Awaking To The Sacred

This Sunday's feast of the Transfiguration (16 March) takes us to the very heart of a living and life-giving Christian faith. Because knowing about God is quite different to the experience of God's presence first hand – which was one of the main goals of Jesus' mission.

You may be well aware that the Jewish religion in Jesus' day had become bound by rules and regulations and was so different to the inclusive, liberating, life-giving and life-enriching teachings of Jesus. For this reason alone, Jesus invited anyone and everyone who came to him to have eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to love, and an open willingness to respond to the generous out-flowing Love of God. We see Jesus offering a similar invitation when he invited us to:

“Come to Me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,and you will find rest for your souls.¹

St Peter also wrote a very similar invitation based on his own experience:

Cast your cares upon the Lord for he cares for you! ²

It's so easy – even for us – to lose sight of the significance of these invitations. I think back over my own background. I was raised in a church-going family. My father was the local Anglican vicar and my mother was a Church Army Officer (which is an evangelistic and mission orientated organization within the Anglican Church). Obviously, my brothers and I were raised surrounded by, and grounded in, the Christian faith. We had prayers at the meal table and were encourage to memorize scripture. We attended Church every Sunday and even had quizzes on our biblical knowledge, but in retrospect, it was a very much a head knowledge faith.

What I valued and longed for, and found most meaningful, was to go into the church building (which was usually near our home) in the evenings when no one was there, and allow the stillness of the prayed-in building to wrapped itself around me and to hold me. They were very powerful and life-giving moments. It was only much later I came across the words of Archbishop Desmond Tuto:

“God is holy, therefore we are all holy; we are all God carriers, God’s stand-ins, God’s viceroys... Each human being, no matter what colour of skin they have, is created in God’s image, therefore is a piece of God, therefore is holy, therefore deserves respect, dignity, compassion and love.” ³

The experience of an almost physically and tangible sense of God's presence was something we also find throughout the Bible – From the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden were able to talk with God in the cool of the evening (Genesis 3:8) to St Paul with his vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus which changed his life forever. (Acts 9:3-9)

As I reflect upon life-giving experience of God that transformed the life's of so many people in our sacred scriptures it encourages us also to reflect upon our own graced moments when the boundaries of this world seem to grow thin, and we too may sense the love and presence of God surrounding us, and leaving us with the longing that such moments would last forever. However, the intensity of those graced moments do fade – and while we may want to cling to them in the hope they would remain forever, we also have to return to the events of our every day life, and learn how to weave those treasured moments into our life so that all of our life becomes Holy.

The good news is that the Spirit of God is always active and present to those with open hearts and minds and as the Franciscan Priest, Richard Rohr, has once wrote:

God’s presence can become experiential and undoubted for a person. Most of us believe things because our churches tell us to believe them, so we say 'I believe' as we do in the creed. But God doesn't want us just to say 'I believe'. God created us with the ability to say with conviction:'I know' because we have a knowledge that comes from first hand experience.

This is very similar to the experience the 17th-century Carmelite lay-monk Brother Lawrence discovered. When he heard the words of God's invitation:

‘Seek Me, and you will find Me when you search for me with all your heart' ⁵ Brother Lawrence took the words literally, and began to talk to God about everything he was doing during the day; whether he was washing dishes in the kitchen or cleaning the monastery floors. He found this discipline so helpful, that he encouraged everyone he met to try it for themselves:

Let us occupy ourselves entirely in knowing God.  The more we know God, the more we will desire to know God.  As love increases with knowledge, the more we know God,the more we will truly love God.’

His straightforward simple approach to God's presence is beautifully captured in the following poem by Denise Levertov:

‘The Conversion of Brother Lawrence',

Everything faded – beside
the light which bathed and warmed, the Presence
your being had opened to. Where it shone,
their life was, and abundantly; it touched
your dullest task and the tasks were easy.
Joyful, absorbed,
you "'practised the presence of God" as a Musician
practices hour after hour his art:
"A stone before the carver,"
you "entered into yourself."

Amen.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

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Footnotes:

1. Matthew 11:28-30

2. 1Peter 5:7

3. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-i-learned-from-desmo_b_828388

4. Matthew 17:1-8

5. Jeremiah 29:13

 

Taking Time Out

One of the things I have discovered since moving to New Plymouth is the attraction of Mt Taranaki. We have a clear view of the Mountain from our home and recognise the way it beckons us from our gate each time we leave the house.

