Taste and See: the call of love and light

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In those days, after the time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.

‘Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

‘But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.’

Gospel for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 13:24-32

Darkness and turmoil wreak havoc on us. They sap our strength, drain us of energy and life.

But the dawn of new light, new warmth, is restorative and generative.

Yet sometimes we are tempted to cling to darkness, find security and comfort in what is passing and what will inevitably fail us. We can choose that rather than to dare to believe in the new and the good that is offered us.

Jesus urges us to trust in coming goodness; and to trust in that as we have learnt (are learning?) to trust in him.

• To what passing thing do you cling?

• What about the future worries you?

Sprouting fig leaves. Medjugorje. (c) 2015, Allen Morris.

Taste and See: The Lord’s shelter…

Walls of Oystermouth Castle, Swansea, Wales. (c) 2002, Allen Morris.

Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor let your beloved know decay.

You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever.

Psalm for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalm 15(16):5,8-11

There are so many times when we know fear.

Sometimes the cause lies within us, and there are no threats or dangers without us.Sometimes there are very real threats and dangers without.

Either way the fear is real and often debilitating.

The Lord is our refuge and shield, our protection. He is also our portion and cup: he gives himself to strengthen us to withstand whatever is the cause of our fear. 

Praying the psalm, singing it, saying it, reminds us of the care God takes of us, and helps us renew our trust in him.

Speak Lord: Through saints and angels…

‘At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who mounts guard over your people. There is going to be a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence.

When that time comes, your own people will be spared, all those whose names are found written in the Book. Of those who lie sleeping in the dust of the earth many will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace. The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars for all eternity.’

First reading for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daniel 12:1-3

The care of the Church is exercised by God – Father, Son and Spirit, by saints and angels, and by the Church on earth.

We are not alone, and not unsupported.

By their strength, we pray, we will live our ‘Yes’ to God and the life of love.

Statuary, Sta Maria degli Angeli. (c) 2017, Allen Morris

Speak Lord: For we seek you…

Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things.

He shall receive blessings from the Lord
and reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Responsorial Psalm for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalm 23(24):1-6

Our Christian journey involves all sorts of striving.

But we are never called to make it alone, nor to exceed our abilities.

Apparitions Hill, Medjugorje. (C) 2015, Allen Morris

Speak Lord: Saviour

All the priests stand at their duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking sins away. He, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his place forever, at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for him.

By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all whom he is sanctifying. When all sins have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.

 

Second reading for
the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Hebrews 10:11-14,18

The Christ-event is unique. It is distinguished from every other event in human history in that it, alone, redeems all of human history.

Only in and through Jesus is this redemption won, but it is offered freely to each and every person in an infinite outpouring of grace.

• What difference does Christ’s self- gift make to how you see and consider others?

Tabernacle door. Sacré Coeur, Paris. (c) 2018, Allen Morris.

 

Speak Lord: Through shadow and shade…

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In those days, after the time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.

‘Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

‘But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.’

Gospel for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 13:24-32

It may well seem that we are living in the time of distress. Perhaps we ever are, and it is simply that what changes are the things that provoke the sense of distress in us, from age to age.

But we also live in the time which is redeemed by the Son of Man.

The faith of the Church and the Scriptures testify to this and, please God, have won us to faith.

Now, fortified by faith (or perhaps, more helpfully, humbled by faith and knowing our dependence on grace) we are asked to share with others the reason for our faith, to help dispel the shadows of doubt and fear that fall across their lives.

• What is the reason for your faith?

The Sun. The Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens. (c) 2006, Allen Morris.

Taste and See: Goodness for us

Nourished by this sacred gift, O Lord,
we give you thanks and beseech your mercy,
that, by the pouring forth of your Spirit,
the grace of integrity may endure
in those your heavenly power has entered.
Through Christ our Lord.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Prayer after Communion

The Eucharist is sacrament of the Sacrifice which is love for God and love for us. It is given to us as nourishment for our communion with God, joining us with Jesus’ worship of his Father and his service of humankind.

