I always ask people who are celebrating their Birth Day, if they can hear the Song the Angels Sang of the day that they were born!  

After that, we are given the Gift of our Name.  I always make something of this in the Celebration of Baptism.  I explore that reason a name has been chosen and it's meaning for the little one.  Everybody's name means something.   Mary (Myriam) has its roots in rebellion and means,  'the one who changes everything'.   Peter means Rock and Paul means Small.  Having a name means that I am somebody, worthy of tenderness and respect.  But knowing someone's name doesn't mean we know them.

It is often recorded that the first disciples of Jesus betrayed him in the end.  This can sometimes be used as a 'get out clause' for our own failures.  Certainly they are encouraging. But it is also true that all of them laid down their lives for him in the end.  This is inspiring.

Notice how, in their moment of Grace, when they meet Him for the first time, Jesus gives them a new name.  

We mirror this in the Celebration of Confirmation.  And this week we have a wonderful group of young people who have a new name from The Lord!  The Psalmist puts it like this,

      And you shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of The Lord
       A Royal Diadem in the Hand of your God
      And you shall be called by a new Name which the mouth of The Lord will Give.

Recently, a man heard The Lord call Him by a new name.  It was Francis, and he has changed the face of the earth.  As we give thanks to God for the keystone lives and work of Peter and Paul, might we ask how our own name gives us a great clue to our own Vocation.

And as for the first line of this reflection, keep listening and then sing along!

We eat a piece of bread - We drink a glass of wine - it becomes part of us. Robert Noznik fills this out.

"We meet the food in the ante-room of the mouth and greet it there.  We probe and explore it, surround it, permeate it with juices, press it with our tongues against the roof of the mouth along the hard ridge directly above the teeth, place it under suction and pressure, move it around. We know its texture fully; it holds no secrets or hidden parts." 
(The Examined Life.  1989.  Pp 56-57)

Whatever we eat demands a sacrifice from someone or something.  Eating hints that we are all involved in Sacrifice - 'in making life holy by giving something back.  There is no avoiding this.  In his wonderful book, 'Scientific Proof of the Existence of god will Soon be Announced by the White House!  Da Free John writes, (pp 33-34)

" Those who cling to one or another religious or spiritual way must realise that the foundation of all such ways is the disposition of sacrifice ... Such a disposition freely anoints the world with help and intelligent consideration ... The whole Earth, the Cosmos, and every separate being is a great Sacrifice! ... Let us give ourselves up, so that each temple - each bodily and mental person - may become a temporary and perishable altar of self-giving into the Mystery that pervades us." 

Jesus gathers His Life in his Hands and gives Thanks.  His Life is not His own, and since all is Grace, He turns to the Giver of Life in Gratitude.  Now filled within, He flows without.  The life freely given becomes the life He seeks to give away.

Jesus is a Great Teacher.  Gratitude, Sacrifice and Transcendence must move as one Dance.
If we just look up we risk being aloof and uninvolved. If we just give thanks but do not move to Sacrifice we risk we only counting our Blessings without realising they are separating us from the communion of love.  If we Sacrifice without gratitude we risk the cul-de-sac of resentment.  We pour ourselves out and find we are empty so we stop giving ourselves away.

Don't forget to consult the One who knows how to break bread and pour out his life blood.

God Loved the World SO much, that He gave his only Son ...... And sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts.  Because of this, we make our experience of God the beginning and end of all that we do.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Now, the guiding light of all catholic moral teaching is the Dignity of the Human Person.  This might help us to make better sense of our celebration today.  But first, we need to dump the red herring.  St Augustine told a story that one day he was walking along a beach when he came across a little boy running to the waters edge, filling his pail, and then running to a hole he had dug in the sand and putting the water in.  When Gus asked him what he was doing, he said, 'I am pouring the sea into this hole in the sand.' 'Can't be done'' said Gus, 'the sea is too large and the hole is too small.' The boy answered, ' So it is with you and the Trinity. The Mystery is too large and your mind is too small'. With these words, he vanished.  Conclusion: the mind can't get it.