Over the years we have spent many happy days exploring the lower tracks on the mountain but aware that we tread as guests on sacred land – yet they are not without their dangers. Tramping NZ suggest a list of 21 essential items you need to take with you, even for a simple mountain day hike, because you never know what might happen to you or to the weather! It's good to leave prepared so we will return home safely.

While the mountain is still considered, geologically, to be a young mountain, it has an interesting history. It's official name is Taranaki Maunga and is a dormant stratovolcano that was formed over 130,000 years of volcanic activity, with it's last major eruption being in the year 655.

The Mountain and the land around it is held sacred to local Maori, and has been revered as a deeply spiritual site and a source of physical, cultural and spiritual sustenance as well as a final burial site. However, during the English colonization of New Zealand in the 1840's – 1860's the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 allowed the confiscation of land belonging to any tribe, or section of a tribe, judged to have rebelled against the Queen's authority, and this included the mountain and more than a million acres of Maori land. However, finally, on Jan 31st 2025, New Zealand Parliament passed the Collective Redress granting the mountain all the rights and responsibilities of a human being. The park surrounding Mount Taranaki was also renamed 'Te Papa-Kura o Taranaki', with management plans requiring dual approval from the conservation minister and iwi leaders.

This week's Gospel reading (Luke 4:1-13 ) we hear of Jesus going out into into the Sinai Desert which also held profound importance to the Jewish/Hebrew people. The desert also contained a mountain (Mt Sinai) that was sacred to them. The desert also held it's own sacred history and beauty to the Jewish/Hebrew, as well as it's well known dangers. Wile the desert lacked both of food and water, it was renown for earthquakes, snakes, scorpions, and attacks from enemy tribes. A traveller could well journey out into the desert and never return. I wonder how prepared Jesus was for his time spent in the wilderness, and what he took with him?

In contrast, in New Zealand, we live in a very beautiful country. I was reminded of this by the Hyundai advertisement on television some time ago which encouraged people to lose themselves in the beauty of creation because by “Getting Lost in the empty wild places of New Zealand we might find our true selves again”; words that also offer us a wonderful introduction to this weeks Gospel reading.

In the reading, Luke records how Jesus, having laid down his carpentry tools, prepares himself for his public ministry by spending time in the desert wilderness. The first thought I had, was that also are spiritual pilgrims, whether we recognise the term or not. We also are on a journey through life, and we need to take time out to find and connect with our true selves. We also need to make space in our lives to simply enjoy the wonder and beauty of God's creation, especially in the empty wild places – whether it be our garden or local park or further afield.

In our readings today we find Jesus taking time out to spend it on mountaintop in the wilderness. The 'wilderness' was a familiar setting in the Bible because it was seen as an-between space where ordinary life is suspended. We might call it “a thin place” where the veil between this world and the eternal world becomes merged. A place of transition, a place of waiting, a place to meet God, and a place where our identity shifts and new possibilities emerge.

By going into the wilderness, Jesus was also identifying himself with his Jewish past where his Hebrew ancestors were referred to as 'wandering Arameans' because they spent 40 years making their way through the wilderness. In the process, they discovered the wilderness also became a thin place for them. A place full of signs and wonders.

St Paul was another biblical person who spent time in the wilderness. After his conversion experience on the road to Damascus, rather than rush to Jerusalem and seek out the other disciples, he withdrew into the Arabian desert for three years (Gal 1:17) and during that time he discovered the desert became a place of waiting and prayer, as well as a place of personal growth as he allowed God's Spirit to transform him and instruct him. When he finally emerged from his desert retreat, Paul was ready to communicate the divine truth to others through his preaching and writing.

So the gift the wilderness gave to the Israelites, and to Paul, and to Jesus, was learning to trust in God – that God is trustworthy, and when they were ready, God would and did lead them. Such trust may not have come easily to them. It also required the gift of faith that God was trust-worthy and knew where he was taking them. It also required the gift of hope – that God knew their final journey's end.

For us also, Jesus seeks to be our Way. To be our companion and our hope – and also to be our destination. And we know that such hope is trustworthy – or to use the words of St Paul written from his own experience:

Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you, and He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own. (1 Thes 5:24)

Lent is a time when we are invited to enter a 40 day journey. I wonder what sort of journey you will make, or you are already making over the next 5 weeks? And what sort of stories you will recount when we finally reach the joy of Easter?.


Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

         Recovering Our Inner Ability to See. Luke 6:39-49

Have you ever lost your ability to see? For example it may have been on a dark night when you were staying in someone else's house - as I was once when I was young. It would have been 70 years ago but I can still visualize the moment when I awoke and found the room was totally dark. I needed to go to the bathroom but became hopeless lost. It was frightening, and ever since I make sure I always have a Flash-light (Torch) beside my bed.

