40k

This morning my blog hit 40.000 visitors. Now I know that is not a lot. There are some websites that have this number of hits in  a minute or two!

But it's not about the numbers.  My little effort is advertised only by word of mouth, and I am happy to celebrate this milestone by saying thank you to all who have offered their support and encouragement. Your emails and blog comments are always welcome.

My hope is that my reflections are 'food for your faith'.

In Christ

John

the running shepherd

It has been a joy and a privilege to live and work for the past six weeks with the community of the Liturgical Institute in Chicago. The classes and readings are inspiring. But even more inspirational are the people with whom I have been living and studying.

We are a diverse bunch:  priests,  religious sisters, and lay men and women. It is in our celebration of the Liturgy of the Church: that is, the Mass, and Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church each day, that we experience our greatest unity, humbly and prayerfully gathered in need of God.

One of the many things I have appreciated in these weeks is the opportunity to hear many different priests preach.  Tonight it was Fr. John Paul. He gave an inspiring reflection that is also a perfect meditation for this Sunday’s readings.  I am sure he won’t mind if I paraphrase and ‘borrow’ part of his homily to share with you.  Here goes.

Since the sin of Adam and Eve, humans have been running. We have been running away from God. But we forget that God is also running. God is running after us.

Our running tires us. We are exhausted. But we keep running. We naively think that we can find what we seek apart from God. 

Our escape is futile, since God is prepared to chase us, even to earth and into our human existence. 

In Jesus God becomes one of us. God joins us in the place where all our running invariably and inevitably leads us, that is, isolation. We run in an effort to find life and intimacy, and instead we feel more alone than ever before.
  

On the night before he died, Jesus knelt before his frail and fickle followers. With water and a towel he washed their feet. He washed their tired runners' feet.

And the following day he paid the price for the running of all sinners of all time. He suffered and died for us sinners, that he might lead us through death, to the glory of the resurrection.

Well, that piece of tonight’s homily led me to to thinking about my childhood vacations on the farm. Steve my uncle was the farmer. During lambing Steve would often notice a ewe in trouble and he would run to catch the ewe.  The ewe did not want to be caught and would run to escape. She couldn’t imagine that Steve was going to be helpful.  As a kid, uselessly standing on the sideline, I was just wishing the stupid ewe would stop and let Steve help.  Her life would be so much easier if she just relaxed!

The link between the shepherd and the sheep is painfully obvious to me now, for I, far too often, am like the stupid sheep. I run from what is best for me. I run to escape from THE ONE who is waiting to overflow me with life, with love and with happiness. 

Why are we humans so slow to realise that our healthy and happiness is found only when we stop and rest and allow Jesus the good shepherd to  catch us? 

Jesus, the good shepherd, will feed us and befriend us. He will carry us through the dark valleys of life, to the house of the Lord where we are invited to dwell all our days.

Now in that last sentence you will probably recognise echoes of the twenty-third psalm.  This is no coincidence. This psalm follows the first reading at today’s Mass. Without a doubt this is the most popular of all the 150 psalms.  It is often appropriately chosen as a funeral hymn.  I hope you pray it for me when my time comes!

On the blog (below or at www.johncoconnor.blogspot.com) you will find a few of the best known musical settings for this hymn. These settings are a reflection in themselves since there must be a reason that composers have chosen this psalm to set to music more than any other:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

In verdant pastures he gives me repose;

beside restful waters he leads me;

he refreshes my soul.

He guides me in right paths

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk in the dark valley

I fear no evil; for you are at my side

with your rod and your staff

that give me courage.

You spread the table before me

in the sight of my foes;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Only goodness and kindness follow me

all the days of my life;

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life.

newsletter

Sixteenth Sunday of the Year, Newsletter for the Catholic Parishes of the Hurunui District and the Chatham Islands now uploaded at this link.

harbinger of hope

Lord, let us see your kindness,

and grant us your salvation

Readings for Sunday July 15

You will be reading this on or after Sunday July 15. I’m writing on Wednesday, July 11. That is a bit distracting for me since July 11 is the feast of St. Benedict, and I’m finding it difficult to focus less on Benedict and to look ahead to the readings of the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

On second thoughts, maybe there is no tension between the two...

While there is no evidence that St. Benedict initially intended to form a religious congregation, his communities of men who were seeking to follow Christ with all their heart, soul and mind, became a significant movement in Italy in the sixth century.

