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Pass It On

24/10/2019

A Reflection on the Second Reading for October 27th, 2019:
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8, 16-18

6 For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. 16 At my first defense no one took my part; all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength to proclaim the message fully, that all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith.

There is a sense of farewell in Saint Paul’s letter to Timothy, and because of that, I can imagine the above words on Paul's gravestone. As Paul instructs a young Timothy, he prepares himself for all God has promised. He is offering Timothy sage advice as his elder, passing on the wisdom he has gained, and ultimately passing on the faith.

I ran track in school. I was not a distance runner. Short sprints were more my speed. My legs are too short to last for longer distances — at least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! I often ran as part of the 400 metre relay team; four individuals running 100 metre sprints passing a baton between each sprint. Our training focused on passing the baton precisely from team member to team member. This crucial part of the race was more about timing than about speed. Speed was important, but dropping the baton could cost us time or possibly even get us disqualified. I remember practicing the pass in slow motion hundreds of times. It needed to become an action we didn’t even have to think about — where we would put our hand backward at just the right time knowing our teammate would know exactly when to pass the baton securely to avoid a drop. I can still see it in my head: anticipating my start, beginning the sprint, throwing my hand back, feeling the baton hit my hand, gripping tight, then hitting my stride to run my part of the race.

Paul has run his part of the race and is passing the “baton” to Timothy. I too was passed the baton of faith. I said my “yes” and gripped it tightly. But to continue the race, I must pass it on. Sometimes I’m not sure I’m ready to pass it on, or I’m afraid I will drop it. Yet, unlike the relay race, the race God has for me isn’t a sprint. It’s a distance run, and thankfully, since I’m not a distance runner, God makes sure there are others with me to keep the race going. But I have to pass on the baton! The life of our Church is not just about me and what I do. Those that came before me AND those who will come after me have their parts to play. Our witness of the faith connects us to one another. I was blessed to have people past and present — ordained, lay, and religious — who believe in me, call me forth, nurture my faith, and hold me accountable to the faith in Christ that I profess. I am called to do the same for others. So when the end of my race comes, maybe my headstone might say:

I have fought the good fight.
I have run my part of the race.
I have kept the faith… and passed it on.

What will yours say?

Aurea Sadi

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Bring Your Troubles

23/10/2019

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A Reflection on the Psalm for October 27th, 2019:
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Psalm 34

R. The poor one called and the Lord heard.

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. R.

The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. R.

The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. R.

The title of this Psalm is Praise for Deliverance from Trouble.

David knew that Saul intended to kill him, so he ran away and when he got to Gath, King Achish’s servants recognized him. To mislead them he acted like an insane person. When the king saw that the man was insane he sent David away saying that he does not need a madman in his house. And thus, David was saved from recognition which would prove fatal if word of his whereabouts were to get to Saul. David then wrote this psalm, in praise and thanksgiving to God for his deliverance from trouble.

In the first two verses, David proclaims that he will continually praise the Lord and boast of His goodness to everyone. The verses that follow encourage us to bring our troubles to the Lord for He will never let us down. We will never be put to shame and we are assured that those of us who seek refuge in Him will not be turned down nor condemned.

There have been so many instances in our lives when in times of trouble, trials, and challenges, we do not think of the Lord first. We usually think of ourselves first. When we make a mistake, we think of how to either save ourselves from embarrassment or how to wiggle out of our predicament. Much like David who feigned madness, we think of our own solutions to our problems first. This is why I think David was ever so thankful to the Lord. He saves us from the situations we sometimes get ourselves into.

"God is always there for us, in good times and in bad."

God is always there for us, in good times and in bad. We certainly realize His presence when we come out victorious from a difficult situation. Even if we do not come out victorious, God allows us that failure, because we learn so much from our failures. They will make us stronger and wiser should we encounter a similar situation in the future. As parents, we too allow our children to make mistakes which we use as teaching points for them to learn the lessons of life.

Whenever we feel that we cannot carry the burden, we can ask God to help us carry the load — and He will. He so fully understands our needs that sometimes the help is already there before we even ask for it. How many times do we try to meet a deadline for example, in the submission of a paper, and we’ve done our best and have given our all and it seemed like we wouldn’t make it — only to find out that the deadline was extended, or that our watch was 5 minutes fast and we actually made it on time?

Like David, I thank the Lord forever, for His goodness and mercy, and for His guidance in the many decisions that I need to make daily. To God be all the glory! Alleluia!

Liz Venezuela

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Humble Pride

22/10/2019

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A Reflection on the First Reading for October 27th, 2019:
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sirach 35.15-17, 20-22

The Lord is the judge, and with him there is no partiality. He will not show partiality to the poor but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged. The Lord will not ignore the supplication of the orphan, or the widow when she pours out her complaint.

The person whose service is pleasing to the Lord will be accepted, and their prayer will reach to the clouds.

