Displaying items by tag: Celebrating At Home
Celebrating At Home - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Does God Listen?
(Luke 17:5-10)
“Are you listening, God?” That’s the cry of the prophet Habakkuk in the first reading for this Sunday.
Everyone can resonate with the Habakkuk’s feelings of frustration and anger at the appalling injustice he witnesses. ‘Why is God so slow to act?’, he complains. God’s response to Habakkuk is a call to greater trust and faithfulness. God will answer, but not, perhaps, as quickly, or in the manner, Habakkuk would like.
The idea of faithfulness links the first reading with the today’s Gospel and the apostles asking Jesus to increase their faith.
What disciples on the ‘way of Jesus’ need more than anything is a deepening faith in the God of Jesus Christ who can and will rescue them from opposition and other destructive forces.
Jesus says that even a small amount of faith can bring about quite unexpected and seemingly impossible things - like uprooting a mulberry tree and planting it in the sea!
Essential to the faithful following of Jesus is letting go of the ego needs for power, wealth and position and living a life of faith in God and faithful following of Jesus which is expressed in true ministry to others.
Faithful disciples work diligently as servants of the Kingdom, not for rewards and honours, but keenly aware of God free graciousness to them and the need to extend that graciousness to others.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (2.91 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (3.29 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - XXVII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (479 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XXVII Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (470 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - XXVII Domingo do Tempo Comum (303 KB)
Celebrating At Home - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fortunes Reversed
(Luke 16:19-31)
The story Jesus tells in the Gospel is about a rich man, his five brothers and a poor man, and how their fortunes get reversed.
The rich man does nothing particularly evil. He lives like a rich man, dresses like a rich man and dines like a rich man. But he does not see the poor man sitting at his door. He does not even notice him.
The story is told against the background belief that riches were a sign of God’s blessing. By the time of Jesus, the teaching of the prophets that blessing brings responsibility seems to have been forgotten.
So the story asks the hearers: will they follow the example of the rich man or heed Jesus’ teaching (and that of the prophets) about the care of the needy and prove themselves true children of Abraham and take their place at the eternal banquet?
Injustice and greed breed violence and often result in the exploitation of the poor. As Pope Paul VI once said, “If you want peace, work for justice”.
We are not called to hoard God’s blessings, but to be distributors of them so that all have a fair share of this world’s goods and can live with dignity and respect.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (2.92 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (3.32 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - XXVI Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (500 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XXVI Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (492 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - XXVI Domingo do Tempo Comum (330 KB)
Celebrating At Home - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Investing in the Future
(Luke 16:1-13)
When bad things happen to us we are apt to spend a great deal of time being angry at what has taken place – especially if we feel that what has happened is unjust, unfair or unreasonable.
Today’s Gospel episode is often called the ‘Parable of the Unjust Steward’. But perhaps he is the one who is being treated unjustly. After all, the Master hears a rumour that the steward has been ‘wasteful with his property’. Without conducting an investigation to find out if the rumour is true, the Master decides to dismiss the steward.
The steward spends only a little time trying to decide what he will do once he loses his job. Knowing he is too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg, he sets about altering the contracts of sale for his masters’ debtors.
Is the steward stealing from the Master? No. In the ancient world such stewards were not directly paid by the master. Their ‘wage’ came from the commissions they added to bills of sale. So the steward is giving up his commission for the sake of his long-term future; to build goodwill among the debtors that they might return the favour in the steward’s coming hour of need.
For astutely investing in his future the steward is praised by the Master. Jesus uses this allusion to advise the disciples that they, too, should invest in their future through the sharing of all that they have. The term mammon refers not only to money, but to all that a person has. The disciples, says Jesus, should be prepared to give away all that they have to the poor so that when the kingdom comes, in which the poor have the privileged places, the disciples will be welcomed into the ‘tents of eternity’.
The final sayings of this Gospel presuppose that Christian life is a stewardship in which the wealth that one handles is wealth God wishes the whole world to share, not one’s personal possession. Disciples must choose wisely and act decisively. When it comes to wealth, they must choose between the interests of God and their own self-interest.
