be holy!

Each week in every parish, the Sunday Liturgy of the Word is celebrated with four scripture readings. The Rite of the Mass also gives three psalms to accompany the Entrance, Offertory and Communion processions of the Mass.

The scriptures also feature in many of the prayers of the Mass. You will notice that the revised peoples’ prayer before Communion is a quotation from Luke 8: “Lord I am not worthy, that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed”.

Every Liturgy is rich with the voice of the Word of God. The response “and with your Spirit” is also a precise quote from the scriptures.

To be honest, there are some weeks when, even with so much divine inspiration, I find it difficult to find something to communicate to parishioners in the Sunday homily. This is never because the passages of scripture are not relevant. Nor is my struggle because God is going through a ‘quiet patch’ and has stopped talking to me. The problem is always with me. Some weeks I get caught up in the routine and responsibilities of life. I forget to listen.

We are all a bit like this. We forget to listen to God, the one who communicates most lovingly to us. God is speaking to us not only in every word of scripture, but in every moment of life. We need often to be reminded to remember.

This is the prime reason for the Church teaching the “obligation” of Catholics to participate in Sunday Mass. This is not an external rule, but a natural compulsion of the human heart. The healthy heart obliges the believer to gather with our family of faith that we might together remember. “Do this in memory of me.”

There are other weeks when every word of the given Sunday scriptures speaks volumes to me. Some days the scriptures seem to shout. Today is one such day. “Be holy!”

Without a doubt my openness has been helped by many of the circumstances I have found myself in over these days. I think of the great energy and enthusiasm at the parish meetings (Sockburn Parish Council last week and Darfield on Thursday). The same positive perspective and excitement was also visible and audible at the meeting of parishioners in Darfield last Sunday.

Much of the discussion at these meetings was about the Pastoral Plan of the Christchurch Diocese, and particularly our local (Christchurch West Pastoral Area) response. Submissions need to be received by the bishop before 31 March. (ref. the Pastoral Plan document)

The tendency (expectation even) in such pastoral planning meetings is that parishioners will ‘fight’ for their own personal preference of Mass time and Church. This may be a sign of the commitment that people have to parishes and to the worshipping community.

The remarkable thing about the parish meetings I mentioned above was that while those attending do have their own strong personal preference for Mass times and Churches, these were set aside in the light of the bigger Pastoral-Area picture.

The most important thing is not whether we retain a church building or a Mass time. The most essential question is ‘how can our parish (and Pastoral Area) be a more effective communicator of the Gospel to ALL the people who live in our parish’. To say this another way, we could quote the first verse of the first reading at Mass today: how can we as a parish, a pastoral area and a local Church of the Diocese of Christchurch “BE HOLY”.

What does it mean to BE HOLY?

Holiness is not achieved simply by living the doctrines and practices of the Church. While it is essential that we do keep these commandments, this adherence to the letter of these good laws is not what makes us holy.

Keeping the letter of any set of rules is easy if the rewards are attractive or the punishments severe enough. It is God who gives holiness, and this relationship satisfies every desire of the human heart. Remember the Gospel last Sunday: “You have heard how it was said, but I say to you.”

Holiness is a gift of God which is given in generous abundance to anyone who knows their desire for God. Thankfully God gives this gift in the midst of our struggle and suffering. Our acknowledged human imperfection is a magnet for this great gift of God.

This is why we begin every Mass with an invitation: “Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.”

The Catholic liturgy is not a human attempt to make ourselves feel better by the music we choose and the prayers we pray. Instead the Liturgy of the Church begins with an acknowledgement of our human reality (our sinfulness), and then through word and prayer, ritual, song and action, the Liturgy tells us what God is like.

In the Liturgy we do not seek to pray what we mean. The Liturgy of the Church is a the gift that nourished the Apostles, and the growing early Christian community. This unfolding Liturgy has been the food of life for pilgrims in Aotearoa and popes in Rome. These sacred prayers and real rituals formed the faith of our Catholic ancestors in Ngahere, Waimate, Whataroa and Addington.

We have a responsibility to ensure that the gift of faith that we have received, and which is expressed, taught and celebrated in the Liturgy, is passed on to future generations.

In the Liturgy we (as have those before us) receive this gift anew. In the Mass we seek to mean what we pray. We celebrate not create the Mass.

When we regularly submit ourselves to this ultimate action of God, we become holy.

a full life...

Today has been one of those days when I have been overwhelmed by the richness and fulness of Christian life - especially as a priest.

