6th Sunday in Ord Time (Cycle C, Feb 14, 2010)
Fr James McTavish FMVD
"In the heat, stay close to the stream"
Once when walking along the banks of a beautiful little stream, a fellow priest asked me “Have you noticed how many big trees there are here along the banks of the stream?” He pointed out how close they were to the source of water. The prophet Jeremiah uses the image of a tree planted next to a stream to describe the person who trusts in God – “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream.” (See Jer 17, 5-8). The secret of growth, stability and strength is to be connected to the stream. A girl we met recently in our apostolate asked us about forthcoming retreats. She said that she had been very busy at work but now wanted to spend some quiet time with the Lord, to strengthen her prayer life and the connection with Jesus. Jeremiah tells us the effects of a life rooted in God – “He has no fear when the heat comes, his leaves are always green; in the year of drought he shows no distress, but still bears fruit.” Wow! Attractive!
In my prayer I was asking what does it mean to have no fear when the heat comes? There is even a line of clothing used by surfers called ‘No fear’. How can we have no fear in front of life’s big waves and stormy seas? When the situation hots up? This week I went to give a talk in a conference to mark 35 years of the Philippine heart centre here in Manila. My talk was about Life and Love. After my talk a Doctor gave a great talk on the meaning of suffering. She shared that in one episode in the life of Jesus he was suffering and experiencing fear – in the garden of Gethsemane. However in that very moment he remained rooted in his Father’s love and in his will. When the soldiers came looking for Jesus of Nazareth, he stepped forward and pronounced with so much courage “I am HE”. In the heat of the battle Jesus clearly defines his identity. It reminds me of the image of the potter’s kiln. In the heat of the kiln the clay pot is baked, made firm and hardened. A forge too involves intense heat so that the iron can be forged into a sharp sword.
Our founder Rev. Fr. Jaime Bonet referred to these moments of cross, when we are in the heat of the battle and sees them as privilege moments of dialogue, of moments of grace, where our inner identity can be forged – ‘the eucharist is the forge where in intimate, transforming dialogue the genuine personality of a disciple is shaped and formed’. These Eucharistic moments are when we are gently broken in the hands of the Father, when we break our laziness to go an extra mile, we break our criteria, we break our plans to be able to be more free to love and serve others. Precisely here God forges us, and the dialogue with him molds us. One day during this busy week I gave a class of moral theology in the morning, then celebrated a mass for the Feast of our Lady of Lourdes in a big corporate office in the business district of the city then finished the night with a pastoral visit to anoint a sick person. When I was coming home I was tired and started to complain about how hard I was working, as if I was the only one doing so. I became discouraged with these murmurings! I made a sincere prayer to Jesus in the middle of the heat of the battle against discouragement. In response the Holy Spirit reminded me of Philippians 1, 28-29 ‘Do not be intimidated in any way by difficulties...for the sake of Christ you have been granted the grace not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him.’ What gives us strength in these moments is the intimate dialogue with the Lord. With this union with him, it is possible to experience joy and consolation in suffering.
Jesus promises us as he promised the disciples “Blessed are the poor, the Kingdom of God is yours” (See Luke 6, 17. 20-26) Of course, because in front of the reality of the Kingdom all of us must feel poor – there are many things we can improve in our own lives and in the world around the Kingdom is not yet built. We feel poor in our response but not discouraged. In front of unresolved challenges and outstanding issues it is ok to feel little and poor! Let us keep working and asking the Lord that his Kingdom will come. Jesus announces the corollary “Alas for you who have wealth, for you have been comforted now”. We should feel sorry for those who feel ‘content’ with this life. How can anyone be complacent in our world of today when there is so much of the Kingdom to be built.
‘Fortunate are the hungry now, for you will be filled. Alas for you who are full, for you will go hungry’. What a world where many go hungry and yet in many ‘well-to-do’ nations a major health issue is obesity and so much food is thrown away. And in these very same nations they have the naivety to pronounce ‘scientifically’ that there is not enough food for everyone in the world so we must aggressively reduce the population! As it is said ‘There is enough for every man’s greed but not enough for every man’s need’. How great be hungry for justice, for the truth! To hunger for a more holy life, to hunger for the Word of God. Man cannot live on bread alone but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God. How is our spiritual appetite, are we hungry for more?
