be taken into the divine life.  But we cannot stay on the mountaintop.  Jesus draws us into the human drama of brokenness and healing.   We look back to the transfiguration and look ahead at our world.   We are on a journey - a relationship with God and each other.  God lives within us and calls to us ‘You are a child of God.  You too are God's beloved.’  It is inclusive of all.

Peter wants to build a permanent dwelling place for each right there on the mountaintop, so that this wonderful moment might be captured and preserved.  In this context they hear: ‘This is my Son, the beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’  We cannot let our religion stay at mountain top level. The human project – peace with justice, liberation for all people – cannot remain in hibernation on the mountain, or settle down into irrelevancy, or settle with ‘personal’ religion where it is just me and Jesus and no one else.

In today’s terms we must see Jesus on the mountain not only with Moses and Elijah, but also Muhammad, Gautama [Buddha] if we are to have a future of peace. We must be willing to make space where the ‘mountain’ of God is not a shrine for the past but a meeting place to envision a future of peace and justice on our planet. The gospel says that this cannot occur unless we listen: listen to Jesus, and listen to each other – especially ‘the other’.

People of faith know that lying beside the power to destroy is the power of God -- a force that will rise in human consciousness, intersecting our human ways, and unleashing the dazzling white power of love that can transfigure us.

As we remember August 6, 1945, the image of the mushroom-shaped cloud comes to consciousness. But Christians who remember that August 6 is the Feast of the Transfiguration know, too, that another cloud overshadows the mushroom-shaped one. It is the cloud of the mountain from which the voice of God reminds us that Jesus is God’s chosen one to whom we must listen.