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Empowered for mission

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:32:01 +1200

Empowered by the Spirit to continue Jesus' mission

May 20^th The Ascension. The Great Commission. The Ascension is the ending of Jesus’ earthly existence and the moment for his return to his Abba/Father. The great commission of these verses consists in the statement about Jesus’ authority, the command to make disciples, and the promise of Christ’s abiding presence until the fullness of God’s kingdom comes. Thus it summarizes the three major themes of Matthew’s Gospel: Supreme and universal authority has been given to Jesus by his heavenly Father. Therefore he far surpasses every other human being and deserves all the exalted titles given to him. The disciples are to share their discipleship with all people (not simply their fellow Jews) and to hand on Jesus’ teaching to them.

The largely Jewish community for which Matthew wrote his Gospel probably needed some encouragement to share their faith with non-Jews, and the statement in verse 19a was most likely understood as a reference to the Gentile mission. The wording of the command to baptise undoubtedly reflects a baptismal formula used in the Matthean community. The promise of Jesus’ continuing presence with the disciples and their successors brings to fulfillment the name “Emmanuel” (“God is with us”) given to Jesus at conception, in accordance with Isa 7:14. The promise assumes a “time of the church” between the inauguration of God’s kingdom through Jesus and its fullness at the end of the world. The spirit of the risen Jesus will guide and protect the church during this time.

May 27^th Pentecost. John 20:19-23. This is John's Pentecost, taking place on Easter Sunday, with the risen Lord appearing to his frightened disciples, hiding behind closed doors, and breathing the Spirit on them. Fear changes to peace and courage with the giving of the Spirit. What Jesus' presence means to his disciples is faith in his risen presence, peace and joy. By giving them his Spirit, Jesus empowers his disciples, then and now, to continue his mission. A new creation takes place when God breathes new life into humanity. Forgiveness of sins breathes new life into the community.

This small group becomes our representatives as a community with faith in the risen Christ. His greeting of peace, given twice, is no longer just a conventional greeting, for by the time the gospel was written it is loaded with significance for the Christian community. The disciples rejoice at seeing him, as he had predicted would be the case after a short separation (the little while of 16:20, 22). But this ‘little while could also refer to the time of the church for in God’s eyes ‘a thousand years are as a day’ and we too look forward to Jesus’ return at the end of time. In the meanwhile, his comforting Spirit is with us.

The Sunday gospels

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:47:04 +1200

Oops! A little delay. Here are last Sunday's Vine and Branches and this Sunday's challenge to be disciples of Jesus

5^th Sunday of Easter May 6^th John 15:1-8. In preparation for the Ascension we begin the Farewell Address of the Last Supper. “I am the true vine.” The giving of food and drink is also part of the task of the grape, a miracle plant that comes to fruition at a critical dry time in the cycle of the seasons. It thrives more on dewfall than the decreasing rains. The saying represents the closeness of the abiding between Jesus and his Father, and the disciples and Jesus, the generative action of God working in and through him, the God-given source of life and fruitfulness. Enlivened through union with the vine, the branches are not doomed to barren inactivity in the Father’s vineyard but are promised the bounty of the grape harvest.

The agricultural practice in Palestine is very different from the viticulture many of us are used to. Rocks support a drastically cut back vine stock. The pruning of leaves and branches is important for growth to be directed into the grapes. The cut-off branches are used as a source of fuel in a country lacking in wood. The term for ‘trims clean’ or ‘pruning’ of the productive vine can also mean ‘lift up’ or ‘hoist up’, the practice of placing a rock underneath to help the vine bear grapes. Such a meaning implies a God who does not give up on even the least and non-productive of humans.

May 13^th: 6^th Sunday of Easter John 14:23. This beautiful gospel is part of Jesus’ tender farewell address to his disciples. He is preparing them for his departure and return to the glory he had with his Abba ‘in the beginning’ (1:1). The love called for here is shown in the life of Jesus himself. The completion of all joy is to be found in self-giving love. The joy of Jesus is realised in the disciples’ mutual loving, participating in his own love ‘unto the end.’ The disciples are addressed as ‘friends’ because they have lived in intimate communion with their Master. They share his love – for the Father and for ‘his own’. The invitation is there to enter into the relationship between Jesus and his Father, thus be united to the true vine and bear lasting fruit.

The great message and great challenge for the Christian community is to ‘love one another’. It is the test of true Christian community. It is the test for all leadership in the Church. It is a passage that follows the vine and the branches and is love in action that shows if we are truly connected to the vine that is Christ. The disciple reflects the Master. If we were put on trial for being Christian, would the judge find enough evidence to convict us?

Sunday's Gospel - The Good Shepherd

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:51:51 +1200

John 10:11-16. Jesus calls himself the good shepherd. If you look back to chapter 9, John has given us an example of bad shepherds who close their heart and minds to the witness of the man born blind. Inevitably they close both to the message Jesus brings. Back in Ezekiel, God steps in to shepherd the people in face of poor leadership.