It was much later that I discovered most children go through a 'scared of the dark' phase, and perhaps that is why as adults we may still find something about darkness that disturbs us. Such a response to darkness is apparently a natural evolutionary trait that still lingers within us. Such innate fears can also become our friends – once we appreciate that it is one way our body seeks to look after us and keep us safe.

A close neighbour to fear of the dark, is the fear of the unknown. In my understanding of this week's Gospel reading (Luke 6:39-49) it seems to me that Jesus was talking about the things we fear, and our ability to see clearly. He was also referring to how we so easily take our gift of sight and independence for granted. While he was reminding his listeners that physical sight and physical blindness is one thing – he was also reminding us that there is another form of blindness that is psychological. We may be oblivious of if its impact, but it still affects our daily lives in a way we might never have imagine! The result is that we remain blissfully unaware of our attitudes and the way we behave in certain situations – and this is not new.

In Jesus' day the leading elite of the Jewish Temple also struggled unknowingly with a similar problem. Their sacred Scriptures gave instructions for them to care for the poor and to be compassionate towards them. They lived and worked in a community where an estimated 9 out of 10 people lived near or below the basic standard of living ^l. little wonder Jesus spent so much time and energy with the poor as he showed his compassion in healing the sick, touching and restoring the leper, and giving sight to the blind – both physically and emotionally; giving food to the hungry and spending time with the poor. Many of those who came to him were living on or near subsistence level. Some were homeless, others were vulnerable, physically afflicted and politically powerless. And yet, Jesus refers to them a 'Blessed”! While those who were well fed and wealthy Jesus calls, 'Unfortunate'. A total reverse of our standards! Yet Jesus was referring to something that is so often true – we can become very dependent on our wealth; on our technology; on our independence; and on our freedom and comforts. While these of themselves are not necessarily good or bad, Jesus was referring to the things that have the potential to draw us away from our faith and dependence on God. That is why the rich man who came to Jesus and asked him: 'What must I do to be “Saved”? Jesus suggested he should “Sell everything you have and give it to he poor, and come and follow me (as a homeless beggar!) It wasn't that wealth was wrong or bad – rather Jesus could see the man's wealth and possessions and independence had taken over his life and values. It can happen so easily as we slowly succumb to the values and customs of the age and culture in which we live.

While there is not necessary anything wrong with wealth, Jesus was encouraging those who wished to become his followers that they are to go beyond the localized values. To do more than following the Golden Rule of treating others as one would want to be treated. Jesus was inviting us to become grounded in the attitudes and actions of the One who created us because that is the imprint we all carry hidden within us.

Our souls and the essence of God are one and the same thing! The challenge for the people in Jesus' day – and also for us – is how we bring both our body and our mind into alignment with that deep inner truth of our being.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil

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1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26551184

 

Hopes & Plans Part 2

In my last Blog (Hopes & Plans for 2025) we explored some of the implications of Jesus' radical teaching as recorded in Mark's Gospel. We also explored some of the implications of Jesus' teaching for his listeners, both in his day, as well for us in our daily life.

However, daily life with all it's demands and activities, is not always straight forward, nor easy. We are often faced with the need for patience and the willingness to help others; to understand their needs and struggles. And while seeking to practice gratitude and empathy it does take time and it is also not always easy!

I recently came across an example of this online. The author suggested that having a 'Me-First' attitude wasn't selfish because it involved self-preservation. But the article went on to recommend if we are not looking after ourselves: mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally, it will be hard, if not impossible for us to meet the demands made upon us, during the course of our daily life.

After my initial uncertainty, I realized there is a reality in what was being suggested – and I suspect you also know that only too well – because the need to 'look after ourselves first' attitude is not new. The people living in Jesus' day also struggled with similar challenges. For example, Luke in his Gospel mentioned several situations where Jesus invited a person to 'Come and follow him'¹. However, as much as they would have like to have accepted his invitation, they realized they needed to deal with some significant family issues first. One person, for example, needed to arrange the funeral for his father. Another person wanted to inform his family before accepting Jesus' invitation! Both reasonable requests I thought! However, Jesus had different ideas and was far more emphatic! If they didn't accept his invitation right then, they were not fit to become his follower!

