22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Be Doers of the Word - Fr. James McTavish

Deut 4:1-2, 6-8    Ps 15:2-3a, 3b-4a, 4b-5 Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27      Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

“Doers of the Word” is an excellent book of Moral Theology written by a Redemptorist professor called Fr. Terence Kennedy. It is taken from the letter of James, where it is written “Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.” We are reminded to be not only listeners of the Word but doers also. Those who listen to the Word but who also put that Word into practice. Blessed is the one who listens to the Word of God and puts it into practice. This is how to give ourselves a solid foundation in our Christian life. So stop and think. If someone were to ask you which Word of God you were putting into practice this day, what would you respond?

Last week I went to a retreat preached by our sisters. One reading given was Ephesians 6:13 - “Therefore, take up the full armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” I understood that this week I needed to stand firm. And sure enough there were, as always in our following of Christ, some challenging moments, some moments when Jesus asks us to trust in him and to stand firm! One particular moment was to stand firm over a decision that was made. There were two activities to attend, both of them good. I chose one, after dialogue with my community and thus could not attend the other. Stand firm in that decision. In another moment I was asked to attend a funeral mass and give the homily, to stand firm and to share the Good News.

In the Gospel Jesus invites the listener to be very concrete. Not to get lost in unimportant things but to focus on the essentials. The Pharisees were focused only on keeping many traditions. Perhaps they lost sight of what is essential. What is it that is essential? Blaise Pascal once commented that, “what is essential is invisible.” What is essential is what Jesus tells us. It may be that our practices are empty. Like the man who was in the church choir but led a very promiscuous life. He was singing nice songs with his lips but the message of his life was rather different – “This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

What is essential is to listen to the Lord and do what he asks. If he asks us to stand firm then it is to stand firm. All else is secondary. That is why it is vital to listen to the Word. How can we be doers of the Word if we don’t know what it is that Jesus is asking us to do? Like those who were doing many things, good things, holy things: “Lord, we drove out demons in your name, we preached, we did miracles.” But how did our Lord reply? “Get away from me, I never knew you” (Matthew 7:22-23). What is needed is to really listen well, to spend time to discern the will of God.

Mother Julian of Norwich reassured all with her motto “All will be well.” All will be well if we listen to the words of the Lord and then do them. Sometimes it is difficult to propose this Christian way to others, especially in our modern times. Why? “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.” But as St Paul (2 Timothy 4:5) reminds Timothy (and each one of us!) “But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfil your ministry.” Let us carry on fighting the good fight with courage, standing firm always knowing that our God is close to us and all will be well if we listen to his words and put them into practice. Be doers of the Word. Just do it!

So what Word will you put into practice today?

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Chew your food well and don’t forget to say thank you! (fr. James McTavish)

Prov 9:1-6 Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 Eph 5:15-20 John 6:51-58

“Make sure you chew your food well!” Most of us have either read this good advice or heard it first from our own mothers. To chew the food well aids digestion. “Take your time eating” is an additional advice to be heeded especially for those who gulp their food down. So where is this dietary advice leading us? Well the psalmist again this week reminds us to: “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34). But the food we are offered as Christians is not just any old fast food. It is a food that nourishes and builds up. The living Word of God will not leave us malnourished! In the first reading Wisdom advises us, “Let whoever is simple turn in here; To the one who lacks understanding, she says, Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding”(Proverbs 9:1-6).

There is food available. No need to go hungry. The Word of God is a light for our path and lamp for our feet. It lights up the way and helps us to see the potholes to avoid on the way. However it is important to chew well the Word of God, not just to gulp it down but to chew it, to reflect on it, to assimilate and digest it. St Ignatius was fond of repeating that it is not many things that nourish and fill the soul, but a few things, deeply savoured. Maybe I do not know so many things but what I understand I put into practice. It is useful in the hustle and bustle of life to try to find one aspect of our relationship with God that is nourishing us. Sometimes it is not easy to savour something deeply. Perhaps you feel that many things are happening in your life right now but what is the common thread? What is the deeper connection? For me it is that God is asking me to trust in him unconditionally. How about you? What is God asking of you at this moment? The Holy Spirit often gives us many clues as usually God manifests his wishes not just once but often he repeatedly shows us the area where he is asking us to grow. This is why St Paul reminds us: “Brothers and sisters: Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:15-20)

The will of God will lead us to a closer identification with Jesus. In every Eucharist we are called to become what we receive – Body of Christ. Jesus says “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” The classical Greek verb for eating (phagein) is not used here but rather trogon which has the sense of gnaw or munch. In a sense when we partake of the body and blood of Christ it cannot be a merely external participation but to really digest the mystery we receive. We need to allow Jesus to live in us, to vivify our way of thinking and acting, to be a sign of his presence in the world. So that our lives may be a living Eucharist by being concrete signs of communion.

