![]() The Beatitudes are the beginning of the massive teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon ends with a contrast between Wisdom and foolishness. The Wise, are those who hear The Words of Jesus and put them into action. The foolish, also hear His Words but do nothing with it. Each time I hear or read this beautiful Sermon, it touches something deep inside of me in a way that other Sacred texts do not. It is so clear eyed and so daring, so sure of itself as it contradicts common thinking. It sweeps me along in a torrent of love and takes me to the place where, however dimly, I see what Jesus sees when he looks at me and you. Hearing it is like, as David Whyte said of poetry, "the art of overhearing ourselves say something from which it is impossible to retreat". So what is it that Jesus sees when he moves to the higher plain? He sees people. He sees the circumstance of their lives. He sees the sacredness of their lives. He sees with three eyes and invites His disciples to do the same. Jesus sees the people before Him and the negative circumstances that surround and pervade their lives. The poverty that goes so deep it crushes their spirit and reduces them to a constant state of mourning. In this situation they are meek, not violent or vengeful but hungering and thirsting for equality. Caught up in an unjust system, they are trying to better their lives and He is eager to support them. Jesus also sees a 'blessedness' dancing in the centre of their struggle for community. This blessedness is given by God, so is more powerful than the social and political systems that overwhelm them. It is already present and working its way towards a fuller space. It is moving mourning towards comfort, meekness towards inheritance and hunger and thirst towards satisfaction. It is giving notice to the current situation that it will not have the last word. The blessedness not only survives and overcomes human evil, it shines forth bringing its energies to the task of making life better. When blessedness flows as Mercy, Purity of Heart, Peace-making, and Justice Making it becomes an atmosphere that all are invited to breathe. This is what Jesus sees and what He wants us to see. As Hopkins said in 'The Wreck of the Deutschland', "Ah! There was a heart right / There was a single eye". (Stanza 29) As we listen to the Gospel for this fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we are given another chance to be caught up in the stunning teaching of the Beloved Son of God. If we will allow it, it will grip us. Once heard, they are words from which it is impossible to retreat. It is being said. It is taking us to a higher plain. We might not stay there for long but we know that way back. The lightning bolt of truth which first touched us through these words, will never cease to call us to the abiding light that the darkness can never overcome.
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It was all going wrong. John has been arrested by Herod and swaps desert for dungeon. His wilderness voice must find a way through the prison bars. Authority figures do what they like to do best - silence what threatens them. But notice what Jesus does. He moves immediately right into the heart of Herod's domain, steadily into the teeth of resistance. This is a dangerous move. But it was always so for those who carry light into darkness, life into death. What will happen to Jesus now?
Notice again Matthews insight. Underneath the machinations of human monsters, prophecies are unfolding. As Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah he is no fool, playing into the hands of evil men. He is moving according to Gods plan, proclaiming a message that cannot be locked up or silenced. The torch has passed from John to Jesus. The voice that cried in the desert now zings down the town streets, into residential areas and into the houses of Gods' children. The Kingdom of Heaven is closer than you think. If you are sitting in darkness and the shadows of death, God is arriving as the remedy. As Light and Life! Problem: God is now but people are not! So, Jesus needs help to uncover the hidden heaven. He needs people to fish for people. But first they must let go of one way of seeing the world and embrace another. If they are going to swim in the spiritual sea where all people swim, they must come to see the deeper and wider dimensions of life. They see hints of this in Jesus and move to follow Him. He will teach them that people are not fish and that they will 'catch' people only by appealing to the deepest desire of their hearts. Jesus is not hiding from Herod. He is teaching, proclaiming and healing through all Herod's territory. He is on a mission. Johns' imprisonment is not going to stop Him and people are fascinated by him. Here we must pause to remember all the people who have fascinated us in our life. Can you remember those you admired and wanted to imitate? Every day, people are leaning into life and coaxing it towards redemption. These are people who make the world a better place. When we catch them 'at it' we are fascinated and want to know more. When we see someone thinking, speaking or acting in a way that we are not yet able to but we wish we could - we apprentice ourselves to them. Isn't a disciple just a fascinated person who desires to know and do what they see in another? We gravitate towards them and learn something new. We have probably been doing this all our lives. I heard a story once about a drug rehabilitation centre. One day, an ex-resident turned up in the reception area with a cricket bat, shouting and screaming and banging his bat on the furniture. Everyone dived for cover. But the manager came out of her office, walked right up to the guy, put her arms around him and gave him a big long hug. His violence transfigured into sobs. She held him in that strange embrace for a while then led him to a chair and waited for the police to arrive. He never let go of the bat. I want to know what makes this woman tick! And I have a hunch that she knows exactly what drove Christ back into Galilee. John the Baptist doesn't just see Jesus, he sees into the heart and mission of Jesus. His invitation to 'Behold' means something worth looking at is before us. John calls Jesus the 'Lamb of God' and so do we. Yet, the sin that He takes away cannot just be seen as the individual transgressions we might make. What is taken away is the experience of being isolated from God. Jesus frees the temple animals, because they are no longer needed. The disciples go with Him at the time when animals were sacrificed in the Temple and find everything they need in Him. What is needed is to have communion with the Beloved Son of God.
