Prayer reflection

Lord, in the world today we have become very calculating:
– whatever effort we put out must bring maximum gain;
– what does not bring results we omit altogether;
– we even relate like that in our families, in our Church community, with our friends.

Teach us to look at the sower going out to sow, to see in him how generous you are:
– you don’t mind that some seed falls on the edge of the path and birds come and eat them up;
– or that some fall on patches of rock where they spring up right away but as soon as the sun comes up they are scorched and wither away;
– or that some fall on thorns and are choked by the thorns.

You let all this happen because you know that eventually seeds will fall on rich soil, and will produce their crop, some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty.

Lord, we thank you for our parents, guardians or carers:
– they were generous with their love;
– they sowed the seeds of care, good advice and their own example.
Often they saw no results as these seeds fell on the edge of the path,
on patches of rock, or among thorns.
But they sowed all the same, and eventually the seeds fell on rich soil
and produced their crop.

Lord, forgive us that we do not give Jesus’ message a chance to go deep into our society:
– we choke it with many compromises;
– we imply that it wasn’t really meant to work,
– that it was only for children, youths or older people.
As a result, it never gets a chance to fall on rich soil,
to touch the generosity and idealism of people,
and so it does not produce the crop it was meant to produce in society.

We pray today for those who work the land, that they may sow like the sower in the parable,
– not mean, calculating or arrogant,
– but trusting the land and respecting its wildness so that it may produce abundant crops.

Lord, we look back on our journey to maturity.
We remember with gratitude how at first we had only a glimmer of light;
we knew very vaguely
– that we wanted to live a life of service;
– that we needed a deep relationship with you;
– that here was the kind of person we wanted to be with for the rest of our lives.

Then, as we needed more clarity, you gave us more, and now we experience abundant peace within ourselves.
Help us to be content with the little faith you give us, knowing that as we need more you will give us more, and when it is time we will have more than enough.
Have mercy on those who cannot trust at all, lest the little chance they may have be taken away.

Lord, help us to feel compassion for those who cannot interpret your parables, to understand that their ears are dull of hearing and they have shut their eyes for fear that they should see with their eyes or hear with their ears, or understand with their hearts;
for it they did, they would have to be converted before they could be healed by you.

Lord, we thank you for the many wonderful things
that our eyes can see and our ears can hear:
– that you created men and women as equal partners;
– that the human family is called to live in harmony;
– that the Church of Jesus Christ is the Church of the poor;
– that all the baptized are fully members of the Church.

We thank you for all the prophets and the holy people who longed to see what we see, but never saw it, to hear what we hear, but never heard it.

www.columba.ie

 Time for Rest

The invitation of Jesus to find peace in his presence is one of the most popular of his sayings. He is contrasting his message with the burdensome law, which somehow had lost the heart of religion, over-emphasising the externals of laws and rituals. He is not devaluing laws and rituals but putting them in their place. He offers an invitation that everyone can hear; and at many times of life we really need to hear it. These may be times of illness, bereavement, anxiety, depression and/or worry. It is an invitation to come into his presence, which is a loving presence. It’s not just an invitation to enjoy a restful time, but to rest in the presence of love.

Any notion we have of Jesus that is harsh, is false: he is ‘gentle and humble in heart’. This is the atmosphere he asks us all to spread. ‘Once you have received the refreshment and comfort of Christ, we are called in turn to become refreshment and comfort for our brothers and sisters, with a meek and humble attitude, in imitation of the Master’ (The late Pope Francis, July 2014).

The church is a place of rest for the weary; the place where we find encouragement in the ordinary situations in our lives, where we are called to respond to those who suffer through pov­erty, homelessness and many other unjust social situations that are part of our world, near and far.

Take into your hands, Lord, the burdens in my life;
help me to trust in you.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J

A Simple Cup of Water

The examples are stark in the gospel today: about not preferring mother and father to Jesus; about how, in our care for others, we care for Jesus, and how, in our neglect of others, we neglect him. We need to go beyond the practical example to finding out what is central in our lives and how we see God as central. When God is central, our love can be in the smallest of services to people, like ‘the cup of cold water‘.

Jesus is not central outside our humanity, and our human relationships. In the real needs of ordinary people we meet his needs. We give the ‘cup of cold water‘ to the person who needs it, not just to Jesus. It’s like many stories in the gospel of Jesus helping those in real need. This is the central point of faith.

We help in simple ways. This is what Pope Francis refers to in his encouragement of simple love, ‘like the warm supper we look forward to at night, the early lunch awaiting someone who gets up early to go to work. Homely gestures. Like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day’s work. Love is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home. Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love.‘ (September 2015)

Recall a time when someone helped you in a small way. Be grateful.
Offer yourself to do the same when you can.
Make me, O Lord, a channel of your peace and love
when I see the needs of others.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J

Just Trust

Our lives are lightened by people we can trust. We need to trust so much in life. We know the great pain when our trust is shaken by people we thought we could trust — parents/ teachers/ religious superiors/ the church/ friends and more. In the gospel today Jesus addresses that need and grace in our lives.

He encourages us to place our trust in those who care for us, and to trust in God who does not want destruction but development, who wants peace among people in all sorts of ways. In what do we trust? Pagola writes: ‘some feel a need to consume more in order to feel secure; and seek a life of entertainment to forget their everyday problems’ (The Gospel According to Matthew).

Jesus tells us to trust in God, who would not harm even a hair of our head. He asks and urges us to be people who would not harm another. We are worth this care and love just by being created. Like a parent or grandparent or an aunt or uncle, totally loving a new child before the child is even seen, so God loves each of us. The sight of a starving child brings out our love and a desire to care.

This is linked to the care of God: in this care and trust of each other we find the trust and care of God given and received for ‘where there is love, there is God’ (1 John 3:7).

Just echo the word ‘trust’ as you sit in silence;
let this gift and call of trust fill your being.
Sacred heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J

This is a new stage in Jesus’ ministry. He begins the setting up of his foundational community of the Twelve Apostles, calling each by their own name and sending them off on their mission.
Notice the name Judas Iscariot, no cover up here. Jesus accepts our fallen human natures even though our community historically were inclined to deny (or conveniently ‘forget’) their actions for the ‘good‘ of the community.

We can identify with : Jesus himself the caring leader, parent, teacher, spiritual guide, even friend as he prepares them for future trials or The Apostles: church communities working out our mission statement together in this ever changing and challenging world, spreading the coming of God’s kingdom on earth through us.

Notice also Jesus emphasis on the free sharing of the Gospel with others and how we all can play our part in that.
– Giving our service humbly, freely and generously to all who come our way without demanding gratitude, or power over them.
– or  heaping  ‘obligations’ on them
– or demanding others become members of our communities.