The day was spent between OLV and Darfield, with Masses and meetings in each place. After the Darfield Mass I met with the Christian Ministers of the Malvern region. Then there was another meeting at Darfield before returning to Christchurch late afternoon.

I had an unexpected meeting with a friend and we chatted about life, and the high points and low points...and the beauty of architecture.

Reconciliation and Mass followed, then a couple of hours at the desk on Sunday's homily. As I began to prepare this homily yesterday I was captivated by the first verse of the first reading "be holy as the Lord your God is holy". You will have to wait until Sunday to hear the punch line!

Now it is just on 10pm and Chopin is providing superb company along with a glass of shiraz.

Mid afternoon I heard of the death of a new-born child whose mother is 'inconsolable'. I cannot imagine the suffering of the mother. At this distance I feel very helpless - enough to drive me to prayer.

the beauty of the Liturgy

Today I was a part of a gathering of a dozen priests who met to deepen their appreciation of Pope Benedict's understanding of the Liturgy. It was a most informative and hope-filled gathering.

After a leisurely lunch with the priests gathered at the end of the session I was left pondering the situation we find ourselves in. It is clear that in the years after the Second Vatican Council, priests and teachers did their best to communicate the teachings of the Council. Unfortunately these years coincided with a societal 'resistance' to what had gone before. People were happy to discard what had gone before.

There certainly were some things that needed to be discarded. However in this process some things that had always been known to be essential also lost prominence and even vanished completely.

In this turmoil some essential aspects of the sacred nature of the liturgy were forgotten.

Our gathering today helped us to address this loss. Today's gathering was a hope-filled new beginning. As we departed we decided that we would meet every month to grow in our appreciation of the beauty of the Mass.

you have heard...but I say to you

You have heard that it was said…

…but I say to you

Christianity :

the way of love fulfills ‘the law’

I think it was George Bernard Shaw who said: ‘Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it”. We know that Shaw was exaggerating since many people have given their lives as Christians. The saints provide us with remarkable examples of the breadth, beauty and adventure of life in Christ. In a brief glance around our parishes and families we also see many people who have embraced Christianity wholeheartedly, and whose lives bear witness to their faith in Jesus Christ.

But perhaps there is also a good amount of truth in Shaw’s challenge. I often wonder if most Christians (myself included more often that I would like to admit), reduce Christianity to a set of (albeit sound) rules surrounded with good values.

The temptation is for us to reduce our Catholic faith to a set of “isms” including legalism and moralism. We then settle for living by these good rules (which naturally include the Ten Commandments) and think that there is nothing more to it. We fall into the heresy of believing that my adherence to these rules will win me salvation.

This is not only the most prevalent Christian heresy, it is also a tragedy for those who fall into this trap. In such an existence everything becomes a burden and an effort. Life does not feel like life—it is more of an existence, an endurance. We survive and we cope. We begin to believe that this is what life is meant to be. We start to settle for an existence rather than a life. Such a burden is not Catholicism. It is not Christianity.

The people of the Old Testament embraced “THE LAW” when Moses returned from his mountain-top encounter with God, carrying the tablets of stone. These Ten Commandments became the heart of their life. God had spoken. This was the best thing that had happened to them up to this point. These desert-dwellers built a gold case (the Ark of the Covenant) to enshrine this divine communication. When they arrived in Jerusalem (the heart of the promised Land) they built the new Temple around this sacred Tabernacle.

Within a short time they had turned these ten revelations into 618 burdensome precepts. The Pharisees represent this misguided precision. Now “keeping the rules” was more of a focus than the constant and life-giving communication of God. The WORD had been reduced to words.

In Jesus THE WORD of God takes on human flesh. He lives and breathes. He is alive and dwells among us: His hair in the wind, His mouth opening and shutting, His fragile skin…

In this Incarnation, God ensures that we can no longer avoid the reality of a God who is alive and who lives not in a far-off heaven, but among us. In this event, the old covenant is not dismissed or rejected but is fulfilled. Yes, we have heard how it was said…: but now something new is happening.

The Ten Commandments are not reduced in meaning or in value by the event of the incarnation. The rules are no less important. Instead we see more clearly that these words are signs that direct us to and focus us anew on THE WORD who is God, and who dwells among us.

Perhaps it is useful to use an example: We teach our children to behave well and to speak to others respectfully. Sometimes we use discipline to correct them when they are disrespectful or misbehave. We consider this to be important, not because we like rules, but because we love our children. We know that if they show the outward signs of love, they are more likely to meet people who will love and support them. We want our children to have loving friends.