In the 1400 years since, these Benedictine communities have spread across the world.  Benedict’s first communities were in the hills just east of Rome (Subiaco, 40 km inland). Then came the most significant foundation at Monte Cassino.  You will recall this hilltop monastery from NZ World War II history. This is where 343 NZ soldiers died in January & March of 1944. Many of these soldiers are buried in the cemetery below the monastery.

Back to Benedict. The growing Benedictine communities needed guidelines for their life together, so Benedict prepared the document that remains today as the frame for Religious life in many communities today. This “Rule” begins with the key word: Listen!

And now, with this bit of direction from Benedict, we are ready to appreciate today’s Mass readings more deeply.

We meet Amos in the Old Testament reading. He was a farmer. Then his life changed. In his own words:

“The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me,
Go, prophesy to my people Israel."

So Amos was called to be a prophet. Like St. Benedict (who lived 12 centuries later), Amos knew that human life could only be lived fully by the one who listened to God.

When you hear that Amos was called to be a ‘prophet’, what do you imagine his job-description was?   Many people think that a prophet is the one who can predict the future in a spooky and magical kind of way. But a prophet is no fortune-teller.

The Old Testament prophet was not a ‘predictor’ of future events. Instead the prophet was one who had a heightened awareness of the reality of the present, and who could also see the consequences of this reality. The prophet was sensitive to the voice of God. The prophet was one who listened for God.

The one who listens for God, will hear God. This encounter renews the desires of the human heart, by reorienting the heart to God.

In the words of the of Vatican II’s Pastoral Constitution (7 December 1965), the prophet is one who is able to accurately read “the signs of the times.”  

The prophet, with this insight, is the one most able to see the consequences of present attitudes and behaviours. The prophet will therefore be hypersensitive to everything that is an ignorance of (or a rejection of) God’s invitation to us to live abundantly. 

The one who hears (or reads) the prophet, might mistakenly think that this preacher is an ‘orator of doom,’ since s/he will often begin by clarifying the problem before offering the solution.  But the prophet is a real preacher of good news. The prophet is a true harbinger of hope, and hope is the path from death (i.e. hope-less-ness) to life.  As the New Testament begins we hear the same message from John the Baptist: “Repent, for the good news is at hand.”

John sums up the role of the prophet in a single word: repent!

Now, to jump ahead to today’s gospel which begins: “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them…”  Then to jump ahead to the end of this reading: “So they went off and preached repentance…”

There are many noises that clamour for our attention each day.  All too easily the journey of human life can become an exhausting lurch from one demand to the next. We fall into bed at the end of the day exhausted. We hardly seem to have slept before the alarm rattles us awake to endure a new day. And too often the new day is nothing new. Life is not meant to be like this.  There is something wrong!

And the prophet can tell us what is wrong. We have forgotten to listen. We need to repent - to turn to God anew.

It is our desire to listen for God that urges us to gather for the Mass every week.  From the midst of the demands of our days we need to hear anew the voice of God. We need the grace to live in harmony with the beautiful desire that God has for us.

And so we pray in the prayer of today’s psalm: “Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation”.  

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related blog entry:  

On Anzac Day 2008, pilgrims from Christchurch were at Monte Cassino.  

check out this link.

newsletter

The weekly newsletter for the Catholic parishes of the Hurunui district and the Chatham Islands is available at this link.

soul by soul and silently

I have had a tune floating around in my head for a couple of days, and only today took the time to work out how it got into my head.

You will recognise the tune. Take a moment to listen to part of Gustav Holst's "Jupiter" from his "Planets" suite at this link. Jump ahead to 3.06 seconds to hear the piece that I am referring to. (This section finishes at 4.59 seconds)

Take a moment to listen now.

Ok, you recognise the tune?  We know it better as the musical setting for Cecil Spring-Rice's poem "I Vow to thee my Country."

When I took a moment to ponder the tune in my head I realised that it was because the words of Spring-Rice's poem  express so well what I was blogging about yesterday (link below) ... and I know this great poem only because of the wonderful tune.

Take a moment to consider the first stanza:

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,

Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;

The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,

The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice

This is the way of the world: violence, strength, power... that is, the method of armies flailing about in earthly battles.  Yes, these earthly wars are often well-intentioned, and the scene of generous giving of life in the service of country. But this is not the method of bringing peace that Jesus gives to us.

