Fighting for her child

She was a woman like many. She would fight for her child, so she took on Jesus, the best known religious figure around. Like someone taking on the minister for health or children over a medical card for a chronically ill child, and not letting them off the hook. Jesus was testing her. He saw faith, but he wanted ev­eryone else to see it. So he told her she didn’t fit into the local re­ligious sphere because she was a foreigner, like an asylum seeker or a refugee. She knew she fitted into the heart of Jesus simply because she was the mother of a sick child and believed he could help.

Even if he would cure everyone, maybe he would come back to her at the end. Jesus went further – he cured her child and praised her faith.

She is another of the unnamed people of the gospel. Like the woman of Samaria, the rich young man, the thief on Calvary – she is herself, and she is all of us. She is everyone, man and woman, of faith.

Faith in a surprising God who, in Jesus, his Son, never says no to goodness. Faith that keeps us energetic and alive, not tired, in soul as well as body.

Remember your feeling of gratitude for the children of your family.
Lord, I believe. Strengthen my faith. 

Fr Donal Neary, S.J

A Hand to be Held

A most strange gospel story – Jesus walks on the water. It’s the type of gospel that suits a decision time, challenging us into deep trust – an invitation to come to the water; not to be afraid. It’s about trusting in Jesus, when there is nothing else. If you have human help, it’s great – but not the same as trusting in God.

In time of death, the call is to trust in God’s promise, because he is the way and the truth. Old age can be the same, or times in life when we just don’t know what the future will hold. It sounds unusual, but what Jesus does in this situation is very human. He doesn’t lecture or say a prayer, he just holds hands.

Someone was given a book on bereavement after a family death – he said he needed a hand to be held, or his tears to be heard. That’s Je­sus. He held Peter. Our God is a God with skin, with a human heart, who leaves big ideas behind when we are in trouble. Jesus just went across the lake, stopping his comfortable prayer.

There are times when we just need to hold on to God in trust. On another occasion Peter would jump into the lake again – after the resurrection. Always a water man! Then he would be asked not just to hold a hand, but to be the hand that would reach out to others. Peter was prepared for his mission in many ways. As Pope Francis says, ‘When the Lord wants to give us a mission, wants to give us a task, He prepares us. He prepares us to do it well’ (June 2014).

Remember a time when all you seemed to have was God; thank him.
Or recall when all you needed was God; ask him now for help.
Lord, in you I put my trust.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J

Of Feeding the needy Pope Francis remarked:

We find Jesus’ wounds in carrying out works of mercy caring for the body of your wounded brother, because he is hungry, because he is thirsty, because he is naked, because he is humiliated, because he is a slave, because he is in jail, because he is in the hospital. Those are the wounds of Jesus today. And Jesus asks us to take a leap of faith, towards him, but through his wounds in his people today We need to touch the wounds of Jesus, we must caress the wounds of Jesus, we need to bind the wounds of Jesus with tenderness, and we have to kiss the wounds of Jesus, and this literally. Just think of what happened to St Francis, when he embraced the leper. (May 2016)

This is what is behind Jesus’ wish to feed the hungry. He feeds bread for physical hunger, but the story of the gospel today is more than bread for hungry people. It is getting fully involved in the lives of those in need. It is the calling of the church: to practise the works of mercy.

Any Christian group, parish or otherwise, tries to reach out to those most in need in their area. Today the hungry need to be fed, refugees and homeless need a home, and those wounded by life need healing. The call of the church is truly to be ‘the field hospital’ of Jesus and his disciples in the world.

Think of someone really poor; see Jesus beside him or her. Pray as you feel drawn.
Give us today, O Lord, and to all our world, our daily bread.

Donal Neary SJ

The good, the bad, and the treasure

Jesus takes the ordinary for his story asking what you would re­ally want never to lose, asking what your treasure is. Is it money, reputation, locality? ‘I gave up a better job but had time for the family and for love’; words of a young father. We know that par­ents give up a lot for their children; as do grandparents, godpar­ents and others. As people we look for what’s most important in life: the love of God; deep and enduring friendships; success after hard work in school; commitment to the poor – what can­not be lost and what is worth sacrificing other good things for.

Life is a mixture of the good and the bad. There is an old Dub­lin saying: ‘There’s good in the worst of us and bad in the best of us.’ We work for God with the strengths and weaknesses of all we work with. God sows the seed of the gospel in good and bad soil; it bears fruit in its own way wherever it is sown.

The treasure is in our people. So much hidden generosity comes out at bad times – floods, power cuts, illness and death. We need al­ways to find the hidden treasures in our own people and even in our history. The kingdom of God is close, near and is within us.

Think of what you really value in life. Take time.
Give thanks to God for what brings deep joy in life.
Thy Kingdom Come, Lord Jesus.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J.