Scripture Reflections Seeking Understanding

 This Sunday we are presented with perhaps one of the most widely known stories in the Gospel of Luke - the Lost Son.  One of the characteristics of Luke's account of the Gospel is that it groups together similar stories to emphasise their meaning. Stories of healing are often told in groups of three, and this week's Gospel reading is also one of three connected parables. There is the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and now the Lost Son. All three of these stories are prefaced by the muttering of the pharisees, who are scandalised that Jesus welcomes sinners.  So Jesus asks them to consider the shepherd who is not content to care for the many and abandon the one, but seeks out the  lost sheep  and rejoices when it is returned to the fold. Or the woman who lights a lamp, burning expensive oil, just to search for the one lost coin that she could  surely   have waited to find in the morning when the sun had risen. And likewise, she rejoices with those that are ...

Some years ago, I was working in a school that was blessed to have an older Charity sister working in a part-time pastoral care role. One of the many things that she did was to create beautiful and thoughtful sacred spaces in the school foyer, representative of the season of the Church and Gospel of the day. Every visitor to the school, the students collecting the home room roll, and everyone else who went to the office - whether for an ice pack, to pick up their photocopying, or to hand in lost property - would all come across her creations. They were usually inspiring, edifying, and comforting.  Until the day she based her sacred space on this Sunday's Gospel. It consisted of crumpled newsprint, ashes and a simple banner in all caps that read 'REPENT OR DIE!'  It is safe to say that it inspired a range of responses, one of which was to ask, 'Is that seriously from the Gospel?' The short answer is yes, but not in exactly those words.  The Gospel according to Luke h...

On this second Sunday of Lent we hear the story of Jesus' transfiguration. Peter, James and John see Jesus in his glory, flanked by Moses and Elijah. It is a story that situates Jesus firmly in the salvation history of Israel, but there is something in this story that is often overlooked. In the Book of Numbers we are told that, because Moses failed to trust in the Lord at Meribah, he would not enter into the promised land with the Israelites. Yet here he is standing with Jesus, conversing with Him. Another thing that strikes me about the transfiguration is that, for all the ways in which the Synoptic Gospels differ from one another, their accounts of this moment are remarkably consistent. Matthew, Mark and Luke all situate Jesus on the mountain. All three tell us that Peter, James and John were there. All three tell us that the disciples were heavy with sleep. And all three tell us that Jesus' glory was revealed to them in brilliant light. But what does seeing Jesus in His glo...

This week we are presented with Luke’s account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. To put this into context, this story follows Luke’s account of Jesus’ baptism, at the conclusion of which the heavens opened and the voice of God rang out.  After His experience in the Jordan, Jesus begins to head for home - but we are told that the Spirit leads Him into the wilderness where He is tempted by the devil.  Two things strike me immediately in the opening of this story. The first is that Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t his idea, this forty-day period of fasting and isolation. The second is that the devil awaits Him there. Is this a set up?  And what happens to Jesus there? Well, he's tested. Isn't that what the Gospel says? No! The Gospel says that he was tempted.  The Christian tradition teaches us that Jesus was BOTH fully human and fully divine ( a teaching that was accepted by the early Church long before our division into different...

From its inception in the 1920's to the end of the 1960's the Le Mans 24 hour endurance race was unique in that its drivers would line up on the opposite side of pit lane to their cars. Then, when the starter's flag dropped, the drivers would sprint cross the track to their cars and attempt to get out into the race ahead of as many of their competitors as possible. From 1970 this practice was changed after Belgian driver Jackie Ickx was almost run down by a rival. Today this practice is (unofficially) reserved to Catholic churches across the country, with the opening notes of the recessional hymn replacing the starter's flag and many in the congregation doing their best to clear the carpark before Father has reached the sacristry.  In the first reading this Sunday we are told that the kiln tests the work of the potter, and the tree in the orchard is judged by its fruit. In the spirit of Le Mans we might also add, the heart of the church-goer is revealed in the carpark -...