The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds, and it will not rest until it reaches its goal; it will not desist until the Most High responds and does justice for the righteous, and executes judgment. Indeed, the Lord will not delay.

I know that temptation. The temptation to get ahead. We’re trained that when we show up at our high school reunion, we are in the same popularity and success contest we were in when we walked across our graduation stage. I remember my 10 year high school reunion and the impending fear that I would have nothing to tell them. I knew many of my peers had gone on to already successful careers and education. They already had all the trappings of success – good salary, big house, nice cars, etc. Meanwhile, I was 10 years out and was a stay-at-home Mom pregnant with my 5th child. It turned out I couldn’t go to the reunion anyway because I was far too pregnant (I gave birth a few days later), but I remember the anxiety of having what I felt was my own lack of worldly success rubbed in my face. High school all over again. I was ridiculously proud of what I was building, but I doubted my former peers would see it that way. My oldest child was about to turn 4 when his baby sister was born. Five kids under 4 would be impressive at the reunion, but not for the same reason I’d wanted. I would be a joke.

Life with 5 kids (even with one still in utero) was not exactly glamourous. Even if I wasn’t naturally very humble, the day to day reality of motherhood had a way of providing plenty of opportunities for humility. But my life-induced humility wasn’t always something I was grateful for, as the story above shows. We can live a very humble life and still be too proud to share it with others out of fear of being shamed by others.

"We can live a very humble life and still be too proud to share it with others out of fear of being shamed by others."

This reading is a good reminder that we are called to humility – humility is holy. However, when we are given opportunities for humility, we can poison it by being ashamed of being humble. The temptation to conceal the facts of our situation are almost as strong as the temptation to brag about how holy we are. In either case, we can approach our circumstances with great pride in how we do or don’t share them.

Social media in many ways has become a constant high school reunion. We are “friends” with all sorts of people for reasons that aren’t always clear. And then the temptation is to only show a very curated version of our lives. I have to fight every day against the urge to overshare and brag about how humble I am (ha) or only show the most filtered, shiny, perfect version of things. The call to find the sweet spot of accepting how I am being humbled and actually growing in humility is all about listening to the Lord and discerning what He’s showing me.

Stephanie Potter

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Mind The Gap

18/10/2019

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A Reflection on the Gospel for October 20th, 2019:
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 18.1-8

Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.

He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for any human being. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’

“For a while the judge refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for any human being, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’”

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, God will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus’ question “Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?” reminds me of Luke 11:11-13, where He asks: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Jesus is emphasizing God’s goodness — He wants to reassure us that God is not like the unjust judge — that He has our best interests in mind, will answer our prayers, will grant justice, that He will help us.

This gospel highlights the epicentre of faith — that we must trust in God. Jesus is insistent here that God is trustworthy, and He should know. And one could say that we should just listen to Him. But is it really that simple? How many of us, in our human struggles, have prayed desperate prayers that have not been answered as we have asked? How many of us have felt that God has indeed delayed long in helping us? We can’t ignore this stumbling block in faith. If we have experienced the disappointment (devastation!) of unanswered prayer, we can easily become discouraged.

"He sees the difficulty, understands the complexity, and feels our pain."

The beautiful thing here is that Jesus acknowledges that He understands this human tendency when He asks, hypothetically, “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” He sees the difficulty, understands the complexity, and feels our pain. This is why He begins by emphasizing that we shouldn’t lose heart. He doesn’t explain the “why” of our suffering or the suffering around us. But for me, there is comfort in the knowledge that He understands my pain — because in His Passion, He trusted God every unimaginable, excruciating step of the way.

As a parent, I know that I can’t always protect my children from the pain of loss, or pain that has been inflicted on them by others. Also, although it is sometimes my temptation to do so, I know that it is of no benefit to my children for me to take away the pain of a lesson that needs to be learned. It has taken me years to learn, but I now know that the best thing I can do is reassure them of my love with my presence, acknowledge whatever they feel, feel it with them, forgive them and their adversaries, and in doing so, share the weight of the pain. I am not always perfect in this — but God is a perfect parent. I believe that this is what Jesus wants us to hear. He will sit with us, reassure us of His love, understand what we feel, forgive us and others, and in doing so, share the burden. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Jesus will bridge the gap between us and God, between our lack of understanding and God’s all-knowing goodness.

Pray always, and do not lose heart.

Lindsay Elford

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Pass It On

A Reflection on the Second Reading for October 27th, 2019:​Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Bring Your Troubles

A Reflection on the Psalm for October 27th, 2019:Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Humble Pride

A Reflection on the First Reading for October 27th, 2019:​Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mind The Gap

A Reflection on the Gospel for October 20th, 2019:​Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Archives

A Reflection on the Second Reading for October 27th, 2019:
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A Reflection on the Psalm for October 27th, 2019:
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A Reflection on the First Reading for October 27th, 2019:
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A Reflection on the Gospel for October 20th, 2019:
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time