Opening Prayer Series: Collect for 21 Sunday of yr B

The Collect for the 21st Sunday of Year B reads as follows:

Let us pray,

O God who cause the minds of the faithful 

to unite in simple purpose,

grant Your people to love what You command

and desire what You promise,

that, amid the uncertainties of this world,

our hearts may be fixed on that price 

where true gladness is found.

Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You

 in  the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God for ever and ever.

In making this prayer tangible for during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:

1. What is it that God commands of me this coming week?
2. What is it that God is truly offering me?
3. What hinders me from desiring all that God has to offer me?
4. How does my life reflect my desire to keep my heart fixed on the price of Heaven?
5. What aspect/s of my life will I change this coming week in order to desire God's promises more and make room in my heart for the ultimate price.
6. How is my journey for the year of Grace progressing? What one step will I take to more forward in my spiritual journey of growth?

In today's Gospel, Peter's reponse to Jesus'' Lord to whom shall we go'' needs to be our own.  We need to be able to say in our hearts with conviction '' You have the words of everlasting life". We need to truly desire Jesus with our whole heart, soul and mind and with every fibre of our being. 

Like the pharisees, we can grumble and turn away from him, but we do have the chance to turn again to HIm with all our hearts and ask His forgiveness in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  

We need to really WANT  Jesus to be no 1 in our lives- to be Lord of our lives from the moment we awake to the moment we close our eyes each day.  We meet each day because God has willed it for us. He has allowed us to keep breathing during the night and see another day.

So let us live our lives with each day saying

 " Lord to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life''

How will YOUR life express this truth this coming week?

Reflection and Prayer Series: God's love

My reflection and prayer series is about sharing reflections and Prayers which have impacted upon me and have provided food for thought. I hope that they will also nurture your soul and spirit.

My post is called:

                                                               GOD'S LOVE.
 

In the dry and dusty places of my life, 
God pours out the Living Water.
He turns a parched and barren wasteland 
into ferile ground where love can grow.

May God's love be poured out among us this coming week 

About the Mass Vol 2: Penitential Rite Part 1

ABOUT THE MASS SERIES  VOL 2.

The Mass: About the Mass Series Icon.

PENITENTIAL RITE

The Penitential Rite consists of three elements:                      

(1) The invitation to acknowledge our sins,

(2) To ask for the mercy of God, and

(3) To accept His pardon and cleansing healing.

The priest invites us acknowledge our sins.  In the previous English translation the three texts used were:

1. ‘.My brothers and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins’.

2. ‘As we prepare to celebrate the mystery of Christ’s love, let us acknowledge our failures and ask the Lord for pardon and strength’.

3. ‘.Coming together as God’s family, with confidence let us ask the Father’s forgiveness, for He is full of gentleness and compassion’.

However, in the New English Translation, the priest now invites us to acknowledge our sins by:

‘.My brothers and sisters,let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries’.

There is now only one invitation text to acknowledge our sins rather than the previous 3. This gives us  the opportunity to focus on the invitation and its purpose more fully.  

The word ‘acknowledge’ was chosen rather than the previous expression  ‘call to mind’ because ‘agnoscamus’ implies both interior and exterior acts.  It invites us to not just call to mind our sins, but to confess them openly also.  The invitation asks us to acknowledge our sins first as our preparation for the celebration of the sacred mysteries.  

If we think about this for a moment, if we were given an invitation to a special function, we would not just turn up in our everyday clothes, without any sort of preparation of a personal nature.  No, we would be more likely to buy a new outfit and/or check our wardrobe to see what might be suitable for such an occasion. We would take a shower and ensure our personal appearance is at its best. The ladies may choose to make an appointment at the hairdressers or have nails done for the occasion, and wear our favourite or a special perfume for the occasion. The men too will prepare in their own way-they too will not turn up to a special function without the right type of code of dress for the occasion. They will also take pride in their personal appearance .