Now look at the contrast in the final verse. (there is a lesser known second stanza as well).  In this final stanza we hear of THE kingdom:

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,

Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;

We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;

And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

You might like to listen now to the words and music together.   I can date my awareness of the power of this poem (carried by the great music),  back to September 1997: the funeral of Diana.  So here is the clip from that moment.

Read the blog reflection for today (Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time) at this link.

God particles

At the time of Jesus there were many preachers wandering the countryside of Galilee and Judea. It seems they had one primary message; how to free the people from the oppression of Roman rule.

It is difficult for us to imagine the violence of the Roman Empire and the merciless murders carried out by those who ruled for the emperor. Remember the account of Herod, hearing that a ‘new king’ had been born? He ordered the death of every male child in Judea aged under two.  

So the people were keen to hear from anyone who might lead a rebellion to free them from this violent rule. The preachers proposed a variety of techniques, but it seems that they all sought to fight wars for freedom and peace; that is to use the method of the Romans (violence and power) to effect their freedom from oppression. 

And then one day, a new preacher appears on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  Can you imagine the reaction of the people when Jesus began his ministry with a message not of power and prosperity, but of peace, harmony and humility.

Among his first words in ministry he announced: “blessed are the poor in spirit...blessed are the meek, the humble, those who grieve and mourn, the peacemakers.” We know from today’s Gospel that “many who heard him were astonished”, and “they took offence at him.” (Mark 10)

Fr. Robert Barron recalls a significant moment in his series Catholicism. He noted Cardinal George of Chicago standing on the Loggia of St. Peter’s basilica alongside the newly elected Pope Benedict in April 2005. 

Later he asked the Cardinal, ‘you looked reflective up there...what were you thinking?‘ The Cardinal responded: I was looking over the crowds in the square, across the Tiber, to the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum in the distance: once the centre of the Roman Empire.  I was thinking to myself (the Cardinal continued), where are they now? Where is the great Roman Empire? It is gone. Where are the powerful Roman rulers who put Jesus to death? They are dead and buried? Where are their successors? They have no successors!

The Cardinal continued: ‘then I pondered, where are the followers of Jesus Christ (crucified by the Romans)?   They are here in their hundreds of thousands in the square!  Where is the successor of Peter the prince of the Apostles also put to death by the Romans? The successor of Peter is here - alongside me!’

I find the Cardinal’s reflection to be a very powerful personal challenge. This is the proof of today’s second reading: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."  This remarkable confession of St Paul immediately follows his reflection on his struggle: “a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated”.

It is all too easy to respond to anger with anger and to violence with violence. When someone speaks a harsh word to me, I seem to be programmed to reply in kind.  The tragic history of the Roman Empire is testimony to the futility of such reactions. 


The Romans appeared powerful - but they crumbled. More recently Nazi and Communist dictatorships have collapsed after brief and tragic shows of strength. There are ‘super-powers’ and powerful people in today’s world too. But we know that these too will inevitably come to the same fate. 

This week many of the world’s scientists and leaders celebrated the ‘discovery’ of the (so-named) “God particle”.  A number of commentators have read this finding as further proof that there is no God. Well good luck to them. They will need it! 

I am not denying the significance of the discovery. This is a major step forward in the world of science. Humans have a basic need to learn about ourselves and our world. It is healthy and wise to seek such knowledge.

But human history also shows that such scientific advances are abused too often in the promotion of power, prestige and warfare, instead of being placed at the service of peace and justice. 


Notice too that, at least from the news reports, you would think that we had created this 'God particle.'  No. We have simply discovered what was always present.  So who invented it?  Ah, that is the question!

Let’s learn from history: what appears to be powerful and mighty in the sight of humans, is usually little more than a cosmetic job on personal human fears. We now know (thanks to good biographies) that this was the case with the Roman Emperors, and the Nazi and Communist rulers.

So how do we live with this reality of human weakness and fear?  Thanks be to God, there is an answer!

Too often we are satisfied with glimpsing ‘particles’ of God In this way we feel that we can keep God at a safe distance. As long as we keep God under control then God will not threaten our complacency. And so we reduce the fullness of God present among us in Jesus. 

I might be ok with Jesus as my mate, my friend. But the fact is, that Jesus is the fulness of God!   Someone might wrongly think that the Eucharist is simply a ‘ritual sign’ meal. But the one who receives communion receives not a particle, but the fulness of God.

Today’s psalm is the key: Let us ensure that in every moment:  “Our eyes are fixed on the Lord”.  (Psalm 123)