If disciples do not share possessions, they will not be entrusted with the true riches of the kingdom. If they do share possessions, which are on loan from God, they will be given the treasure of heaven as their own. The disciples must give exclusive loyalty to God or succumb to the enslavement of mammon.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (2.88 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (2.84 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - XXV Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (503 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XXV Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (496 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - XXV Domingo do Tempo Comum (503 KB)
Celebrating At Home - Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Not to Condemn, But to Save
(John 3:13-17)
It is rare for us to celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on a Sunday. This feast commemorates the dedication, in 335, of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built on the site of the Crucifixion by the Emperor Constantine.
There is a very clear relationship between the first reading (Numbers 21:4-9) and the Gospel. The people in the first reading are healed by looking at a bronze serpent lifted up in their midst by Moses. Jesus says in the Gospel that he, too, must be lifted up so that all who believe may have life. The second reading is the beautiful hymn from the letter to the Philippians (2:6-11). It is about God who willingly gives up his divinity in Christ to become one of us, accepting death on the cross to show the depth of God’s love.
The cross is a symbol full of contradictions: an instrument of cruelty and torture, and yet the means of saving love; an instrument of shame and death, yet the way of restoring true dignity and life; an instrument of hatred and contempt, yet the strongest symbol of Love.
The symbol of the cross also carries the mixed realities of human life: moments of crucifixion and resurrection, moments of sorrow and joy, moments of suffering and healing, moments of hatred and reconciliation.
We use the Cross continually in our Christian tradition. We use it to mark the beginning and end of prayer and the Eucharist. It marks the beginning and end of our Christian journey in Baptism and the Funeral Rites. So, we use the Cross in moments of joy and gladness and sorrow and distress.
The Cross draws us into moments of deep awareness of the mystery of God’s love for us. It reminds us that suffering and death are not the end of our story, that life and healing can come out of darkness and pain, that God in Christ remains faithful to us even to death and beyond.
Today we rejoice in a God who loves us that much and pray that we may be a continuing source of love, life and healing for one another.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - Exaltation of the Holy Cross [PDF] (3.43 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - Exaltation of the Holy Cross [ePub] (3.05 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - La Exaltación de la Cruz (506 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - Esaltazione della Santa Croce (503 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - A Exaltação da Cruz (501 KB)
Celebrating At Home - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Real Reality
(Luke 14:25-33)
There is very little that is real in so-called ‘reality TV’. We know that, in fact, situations and circumstances are highly contrived and rather artificial. People are deliberately set up to fail, tensions are fuelled and contestants often exploited emotionally and physically.
Today’s Gospel contains a rather heavy dose of real reality about what is required in order to be a disciple of Jesus.
The words of Jesus have to be read against the background of the Kingdom life God is inviting us into and the central message of Jesus that we need to place God in the centre of our hearts.
The language about hating family members and even our own lives comes from a Semitic idiom which expresses preference. If you prefer one person or thing over another you are said to ‘love’ the first and ‘hate’ the second. The Gospel is not calling us to hate either our relatives or ourselves.
When we let the presence of God flood our hearts and minds all other aspects of our lives, including our relationships, find their proper place. Relationships become more genuine and less exploitive; possessions have less hold over us and we begin to share them more generously, our need for power and status fades.
To do this, however, is no easy thing. It requires many daily decisions, choosing to see with God’s eyes, to feel with God’s heart and to act according to God’s vision for human life: to choose love over hate, generosity over hoarding, to let go of power and status and be of real service to our sisters and brothers. That is what ‘carrying the cross’ is all about.
Jesus warns that this is a difficult and demanding way, and that a disciple needs to be clear-eyed and ready to take up the task.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (4.28 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (4.87 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - XXIII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (353 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XXIII Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (478 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - XXIII Domingo do Tempo Comum (505 KB)
Celebrating At Home - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Invitation to Dinner
(Luke 14:1, 7-14)
It’s no accident that the Gospels contain many instances of shared meals, weddings feasts and miraculous feeding. In the Scriptures, meals always have something to do with the great meal – the eternal wedding feast.
We celebrate the sacred meal of the Eucharist anticipating the eternal feast of continual communion with God.
In this Gospel episode, Jesus has been invited to a meal at the home of a leading Pharisee. Luke tells us that they watched Jesus closely. No doubt, they are trying to make up their minds about him and his teaching.
Jesus, too, is watching closely and observes how those at the meal readily chose the places of honour for themselves. The fact that Luke calls the words of Jesus a ‘parable’ alerts us to the fact that this is more than just good advice about how to avoid embarrassment at a dinner party in the ancient world.
