Lent Retreat - FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT

Readings: Joshua 5:9-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

In today’s Gospel from Luke we hear the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the last of a trilogy, following the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin. All are intended to teach of God’s infinite love and mercy, and serve to rebuke Jesus’ critics and defend his actions.

This story contains much behaviour that is scandalous, perhaps more than we may think at first glance. We are told of a younger brother who claims his inheritance early and who then goes off into the world, no doubt full of great expectations! This may not seem to us entirely normal behaviour but it does not register as being the great scandal it was in Jesus’ time. To claim one's inheritance in this manner was practically unheard of and can be seen as akin to wishing one’s father dead, and so the ingratitude of such an action cannot be overstated. For the family too, it meant shame and disgrace, a loss of their honour among fellow citizens. Both father and elder brother are seen to fail in their duty to reconcile the younger son.

Upon this initial disgrace is heaped further ignominy, the son squanders all his inheritance and has to take a lowly job tending unclean animals. Such a fall was, perhaps, to be expected in one so reckless, but the social implications for him and his family are disastrous. To lose one’s inheritance to the Gentiles meant that returning to one’s own community was almost impossible. One would have to bear the shame of the kezazah ceremony in which such a man is disowned by his community until he can repay all that he has lost. Sick of hunger and disease but without any display of real repentance this is what the son does, he returns home intent on pleading to become one of his fathers ‘hired workers.’

On seeing him the father runs to meet him, another scandalous act in itself, for a man of wealth and position. The son, on seeing such a display of fatherly love, finally comes to complete repentance – ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ He recognises he has been truly lost but has now been found. The father then bestows upon him all the trappings of an honourable and worthy man, a man worthy to be called his son – the robe, the ring, the sandals, and orders a rare feast in his honour. Such complete and unquestioning forgiveness is seldom seen. The elder son is understandably stunned but must ultimately reconcile himself to the fact that this is not a display of favouritism, or a reward for wayward behaviour, but an act of complete and selfless love and mercy. ‘Your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’

In this parable we see a powerful argument against self sufficiency, of trying to live a life detached from God and our neighbour, a life which rejects the inestimable grace of God. Our Father’s arms are always open to greet us, he is always willing to run to meet us no matter what sins and misdeeds have led us away from Him, and so this parable is, at once, a sign of the enduring love our Father has for us, and of the daring invitation for us to emulate such forgiveness and mercy in our own lives, not just this Lent but always.

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Lent Retreat-Week 3, Saturday

Readings: Hosea 6:1-6; Luke 18:9-14

The American saying "we all have to put our trousers on one leg at a time" is almost a cliché but nevertheless it is full of truth. Despite the differences between people, all of humanity is equally in need of the mercy of God and the salvation found in the Cross. The two prayers in today's Gospel remind us of this important point. The prayer of the Pharisee, if we strip away for a moment its uncharitable tone, seems to be a reasonable prayer. He is not an extortionist, and gives thanks to God for this fact. He keeps justice, for which he again offers thanks. Nor is he an adulterer, nor a tax collector, the latter group being one known for fraud, deception and theft, especially of the poor and misfortunate. He keeps the fasts. He offers of his wealth in tithes to the temple. He seems in every way 'religious'.

The mistake of the Pharisee is to declare himself "not like other men". He has said too much and unintentionally revealed a sad truth about himself. He has turned the elements of his religious life into objects. He has twisted prayer into a divisive act that rends men apart. However we must be careful not to judge the Pharisee.

We must not hear the words of the Gospel and inwardly cry, 'Thank God, that I do not pray as the Pharisee!' As with all of Our Lord's parables, we find that this story is our story. It is not only the tax collector and the Pharisee, two long distant and removed figures, who go to the temple to pray, but we ourselves who approach God's great mercy. It is we who stand and proclaim, whether in our moments of prayer or in the activities of our daily lives, that 'we are not like other men; we are just; we are not adulterers; we fast; we tithe; we are faithful'. And it is to us that the loving Lord Jesus proclaims: 'everyone who exalts himself will be humbled'.

