God of the Second Chance:  Consider The fig tree

This seems a rather strange story about Galileans being killed by Pilate. They were no greater sinners than others, but people thought they were being punished by God. Jesus asks us to repent, but does not punish the sinner. Repent is the word of Lent – and followed by the invitation to believe the good news of the gospel.

A fig tree had three years to get good. It is a precious tree because it uses little water. This one has not produced its fruit. Is God the one to get rid of the tree or the one to give it another chance? God is the God of the second chance all the time.

He never gives up on his love! We may need to give God another chance. We know we get angry at times. People find that many good things can happen even in bad times. Let’s have that faith and pray for it. God gives us chance after chance in our lives, as He wants our faith in him to grow.

We ask also that we now give the Church another chance. So this is a day of more chances, that life never folds up. We need to return more and more to the gospel and the goodness of so many people, which will lead us in our Church communities to Christ. We do not belittle some terrible things that happened, nor lessen our care for those abused, but ask to take a deeper step to the God who is the one giving and asking us for another chance!

Renew us O Lord,
in love, in hope and in joy
in your care for us.

Donal Neary S.J.

The real Jesus

Things are not always as they seem. Underneath a church that I worked in, are a series of underground passages that go on for about a mile! People are the same – when you are talking to someone and they tell you they are very ill, or recovered from addiction, you see more to them. Or you may find out that someone you thought little of visits an elderly person every week. People are not always as they seem. The mountain visit was the same: the apostles saw Jesus – son of God, radiant in prayer, and in the middle of it all the Passion was announced. They saw the person behind the face.

There is more to Jesus than you might think.

The big truth of Jesus is that he is intimately united to God the Father. So following him is not just action, but prayer that leads to action. We say someone is a great Christian – he or she helps the poor. Christianity is more – it is also prayer and the Eucharist. While we are thankful for the good lives of many people, we also can say that the full Christian life includes more, e.g. prayer, reflection, scripture reading, faith and Mass. It also involves community – the three were called to witness and help each other remember the Lord Jesus. Community brings the word of God alive in a real way. The community of the Church brings us to fuller faith.

Prayer leads to action for others, and action leads back to prayer. We can be so close to heavenly things that we are no earthly good! Lent brings us into this mystery of the death and resurrection of the Lord – we are part of this, and we try to make life a grace for others. We can either transfigure the lives of others, or disfigure them. Let us be people of the transfiguration.

Lord show me your face – in myself and in others. Amen.

Donal Neary S.J.

Jesus tempted off course

Jesus was brought out of the ordinary into a place where he was tempted off course with three temptations – to comfort, power, and wealth – three things that can take us over.

Money, power and comfort can lead us astray….when we want wealth, to be no. 1 and prioritise  comfort in various ways. ……..

He goes back to the word of God to find strength and insight to fight off evil – to the words he learned at home, and at school.

A big source of energy for us is the word of God. On Ash Wednesday the invitation was to believe the good news. That is where we may find life and strength.

We remain in the Church because of Jesus Christ. The word of God in his gospel remains life-giving and strong. Today’s scripture shows us that temptations happen often to take us off the path. So too does the unexpected, and scandals have happened in many of the national institutions. Church life may leave us down and weak, but the spirit who kept Jesus strong in the desert will do the same for us.

A Lenten thing to do could be to
*read a bit of the gospel every day.
*Look up Sacred Space.ie.  on the web and pray from that.
*Or Pray-as-you-go. Pray your own favourite gospels.
*Read the gospel to the children.
*Hear the word at weekday Mass or check it on: www.catholicireland.net/ readings/ saints
*We look to the word of God to build us up as God’s children and community and find strength to use all in the service of God and others in love.

Speak your word O Lord, and we shall be the better for it.

Donal Neary S.J.