Scripture Reflections Seeking Understanding

Recently I found myself watching very late-night TV with my 20 year-old son. We were just in time to watch the latter part of the mid 1980's remake of Little Shop of Horrors.  I'll admit, that's not a film you'd automatically associate with the Feast of the Ascension, but as the closing credits rolled over the medley, my son asked me what on earth that was and where it had come from.  I explained that this version of the film was based on a theatre musical that had debuted off-Broadway but became a cult hit.  "You mean off-off-Broadway," he joked.  And this notion of 'off-off-Broadway' is what comes back to me as I reflect on Jesus' ascension.  The second reading from St Paul tells us that Jesus now sits at the right hand of God in heaven - a place of honour reflecting the unity of the Father and the Son.  The Gospel then tells us that, at his ascension, Jesus promised that the same power that had sustained Him in His ministry would come down upon...

The election of Pope Leo XIV, an Augustinian monk and missionary, has brought the teaching of St Augustine back to the popular consciousness of the Church. And there's no doubt that is a good thing.  Of Augustine's confessions, one that has received renewed attention is "Our Hearts are restless, O God, until they find their rest in you."   Having been created in the image and likeness of a relational God, we are innately relational beings that can only fully realise our humanity if we welcome God (and other people) into our hearts.  Imagine an artist, shaping a heart with clay, and leaving the indent of their thumb. An imprint so unique that only the artist's own hand could ever fill that space - no matter where or to what else we turn to fill that void.  This Sunday we hear much the same message in Jesus' own words - if you keep my Word, the Father and I will make our home in you, and you will live in peace. In other words, our restlessness, the inner disquie...

 This week we continue to hear from the Gospel of John. Though all of the Gospels tell the story of the same Jesus, John's account takes a different view than that of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In it Jesus is presented more explicitly in His divinity, as the incarnate God who reaches down from heaven to draw us to God. When Jesus commands his disciples therefore to 'Love one another as I have loved you' we can understand this on two levels.  One is that love that Jesus will exemplify on the cross, a self-giving love that puts the other first. An extravagant love that does not guard the heart but is poured out, whether it is requited or not.  The other is captured in the opening of the responsorial psalm, "the Lord is full of compassion, slow to anger and quick to love."   And as I read these words, this is what stands out, and what challenges me the most.  It's easy to love people when they are lovable. But understanding what lies underneath the behaviour that h...

In last Sunday’s Gospel we heard Jesus ask Peter three times, ‘Do you love me?’ In doing so He afforded Peter the chance to forgive himself, and be forgiven, for what came to be known as one of the gravest sins of the early Church - apostasy, or renouncing Christ.  Peter responds three times, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love you.’  Like Peter, we believe that God does know our heart, can see past our sinfulness, and seeks to reunite us with Him.  Each time Peter says, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus responds by asking him to ‘look after my sheep’ and ‘feed my sheep.’  This Sunday we jump to an earlier point in John’s Gospel to where Jesus' words explain what He means...  His sheep are those that hear His voice, and follow Him.  And in the psalm, we offer the refrain that, we are the sheep of His flock.  In our first reading this week we hear the story of Paul and Barnabas working to fulfil the commission that Jesus gives the Church through Peter. They...

This Sunday we hear a rather long passage from the Gospel of John about a significant event in the post-resurrection narrative.  It begins with the image of Simon Peter, James and John, and a number of others fishing on the Sea of Galilee. This is a return to normalcy for them. They are aware that Jesus has risen; they have even seen Him themselves. And they have heard His call to carry on spreading the Good News. But, in the face of all that they have endured, they’ve headed back home to the boats from which he called them.  So, He stands on the shore and calls them again.  He asks them if they have caught anything, then asks them to cast their nets out again. And their nets are filled with so many fish that they cannot pull them in.  It’s a story that we’ve heard before - a direct callback to the origin story  that we heard just before the start of Lent  - of Peter, James and John being called to ‘come and follow me.'  The difference this time is tha...