What Jesus was suggesting, in Luke's Gospel (chapter 6), is that while the realities of life will inevitably vary for people, we all face the challenge of complacency. It makes no difference whether we are wealthy and can have whatever want – or if we poor and often go without even the basic necessaries of life. What I understand as the subtext here, is when we make excuses, are we aware of what we are saying and not saying?

A little like the comment made by Shakespeare:

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures. ²

In Jesus day, poverty, hardship, health issues, and family commitments, were all part of his listeners daily life – and maybe it is the same for you?

Jesus wasn't denying the reality of this, rather as I read it, he was reminding us to choose carefully before we commit ourselves to someone's invitation, wants or needs. This is not being ungracious or selfish. It is so we avoid becoming the passive victim to other people's demands. Jesus actually goes further. He sought to encourage his listeners to reflect upon what do they really want out of life?' 'What were their hopes?' 'What longing burnt in their hearts and minds?' They are also good questions for us to consider as well because while God knows and understands our thoughts and needs. And while economic poverty does have its challenges – so does wealth. Yet Jesus takes us one step further.

God was and is on the side of those who struggle with the realities of life... and Jesus invites his listeners (and us as well) to 'To lift our vision above the reality of the life we live'. To go beyond – to do more than love those who love us – and to ground our hopes and actions on a firm foundation

        that is inclusive

            and life-giving

                to those we live with and meet.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

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¹Luke 9:57-62 “Would Be Followers of Jesus

²Julius Caesar Act 4, Scene 3, Line 249

 

Hopes & Plans for 2025

Recently I was looking at some of the Hopes, Plans and Priorities Governments have had in New Zealand over the years. One example I came across included the following:

To grow a strong economy that supports everyone.

To reducing costs and put more money in people’s pockets.

To make housing more affordable for both renters and first-home buyers.

To tackle climate changes.

To rebuild the economy.

To ensure every community is a safe place to live, work and raise a family.

To have a world-class Healthcare system that every person can access.

To ensure an education system that provides every student the best chance to succeed.

To build a country where all people are able to work in partnership.

They are big and important hopes! But as we are well know, there is always a challenging balance between individual responsibility and Governmental provision. This is not a new phenomenon because it was also present in the time that Jesus lived.

Take, for example, Luke's Gospel. Luke was a far more radical author and disciple of Jesus than any of the other New Testament writers except for the author of the Epistle of James¹. I suggest that because Luke included more social justice sayings of Jesus than any other author in the time he lived.

Luke also emphasised how Jesus' life and ministry was totally inclusive – it was open to all people, regardless of gender or national identity – whereas the other three Gospels focused more on the spiritual sayings of Jesus that inspired personal hope and redemption as they faced a rapidly changing world.

This difference in emphasis and inclusiveness is important to remember when we come to Luke's version of the Beatitudes, because Luke's version is quite different to the more familiar list recorded in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 5:1-11). Once we are alerted to the differences in our Gospels – we will note other differences, for example, Luke emphasises how:

1. Jesus takes time for prayer – as a way to remind us that prayer and action go together – they are two sides of the 'same coin'.

2. Jesus did not act alone – he began his public ministry by inviting a community of people to share his life, and to actively support his ministry, and ultimately, to continue and develop his work.

3. In contrast to the Religious leaders of his day, Jesus actively sought out the poor, the lost, and the lonely, as a central focus for his ministry.

4. Jesus also affirmed that we are already 'Blessed'! The challenge for us is to learn to see, and expect to see and appreciate, the implications of this in our daily life. This is important, because the call of Jesus for all of us is to continue his work and his life in the places where we live. Knowing that we are blessed by God will also help us to understand that the Kingdom of God is already within us. Waiting for us to open our own spiritual eyes and ears so we might live and share that graced awareness and knowledge. Jesus spells out this awareness a little more later in Luke's Gospel. when addressing the crowds and why he so often painted word pictures – or parables – to help people remember and grasp the depth of insight and truth he was sharing from his own experience – in the hope that we also may have the openness of heart and mind lest we continually miss the point of why he came:

‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

For this people’s heart has become calloused;

they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears, understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear' (Mark 4;10-13).

We see this also in Luke's Gospel after his Resurrection. Luke is the only one of the four gospel writers to include the story of the walk to Emmaus. It is a story that reveals to us not only something about who we are, but also about how Jesus seeks to open our eyes so we might to see and understand Him for who He is, and also how we may come to know Him.

We also live in changing times. As we begin to move further into our New Year I wonder what dreams, Goals and Visions you have for 2025? What will you do differently? How will you turn those dreams into reality?