So when we attend Holy Mass and we hear this invitation, think of how important this invitation really is, We are being invited to the celebration of the sacred mysteries. By acknowledging our sins, this is our preparation both inwardly by reflecting upon them and outwardly by acknowledging them in the responses of the Penitential Rite. Before attending Mass, we may wish to think about what sins/weaknesses we wish to acknowledge. In this way, it may help us to accept this invitation at Mass more completely. Personal preparation is vital if we are to appreciate the texts more fully and make them our own.

So how can we accept this invitation more fruitfully?  Our preparation that we have made during the week for our Sunday Mass/weekday Mass will help us.  Perhaps, we might prayerfully recall one or two areas in our lives in which we struggle and wish to change. This invitation is a wonderful time to bring it to the Lord.  Then we ask for mercy as one of the  3 Penitential Rites are used. I will discuss these in detail over the next 3 weeks.

When the first form is used, the Kyrie is said/sung after the ‘I confess’ (Confiteor), as follows:

Priest: ‘Lord have mercy’.  All: ‘Lord have mercy’.

Priest: ‘Christ have mercy’. All: ‘Christ have mercy’.

Priest: ‘Lord have mercy’. All: ‘Lord have mercy’.

I will discuss the changes to the text of the Confiteor next week, but perhaps you may wish to think about these words of the ‘I confess’ (Confiteor) during the week.  If we cannot recall our sinfulness, then perhaps the words-thoughts, words, actions and omission might be a prompt. But remember, we are not alone as we repent- we have Mary and the saints (Church triumphant) to intercede for us, and our fellow parishioners- those in the same seat, those standing ahead and behind us and those across the aisle (the Pilgrim Church).  We are all asking for the mercy of God.  Note too, our body language- we are standing; standing before God as we are.

What does the Penitential Rite mean to YOU?

Year of Grace; Faith and Reason Encyclical: chapter 3

 During this year of Grace, it is timely to consider whether Faith and Reason are interwined or as secular society would like us to believe that Faith and Reason are exclusive.  My purpose for writing this series is to explore this by examining carefully the encyclical  called " Fides et Ratio"- Faith and Reason written by the late Pope John Paul 11. I hope that during these next 8-10 weeks, you may explore with me, find your own answers and be able to communicate the truth to others. I also hope that in studying this encyclical you will be blessed with many graces. This week we continue to explore together chapter 3.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke describers how Paul found the Athenians as religious in that they had statues of various idols including an altar with the inscription: ‘To an unknown god’. Paul proclaimed the true God who created us and transcends all things and gives life to all.  It was God’s intention that nations would search for and find God, though indeed he is not far from each of us.

God planted the seed of desire and nostalgia for God in the human heart.  This desire spurs mankind to rise beyond what is contingent and set out towards the infinite.

The arts and especially philosophy have attempted to reach this universal human desire.

Man is the only creature, who not only is capable of knowing but who knows that he knows, and is therefore interested in the real truth of what he perceives.  St Augustine wrote: ‘I have met many who wanted to deceive, but none who wanted to be deceived.’  Adults can distinguish independently between truth and falsehood, making up their own minds about the objective reality of things.  The scientific field is a good illustration of this search.

If a person acts ethically, that person is on the way to happiness and moves towards perfection.  The Pope in his Encyclical Letter ‘Veritatis Splendor’ wrote:

  ‘There is no morality without freedom… Although each individual has a right to be respected in his own journey in search of the truth, there exist a prior moral obligation, and a grave one at that to seek the truth and to adhere to it once it is known.’

It is essential for us to become ourselves and to grow as mature adult persons.  To do this we must choose true values even those, which transcend the person.

Does life have a meaning? Where is it going? The first absolute certain truth is that we exist and that we will die.  We want to know if death will be the definite end of our life or if there is something beyond, such as, an after-life.

No one can avoid this questioning whether the philosopher or the ordinary person.  Everyone wants to be sure of an absolute truth that puts an end to all questioning.

Philosophers down through the centuries have tried to reach a definitive answer to the above questions.  What is certain that human being is ‘ the one who seeks the truth’.

