Scripture Reflections Seeking Understanding

This Sunday we hear a lot about the law. The first reading from Ecclesiasticus, the responsorial Psalm, and the very first line of the Gospel (unless you hear the shorter version) all speak to us about the law of God.  Jesus tells the disciples that the law is lasting. The psalmist says that the law is a blessing on those who follow it. And Ben Sirach, the author of Ecclesiasticus, say that it is the subject of free will.  On the surface, that last one seems a bit loose compared to the other two. If you wish, you can keep the commandments God has set before you , Sirach says. But the sting is in the tale. You can choose fire or water, you can choose life or death, but what you choose you will receive in full. Freedom of choice is not freedom from consequences.  So it seems that the primacy of the law has been established. At least that’s what the Pharisees that come up in the next lines of the Gospel believed. As long as I do (or don’t do) according to the law, I’m ok. An...

Some years ago, I was interviewing for a leadership position in a Catholic school when a religious brother on the panel asked me what I thought of the founding charism of the school  (i.e. the particular expression of faith that his order of brothers brought to their ministry) .  I replied that I see charisms a bit like stained-glass windows. Each colour casts a particular hue on the world, but that no matter which colour we look through, it is the same light, and the same world that we see.  In John's Gospel Jesus proclaims boldly, I am the light of the world . Given the  context of how images of light are used in the  Old Testament, this is nothing less than a bold declaration of Jesus' divinity. And this is consistent with John's theology that Jesus is the incarnate presence of God in our world.  So, what are we to make of it when Jesus tells His disciples in this Sunday's Gospel, YOU are the light of the world ?  It's not some radical declaration t...

 This Sunday we are presented with Matthew's account of the Beatitudes. Tradition tells us that Jesus taught the disciples and the crowds from the top of a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. An image that remembers Moses offering the guide for living a good life that would be expanded into the covenant with God's people. When Matthew tells us that Jesus went up the hill, he is positioning the New Covenant in this context. And just like the commandments that Moses delivered these Beatitudes tell us in no uncertain terms that, if what we desire is to be at rights with God, we must be people that actively seek to set the world to rights too.  I'm really not sure if the Beatitudes were given in the form we have them today. At the very least we know that Luke's account differs from Matthew's - abandoning the imagery of Moses and tempering the language of suffering borrowed from the Old Testament. But as we read Matthew's version this Sunday it is the differences th...

The preparations for World Youth Day '08 in Sydney now seem like a lifetime ago, though there are moments about it that I recall very clearly. One of them was the journey of the Cross and Icon that travels the world, inviting young people to become pilgrims gathered for this celebration of faith, life and communion.  The lead up was filled with meetings planning the logistics; risk assessments covering everything from where the truck carrying the cross would park to how many local police and witches hats would be needed to divert traffic, and negotiations over which of the local parish priests would lead the angelus, and where the bishop would vest for the adoration of the cross and blessed sacrament. Details that typified the old adage about the urgent crowding out the important.  As a result, when the cross arrived it didn't feel like a very prayerful experience for me. That is, until the moment a primary class stepped up to present the Gospel in front of more than a thousan...

 This week there is a totally different tone to Advent for most of us.  Last Sunday we celebrated Gaudete and our liturgy focused on the joy that the fulfilment of God's promise in the incarnation of Jesus brings us. In my own parish Church on Sunday morning this joy was incarnate in the form of a toddler, arrayed in Gaudete pink, climbing the steps of the sanctuary and dancing throughout the sacred silence after communion.  In that same spirit of joy the Jewish community gathered together to celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah - the festival of light. A festival that was once described to me by a Jewish friend as one of the light striving to drive darkness form the world. Of the embodiment of the words of Deuteronomy that  “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore, choose life, that you and your descendants may live." And then the events of Bondi unfolded.  And amidst the outpouring of grief, for the victims (may their memory be a bless...

A few months ago, one of my god-daughters celebrated her 18th birthday. The invitation asked everyone to dress in something with a bit of sparkle, with one stipulation - no pink! Except for the birthday girl.  I have to admit that this was a bit of a struggle for me - I have a number of pink options in my 'good casual' wardrobe. But it was her day to stand out.  This Sunday we celebrate Gaudete - the Advent celebration of JOY that is characterised by the  pink candle and rose coloured vestments. It is meant to stand out in the midst of the penitent, self-reflective season to remind us of what we are gathered for.  The liturgy itself begins with the words Rejoice, for the Lord is near.  So why in the Gospel for this Sunday does John ask,  ' Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?' Actually, it occurs to me when I read it in context that John doesn't ask the question himself - he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask. And i...