Often it is by quiet, and consistent effort that our hopes and plans can be fulfilled. We see this in the way Jesus would often find a quiet time and place, where he could shut out the world and spend time with the God who created him and continually supported him. He also no doubt reflected upon his hopes and his mission.

Richard Rohr in his memorable book “A Spring Within Us” mentions that:

God is creating Real Presence all the time and inviting us into Mutual Presence.

The good news is that we don't have to work it all out – we don't have to be perfect. But we are invited to stay connected to the Source by Jesus:

“If you remain in me and I remain in you –for I am the vine and you are the branches... if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish and it will be done for you”. (John 15:v1,7).

So what dreams are tugging at your heart? It usually takes us one step at a time to understand these dreams and which ones are realistic and those that are not. But similar to Jesus, it is the small steps we make today that will lead us forward, step by step – and Jesus still walks beside us!

Jesus did believe in himself – as revealed in the many “I Am” statements he made. They remind us, I believe, that we too should not underestimate the power of believing in one's self: because:

We can do all things through him who strengthens us”

Philippians 4:13

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil.

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Footnote:

¹ ANGELO LOPEZ BLOG (https://angelolopez.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/the-gospel-of-luke-and-social-justice/

Choices... And Their Implications

 

I wonder if you have seen the film 'Brooklyn'? It's set in 1952, and tells the story of a young Irish woman named Aylias who immigrated from Ireland to Brooklyn, USA. However, her initial excitement soon turned to homesickness... but as time passed she gradually settled into her new surroundings and made friends. However, her past finally catches up with her, and she has to choose between returning to Ireland or staying in America.

As I watched the story unfold I found myself being drawn into the drama (as all good movies can), and when it ended I found myself feeling a bit 'rung out' emotionally. Later, as I reflected on why the film affected me so, I realized it had raised for me some of the big questions of life, such as

'What were my hopes and plans when I was younger?'

'What have been the implications of choices I have made?'

'Where do I find my sense of belonging?'

Behind all these questions there lies an even the bigger question that lurks in the shadows of our life, such as:

'Who am I?'; 'Does my life now match up with my former hopes and dreams?'; 'What will happen to me when I grow old?'

With these thoughts in mind, I began to look at our readings set for this coming Sunday. I discovered they also touched on similar themes because they speak about the moments of choice that confront people in life, and some of the the decisions we face will require a similar courage to the challenges and choices Aylias faced in the Brooklyn film.

In the readings set for this week(1), we hear that Isaiah, Paul and Peter all faced a similar conundrum that required courage, if they were to to stay true to their destiny – and courage also to respond to God's call on their life.

The big question they faced – and we also may face at various points in our life – is 'How do I know for sure that this is the right choice for me to make?' And yet, we are not alone when faced with these uncertainties and fears. The readings set for this coming week, remind us that God also needs us – God needs our hands and our feet, our faith and our hopes, and ultimately our lives – in a similar way that God had needed Mary and Joseph to be the earthly parents of Jesus.

It may be helpful to remember that neither Mary or Joseph didn't at first welcomed the news the Angel Gabriel delivered. I also wondered how Paul reacted when confronted by God on the road to Damascus as mentioned in the second reading for this coming Sunday? (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). His radical conversion transformed changed his life forever. It also meant he would have lost the status and power he had enjoyed as a conservative Pharisee, as well as the support and company of his former colleagues and friends.

In the Gospel story for this coming Sunday (Luke 5:1-11) we will also hear of Simon-Peter's conversion – and how, after he had spent the whole night in fruitless fishing, he headed back to shore tired, disgruntled and no doubt longing for his meal and bed. Then he sees Jesus standing at the sea shore obviously waiting for him! And as he moored his boat, Jesus calls out: 'Wait up Peter! ('If you don't mind') 'I want to use your boat as a teaching pulpit'! Then a little while later when Peter is about to head home: 'Wait up Peter – why don't you go take me out out fishing?'

At that point Peter's patience cracks: He was tired. He was hungry. He was wet. All he wanted to do was to go home... and have his dinner and no doubt go to sleep... But something made him do what Jesus was asking – and he had the courage to let go and he became not only a follower of Jesus but also one of the most prominent figures in the early church.

William Alexander Percy, an American Lawyer and Poet, retells the story of the disciples choice to become a follower of Jesus with these words:

They cast their nets in Galilee

just off the hills of brown;

such happy, simple fisherfolk,

before the Lord came down.

Contented, peaceful fishermen,

be/ore they ever knew

the peace of God that filled their hearts

brim full, and broke them too.

