Category Archives: Word of God, Catholic,

Human imperceptibility – the sign of God’s greatness

John expects… anticipates…

For John what is about to unfold – God in Jesus – is decisive.

John’s Jesus clearly carries a threat.

“Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming?”

“Even now the axe is laid to the tree so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire.”🔥

“His winnowing fan is in his hand, he will clear his threshing floor…”

So how did this threat unfold in real life back then?

How did this “retribution” as John calls it unfold?

How was the tree cut down and thrown on the fire? Bearing in mind that we’re not really talking about a tree but about real people whom the tree represents – a people to be cut down and thrown on the fire.

How was the wheat separated from the chaff in the lived experience of the people back then? In their history?

I’d say they hardly noticed it happening or that it had happened… and that’s my point!

So, while the language and the images are strong, at times scathing, the threat unfolded in the lives of the people very gently, almost imperceptibly.

In fact it was so gentle that many probably didn’t even realize that it had happened!

This human imperceptibility is one of the signs of God’s greatness.

What happened was that they missed the significance of Jesus… they didn’t connect with him… they didn’t grasp his identity. He went over their heads so to speak.

They just went on doing what they had always been doing.

And in so many places… spaces… hearts and minds… the same pattern will reemerge this coming Christmas.

But God will have been and gone!

Indeed, the kingdom of God is always close at hand.

Finally… empty pews and empty churches – a sign of the death of religion or a people being cut down and thrown on the fire?

Do you really think that God is no longer active?

There’s only one response to that 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

Wild super-abundance; the mark of God

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Thirty-first Sunday

Lk 19: 1-10 Zacchaeus

The mark of God is super-abundance.

Call it mercy if you like, but it’s an outrageous and wild super-abundance.

God is not mean and the person truly touched by God is not mean because to be touched by God is to be touched by wild super-abundance.

So when Zacchaeus is touched by God he cannot help but respond super-abundantly… if he’s cheated anybody he commits to paying him back four times the amount. Four times!

This wild super-abundance is the sign of God’s presence, the guarantee that where God was once absent from Zacchaeus’ life, he is most definitely now present.

Is there any sign of this wild super-abundance in our lives?

Pray without losing heart!

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Twenty-ninth Sunday

Lk 18: 1-8 The unscrupulous judge and the importunate widow

Whatever we receive from God is received in prayer 🙏

This is is also true of Mary the Mother of God, whatever Mary receives from God she receives through prayer.*

It is impossible to receive from God in any other way.

The more prayer, the more we receive which in turn nourishes the heart’s desire to pray and prevents us “losing heart”

Not losing heart seems critical… because if we lose heart we’re likely to give up prayer and this leads to the death of faith; “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?”

We can conclude that prayer is the life of faith and the absence of prayer is the death of faith.

*Whatever Mary seeks and receives from God will always be for us, for humanity.

Ouch 🤕 the standard of judgement is high!

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Twenty-second Sunday

Luke 14:7-14

Once again Jesus uses something very ordinary to teach us about Heaven.

This time he’s observing people at a dinner.

So he takes just that – people at a dinner – and he uses it to describe Heaven.

Heaven is like a wedding feast.

Insights like this – and Jesus supplies so many – are useful in helping us address the mystery of death. Jesus is saying that what comes after death is like a wedding feast.

What else is he telling us about Heaven?

He tells us that in God’s presence, in Heaven, we are merely guests.

Guests don’t decide where they sit!

This is the real force of the teaching – we ought not presume that we know our place or that we’re already in!

The best bet is humility. Besides there’s only humility in God’s presence. Nothing else can exist there.

It will be our host – God – who’ll decide where we sit. In other words there’s judgment. My friend move up higher or to our embarrassment, we are moved to a lower or even the lowest place.

But it’s the piece about inviting guests who can’t pay us back that really puts the knife in!

Here we’re given the standard that God will use to determine where we’ll be sitting!

Ouch!🤕

The only disciple is a tough disciple!

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Twenty-third Sunday

Luke 13: 25-33

Great crowds accompany Jesus.

But Jesus turns and says stuff that could easily drive them away!

Why though, why did Jesus do that?

Because he knows us too well and he knows that life itself will break the faith of many… so he urges caution ⚠️

We’re all familiar with people who’ve fallen out with God because of some suffering or loss, the death of a loved one, yes?

Often, we’re rattled ourselves.

When he tells the story of a man who started to build but couldn’t finish he’s talking about us, about that struggle, specifically about all who fall away.

When he talks about a man who marched out to war with 10,000 men without considering if he could stand up to the other advancing against him with 20,000 men he’s talking about us, about that struggle, specifically about all who fall away – the 20,000 men being life, cancer, diseases of one kind or another, disappointment, the tough stuff… and even the soft stuff, like our love of money, possessions.

And what’s really happening when we fall out with God because of some suffering or death, because of the tough stuff?

According to Jesus we’ve put ourselves or our loved ones before Jesus. There’s the knife!

Jesus understood that we’re inclined to think that God will somehow spare us suffering if we’re good and he knew this is nonsense, a recipe for disaster.

So when he saw the crowds he tried to warn them.

He’s just turned to you now and done the same!

In the end our choices are a very big deal!

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Twenty-fifth Sunday

Luke 16:13

Jesus says that one or other – God or money – will win out.

So what? What’s the big deal? Well, here’s the big deal and it is a very big deal.

God always respects our freedom.

Our choices are the most fundamental expression of our freedom.

So God always respects the choices we make… our choices may grieve Him but he will respect our choices.

He has to, otherwise we’re puppets, muppets!

So we’re free to choose money over God – and many people do – but if we do, then at the time of our death we end up looking at money and asking it to raise us from the dead. That’s what we’ve chosen!

If I choose hurling over Jesus – and I love hurling – then I end up asking a hurl to raise me from the dead. That’s what I’ve chosen… it’s my choice.

If I choose a wife, husband, son or daughter – anything – over Jesus then I end up looking to that person, that interest, to raise me from the dead.

And that’s not going to happen.

So, in the end our choices are a very big deal!