When the teenager does ‘fall in love’, we see a remarkable transformation. Now the ‘rules’ of appropriate behaviour and speech are kept not simply to avoid punishment, but because the heart has been changed. This is what we mean by life. Now life is moral and legal without being legalistic and moralistic. The goal of the rules and discipline has bean reached: there is relationship. There is love.

It is only in intimate awareness of the presence of Jesus with us in every moment, that we are able to find the life we seek.

Fish & Chips

The bit that catches my imagination in this week's readings is from the Gospel: “You are the salt for the earth”.

The reason it struck me is initially practical. Each week I meet with a friend at a country pub, to share a beer and to chat about life and matters of faith. I was hungry and ordered fish and chips. They needed more salt. Without salt chips are bland and don't even taste like what they actually are: potato.

Catholic Christians are called by Jesus to be 'salt' for the 'earth'. In being this 'salt' Catholics are not adding to people's lives something that is foreign or an optional extra. Instead it is Christ that enables us to be what we are created to be. Without a personal relationship with Jesus, humans are not even able to be human.

Too often people settle for an existence that is little more than survival or endurance. This is not life. God lives among us in Jesus so that we might have life, and have it in abundance. In this relationship of love we discover that we are no longer simply surviving or exixting, enduring or coping. Now we are able to LIVE.

If we are to be this Catholic “salt” for our world we must be visible and audible as Catholic in our families and workplaces, even in the pub and all aspects of our social and recreational life.

Catholicism is the faith that is made courageous in the Eucharist so that we can speak the truth about human life to humans. As the parishioners of the local Church of the Christchurch diocese we live every moment as the 'salt' of Christ for our communities.

www.olv.co.nz

Note update of OLV Parish Website at

www.olv.co.nz

a new beginning

This week marks the end of our holiday season and the beginning of the 2011 school and work year. For the parish too this is a significant week.

As a result of your increased planned-giving generosity we have been able to create a greater organised network of pastoral care at Our Lady of Victories Parish.

You know Jean Buist: Jean has been our parish secretary for the past few years and increasingly her work has become more pastoral. However the financial administration demands of the office have made it impossible for her to spend more time with parishioners in need. This week Julie Mardon has been employed for a few hours each week to pick up the financial administration role. This frees Jean for several hours each week to serve more fully in the pastoral care role.

You also know Carey Haines. For some years Carey has been our Co-ordinator of Liturgy. From this week Carey will take on an increased role in pastoral care in the parish. Both Jean and Carey will work with the priests of the parish to ensure that good contact is made and maintained with all parishioners on the parish roll, whether they are at Sunday Mass or not.

This week I met with Chris Lysaght of the Christchurch Diocese Youth Team. There will be a much greater contact between the Youth teams of the diocese and our parish this year. Thomas Saywell of the parish is on the Diocesan Youth Mission Team this year and we are delighted that Thomas will keep us informed of youth events from his diocesan office.

Today we welcome Fr. Andrew Bernady to serve as the Assistant Priest in both Our Lady of Victories Parish Sockburn, and St. Joseph’s parish Darfield. Fr. Andrew has spent the past two years in the Christchurch Diocese, first at the Cathedral, then last year in the Timaru / Waimate parish.

Fr. Andrew we are happy to have you with us. We hope and pray that your time with us will be happy and fruitful for all members of our parish. You are very welcome.

Today Fr. John is at Darfield for his first Sunday as Parish Priest of St. Joseph’s. Each week now Fr John & Fr Andrew will alternate the Masses at Our Lady of Victories and Darfield, with one priest celebrating the 6pm at OLV and the 8.30 at Darfield, and the other priest the 10 and 5 at OLV.

On Friday night the priests hosted a gathering of the Parish Council/ Finance Committee, Parish Pastoral Team, OLV School staff and Board of Trustees. It was a happy gathering at the presbytery, with many signs of new beginnings and new hope.

Next week, in the first parish newsletter of 2011 there will be further details of the above pastoral appointments.

Please keep your parish in prayer. This week school begins, on Wednesday evening the Parish Council and Finance Committee meet for the first time. We together a committed to serving God in every moment.

Thank you for being a part of our parish community. May God continue to bless us all. I am delighted to be the Parish Priest of this wonderful parish and I look forward to my twelfth year as your Parish Priest.