Back to the Indestructible Dignity of the Person. By that we mean that ideally everyone is treated with endless respect no matter their situation or circumstance.  All of this rests, of course, on the one claim that we are Icons of the Trinity.  Or to put it another way, only in relationship and only in relationships filled with Love, Free of Judgement and Condemnation, and Leaning towards Salvation do we truly mirror God back to God.  There is something beautiful about this vision.  Ponder it a little and you will see!

Then, the next time we catch ourselves in an individual time warp, or competing with someone else for the next rung on the ladder, or sensing our dignity being threatened by comparing ourselves, we might escape the prison of individualism by a new understanding that Dignity is Always and Forever, 'Ours'.  Not 'mine'. 

When the HIV virus first made a public appearance, there were many so called 'evangelicals' who went viral themselves proclaiming that this was Gods punishment for sin.  It was the Catholic Community who stood alone to say that this was absurd, but, in the world of Grace it might hide another invitation to uphold the infinite preciousness of the person. 

May the Blessing of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit stay with us, always.  Amen.

It is still the  'first day of the week' because the Creation Story of Genesis is still being re-written. Early in the morning, the disciples have come to realise that Jesus is with God, (John, 20:1-18).  Now, on the evening of the same day, they find that He is always with them.  He is the bridge, linking heaven and earth.  This is who He was, who He is and always shall be.
Notice that He does not enter through doors, or appear as he used to before his Resurrection and Ascension. He is 'there' in the very heart of them, calming their fears and giving a Peace and a Joy that cannot be taken away.  

But He has to offer it twice! The Beloved Disciple had to look twice into the empty tomb before he came to belief (John, 20:8).  Mary of Magdala had to turn twice before she recognised the true identity of the 'gardener' (John, 20:16). Now He gives them His Peace.  First, to free them from fear, and Twice to strengthen them for their mission.  

So, what is given must be given away so that an unending thread of love is spun from the Father, through the Beloved Son and in the Spirit, to every human heart.

Just as God breathed life into the clay of the earth and made Humanity, so now, our Risen Lord breathes into His disciples the Gift of the Spirit.  Living here they move with the Spirit to make all things One.  How? In the only way possible, through the work of Forgiveness and Reconciliation.

At the start of His Mission, Jesus unrolled the scroll of Isaiah and saw Himself perfectly reflected in the words, "The Spirit of The Lord is upon me. Because The Lord has anointed me.  He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, to heal the broken hearted and set the prisoner free.  To proclaim a time of Jubilee from The Lord ......"

In Sacred texts, Signs of the presence of the Spirit are variously described as : Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Courage, Knowledge, Piety, Reverence, Faithfulness, Prophecy, Discernment, Healing, Miracles, Speaking in Tongues and Interpreting them, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Goodness, Long-Suffering, Humility, Modesty, Continence and Chastity.  

But, today's Gospel underlines that all of these are doorways into the One Gift and Work of the Spirit.  Forgiveness and Reconciliation.   Once we are united, the Spirit flows through us into the world, that we and God Love without regret. 

Come Holy Spirit! Come fill the hearts of those who keep Faith! Come light up in them - what? - the fire of your Love. Come and create us anew, and through us, the face of the earth!!

THIS CANT BE PUT OFF! AN EXTRACT FROM POPE FRANCIS' NEWS OF JOY

The Parish is not an outdated institution; precisely because it possesses great flexibility, it can assume different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and the community.  While certainly not the only institution which evangelises, if the parish proves capable of self-renewal and constant adaptivity, it continues to be, 'the church living in the homes of her daughters and sons'. 
This presumes that it really is in contact with the homes and lives of its people, and does not become a useless structure out of touch with people, or a self-absorbed group made up of a chosen few.
The Parish is the presence of the Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God's Word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, loving outreach, worship and celebration.  In all its activities the parish encourages and trains it's members to be evangelisers.  It is a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a centre of constant missionary outreach.
We must admit, though, that the call to review our parishes has not yet sufficed to bring them closer to people, to make them environments of living communion and participation, and to make them completely mission-orientated.

Come Holy Spirit!