It turns out that the parable is about the feast in the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom the usual conventions of this world are completely reversed, such that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted; the last will be first, and the first last.
It is not wealth, power and social status that gains us a high place at the eternal feast, but the good treatment (humble service) of the most disadvantaged. Being hospitable to the poor and disadvantaged now gains
a person the only welcome that truly matters: the welcome into the everlasting hospitality of God.
The true disciple acts towards others with the same largeness of heart as God. Humility enables us to be open to God’s heart, and gentleness is the way of imitating his love.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (2.97 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (3.30 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - XXII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (517 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XXII Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (517 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - XXII Domingo do Tempo Comum (517 KB)
Celebrating At Home - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Narrow Door
(Luke 13:22-30)
It is a horrible feeling to find yourself locked out of home. It can instil panic. What will I do now? It is even worse if those inside won’t let you in, or even recognise you. Worse still if the house is full of strangers.
There is no mistaking the sense of warning in this passage of Luke’s Gospel.
Over the last few weeks, the gospel has presented Jesus on the journey to Jerusalem and his teaching about how to live our lives as disciples and the hard choices involved. The readings this week continue in this vein and point to the difficulty in being authentic to God and being prepared. If we are not properly prepared, whoever we are, we will not see the Kingdom of God – remember the phrases of recent Gospel readings: ‘stand ready’, ‘lamps lit’, ‘dressed for action’.
Jesus’ teaching in the towns and villages sparks a sense that things are nearing a climax. This provokes the question about how many will be saved. Jesus refuses to speculate about numbers, instead turning the question into a warning not to miss the opportunity while it is still available. Otherwise, a person may very well find themselves locked outside.
Through what Jesus will accomplish in Jerusalem, all will have the opportunity to be part of his kingdom. He will open the door.
Being a disciple is not about following Christ in name only. Our relationship with Jesus is not gained by casual acquaintance with his words and actions but by thoroughgoing conversion (repentance) – the ‘narrow gate’. So, we need to honestly and purposefully attempt to live out our humanity, social concerns and faith through action and prayer, in the light of Christ, in his spirit and according to his teaching.
The disciple can only share fully in the life of Christ through true conversion of heart - that’s the ‘narrow door’ through which we enter the Kingdom, our true home.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (2.97 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (2.61 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - XXI Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (511 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XXI Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (499 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - XXI Domingo do Tempo Comum (500 KB)
Celebrating At Home - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Prophet's Anguish
(Luke 12:49-53)
Sometimes we can be overwhelmed by life. Feelings of fear, uncertainty and anxiety bubble away beneath the surface. Sometimes, those feelings reach the surface in an explosion of words and actions.
In this Gospel passage we encounter the startling image of Jesus in distress and anguish over his mission and what he is yet to face. His statement that he, the Prince of Peace, has not come to bring peace, but division, is confronting.
Right at the beginning of this passage, Jesus says he has come to bring fire to the earth and wishes it were blazing already. The ‘fire’ Jesus talks about is the fire of the Holy Spirit; the fire that melts away all that is not of God. But the Holy Spirit won’t be given until after Jesus has faced and endured his destiny (passion and death) in Jerusalem. Perhaps we, who now live with the presence of the Spirit, need to ask, ‘What has yet to be melted away so that only the real presence of God remains in us, purified of greed, ambition, selfishness, and so on? We could also ask, ‘Where is the passion of God in my life?’
Jesus also speaks about a ‘baptism’ he must yet receive. It is not the sacrament of baptism he means. ‘Baptism’ was a biblical word used to describe turbulent and potentially overwhelming events which, like a roiling sea, threaten to engulf us. Again, it is a reference to his approaching suffering and death. Jesus is distressed and clearly wishes it was already over.
Following from last Sunday’s Gospel, the disciple is called not only to stand ready and stay faithful to his employment (call), but also to stand firm in the face of opposition. Peace is not to be won at any price (e.g. compromising God’s word).
Christians should never expect that discipleship makes life easy. Far from delivering us from the difficulties of life, our discipleship is more inclined to plunge us into the difficult and confronting issues which affect us and those around us. There will be division and discord an account of the Word that is preached and the values that we hold – sometimes even among those who are closest to us.
