Sometimes life can become too much for us or for those who are close to us. It can seem like we are in a small boat that is being tossed about on the waves. Sometimes the storms that arise are like the one in the gospel today – sudden and unexpected. Sometimes the storms have always been there. Sometimes they have been brewing and building for untold ages and we cannot remember a time when they were not there! // Recorded at St Michael's 6pm Vigil (9'05")

Our first reading today begins with that rather curious line – ‘death was not God’s doing.’ It points to what is in fact the teaching of the Church about death. When we read in the account of creation, in Genesis 1-3, we get the sense that in the beginning God intended for us to have a fullness of life; that death would not be the final word. And yet we know from our experience of the natural world, that death is simply a part of it all. We know from the past 4.6 billion years that the world has existed, that death has always been a part of it. It is just the natural cycle. At the moment here it is winter – a bit on the cold side. Looking outside we see trees that have lost their leaves; we know that in the springtime, the leaves will begin to bud and the flowers will blossom. I am sure that all of us have had some sense or experience of death – whether that is in the death of a pet, a farm animal or of someone that we loved dearly. (Full text at the blog) Recorded at St Michael's 9.30am (11'17")

In the opening prayer of Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul takes us on a journey across the centuries - from before the dawn of creation to our place in the new creation. In order for us to understand the richness of the landscape, we need to first climb to a high-place so that we can appreciate the destinations that lie before us. Recorded at St Michael's, 9.30am (10'16")

14th Sunday in Ordinary time (2 Cor 12:7-10).

One of the interesting things is that when you read the stories of some of the great saints across the pages of history, almost inevitably when you go through their story you come across some great shadow or darkness that hung over their lives. For example when the diary of Blessed Teresa or Calcutta came to life after her death, we have seem that for so much of her life, Teresa struggled simply to believe. Even though she was so widely acclaimed as a living saint; even though she was in such demand to address the United Nations, Presidents and royalty; even though her work amongst the poorest of the poor in Inida was so highly valued - she struggled at times simply to acknowledge the existence of God. / Recorded at St Michael's 8am (8'38") - with Matt Maher's 'Empty and Beautiful'

In John 6, the people remind Jesus that during the Exodus Moses has fed them with 'manna from heaven' and ask Jesus to feed them as well. Understanding what was happening with the Exodus is crucial for us to understand what Jesus is doing when he invites the people to be fed by him with the bread of life. // Recorded at Sacred Heart (10'02") Text available at frrick.blogspot.com

The Gospel today (Mark 14:12-16) begins with a reminder that the Last Supper occured in the context of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with the sacrifice and eating of the Passover Lamb. To understand this meal, we need to look back through Scripture to the first and most significant meals in human history. In this context, the first meal was when given the whole garden as a gift, Adam and Eve chose instead to grasp and grab the fruit, rather than receiving the gift from the hands of the Lord. When in later centuries the people of God were caught in slavery, the Lord delivered them first by gathering the community for a meal, where the Passover lamb was sacrificed and eaten as a sign of what God was doing within the community. Once we begin to understand the way that God continues to freely offer his life to us, then we can begin to understand what Jesus was doing throughout his life, as he ate and drank with saints and sinners, and as he continues to freely offer himself to us. All we need to do is receive him as the greatest answer to our hunger. / Recorded at St Michael's, 9.30am (10'36")

Matt 28:16-20. After the 96 days of Lent and Easter we move back into Ordinary time - but before we do there are two feasts to remind us of the whole direction of our Christian lives. Almost all of the other feastdays are connected with events in the life of Jesus and the saints, but this Sunday and next are really about the trajectory offered by every Sunday. In the closing scene from Matthew's Gospel we are given the invitation to join the disciples to gather around Jesus and worship him. He then tells us that in him all authority has been given to him and therefore we are given the great commission from Jesus - to make disciples; baptising into the name of the trinity; and teaching the commands of Jesus. But just as at the start of the Gospel the angel promises that the child will be called 'Jesus', the Emmanuel, now at the end Jesus promises that he will be with the disciples until the end of time. / Recorded at St Michael's, 6pm Vigil (10'14")

• Season of the Year B17 - John 6:1-15;
• Recorded at St Michael's 9.30am (10'23");
• Full text available at blog: frrick.blogspot.com

 