Lent Retreat - Week 3, Friday

Readings: Hosea 14:2-10; Mark 12:28-34

Lent is a time for re-orienting and refocussing our lives on the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, which we prepare to celebrate at the culmination of this season. We do this through our penitential practices which, through our “giving something up for Lent”, remind us of how easily our lives can become unbalanced, giving too much attention, for example, to eating or watching television or whatever it may be. As we recognise our failings, the Church in our Lenten readings points us towards the solution: we must return to the Lord, who alone can save us (Hosea 14:4), and who only asks that we turn to him, and he will heal our disloyalty (Hosea 14:5).

At the same time, today’s Gospel reading presents us with that principle which will give balance to our lives, and by which we are to return to the Lord, namely love. If it is love of God and of neighbour which motivates our actions, then we will be living in accordance with God’s will. In this way, too, we draw near to the Paschal Mystery, for it is here above all that we see, in Christ, a human life lived out in perfect love (for, as Jesus reminded his disciples at the Last Supper, ‘greater love has no man that this, that he should die for his friends,’ John 15:13) .

So, then, let us allow ourselves this Lent to be drawn more profoundly into the great mysteries of Holy Week and Easter, both by recalling our need for the salvation won by them, and also by allowing our lives to be conformed more closely, through God’s saving grace, to the model of love presented to us in them.

Lent Retreat - Week 3, Thursday

Readings: Jeremiah 7:23-28; Luke 11:14-23

"Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste" (Luke 11:17).

In today's Gospel we find the people marvelling at how Jesus has cast out a mute demon. At least some of them are marvelling. Others have immediately set about trying to disparage the miracle and conspiracy theories abound. They claim that Jesus owes his power over demons to Be-el'zebul himself, the Prince of demons. The implication is clear: do not trust this man Jesus, what appears to be good is in fact evil.

When we reflect upon this passage it becomes depressingly obvious that this is a story that is repeated time and time again both in our own lives and in our communities. Wherever the Gospel is preached, wherever the truth is spoken, wherever good is done, there seems to be some who embrace the Good News and others who feel threatened by it. Often this sense of danger prompts them to try and deface what they have received. Like the conspiracy theorists in today's Gospel, they try to distort what is good into an evil, they deface the truth.

This division in a community between those that embrace the truth and those that fight it is founded on internal divisions within each of the community's constituent members. There are aspects of our personality, aspects of who and what we are, that are powerfully drawn to God. At the same time there are levels of our being that are frightened by truth and goodness, frightened by what allowing truth and goodness into our lives might entail.

When we are confronted by what is true and what is good we are immediately confronted with our own helplessness, our own dependence, our own failings. God shines a light into our heart and reveals what we really are. These can be frightening realities to face. It often seems easier to try and smother the light, to try and cloak the truth in deception, so that our vulnerability remains hidden. Yet this is not what we really want. By nature we are made for communion with God. To try and resist him is to wage war on ourselves and our deepest desires for love, truth and goodness.

In today's Gospel we hear how any Kingdom that is divided against itself is laid waste. Any person that is in a state of civil war is similarly devastated. Freedom from this struggle comes when we are able to bring our fears, vulnerabilities and shame into God's light and stand before him knowing that we are loved for what we are, not what we think we are.

Lent Retreat - Week 3, Wednesday

Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9; Matthew 5:17-19

The end or purpose of the law is that the holiness of God be revealed, and that a people living according to that law might be brought into communion, a sharing of life and love, with God who is holy. What does the word 'holy' mean? We know it means infinitely just and loving, and we know this from Christ who is the fulness of the law.

The verses of Matthew read today are said to be the most controversial in that gospel. If we have a narrow understanding of 'law' and of what the term refers to here then they are very difficult verses to reconcile with, for example, some of Paul's statements about 'law'. But if the term is understood more profoundly - as it is for example in Baruch or Psalm 119 - then it refers to God's wisdom, God's word, God's way for His people. We know where that way, that truth and that life are revealed fully. It is he, Jesus, who is the fulness of the law, he is the one who keeps it to the letter because he is himself the Word.