The early Christian mission was a pastoral one and people easily understood Christ as their personal Good Shepherd. The ideal qualities of a Palestinian shepherd were constant vigilance, fearless courage, and patient love for the flock. It is the goodness of the shepherd that is stressed, the authenticity that contrasts with all others who claim to be shepherds. The relationship of Jesus to the sheep and to his Father is one of intimate connection. It is the Father who will raise Jesus up. It is his example that will encourage the life-sacrifice and subsequent resurrection of both Jesus and his followers.

Passion Sunday

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:06:38 +1300

Mark’s Passion Narrative belongs to Year B. On Good Friday you will hear John’s Passion Narrative. The Church asks us to listen to both very carefully and hear the different accounts of both evangelists. Focus in Mark on the isolation of Jesus. His farewell meal is framed with betrayal, Judas on one side and the prophecy of all falling away and Peter’s denial. In Gethsemane Jesus separates himself from the eleven, then the three, and prays alone. He faces his Passion, betrayed and denied, dying with a terrible cry of abandonment, “My God! My God! Why have you abandoned me?”
John tells a victory story. Jesus had said that no one takes his life from him. He willingly lays it down. It has been said that everyone is on trial in John – everyone except Jesus. The arresting party fall in awe before Jesus. Pilate fears him – and fails his test in the most dramatic part of John’s Passion account, the trial before Pilate. Peter denies him. But Jesus’ last words on the cross are a victory cry. “It is accomplished!” He has carried out the work his Father gave him.

The Gospel for Sunday 4 of Lent

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:38:28 +1300

Jesus Speaks to Nicodemus John 3:14-21: How will the revelation of Jesus take place? The preceding verse states to Nicodemus that “No one has ascended into heaven, but one has descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”

The Exodus people, suffering in their sinfulness, gazed upon the raised serpent to be restored to health, so eternal life will come to those who gaze with faith upon the elevated Son of Man. The wonderful gifts of God to Israel through saving figures such as Cyrus are brought to perfection in the gift of the Son. “Lifting up” on the Cross will be “lifting up” of a fallen world, and will be the “lifting up” in exaltation of the Son. The One who came out from God to be among us, journeys back to God through his “raising up.”

Salvation or condemnation hinges on accepting or rejecting the saving love of God as shown in the mystery of the Son who gave his life for the world. A response is critical for life or death.

Forgive and be forgiven - the path to health: This Sunday's gospel

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:56:21 +1300

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Mark 2:1-12. This passage is a healing miracle wrapped around a controversy story concerning Jesus’ (and the church’s) authority to forgive sin.
Forgiveness of sin paves the way for recovery of health. The reaction of the scribes is the very human one of seeing that on human lips a declaration of forgiveness is blasphemous, while to command a paralysed man to get up and walk is ridiculous, since it lies beyond human capacity to make each command effective. For Jesus who calls on the power of his Abba, both are possible.

In the telling of the story there is no necessary implication that the man’s need to receive forgiveness was the cause of his paralysis. Yet paralysis is an effective symbol of the captivity under which the whole world lay before the onset of the Kingdom in Jesus. We see again the command, ‘Arise’, the word Jesus addresses to all of us.

Outcasts no longer are now included - Sunday's gospel

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:18:29 +1300

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Mark 1:40-45: Again we see Jesus confronting the ‘uncleanness’ associated with demonic control of human life.
This ‘leprosy’ (any skin infection rather than our understanding of Hansen’s disease) was the one illness regarded as punishment from God with extreme social and religious exclusion as prescribed. Yet this leper approaches Jesus in defiance of all the barriers placed against his action. The power to heal leprosy belongs to God alone, and the only issue is whether Jesus ‘wants to’. Again we see the flow of healing is from Jesus to the unfortunate leper, and not infection flowing in the opposite direction.

Jesus ‘becomes angry’ (the literal translation) rather than ‘moved with pity’. Mark gives us the human emotions of Jesus more than any other gospel. With good reason he feels anger at the demonic hold on humanity that he sees in the man before him. We too are called to look on our own world and while celebrating its beauty, also to see its ugly side. Jesus, wonder worker and healer, a messiah in power, this is a path Mark will not allow us to follow beyond his first eight chapters. The real Jesus is the suffering Christ finally acknowledged by the centurion at the foot of the cross as truly the Son of God.

The former leper begins to tell his tale to everyone. ‘To proclaim’ the ‘news’ is the responsibility of every Christian ‘cleansed’ by Christ in baptism. As a result of this healing and the spreading of the news about it, Jesus is forced to escape by withdrawing to a deserted place. The exiled leper is now back in society. The one who healed him has to live as an outcast. Mission does cost the one who takes on the burden of others.

This Sunday's Gospel

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:14:28 +1300

Sunday 5 in Ordinary Time - the Reign of God breaks into history with the healing Jesus brings...Mark 1:29-39

In the time of Jesus physical illness was regarded as a sign that the world was under the rule of Satan. Jesus shows that the rule of God was breaking into history through his healing action. While ritual impurity was supposed to flow toward Jesus through his taking the hand of the sick woman, the flow is exactly in reverse. At Jesus’ touch the flow reverses as she catches healing from him, then rises to serve the group by providing hospitality, our first example of human diakonia or service, ministry (from which the word ‘deacon’ comes).