In the first reading from I Kings 19, we meet the Prophet Elijah having a bad day - he has been serving the Lord faithfully for some time and done all these great works - and instead of thanks and honour he is being persecuted and pursued by the deadly Queen Jezebel. Perhaps we have been on the Christian journey for some time, and perhaps like Elijah we feel we are all alone and just need a break. Perhaps we need to learn something of the lessons that the Lord gave to Elijah - to rest, eat and drink and be strengthened for the journey to the mountain of God. (7'52")

Sometimes we can become so familiar with a word, that we forget what it originally means. When we think of 'Pentecost' we might think of the Holy Spirit, or the birth of the church, or those brand of churches that model themselves after the experience of the charismatic gifts, especially speaking in tongues, for example. But when the disciples met on the Pentecost that we read about in Acts 2, they were there to pray and remember the mighty deeds of God in the past and the more recent amazing works and influence of Jesus. They celebrated the great Jewish feast, which gave thanks for the new harvest of wheat, when they offered the first sheafs of wheat in thanksgiving and in anticipation of the harvest still to come. They also remembered the very first Pentecost, which was celebrated by the newly liberated people of God newly released from slavery in Egypt and now gathered around the mountain of Sinai. They remembered how Moses had left the people and ascended the mountain of God to be in his mighty and awesome presence, and how he had returned with the tablets bearing the ten words of the Lord. Now as the disciples gathered in prayer, this amazing thing happened - this wind broke out around them and among them. This wind brought new life to them and they realised that they now had the power to actually live the teachings of Jesus and the commandments of God. This Spirit was somehow changing them, making everything real and wonderful - perhaps something like the Spirit first did when it hovered over the waters of the 'Tohu va Bohu' - the waters of chaos and disorder in Genesis 1:2. The Spirit broke through and came from 'heaven' to bring new life to their experience of 'earth'. It first broke into just who they were and gave them the ability to forgive past hurts, to overcome prejudice and hatreds, and to be empowered to boldly proclaim the tangible presence of the risen Lord among them. God wants to do no less among us; within us; through us. Let us continue to pray for the Spirit of God to come, to fall upon us, to breath his life into us - so that he can rock our world too! Come, Holy Spirit... | Recorded at St Michael's, 9.30am (11'05")

Ascension of the Lord (Year B). Many movies that we watch are sequels - the follow up to an earlier story. One of the things we notice at the moment is there are movies that now take us back to the beginning to tell us what happened in the beginning (Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Men). In beginning Acts, Luke is very clear to let us know that this is a sequel, the second part of the story of Jesus the Messiah - the Acts of King Jesus II if you like. And for Luke it is clear that this is more about the acts of Jesus than the acts of the apostles. Sure, at one level, this is the story of the early church. But it is also clear that Jesus is one of the central characters in the story, even if he is not always visible on the centre of the stage. We also quickly realise that we are not mere passive observers of the action that is unfolding - we are invited to be a central part of the action as well. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Acts has no real ending. Perhaps Luke leaves Acts with no great finale because he knows that the story will continue to unfold as we work through the grace of King Jesus in the power of the holy Spirit to bring and make the kingdom of heaven present in our world right now. Only then are we really living the reality of verse 8 - proclaiming the good news of the reign of the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth.Only then do we discover the power of God's continuing presence - represented by the cloud of God's Shekinah that Jesus disappears into, reminding us that he has not gone off into space, but simply moved into God's space, the place where the reign of God is always present - which we call 'heaven'.

// Recorded at Sacred Heart, Bomaderry (12'19")

Paul reveals (Eph 3:5-6) that in the visit of the Magi we see not a new plan, but the long hidden plan of God to include all people in his inheritance, his body and his promises. Recorded at St Michael's, 9.30am (8'20") Guitar by Dan Mueller.