It is by knowing that human beings can arrive at an answer that leads them to take the first step.  Scientists follow this course until they find a satisfactory answer.  The same applies in the search of truth affecting the ultimate questions.  Personal existence must be anchored to a truth recognised as final, a truth which confers a certitude no longer open to doubt.

One mode of truth depends upon immediate evidence or confirmed by experimentation.  On another level philosophical truth is found by speculative powers of the human intellect.  Religious truths can be found in the answers which different religious tradition offer to the ultimate questions.  All men and women have an answer to the way they direct their lives and what they think and how they regulate their behaviour.

Human beings are born into a family, and absorb family traditions, language and truths, which they believe almost instinctively.  As life proceeds there are many more truths, which are believed without personal verification, such as, scientific findings and notional and world information.  This means that the human being lives by belief in the truth.

In believing we rely on the knowledge acquired by other people, men and women believe knowledge when it is grounded on trust between person and the truth, which the others declare to them.  A good example is the martyrs who are the most authentic witnesses to the truth about existence.  They were prepared to die for their beliefs in the truths taught by their creator Jesus Christ.  Thus their lives inspire such confidence that we do not need lengthy arguments to convince us of their love for Jesus Christ, and that they have found the truth about life.  We look up to them with profound trust.

It is the nature of the human being to seek the absolute truth, which would explain the meaning of life.  To do this they use their reason but also by trusting other persons who can guarantee the authenticity and certainty of the truth itself.  To entrust oneself and one’s life to another person and the decision to do so are amongst the most significant and expressive human acts.

Reason also needs to be sustained in all its searching by trusting dialogue and sincere friendship which is absolutely necessary for sound philosophical enquiry.

Christian faith gives people grace to share in the mystery of Christ and offers them a true knowledge of the one God.

The unity of truth is a fundamental premise of human reasoning.  Revelation shows that God of creation is also the God of salvation history.  It is the one and same God who ordained the natural order of things upon which scientists confidently depend, and who revealed that Jesus Christ, with the Father and Holy Spirit is one God in 3 persons.

The Pope in the next chapter discusses the relationship between revealed truth and philosophy.  He then considers the links between faith and philosophy in the course of history.

Gospel of Mark Series chapter 4 Section 6: Danger from false interpretations (7:13)

Welcome to my Gospel of Mark Series. During 2012-13, each week, I will write a post about the Gospel of Mark as I review and explore each of the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. My goal is to understand and pray the Gospel of Mark.  I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel through the liturgical season of Year B.  In today's post, we explore chapter 7: 1-13 which is called danger from false interpretations.

One of the great obstacles to mobility and flexibility in the mission of the church during the first decades of Christianity were the interpretations of the Jewish law which resulted in long lists of community practices and ritual observances which many of the first Christians, as Jews, brought with them.  It is probably why St Mark introduces this passage and the next into this fourth part of his Gospel (6:6-8:30), which describes missionary journeys of Jesus with His disciples.  Both passages describe the attitude of Jesus towards certain Jewish religious practices.

When the local Pharisees with learned scribes from Jerusalem some of of His disciples eating without first ritually purifying themselves, they confront Jesus.  They had many rules for ritual washings of the body before eating  and for the washing of pots, cups and dishes.  All these things were to be done according to the ‘Halakah’ or Jewish oral law, considered by the Pharisees to bind as the “Torah” or God’s law itself.  

In reply Jesus first quotes the prophet Isaiah, who warns: “your worship is worthless, your doctrines are only human rules ( Is 29:13).  Jesus tells the Pharisees they have put aside God’s law and clung to human rules ( 6-8).

The second reply of Jesus picks out the Jewish practice of Corban, or consecrating things to God.  Human relationships are abused by declaring things consecrated to God.  Jesus shows how this become a way of putting aside God’s law by denying one’s natural duties and relations to others. Even the special relation of Children to parents was left aside in the name of God.  Such rules and practices empty the true meaning of God’s law through Moses (9-13).

Jesus goes to human needs when He teaches what God’s law means.  Religious practices are not meant to destroy genuine freedom and a true concern for others.