Young John who trimmed the flapping sail,

homeless in Patmos died,

Peter, who hauled the teeming net,

head-down was crucified.

The peace of God, it is no peace,

but strife closed in the sod,

Yet let us pray for but one thing --

the marvelous peace of God.

The Good News of today's readings is that God wants and needs us... and in return, God will never leave or abandon us; as the Dominican, Bede Jarett, O.P. mentions in this poem:

Life is unending because love is undying

and the boundaries of this life are but an horizon

and an horizon is but the limit of our vision.

Lift us up, strong Son of God, that we may see further.

Strengthen our faith that we may see beyond the horizon.

So what is God asking of you? What is God asking of us as a Church... and as a nation? And in what ways are we being asked to trust and put out into deep water ?

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

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1.Readings set for 9th February, 2025

Isaiah 6:1-8, (9-13); 1Corrinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11

Living the Faith we Know

 

Living the Faith we Know

All of us would have experienced times when things happen to us for which there are no simple answers. As time passes, we may be able to gain some understanding – but not always, and the situation, the way we responded to it, just sits there as a painful unanswered question. In time we may find the initial pain has passed, but the questions it raised still remain.

We all carry our own internal wounds and bruises, and these often can cause us to re-frame our understanding of life – and perhaps of people, or of the Church, or of our faith in who Jesus and God is – or was – for us.

Certainly we are not alone in those moments, although often it is not until we actually share our doubts and struggles, our pains and heartbreaks, that we are able to understand them in a different light.

I say all this as an introduction to the readings set for this coming Sunday ^1, because in each reading we find that same principle tucked away. For example, it was only when Ezra started to translate, or re frame, their sacred texts, that his listeners started to understand them with new insight. Similarly, with St.Paul, he often reminds us in his writings that we actually need each other, because we are all interconnected. For example, in Romans 12:5 he writes: “So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another”. It is as we recognize this, and have the courage to learn to live that insight, we find new strength and purpose in working together. We find a similar truth unfolding in the Luke's Gospel reading set for this Sunday.

Luke wrote his Gospel sometime in the early decades of the second century. He was writing to people who had been through enormous suffering. For example:

• They had experienced the destruction of all they held sacred: their homes, their livelihood, their city of Jerusalem that included their Temple.

• They had experienced relentless persecution under two Roman emperors.

• Many of their Christian leaders had been martyred – including James, Peter, Paul, and Simeon (who was Jesus cousin and bishop of Jerusalem),

• They had seen families torn apart and betrayed, some dying horrific deaths.

In response to all this suffering – they asked similar questions to ones we might ask:

• Why? Why is this happening to us – when Jesus promised to always be with us?

• Where was God when we needed God the most?

• What have we done to deserve this?

• How do I, will I, continue to live and find meaning and purpose?

It is when we read Luke's Gospel with this in mind we discover a number of things we might have otherwise missed.

For example,

• Luke mentions the marginalized, the oppressed, and those who suffer more than any other Gospel.

• Luke alone records that Jesus is born in a stable – because there was nowhere else.

• The first to hear the good news of his birth were the outcast shepherds.

• We also find that Luke includes more stories of sickness and those in need as compared to the other Gospels. For example:

• In Luke 7 we have the story of a mother whose son has died

• In Luke 10 we have the story of a traveler who is set upon by robbers who wounded and robbed him and left him to die. He received no help and support from the religious leaders who were also traveling the same road, yet a passing foreigner stops and risks his life to offer the man help – and in doing so, he alone reveals the love and compassion of God.

• In Luke 15 we have another parable, this time of a father whose son rejects him and wishes him dead by demanding now his share of his father's inheritance – and goes off and then squanders the lot.

The point of all these stories is not about why or what or where or how? Rather we simply meet the compassion and love of God reaching out through the lives of ordinary people.

And yet, the community that wrote Luke's Gospel did so in the face of unfolding horror and suffering. And yet in the midst of all that was happening, they had discovered that the Jesus they believed in, was still with them, giving them the courage and faith to continue to be the hands and feet of God to those who were held captive by their fears and pains. In this way they were able to help them to find new life and hope because they knew that God had not abandoned them!

So the Good News this Gospel hold for us, is that it’s much more important to live the truth than to know it, because Faith is not found by reading about it, nor even believing in it, because is only by living our faith will we discover “the truth that is able to set us free: (John 8:32).

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

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Footnote:

¹Nehimiah 8:1-10, 1 Corinthians 12:12-32a, Luke 4:14-21