After a busy day of healing and silencing any demonic recognition of who he is, Jesus feels the need to spend time in prayer with his Abba.

He is not successful because he is pursued by his ‘minders’, the disciples, who are basking in reflected glory. Jesus knows his mission is to loosen the grip of Satanic influence in order to reclaim human lives for the rule of God. His mission from the God he calls his Abba requires that he moves on to other places of need.

Prayer and hard work make this a typical day in Mark’s presentation of the life of Jesus. He ‘rebukes’ the fever, the language of exorcism, then ‘raises up’ the women, foreshadowing raising from the dead. The portrayal of the believer, prostrate under the power of sin but now raised by the Lord and called to service, is a personal one for all of us.

Marist Lay Matters - Champagnat Partnership

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 14:42:49 +1300

Greetings to all MLM readers. Happy New year, even if a little belated. This first publication has just two parts, some unfinished business from last year and a promotion of a forthcoming event. There is much to include with so much happening over the past three months but we will keep to our promise of no more than two pages of material as much as possible.

May you all be blessed in your ministries throughout 2011.

In the Spirit of Marcellin,

Alan

Vocation? Life choices?

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:00:53 +1300

The beginning of any year and the three-quarter mark seem to be points when people think of making a new start, changing jobs or thinking about starting one, or the course of studies they'll take up, which may well influence career choice. A friend of mine has made the law her career and it is also her vocation. Listening to her talk of what she does for young offenders convinces me that the law is her vocation also. Vocation (with its Latin root in call) is somethiing more than a career.

Perhaps we could think of vocation as the who I am with and how, two questions underpinned by a why. The what of our lives might well be the job or the career, as well as and the when and how the particular vocation shape is expressed in action. For me, being brother is the who and how of my vocation. St Marcellin would say to his early disciples (brothers only at that time) that to become a brother is to become a saint. A daunting challenge indeed.

I like to phrase it a little differently: to become a brother is to walk alongside the saints! Most of the saints I know are not popes or priests or religious. No, they are widows or widowers made so by death or separation; parents struggling with adolescents becoming adults; young people struggling to stand up for the values learned in their family against peer pressure to conform; single people wondering how they fit in a church so focused on family; public servants faithful to their baptismal call in systems that ridicule faith, especially if it is Christian. These are just some of the saints I know. To be brother then, for me, is to be like Jesus: intent on the God-search (with all people of faith), living in community which supports the God-search and encounter, and that spills out, for Marist Brothers at least, into compassion and love for young people, especially those on the edges.

a brother: prophetic servant to the people

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:58:52 +1300

Recently Br Emili Turú (our Superior General) gave an address to Instituto Teológico de Vida Religiosa in Madrid in December 2010. To me it contained the essence of being a Lay Religious Brother so I have spent some time with it. It can be accessed on the Marist Rome website, www.champagnat.org/en/index.php . I wish to make a few comments/reflections on this excellent document.

A few days ago I was in the pub (an hour every Friday evening!!) and one of the group was a person closely associated for many years with a college we have served in. He got to talking about the numbers of Brothers, what are Brothers doing these days, what about Priests — the usual things. Because Emili’s address was still quite fresh in my mind I was able to contrast Priest and Brother apparently quite succinctly by portraying the Priest as the servant of the Church in an official capacity. On the other hand because the Religious Brother is not a servant of the Church in the same way but is rather a servant of the people, he has quite a different task, a prophetic task. This is to take a lead in standing up for justice, for people who need it. In other words to be a conscience not only for the Church, but in any situation where politics or even pragmatic action is present.

This person looked up at me with his mouth partially open and I could see him saying Ahh-haaa! (which you can do with your mouth partially open). And then he said something to the effect that now he understood why I acted the way I did in a disagreement over methods of governance in the college a few months earlier. A few more pieces of the jig-saw had slotted in.

I mention the above as one of the aspects of being a Lay Religious Brother to show that reading such material helps us in our journey of understanding and appreciating what being a Lay Religious is, thereby directing our actions more purposefully, but also through us it might help others to understand this more fully.

Welcome

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:12:59 +1300

Kia ora. Nau mai! Haere mai! Welcome to our new Champagnat Marists NZ website.

We are grateful to a number of people who have been working furiously in the background to get us to this stage. The site is still a work in progress so please bear with us as we continue to develop it. That also means that we are open to helpful suggestions as to ways in which we can improve our site.

So please take this as an invitation to engage with us and each other on what it is to be Champagnat Marists in NZ and the Pacific today.

Champagnat Marists Blog

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 12:45:28 +1200

Hi everyone and thanks for your posts. The site is still under construction and we hope to have it live soon so hold tight & there will definitely be more content coming soon.

Also if you have anymore ideas about what you would like to see on this site then we would appreciate your feedback.

Mike (Website Administrator)