Eucharist means thanksgiving, so we can live a Eucharistic life by continually giving thanks too – “giving thanks always and for everything” (Ephesians 5:20). One day in a hospital there was a young woman dying of cancer with no money to pay for proper treatment. She woke up and I dreaded to hear the complaints she would have. What a surprise I got when the first words to come out of her lips were “Thank you Lord for another day of life.” Were our first words this morning when we awoke thanksgiving?

How great the other day to go to the 10th anniversary of a highly successful company and find them celebrating a mass of thanksgiving of the Lord for his many blessings. How often we can foolishly boast that it is because of our efforts alone and forget to thank the Lord for his help. They say the only healthy thing you are allowed to have in excess in life is thanksgiving. Thanksgiving leads to trust in God. We start to see the wonderful things he is doing in our lives. And that what we receive in the body and blood of Christ is eternal life. In a funeral mass the priest gave communion and as each person received the body and blood of Christ he said, “You will never die.” As Jesus said, “Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Let us give thanks to God for this great Good News.

Help us Lord to savour what we receive, to let it nourish us. Teach us how to chew the Word we receive, to ponder and reflect on what you are doing in our lives. Teach us how to become what we receive in every Eucharist to be aware that we receive your body and blood every time we receive Holy Communion. And Lord Jesus, remind us to be thankful. Thank you! Amen.

4th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B

The word of Jesus drives out unclean spirits

Deut 18:15-20 Ps 95:1-2, 6-7b, 7c-9 1 Cor 7:32-35 Mark 1:21-28

In today’s gospel we find Jesus teaching in the synagogue. His teaching “made a deep impression” on the listeners. Why? “Because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority.” Jesus taught with authority and conviction. When Jesus spoke that day in the synagogue he was challenged by an unclean spirit “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” But Jesus said sharply “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Jesus has authority to drive out unclean spirits, to silence them and to heal those afflicted. Jesus continues to teach us today and continues to drive out many unclean spirits. How are we to understand this, the driving out of unclean spirits? It depends on how we see the concept of unclean spirits. Sometimes we jump to images of devils and demons, or remember a scene from a movie like Poltergeist! But what unclean spirits is he wishing to drive out?

Well for sure an unclean spirit is not something desirable. Presumably its presence would lead to deleterious effects for the person infected or affected. Also it seems that it is powerful. The man possessed could not drive it out alone. However Jesus is stronger than the unclean spirit. His word dislodges the bad spirit. His truth is more powerful than lies and his light overcomes the darkness. So what are some examples of unclean spirits for us today? Let us not think that they do not exist today in our modern world. Certainly a fear can be an unclean spirit. It is good when we experience an irrational fear to pray to Jesus and put ourselves in his presence. To listen to his reassuring words that he is with us always. Often this alone brings peace and drives out unclean spirits. Sometimes an unclean spirit can be the holding of a grudge. It is unclean as it poisons our heart as does an indecent or sexual thought which can wreak havoc, attacking our eye and giving us an impure gaze. In a similar way when we don’t forgive someone it can be like an unclean spirit in us. Where outright sin is involved, the unclean spirit will not budge but thanks be to God we can listen to Jesus telling us “Be quiet! Come out of him!” in the sacrament of reconciliation.

Sometimes the unclean spirit is a distorted truth which we hold on to in our intellect, often subconsciously. An example of an unclean spirit which resides in the intellect is the notion that the world population is exploding and the only solution is widespread contraception. It is an unclean spirit that destroys human life in many countries, especially the developing ones. Why? Because its first world proponents instead of devoting their efforts to doing good for humanity, pour thousands of millions of dollars into contraceptive programs which include widespread sterilization and abortion. To make the coercion worse, aid packages are often offered on the condition that the country submits to the population control programs offered.

If we listen to Jesus we can drive out this unclean spirit. He continues to speak through the teaching office of the Church. Reading the document “Ethical and Pastoral Dimensions of Population Trends” will help us to listen to the voice of Jesus. Read it and it will make a deep impression on you. As the psalmist tells us, “O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.” On population the Church teaches that “much of the information published about demographic facts is open to question and is erroneous at times” such that all Christians are encouraged to “develop a critical spirit regarding the population crisis ideology.” When Pope Paul VI spoke to the United Nations in 1965 he said “You must strive to multiply bread so that it suffices for the tables of mankind, and not rather favour an artificial control of birth, which would be irrational, in order to diminish the number of guests at the banquet of life."

A disciple is someone open to learn from the Master. To come to Jesus and be taught by him. Many people today will use their travel time to be better informed of church teaching – reading a spiritual book or church document, or even downloading by iPod or MP3 talks and homilies to listen to on their journey. How are you forming your mind? What are you reading on the train or bus? Jesus, continue to teach us! Help us to be open. May the constant desire to search for the truth drive out many false ideas in our minds. May listening to your voice in the Church teaching help drive out many unclean spirits. Jesus, continue to teach us! Make us good students and willing disciples. May your words, spoken in us and through our lives, continue to drive out many unclean spirits in us, in others and in our society of today. Amen.