It is offered as an enabler of our living what it is.

It is offered for the beginning of the rest of our lives, that we might journey to God, and reach out to our brothers and sisters.

Detail of stained glass window. Southwark Cathedral. (c) 2016, Allen Morris.

Taste and See: Living well…

In his teaching Jesus said, ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.’

He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.’

Gospel for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 12:38-44

There is a tension between giving and getting.

One of the criticisms made of the scribes is they are on the take. The other actions for which Jesus criticises them is that they are anxious to ‘big themselves up’.

But the poor widow – poor, a woman and a widow (how marginalised among rich men of influence she must have appeared) has the freedom to give that which represents her own self…

• How do you decide how to use, most morally and lovingly, what you have?
• And what you are?

St Lawrence distributing alms. Mariotto di Nardo. Muee du Petit Palais, Avignon. (c) 2014, Allen Morris.

Taste and See: Enough?

Elijah the Prophet went off to Sidon. And when he reached the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks; addressing her he said, ‘Please bring me a little water in a vessel for me to drink.’ She was setting off to bring it when he called after her. ‘Please’ he said ‘bring me a scrap of bread in your hand.’ ‘As the Lord your God lives,’ she replied ‘I have no baked bread, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am just gathering a stick or two to go and prepare this for myself and my son to eat, and then we shall die.’ But Elijah said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, go and do as you have said; but first make a little scone of it for me and bring it to me, and then make some for yourself and for your son. For thus the Lord speaks, the God of Israel:

“Jar of meal shall not be spent,
jug of oil shall not be emptied,
before the day when the Lord sends
rain on the face of the earth.”’

The woman went and did as Elijah told her and they ate the food, she, himself and her son. The jar of meal was not spent nor the jug of oil emptied, just as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.

First reading for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 17:10-16

The story has the prophet, the widow and her son fed by a miracle of the Lord. The author does not tell us how well they ate during the time of famine. Maybe there was plenty, maybe just enough, and maybe their understanding of what was enough was changed.

In the ‘developed’ world many of us are used to great choice, and have well stocked pantries and food stores to dip into as the fancy takes us.

• Does the plenty and the choice meet our needs, or distract us, tempt us, from what is neceessary for us and helpful for others?
• What is ‘enough’ for you?

Varieties of bottled water, La Grande Epicerie de Paris. (c) 2018, Allen Morris

 

Speak Lord: Generous giver…

Elijah the Prophet went off to Sidon. And when he reached the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks; addressing her he said, ‘Please bring me a little water in a vessel for me to drink.’ She was setting off to bring it when he called after her. ‘Please’ he said ‘bring me a scrap of bread in your hand.’ ‘As the Lord your God lives,’ she replied ‘I have no baked bread, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am just gathering a stick or two to go and prepare this for myself and my son to eat, and then we shall die.’ But Elijah said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, go and do as you have said; but first make a little scone of it for me and bring it to me, and then make some for yourself and for your son. For thus the Lord speaks, the God of Israel:

“Jar of meal shall not be spent,
jug of oil shall not be emptied,
before the day when the Lord sends
rain on the face of the earth.”’

The woman went and did as Elijah told her and they ate the food, she, himself and her son. The jar of meal was not spent nor the jug of oil emptied, just as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.

First reading for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 17:10-16

Generosity earns its reward. This is one of the teachings we can derive from this story. It is  reflected also elsewhere in the Scriptures, not least in  the Beatitudes.

However there is no evident guarantee, (other than God’s word in the Scriptures! And how often we fail to place our immediate trust in that.) And so such generosity is always an act of faith – a reaching out in love to neighbour, in imitation of the love of God for all his people.

• Where have you been generous?
• Where have you benefited from the generosity of others? And to what effect?

Elijah and the widow of Zarepath. Drawing by Nicolaes Maes. Barber Institute, Birmingham (c) 2018, Allen Morris.