“Fortunate are you when people hate you, when they reject you, and insult you and number you among criminals because of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. Alas for you when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of these people treated the false prophets”. Oh dear, how challenging as we like to be spoken well of! But Jesus describes those as false prophets who are always trying to please others. To be Christian is not to be a people pleaser. The prophet Jeremiah has strong words for us when we are only trying to please others and not the Lord “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, but stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth.” I went to a mass in a very rich housing resort here and had a strong confrontation with the owner of the house. He was an economist and was talking about the large number of poor people in the Philippines, insisting that all measures should be used to lower their numbers referring of course to contraception and aggressive population control programs. He assured me that he was quite an expert on this field although listening to him many of his scientific premises were incorrect such as saying that life does not begin at conception whereas the Church (and many eminent embryologists!) insist that it does. But above and beyond the arguments, the Holy Spirit enlightened me in that moment. I was looking around at his huge house, his servants, the manicured garden, big swimming pool and his four executive cars parked there I understood where this man placed his love. Of course where your treasure is your heart is and I realised why this man had so little love for the poor because he is so in love with his comfortable life. Anyway I was praying in that moment and kept my cool while trying to cast some light on the situation. As Christians we know that there is the universal destination of goods and as my parents taught me “As Catholics, if we do not help the poor we will never enter the Kingdom”. Let us be firm in our faith, even if at times we are challenged. Let us defend life.
What can help us to strive to build the Kingdom and to keep going in all of life’s challenges? A vision of eternity and St Paul reminds us of this “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.” (1 Cor 15,20). As Bishop Oscar Romero said “Let us not forget to step back every so often and take the long view”. The Kingdom is ahead of us so let us not lose sight of the way. And may we stay very close to Jesus especially in the heat of the battle. Stay close to Christ, the spring of living water. In the heat, stay close to the stream. This closeness and intimacy with him will give us joy and strength in the struggles of life.
Fr James McTavish FMVD
"In the heat, stay close to the stream"
Once when walking along the banks of a beautiful little stream, a fellow priest asked me “Have you noticed how many big trees there are here along the banks of the stream?” He pointed out how close they were to the source of water. The prophet Jeremiah uses the image of a tree planted next to a stream to describe the person who trusts in God – “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream.” (See Jer 17, 5-8). The secret of growth, stability and strength is to be connected to the stream. A girl we met recently in our apostolate asked us about forthcoming retreats. She said that she had been very busy at work but now wanted to spend some quiet time with the Lord, to strengthen her prayer life and the connection with Jesus. Jeremiah tells us the effects of a life rooted in God – “He has no fear when the heat comes, his leaves are always green; in the year of drought he shows no distress, but still bears fruit.” Wow! Attractive!
In my prayer I was asking what does it mean to have no fear when the heat comes? There is even a line of clothing used by surfers called ‘No fear’. How can we have no fear in front of life’s big waves and stormy seas? When the situation hots up? This week I went to give a talk in a conference to mark 35 years of the Philippine heart centre here in Manila. My talk was about Life and Love. After my talk a Doctor gave a great talk on the meaning of suffering. She shared that in one episode in the life of Jesus he was suffering and experiencing fear – in the garden of Gethsemane. However in that very moment he remained rooted in his Father’s love and in his will. When the soldiers came looking for Jesus of Nazareth, he stepped forward and pronounced with so much courage “I am HE”. In the heat of the battle Jesus clearly defines his identity. It reminds me of the image of the potter’s kiln. In the heat of the kiln the clay pot is baked, made firm and hardened. A forge too involves intense heat so that the iron can be forged into a sharp sword.