Two phrases in the gospel support this interpretation. Jesus says he has come not to abolish but to complete or fulfill the law, to bring it to its pleroma. He is the pleroma, the fulness of time and the fulness of things, and God's wisdom, word and way are all complete in him.

The other phrase is variously translated. Nothing disappears from the law 'until its purpose is achieved', or 'until all things are accomplished'. At this point in Lent we cannot but think of Jesus' 'hour', the fulness of time, when all that has been foretold and all that has been promised will be fulfilled. God's holiness will be revealed as never before, God's heart of justice and love exposed as never before.

The new and eternal covenant sealed in Christ's blood replaces the old by bringing it to its full flourishing. The Lord our God is 'nearer to us now than when we first believed' is how Paul puts it, the wisdom of God's Word and Way now dwelling in our hearts through the Spirit that has been poured into them.

As we turn the corner at this mid-point of Lent we begin to look away from ourselves and our own spiritual and moral efforts, to look simply at Christ in whom those efforts dissolve on the one hand and in whom they find their destination on the other.

Lenten Retreat - Week 3, Tuesday.

Readings: Daniel 3:25, 34-43; Matthew 18:21-35

How do we react when we read or hear today's Gospel? If we are in the situation where someone has hurt us very deeply, this Gospel may make us feel uncomfortable, because it asks a lot of us. It is relatively straight forward to forgive a minor transgression, such as the late arrival of a friend at the pub, or an occasional careless insensitivity from a family member. But how about if someone seems to do the same kind of thing over and over again, such that the level of hurt develops? It's not quite as easy to forgive in such situations, and being told to 'move on' or 'forget about it' doesn't take seriously the damage that has been done. But all the same, many of us will be aware that keeping tabs of how often we have been hurt by another person can start to become destructive, and serves only to fuel our hurt. It can start to dominate our thinking, and the whole situation can start to snowball.

Even though the hurt is keenly felt, today's Gospel shows us that we need to take a step back from our own grievances and look more widely at the way we treat others. Being able to forgive others for what they have done to us seems to require us first to recognise that we also are people who need to be forgiven. The fact that we have all done wrong means that we all stand in need of God's mercy, and of the mercy of others. This common need for pardon is one of the great levellers! When we experience forgiveness from others for what we have done, it allows us to breath again, and our horizons are broadened. It sets us back on the road and allows us to try again. And when we forgive someone who has hurt us, we receive even more. We not only give that gift of freedom to someone else, but we experience a new freedom ourselves.

Learning to forgive on a daily basis can be hard and painful. But it is at the very heart of our human flourishing to be able to do this. God asks nothing less of us because it is through forgiveness that we learn how to love, and that we are made fit for the kingdom.

Choosing the Common Good

Britain has been on general election footing since the start of the year. The political parties and media outlets are waiting with bated breath for the Prime Minister to ask Her Majesty the Queen to dissolve parliament and trigger a month long circus of canvassing and campaigning. The Bishops of England and Wales, in bearing responsibility for the teaching of the Catholic Faith, have also prepared a document, Choosing the Common Good. The statement by the Bishops' Conference presents many key themes in Catholic Social teaching that pertain particularly to Britain in 2010. I have not had time to read the document thoroughly yet but my eyes were drawn to some interesting comments on building a truly virtuous society and the part that every member has in doing that. There are also some important comments on marriage and Catholic schools. It is available to read here and I strongly encourage anyone eligible to vote in the UK to give it a read.

Lent Retreat - Week 3, Monday

Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15; Psalm 41-42; Luke 4:24-30

In the Gospel for today Jesus has returned to his home town, Nazareth, and is speaking in the synagogue. A few lines before this Gospel passage in Luke, we can see that Jesus has gained the admiration of his listeners with his opening remarks: “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips” (Luke 4:22). But their mood soon changes. He reminds them of how they, the chosen people of God, had rejected the great prophets of the past, Elijah and Elisha to name just two. When God had sent his word to his people to correct and guide them back to the straight path, they were rejected and persecuted as Jesus predicts he will be. Indeed the rage of the people that follows as they try to kill Jesus for his hard words is a foreshadowing of his Passion.