In the Gospel (John 15:9-17) Jesus beautifully illustrates one of the key distinctions of Christianity - that it is not about our striving to find God, but about his choice of us to be his disciples and to live under the commandment to love. I discovered this personally some twenty years ago when my parish priest strongly proclaimed this gospel of grace and the power this has to radically change the way that we follow the Lord and live our lives in Christ. In a similar way, the first reading (Acts 10) shows the desire of God to work in any life that is open to him, and to pour out the power of the holy Spirit on any who say yes to him. / Recorded at St Michael's, 9.30am (7'37")

Following from the Gospel of Luke (2:1-14) we reflect on what the word 'glory' means. It is based on the Greek word 'doxa' and the Hebrew word 'kabod' - which means weight/significance/substance. We experience a glimpse of the glory of God when we look up at the night sky. Exodus 33 tells the wonderful story of Moses asking to see the glory of God. We discover that God has shared his glory with us (Ps 8) but we substitute so many other things for the glory and honour that we were crowned with. Christmas gives us another chance to find the glory that God offers us. (8'21")

The call to discipleship is strongly expressed in these readings - Andrew inviting his brother Simon to meet the Lord. Having spent the week at Summer School of Evangelisation in Bathurst, many young people want to know how to discern the will of the Lord. In the first reading from 1 Samuel 3, we see in Samuel five principles that can guide us:

(1) Stay awake and attentive; (2) The Lord's call is personal: 'Samuel, Samuel'; (3) Learn the language of the Lord (by reading scripture and the teachings of the church); (4) Use the wise counsel of an older brother/sister/mentor (Eli); (5) Sometimes the word of the Lord will not be very comfortable and will involve suffering (1 Sam 3:11-18) // Recorded at St Michael's, 9.30am (8'38")

 

On this feast we reflect about being part of a human family, and can be led deeper into the mystery of God and the way that in scripture we are often presented with feminine images of God. For example, God is 'compassionate' - but the Hebrew word for this 'Rakham' also means womb, so when we call God compassionate, we could also say that God is womb-like. Recorded at Sacred Heart, 9.30am. (10'15")

In the ministry of John the Baptist, the son of the priest Zechariah, we see the ritual washing (the mikvah) take on a new significance, as a sign of God's new work of creation. Now the presence of God will not be confined to the temple - the curtain in the temple that separated the Holy of Holies is torn apart - a foretaste of the great event of Jesus death and resurrection. Recorded at Sacred Heart, Bomaderry. (12'50")

During the year of St Paul, we celebrate today the great feast of the conversion of Saul, scrupulous Pharisee, student of the synagogue of Tarsus in Cilicia and of Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem. All that he knew, all that he had studied with such great fervour had only served to convince him that Jesus was not the Messiah, and it was right for him to die at the hands of the Romans. Now as he prayed and meditated while on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus, as he desired to be faithful to all the commandments of the law, even if this meant persecuting followers of the way to death - something completely unbelievable and impossible to predict happens to him. He meets this same Jesus of Nazareth, this same Lord - and his whole world is turned up-side-down. We, in our turn, are invited to experience this same life and to encounter the Lord Jesus on our journey through life as well, so that we can follow in the footsteps of Paul and experience this gift as well. - Based on Acts 22:3-16 - Recorded at St Michael's (12'10")

6th Sunday (Year B) During the week we have heard many stories from the bushfire-ravaged centres of Victoria – many incredibly harrowing and horrific of great loss of life and possessions; some magnificent and miraculous of escape and rescue. Among these stories we have also been presented with others as victims have struggled to come to terms with their loss and begun to look for someone to blame. It was the fault of the arsonists who lit the fires, or the greenies who didn’t allow controlled-burns, or the government for not have early warning systems in place. In the Ancient Near East one story was seen as essential for survival – ‘exclusion’. The way to achieve holiness / salvation was through ritual purity. You had to stay removed from anyone that was not living and following the requirements of the covenant like you were. So you simply must avoid anyone who is ‘unclean.’ Keep yourself separate from those who are ‘sinners’ & hang-out with people who are like-minded and obsessed about the same kind of issues, etc. Stay away from the wrong kind of people – notorious sinners; people who are diseased, etc. In the gospels, we meet Jesus who again and again goes against this wisdom (this ‘framing narrative’) and associates with those who are ‘unclean’ and even touches them. He shows us the extent to which God will go to reach us, to include us in the kingdom. You also see this tension demonstrated brilliantly in the Clint Eastwood movie ‘Gran Torino’ which shows a society in collapse, with multiple groups in tension and conflict. Strangely the character that Clint plays reminds us of the way that Christ was.

(Note – contains spoilers about the movie.)

Recorded at St Michael's, 6pm Vigil (9'11")

A reflection on the images of sin given in the prophet Isaiah, the first reading - being lost; a hard heart; a dry leaf blowing in the wind; and the potter and the clay. (11'27")