Our founder Rev. Fr. Jaime Bonet referred to these moments of cross, when we are in the heat of the battle and sees them as privilege moments of dialogue, of moments of grace, where our inner identity can be forged – ‘the eucharist is the forge where in intimate, transforming dialogue the genuine personality of a disciple is shaped and formed’. These Eucharistic moments are when we are gently broken in the hands of the Father, when we break our laziness to go an extra mile, we break our criteria, we break our plans to be able to be more free to love and serve others. Precisely here God forges us, and the dialogue with him molds us. One day during this busy week I gave a class of moral theology in the morning, then celebrated a mass for the Feast of our Lady of Lourdes in a big corporate office in the business district of the city then finished the night with a pastoral visit to anoint a sick person. When I was coming home I was tired and started to complain about how hard I was working, as if I was the only one doing so. I became discouraged with these murmurings! I made a sincere prayer to Jesus in the middle of the heat of the battle against discouragement. In response the Holy Spirit reminded me of Philippians 1, 28-29 ‘Do not be intimidated in any way by difficulties...for the sake of Christ you have been granted the grace not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him.’ What gives us strength in these moments is the intimate dialogue with the Lord. With this union with him, it is possible to experience joy and consolation in suffering.
Jesus promises us as he promised the disciples “Blessed are the poor, the Kingdom of God is yours” (See Luke 6, 17. 20-26) Of course, because in front of the reality of the Kingdom all of us must feel poor – there are many things we can improve in our own lives and in the world around the Kingdom is not yet built. We feel poor in our response but not discouraged. In front of unresolved challenges and outstanding issues it is ok to feel little and poor! Let us keep working and asking the Lord that his Kingdom will come. Jesus announces the corollary “Alas for you who have wealth, for you have been comforted now”. We should feel sorry for those who feel ‘content’ with this life. How can anyone be complacent in our world of today when there is so much of the Kingdom to be built.
‘Fortunate are the hungry now, for you will be filled. Alas for you who are full, for you will go hungry’. What a world where many go hungry and yet in many ‘well-to-do’ nations a major health issue is obesity and so much food is thrown away. And in these very same nations they have the naivety to pronounce ‘scientifically’ that there is not enough food for everyone in the world so we must aggressively reduce the population! As it is said ‘There is enough for every man’s greed but not enough for every man’s need’. How great be hungry for justice, for the truth! To hunger for a more holy life, to hunger for the Word of God. Man cannot live on bread alone but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God. How is our spiritual appetite, are we hungry for more?
“Fortunate are you when people hate you, when they reject you, and insult you and number you among criminals because of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. Alas for you when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of these people treated the false prophets”. Oh dear, how challenging as we like to be spoken well of! But Jesus describes those as false prophets who are always trying to please others. To be Christian is not to be a people pleaser. The prophet Jeremiah has strong words for us when we are only trying to please others and not the Lord “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, but stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth.” I went to a mass in a very rich housing resort here and had a strong confrontation with the owner of the house. He was an economist and was talking about the large number of poor people in the Philippines, insisting that all measures should be used to lower their numbers referring of course to contraception and aggressive population control programs. He assured me that he was quite an expert on this field although listening to him many of his scientific premises were incorrect such as saying that life does not begin at conception whereas the Church (and many eminent embryologists!) insist that it does. But above and beyond the arguments, the Holy Spirit enlightened me in that moment. I was looking around at his huge house, his servants, the manicured garden, big swimming pool and his four executive cars parked there I understood where this man placed his love. Of course where your treasure is your heart is and I realised why this man had so little love for the poor because he is so in love with his comfortable life. Anyway I was praying in that moment and kept my cool while trying to cast some light on the situation. As Christians we know that there is the universal destination of goods and as my parents taught me “As Catholics, if we do not help the poor we will never enter the Kingdom”. Let us be firm in our faith, even if at times we are challenged. Let us defend life.
What can help us to strive to build the Kingdom and to keep going in all of life’s challenges? A vision of eternity and St Paul reminds us of this “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.” (1 Cor 15,20). As Bishop Oscar Romero said “Let us not forget to step back every so often and take the long view”. The Kingdom is ahead of us so let us not lose sight of the way. And may we stay very close to Jesus especially in the heat of the battle. Stay close to Christ, the spring of living water. In the heat, stay close to the stream. This closeness and intimacy with him will give us joy and strength in the struggles of life.
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