It is interesting to note how quickly the mood of the crowd changes when Jesus begins to say things they don’t like. There is no discussion or analysis among them of what Jesus says. They know the truth of what he said. Yet they are a proud people, confident in their identity as God’s people, proud of their position as being the insiders with God. But this pride seems to have led to a complete inability to recognise their own mistakes, to be intelligently self critical and thereby open to change and conversion. But Jesus isn’t interested in pandering to them. He speaks uncomfortable words of truth to wake them up to their need for a change of heart.

While we may be shocked at the crowd's angry reaction to Jesus in trying to kill him, many of us can react in similar ways when we hear words that make us uncomfortable and demand we change. Instead of listening and thinking about what is being said to us, we can react violently or dismissively. None of us likes to be pushed from our comfort zones. Yet this Lent this is what we are called to do, to listen attentively and quietly to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us about who we truly are and where God calls us to be and to summon up the courage and openness to change our lives and to “make straight the way for the Lord” when Easter dawns upon us. We never do this alone but with the grace of God which he generously gives in abundance.

Lent Retreat - THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

Readings: Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15; Psalm 102 (103); 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9

This week we are almost half-way through our Lenten journey, and in our trek across the desert we encounter in today’s Liturgy not just one but two bushes. For the parable in today’s Gospel needs to be juxtaposed with our First Reading, which is the well-known story of Moses and the burning bush. In the Patristic tradition, the burning bush came to be seen as a symbol of the Virgin Mary, who was consumed by the fire of the Holy Spirit but whose virginity remained untouched. By God’s grace, Our Lady was most fruitful and she bore the most wonderful fruit of all: Jesus Christ himself. In contrast, the parable presents a bush which is barren; for three years it has produced no fruit at all. As such, it is fit only to be cut down and burnt up.

This unfruitful bush, I think, stands for us and it is a reflection on our sorry state, for we, that is to say, all human beings, are sinners. Thus, we are all equally in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. But although God is ever-ready to rescue us, we can only avail of his goodness if we acknowledge that we are sinners, repent, and open ourselves to his grace. If we don’t, and if we rely on ourselves, then we shall remain unfruitful and ultimately perish. As St Paul warns in our Second Reading: “let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). Jesus uses two striking incidents, presumably taken from contemporary events of his time, to illustrate this. In our day, one might think of those killed in the recent tragedies in Haiti, or Chile. Were they greater sinners than us so that they deserved to die in this way? Jesus quite unequivocally says: ‘No’. The point, then, is not that misfortune or suffering afflicts those who are greater sinners; those people who have tried to say this about Haiti are thus contradicting the Gospel. Rather, Our Lord’s stark reminder is that, unlike the dead, we who are alive still have time in which to take heed, to repent, and to be fruitful. And how are we to be fruitful? By calling on God alone - as Moses’ people did - and relying on his grace to rescue us from the slavery of sin.

Therefore, in the parable, the gardener asks for a year’s reprieve for the fig tree. His plan is that the barren bush would become a burning bush, bearing the most beautiful bounty. For the gardener is the divine Vinedresser, God himself, and the year which he gives us is our very lifetime. As such, each day of our lives is God’s grace-filled time, in which he patiently cares for us and coaxes fruit from our barren, sinful state. The means, of course, is the grace of the Holy Spirit, who inflames us with charity but does not consume us. For God’s grace does not destroy our human nature but perfects and elevates it. And if we grow in grace and flower in virtue, then we too, like Our Lady, will bear that most wonderful fruit, Jesus Christ. For grace divinizes us so that we are transformed and become Christ-like, partakers in the beauty and being of Christ.

