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32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

The illustration is a painting by Charles Goldie titled “Memories”.
The subject is Ina te Papatahi, a Nga Puhi Chieftainess. Painted in 1906, the painting is housed at the Auckland Art Gallery.

Sometimes, I wish the First Reading of our Liturgy of The Word were a last read!

By then, we’re settled; the noise of a community gathering has settled, songbooks have been put away, the order in which the children ought to sit between Mum and Dad has been determined, the money for the collection has been found, and the nose has been cleared of mucus one last time.

We are now ready to listen.

This Sunday’s First Reading is taken from the Book of Wisdom (Wis. 6: 12 – 16).

In this book, and indeed the Book of Proverbs, Wisdom is portrayed as feminine.

In today’s reading, we read the lines, “Watch for her early and you will have no trouble; you will find her sitting at your gates. “

“You will find her sitting at your gates” – a superb image!

And where do you find a gate? Usually outside of the house you live in! It is the entranceway.

The house is frequently an image of safety, security, and assuredness.

Wisdom is found before you are embraced within this place of shelter and protection.

In 1 Kings, the young Solomon asks Yahweh for an understanding mind to discern between good and evil. Our English translation does the Hebrew a disservice; the Hebrew translates as “a listening heart”.

Wisdom is a matter not only of the mind but of the heart, like a woman’s wisdom. It is born out of suffering, as a woman bears a child. It shows a way through the darkness, the way a woman stands at the window holding a lamp.

“Her ways are ways of pleasantness,” says Solomon, then adding, just in case there should be any lingering question as to her gender, “and all her paths are peace” (3:17).

To encounter Wisdom, I suggest we should leave the warmth of home and sit at the gate – and, guess what, she will be there waiting.

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31st Sunday of Ordinary Time

There is a castle that stands on an elevation overlooking beautiful woodlands and a lake. It dominates the surrounding countryside.

Though it hasn’t been lived in for the best part of a hundred years, it still seems to be in good shape – from the outside at least.

Not a stone appears to be missing.

Its stone walls, turrets, towers, and buttresses are all intact and give it an impressive appearance.

But just step inside the castle, and you will see a completely different picture.

Inside, it is a complete shambles.

There are piles of fallen masonry and plaster everywhere. The main roof is missing, and so are most of the ceilings and floors.

Of course, there is not a stick of furniture to be found.

The big fireplace is empty.

The building is little more than a shell.

This Sunday’s First Reading from the prophet Malachi is strident. He begins,

“And now, priests, this warning is for you”. And he continues, “ But you, you have strayed from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your teaching.”

The quote causes me to ask,

“Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi.”(Mt 23: 5 – 7).

The photo of a working group at a recent Synod in Rome.                                                Does wearing a red or purple hat provide more power when engaged in conversation?
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All Saints Day

Billy O’Leary was seven and lived in a very small village miles from anywhere and anyone.

The village had a general store which sold just about everything, a small school, and a small Church.

Billy’s father was the teacher at the school, the only teacher, so Billy use to say his father was the Headteacher.

One day, Billy’s father had to travel to the city for business reasons and invited Billy to travel with him.

Billy was excited for two reasons: he had heard his parents talk of the city and yet had no idea where it was, and second, it meant travelling on the train, which Billy had never done.

The day arrived, and Billy presented himself at breakfast in his Sunday best. He and his father walked to the train station and duly caught the train.

Billy sat by the window and watched cows, sheep, corn, and maize whizzing by.

When his father had finished his business, he asked Billy if there were anything he would like to do.

Now, back at school,  Fr O’Grady from the Church had talked to the class about St Brendan’s Cathedral and had shown pictures of the Cathedral in this city, so he asked his father whether they could go and look inside.

So off they went.

Now St Brendan’s was a very, very, very old cathedral, built when in some countries there were still kings and queens and princes and princesses and knights in armour and ladies in waiting.

Inside, the cathedral was dark and cold and kind of spooky.

Billy was slightly scared, and a shiver ran through his body, so he held his father’s hand tight as they walked around.

The walls inside were very high; at the top there were stained glass windows all the way around.

Each window had a saint’s name.

Some Billy knew: St Patrick, of course, the twelve apostles, and St Brendan.

He had never heard of others like St Finbar, St Brigid and St Ciarán.

An amazing thing happened as he walked around looking at all the windows.

Outside, the clouds broke, and the sun streamed through the stained-glass windows, and suddenly, the inside of the church was bathed in light.

Billy let go of his father’s hand and walked confidently on his own.

The following day at school, Fr O’Grady from the town Church came to the school to prepare the children for the coming feast of All Saints.

He asked the children, “Does anyone know what a saint is?”

Upshot Billy’s hand and he waved it about with enthusiasm.

Fr O’Grady could not help but notice the enthusiastic waving, and besides, there was no other hand raised seeking the priest’s attention.

“Yes, Billy, do you know what a saint is? Tell us now.”

“Father,” spoke Billy with confidence, “it is someone who lets the sun in and lights up the whole Church.”

(If you want to, you may spell the word either sun or Son.)

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30th Sundary of Ordinary Time

At the time of Jesus, the Law consisted of some 613 commandments.

The question of which commandment was the greatest was frequently asked and argued by rabbis.

Today’s Gospel has Jesus being asked the same question. However, rather than replying with one, Jesus responded by naming two as if they were one.

‘You shall love the Lord your God’ is found in the Book of Deuteronomy (6:4), and ‘you shall love you neighbour as yourself’ is found in the Book of Leviticus (19:18).

The image I find most helpful is the image of my breathing – I need to breathe both in and out to live.

Once upon a time, in the desert of Egypt, there lived an old abbot named Barnabas. Around him lived a small coterie of fellow monks.

Christmas was approaching, and the monks met to see how they ought to prepare for the approaching feast and decided to fast for the seven days before the feast day.

Each monk went off to their cell to fast and pray.

About the middle of the week, two itinerant monks came to visit Abbot Barnabas.

Seeing that they were very hungry after their journey, the Abbot cooked a little vegetable stew for them.

To make them feel at ease, he took a little of the stew himself.

The other monks saw the smoke rising from the abbot’s cell.

This could mean only one thing – he had lit a fire to cook some food, which meant he had broken the solemn fast.

They were shocked.

Together, as one body, they went to confront him.

Seeing judgement in their eyes, the abbot asked, “What crime have I committed that makes you look at me like this?”

“You have broken the solemn fast,” they answered.

“So I have, “he replied.

“I have broken the commandment you have made, however, in sharing my food with these brothers of ours, I have kept the commandment of God that we ought love one another.”

On hearing this the monks grew silent, and returned to their own cell, humbled but wiser.