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Monday, April 24, 2023

Respect and disenfranchisement

 


A few thoughts on those who, for whatever reason, find themselves unchurched.

Saturday, April 22, 2023

How to bear punishment

Sermon for the second Sunday after Easter

What do they say?

They say that 
they can't believe in a god
who abuses his own son.

They say there is 
something wrong
with a god
that would punish his son
for our sins.

If God talks so much
about forgiveness,
why doesn't He just forgive us
rather than allow
Our Lord Jesus
to go through the agonies
of crucifixion
in punishment of our sins?

[PAUSE]

Some people get the idea
that Jesus is punished 
instead of us 
through the words of St Peter
when he says
that Jesus
"bare our sins in His own body
on the tree" of the Cross.

Some people say 
that the prophet Isaiah
sees the death of Jesus
as being wounded
for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities,
bearing our chastisement
and healing us by his wounds.

This certainly sounds 
as if God were whipping Jesus
because of our disobedience.

But the Church has a rule
and that rule is
we must the Old Testament
in the light of the New.

St Peter knows Jesus
so well.

Does he say that Jesus
is punished instead of us?

Does Jesus really bear
our sins in His own body 
on the tree?

[PAUSE]

Well, he does and he doesn't.

The word St Peter uses
is not "bear" as in simply carry.

He uses a stronger word
which means to lift up
or hold aloft.

It's the same word 
that is used
to describe how Jesus
brings Peter, James and John
up to the mountain
of His transfiguration.

It is the same word
that describes how
Jesus ascends into Heaven.

It is the same word
that describes how 
priests offer up sacrifices.

Jesus doesn't just
bear our sins in His own body
on the tree,
He offers them up to God
as a priest
making a sacrifice of
atonement
on the altar of the Cross,
through His own blood.

This is why the Cross is a triumph,
this is why Our Lord's
"it is finished!"
is a cry of success
that the sacrifice has been made
through His blood
allowing us to be reconciled
with God.

Once we understand this,
we understand Isaiah's words
as meaning something deeper,
something more profound
than someone else being punished
for our own wrong-doing.

This is not a God
Who distances Himself from sinners.

This is not a God 
Who is as enslaved to the law
as to ensure that 
must exact every penny
from every transgression
or the universe will fall to bits.

This is a God 
Who looks every sinner
full in the face
and opens the way back
wherever that sinner may be.

The Good Shepherd
lays down His life
as the sacrifice
on behalf of the sheep
in His care.

[PAUSE]

The extraordinary thing is
that the Sacrifice of the Cross
is the reason why 
the Hebrews have a whole system
of sacrifices
before the Incarnation.

The sin-offerings
of the Jewish Priests
are so that those born before Jesus
can take part in His Sacrifice.

His Sacrifice completes theirs
and His Sacrifice
is brought to us
in the Sacrifice of the Mass.

The Cross may take place 
at one point in our History
but it spreads both forwards
and backwards in Time
so that all God's people
receive the benefit of
Our Lord's atoning sacrifice.

[PAUSE]

And we are to be like Our Lord.

We have the ability
to offer up in our suffering
a sacrifice to God
on behalf of all 
who are suffering 
as we are.

Yes, we must humbly accept
the consequences of our sins.
These consequences
are son's punishment.

But this punishment
ends with our death
and our resurrection
in Christ.

But we can bear
in our sufferings
our illnesses
and life's injustices
the sickness of the world
and through our participation
in the sacrifice of Christ
we bring His life 
into a dying world.

That is how a Christian
is to bear punishment.


Monday, April 17, 2023

Saturday, April 15, 2023

Overcoming faith

Sermon for Low Sunday

Why are people 
losing their faith?

We know that 
the Christian religion 
is going through
a decline here in the West.

In Africa and India
it is growing so well.

What's happening here?

Why are our churches
becoming emptier and emptier?

[PAUSE]

We are witnessing
the effect of the powers
of Apathy, Apostasy 
and Complacency.

Don't care.
Can't care.
Won't care.

And where do these come from?

Ultimately,
these three bear witness
to doubt, disillusionment, 
and desire.

We are disillusioned
by the actions of people
who claim to speak for God
and yet who serve their own bellies.

Since we are disillusioned
by the sinful actions 
of Church members,
we doubt 
God's purpose
for our lives.

If we lose our sense of purpose,
then we desire our own way.

And behind
doubt,
desire
and disillusionment
is the Devil himself
whispering
in our ears
the same temptations that 
he whispers into the ears
of Our Lord Himself.

Apostasy, Apathy and
Complacency
are the fruits of
Doubt, Desire and Disillusionment,
and these are the weapons
used against us in the world.

These are the things 
each of us must overcome
in our lives
if we truly wish to 
endure to the end
and be saved.

And yet we already have the victory!

[PAUSE]

St John tells us
very clearly
that Faith is our victory.

Why?

Faith in God
holds fast to the truth
that we have already experienced
in our lives. 

It holds fast to 
the reality of God 
even when His reality is
obscured by cares and woes.

Faith is not a blind hope
that all will turn out well
in the end.