John also admits to what he does not know. He has to grow in his understanding and relationship with Jesus. John is granted a sacred communication that Jesus and the Spirit are inseparable. He has to work at this insight to make it bear fruit. Coming to see the truth of Jesus takes time, patience and a genuine desire to come and see what He is revealing. We see a pattern develop. John sees Jesus, witnesses to Him and creates new disciples. Two new disciples see Jesus, witness to Him and create more disciples. It seems that we have to find out the truth about Jesus for ourselves but others who have already discovered it can show us the way. This weekend, Bishop Philip will be asking a question in his pastoral letter about our relationship with Jesus and how we share this with others. We don't do this by having yes or no, right or wrong answers but by sharing the adventure we have been enjoying. It means we have to be honest about how our faith in Him has changed and developed. This kind of uncompromising honesty means that our sense of the adventure might be complex. I came across a story about three people who arrived at the door of a spiritual teacher. She asked all of them the same question. "Did you come to me because of others or because of yourself?" The first answered that they had been sent by others. They were dismissed. The second answered that they came of their own accord. They were dismissed. The third stammered that they had heard of the teacher from others and yet, they also felt that they had come on their own - part curious, part frustrated, part searching and a whole lot of other reasons and motives which were hard to describe. The spiritual teacher said, "You'll do." The honest, complex person was accepted. I don't know all of the reasons I am drawn to Jesus and struggle to follow Him. But in my own mind, hallmarks of genuine testimony begin to take shape. Honest self-examination, complexity and humility. If my testimony is meant to attract others to Jesus, I worry sometimes that after hearing or seeing me they might look elsewhere. But I also see that I must not over worry on this point. If I try to package Jesus, I lose the only truth that sustains me. You might agree that giving testimony is tricky ground. But what's the alternative? I hope you will agree that the best Christmas present anyone can receive is the gift of Jesus. He comes to us as a gift from God the Father. But, as we see in today's Gospel story, He is welcomed by some and rejected by others. And while His own people are divided, what is truly remarkable, is how warmly He is accepted by the Gentiles. The events surrounding the birth of Jesus, foretell his future destiny. When this happens, it is a sign that God, who holds past present and future as one, is at work. Those who understand are left in no doubt that God is the author of the life of Jesus.
The rejection of the child Messiah is totally evil. Herod’s murderous intentions are hidden beneath a cloak of piety and lies. Herod tries his best but his smoke and mirrors are no match for God. His behaviour reveals him as a hypocrite, one whose words don't square with their thoughts, whose outside and inside are not aligned. In St. Matthew’s Gospel, this is the enduring temptation for religious and political persons. To say pious and respectable things while holding treachery in their hearts. In contrast, the Wise Ones rejoice at His coming! They are more than happy when heaven, signed by a star, and earth, signed by the infant Jesus, greet each other. They are overwhelmed with joy, and their gifts become an expression of their adoring hearts. Many years ago, GK Chesterton had a little spat with Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Scientism. She told the press that she did not give presents at Christmas but instead she meditated on purity and truth till her friends were the better for it. Chesterton accused her of being unchristian, arguing that the whole point of Jesus Incarnation was to embody good will. If the three Wise Ones had taken Mary Eddy’s stance, there would be no Christian art or civilisation. Thankfully they didn't and the gifts they bring are perfect, not because they can be weighed, priced and valued but because they take two interiors, the heart of the Christ child and their own hearts, and make them one. Gift giving makes the invisible become visible. It is one of the ways that the hidden heart makes itself known. Gifts symbolise a flow of love. It does not matter, for those who love, if the gift is expensive or not. The little drummer boy only has one song, Charlie Brown’s broken Christmas tree is the one that brings the kids together. What matters is that “perfect gifts” are perfect when they carry one person into the heart of another. Jim and Della are in love but they are poor. Each has a proud possession. Della has beautiful hair and Jim has a fob watch. At Christmas, Della cuts her hair and sells it to buy Jim a platinum chain for his watch. On Christmas morning when she gives it to him, Jim reveals that he has sold his watch to buy Della a set of pure tortoiseshell combs for her hair. They roar with laughter because even though they know that their gifts are now useless, they know that they have carried them both into each other. These are gifts that strengthen their relationship, assuring them that they know and are known, love and loved. O. Henry, who penned this story in 'Gifts of the Magi' stated, " Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the wisest." |
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November 2020
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CATHOLIC PARISH OF ST JOSEPH & ST MARGARET CLITHEROW
St Joseph’s Church. 39 Braccan Walk, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1HA (Directions)
Tel: 01344 425729
Email: stjb@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk
South Berkshire Pastoral Area
The parish is part of the Diocese of Portsmouth.
Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust registered charity 246871
St Joseph’s Church. 39 Braccan Walk, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1HA (Directions)
Tel: 01344 425729
Email: stjb@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk
South Berkshire Pastoral Area
The parish is part of the Diocese of Portsmouth.
Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust registered charity 246871