To share Jesus’ baptism is to share with him in his passion and resurrection. It carries significant responsibilities (remaining faithful to God’s word) and sometimes means that we are misunderstood or even punished for meeting those responsibilities.
To follow Jesus is to speak God’s word, in what we say and in our actions.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (2.91 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (3.10 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - XX Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (506 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XX Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (505 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - XX Domingo do Tempo Comum (505 KB)
Celebrating At Home - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Being Prepared, Remaining Faithful
(Luke 12:35-39)
Sometimes in life we find ourselves captivated by a particular cause or project and devote great enthusiasm and passion to it. As time goes on, however, we can find that our enthusiasm fades and our passion cools. Other things begin to take priority. Like last week’s Gospel, being prepared and remaining faithful is the focus of this week’s Gospel passage.
Storing up treasure in the sight of God is good preparation. Hoarding your possessions into ever bigger barns is not.
To stand ready is to be open to the Lord’s coming. Being dressed for action with lamps lit and ready to open the door to him, is the antidote to focussing too much on material possessions, status and power.
The faithful servants who are ready when the master returns are remarkably blessed by the master who will, himself, sit them down and wait on them. A classic reversal of traditional roles.
Luke’s community (and other early Christians) were slowly growing used to the idea that the second coming of Jesus, which they had felt would happen ‘any day now’, seemed to be delayed. Problems were emerging in the community as officials and others seemed to be ‘going off the boil’. Hence, the words about ‘standing ready’, ‘busy at his employment’, ‘having lamps lit’ and being ‘dressed for action’.
The parable about the servants is a call to remain faithful and in a state of readiness for the master’s return. The parable begs the question, ‘How are the disciples to behave between the two comings of Jesus?’ Like homeowners, we need to be alert and on the lookout for the presence of Jesus.
While the text is about the final return of Jesus, we can also think about being alert and watchful for the moments when the presence of Jesus suddenly breaks into our lives - in a sick friend, a beggar on the street, a person in need, a moment of prayer or reflection. As believers we want to do everything we can to build up the community, the living Body of Christ in our world, and allow the Gospel to transform our lives – which is seen in our closeness to God and in good actions which serve others.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (2.85 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (1.82 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - XIX Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (494 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XIX Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (485 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - XIX Domingo do Tempo Comum (472 KB)
Celebrating At Home - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
False Security
(Luke 12:13-21)
All too often we are made aware of the vulnerability and uncertainty of life. Things can suddenly change. We don’t know what will happen today, tomorrow or even in a few moments’ time. Such experiences can make us profoundly anxious, and we look for ways to protect ourselves and what we own against life’s adverse events. It is not only a problem for wealthy people like the rich man in the Gospel today. It can be a problem for all of us. We seem to have an instinctive need to build a sense of security by amassing goods and wealth.
A strong focus in the Luke’s Gospel is that nothing is more destructive of life and humanity than the need to acquire, hold on to and increase wealth. The problem is not the riches we possess but that our need to possess them gets in the way of our relationship with God, our only true security. That same need also gets in the way of our concern for others. We become reluctant to share what we have in case we may need it one day.
In many ways the Gospel is about the fundamental orientation of a disciple’s life - do we live for ourselves and our possessions, or for God and the Kingdom? Do we own our possessions, or do they own us? What do we value most in life?
Thirsting after material things distorts us, narrows our focus and corrupts our moral sense. As disciples of Jesus, we try to keep God at the centre of our lives. In Baptism and Confirmation we pledge ourselves to be willing workers with God in making God’s dreams and hopes for us all a reality.
A successful life in God’s eyes is not about storing up material treasure for ourselves (the parable of the rich man in this Sunday’s Gospel) but about being a source of real treasure for others (the servant parable in next Sunday’s Gospel). Quite often, the prayers of the Mass ask God to help us to use wisely the good things of the earth.
God’s wisdom always directs us towards using who we are and what we have to enrich the lives of others.
Living according to the heart of God helps us keep all things in their right order and opens us up to God’s wider vision of reality.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF] (2.78 MB)
- default Celebrating At Home - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub] (1.77 MB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - XVIII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (452 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - XVIII Domenica del Tempo Ordinario (444 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em família - XVIII Domingo do Tempo Comum (436 KB)