It is the trust in 
what we have already experienced,
the testimony of the experiences
of others,
and the evidence that
we have already seen.

This Faith is not faith in 
members of the Church.

Their sins, 
and ours,
will be judged
by the Bridegroom
of the Church.

Our Faith is not
in the morality of Society,
for Society twists the morals
it receives from the Church
into a mockery of the Good
to satisfy its own desires.

Our Faith is in 
the One Eternal and True God,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Faith in God comes to us
through hearing the Gospel
and believing it
and allowing it to grow.

Ultimately, 
we must face the temptation
to think that our faith is meaningless.

If you are here
facing doubt rather than Faith
then you are not alone.

The disciples too doubt.
They doubt the evidence
of the empty tomb.
They doubt the evidence
of the ever-faithful 
St Mary Magdalene.
They doubt the tales 
of those around that
He is risen.

They doubt,
and there He is
offering up His wounds 
for scrutiny,
eating and drinking
and bringing merriment
to the dumbfounded.

The doubt of the Disciples
is there for us
when we face doubt.

[PAUSE]

We have every reason to doubt.
There are so many scandals
and scoundrels 
in the Church.
There is much evil being done
supposedly in the Name of Christ.
There is so much enticement
to change your meaning
of what is good
and what is bad.

But the evil that surrounds
and even penetrates the Church
does not change the truth
of the Resurrection.

It does not change the truth of Christ.

That evil may try 
to change what He really says
to make us disillusioned
to make us doubt
and make us desire 
that which is not good for us.

Yet, we have Faith,
and this Faith protects us
from the Devil like a shield.

Any attempt
to change what the Church 
has always believed
is a deliberate attack 
on our spiritual health.

This means that we must struggle.
And when our faith is well rooted
within the Church,
we can win the struggle.

[PAUSE]

By faith, 
our ancestors did wonderful
things for the Kingdom of God.

By faith, 
so will you,
for, by faith,
you have victory
within your grasp.

Monday, April 10, 2023

A Resurrection of Unity

 


Why theology needs to be done properly and careful of its subject matter

Sunday, April 09, 2023

The humiliation of resurrection

Sermon for the Sunday of the Resurrection

Together this Triduum,
we have been looking
at the humiliation
which Our Lord accepts 
in order to save us.

We are learning
that humiliation is
a return to being grounded.

We see Our Lord
ground Himself
to wash the dust off our feet
so that we can be exalted.

We see Our Lord
mocked, 
spat in,
slapped
and laughed at in His agony.

We see Our Lord
placed in the tomb
with the intention
of allowing Him 
to return to earth,
a final expression
from His lovers
that He was not no-one.

We have seen Our Lord
show us what humility is.

How then can the Resurrection
be an act of humility?

[PAUSE]

Surely the Resurrection
is the exact opposite
of humility.

Surely the Resurrection
says, "look at Me,
I've beaten Death!"

Surely the Resurrection
is an act of self-exaltation
a showing off
an "aren't I brilliant?"

Surely the Resurrection
is not an example
of having your feet on the ground.

[PAUSE]

It is when you realise
that the Resurrection
is for our benefit alone
and not for Our Lord's
that His humility
is shown even here.

In the Resurrection,
Our Lord's human nature
willingly submits
to His divine nature.

Human nature
goes to the grave.

Divine nature
cannot die.

After such brutal punishment,
human nature would see Death
as a release,
an end of pain
an chance of unlimited rest.

After His death,
Our Lord could simply
have returned to Heaven
and ruled from there.

That's not what He does.

He does not take up 
His crown.

He does not wear 
His robes of state
not carry His orb and sceptre.

He is not raised 
in a blaze of glory
in the sight of His persecutors
and executors.

His Resurrection is small.

It is intimate.

It is for those who love Him.

Yes, He has triumphed over death.

But His victory 
does not come
at the expense
of forcing people
to see Him as He is.

He would rather choose
a simple, quiet, joyful Resurrection
than a loud, brash 
incontrovertible statement
which forces people
to be a Christian.

His Resurrection is not for Him.

It is for us.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord's Resurrection
is grounded in truth.

Christ is God
but He does not cling to being God
out of love, respect, 
and to offer us Himself
as He really is.

This is humility.

There is no pretence.

There is no distortion of the Truth.

There is no ulterior motive.

In His Resurrection,
He offers us Eternal life
with what really is,
not what just appears to be.

[PAUSE]

One day,
we will see Him in glory.

And then, 
St John reminds us,
we shall be like Him
for we will see Him 
as He really is.

Saturday, April 08, 2023

The dust of Death

 


Why the burial of Christ is a blessing for us.

Friday, April 07, 2023

Breaking the spirits

 


Why is the cross something Christians venerate?

Thursday, April 06, 2023

Monday, April 03, 2023

Clatter, Chaos and Crucifixion

 

Why is the end of Lauds so noisy during the Triduum?

Sunday, April 02, 2023

Questions for Palm Sunday

As you listen to Our Lord's Passion today, think upon these questions.

Where in the narrative do you feel most uncomfortable? Where do you feel the most fear? Where do you feel the most grief? What do these answers say about you? How do you want to be saved?