In our journal and/or our discussion group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:

• Name the key points that you have learnt about the person of Jesus in this passage of scripture?
• Reflect on the keywords in this passage for they contain the substance and purpose of all the things Jesus said and did-
• Reflect  on the attitude of Jesus that is manifested in His teaching on the practices of the Pharisees and scribes.
• Reflect on my relationship with Jesus and this teaching in the light of this gospel passage.What are my experiences when I crowd out  Jesus for my own rules and consecrations?
• What does Jesus teach about the relation of some religious practices to the word of God?  
• Ponder on the times that my personal religious practices have destroyed my genuine freedom and a true concern for others.Describe the experience and what was the trigger for change?
• Reflect on my personal religious practices which do give genuine personal freedom and a true concern for others. Reflect on how these practices bring me closer to the true meaning of God’s law.
• Reflect on what hinders me from having a genuine personal freedom and a true concern for others?
• How do I relate to this story of Jesus pointing out danger from false interpretations.  Make a list of areas in my life that need a change of heart and develop an action plan on how this change of heart might occur. (eg name an area and name one/two changes that you will implement with God's help.
• What impact does Jesus’ teaching have on you (7:1-13).
• How has this passage spoken to you- what does it say to you personally?

Opening Prayer Series: Collect for 20th Sunday of Year B

The Collect for the 20th Sunday of Year B reads as follows:

Let us pray,

O God, who have prepared for those who love You

good things  which no eye can see,

fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of Your love,

 so that loving You in all things and above all things,

 we may attain Your promises, which surpass every human desire.

Through our lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, 

who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God for ever and ever.

In making this prayer tangible for this coming week the following reflection questions emerged:

1. What does it mean to me to love God?
2. What does God's love mean to me?
3. What areas in my life lack God's love and what steps will I take to change these areas?
4. What does it mean to me to keep the first commandment of God?
5. What are the promises of God for those who love Him?
6. In this Year of Grace, what resolution do I have to carry out this week to grow in the love of God?

In today's Gospel, Jesus makes it very clear to the Jews who He is.  He does not back away when they complain about what they hear.  They cannot understand, (and at times neither do we), what He means in giving Himself as real food and drink, and so the scripture describes their reaction- they complain.

From a psychological perspective, complaining is a very common reaction to lack of understanding.  It is a version of the ''blame game'' that is, when I do not understand, therefore I complain, which then has the desired result of taking the focus from me and blame someone else. Whilst I am blaming someone else for my lack of understanding, I am using up my energy in a less positive manner, but whilst I am blaming someone else, the pressure is projected onto someone else- in this case Jesus in today's gospel.

Jesus is patient and explains further. He does not back away from the truth of His message.  They have the opportunity (like us) to reject or accept it and more importantly to reject and accept Him despite our lack of understanding. We too can choose to accept or reject Jesus despite our lack of understanding.  In many of the Catholic truths, there are mysteries. We can try and understand in our limited way through study and prayer, but those truths that are mysteries, we need to accept or reject without full understanding. For all the truths of our Catholic faith, we can ask the Holy Spirit in prayer to help us to understand more fully.

We have the advantage of 2000 years. It must have sounded shocking to the Jews to hear Jesus speak in this way of giving Himself as real food and real drink.  However Jesus gives them (an us too) the reasons/benefits for believing in Him.  However, like the Jews, we must still make a choice. 

During this coming week, we may wish to think about how much we really value the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist. Do we visit Him in the tabernacle at Church or when there is exposition available? What is our communion thanksgiving like? What changes will we make to understand this teaching of Jesus and for it to be central to our lives?

What will we do to accept Jesus wholeheartedly this week?

Reflection and Prayer Series: God's love

My reflection and prayer series is about sharing reflections and Prayers which have impacted upon me and have provided food for thought. I hope that they will also nurture your soul and spirit.

My post is called:

                                                               GOD'S LOVE.
 

God's love comforts me
When I fail,
When I fear,
When I fall,
God is near
Whatever my need,
              His love comforts me..

May God's love comfort you in the way you most need throughout this coming week