The season of Lent thus focuses our minds on this perennial task, on God’s plan for all human beings, which takes not just forty days but the entire ‘year’ of our lives, a lifespan. The question is, are we using this time well, living life to the full by allowing ourselves to be cultivated by the grace of God?

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Lent Retreat - Week 2, Saturday

Readings: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20; Psalm 102:1-4, 9-12; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

In this season of Lent, as we think about the renewal of our relationship with God, it is helpful to think about the parable of the prodigal son. How did this relationship between father and son become so damaged and how was it healed?

Perhaps the son thought he could manage the estate better than his father, or maybe he saw his father as inhibiting his freedom, but even with these reasons, there is still something rather shocking about a son who can barely wait for his father's death, a son who prematurely demands his inheritance. Such a cold hearted attitude towards one to whom he owes so much is not easily explainable. There is something unintelligible about sin.

In the parable, it is the pangs of hunger that make the prodigal son come to his senses and realise the unreasonableness of his behaviour. But is this realisation enough to heal the damaged relationship with his father? For all the son knew, his father could have died whilst he was away, or he might have wanted nothing to do with him, or lacked the resources to help him? From the parable, we know this is not the case. God is more merciful than we could possibly imagine, and even if we only have the vaguest inkling that God is alive, that He loves us and has the power to heal us, this is enough to get us to turn towards Him and make our first tentative steps towards salvation. And as in the parable, God is scouring the horizon, looking for those who are far off, ready to run towards those who are seeking Him. Christ's Passion and Resurrection is the clearest sign we have that God lives, that He reigns and that He loves us, and this realisation is crucial if we are to live our lives for Him.

It is worth asking where does Jesus Christ fit into the parable of the prodigal son. Unlike some of the other parables, there is no one with whom Jesus is obviously identifying Himself. But all we have to do is take a step back - Jesus is the one who is telling the story. He is the one who communicates the Father's love for us, and during Lent, this is what we are preparing to celebrate.

In the News...

The Lay Dominicans of England, Scotland and Wales have launched their new website, which can be found here. It is full of news and information about this important part of the Dominican family in Britain.

Brs. Graham and Mark were involved in the recording of BBC Oxford's Sunday Devotional programme at Sacred Heart, Blackbird Leys. This is the first time the show has come from a Catholic Church. It is available on BBC iPlayer (skip to 35mins in for the segment) until the end of the week; and if you listen carefully you might hear Graham's warm baritone or Mark's double bass.

The Duke Humphrey Society's annual requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester was held at Blackfriars on Saturday 20th February. the NLM, Libera Me and Joseph Shaw have posted on the event.

Br. David Barrins will be offering Gospel reflections for Youth 2000 Ireland this Lent. The first one can be viewed here.

Keep an eye out for the upcoming book from Family Publications, A St. Joseph Prayer Book. It features many fine photographs taken by our very own Br. Lawrence.

This year our Brother, Aidan Nichols, took part in Faith Matters Lent 2010 Series: The Year of Priesthood, organised by the Diocese of Westminster's Agency for Evangelisation. He gave a lecture on The Priest: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow which can be viewed below.

Lent Retreat - Week 2, Friday

Readings: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28; Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Jealousy is a terrible thing and certainly one of the most destructive forces in human relationships. In today’s readings the story of Joseph, and his brothers’ plot to kill him, reminds us how easily the love that we are called to have for our brothers and sisters, both in our families and in the Church, can be corrupted by sin. Lent is a time dedicated to the purification of our sinful desires and as such helps us to be more mindful of the ways in which we are stingy with regard to others. How many times have we all felt resentment rather than joy for another when faced with the prospect of the success of a friend or the colleague who has a talent that attracts the praise of others? We should remember that we will be far greater people by the pursuit of gracious humility than we could ever be excelling in any number of worldly pursuits.

Our Lord reminds us in the gospel that in God’s eyes it is often those things we regard as our weaknesses that we will come to recognise as our strengths, and those things we think of as our strengths that in fact block the way to our progress in virtue. Charity is the greatest of the virtues and the key to the whole spiritual life, since, for those who love God, everything will work to the good.