The Gospel for this Sunday, the 5th Sunday of Lent Year B, comes from chapter 12 of St John and is situated chronologically between the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem and the washing of the feet on the evening of Holy Thursday.

Against the volatility of that week, the caution shown by Philip and Andrew becomes understandable. At any other time and place a request to see/meet with Jesus wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. An observable interaction in Jerusalem just before the Passover with the potential to send His message beyond Jewish borders and the stakes suddenly get higher for both the Jewish authorities and for Jesus.

Just like the arrest of John the Baptist, which was the catalyst for Jesus to begin His public ministry, this event feels like a catalyst or an expected sign that confirms that This is The Passover for Jesus, the Passover when He will be sacrificed.

Just like the Baptism in the Jordan, and the Transfiguration, this event includes a theophany; an audible response from God the Father. While the Transfiguration happened in private, and the Baptism may or may not have had more than one witness, this theophany is public.

Therefore what Jesus is saying here carries great significance.

What we have in this passage is a glimpse into how Jesus approached His Passion, and what kept Him committed to seeing it through despite the frightening personal cost.

Unless a wheat grain dies, it does not produce a rich harvest.
Only by surrendering His life will the better, eternal life be attained.
Only by His death are the powers of evil overthrown.
Only by His death does the conquering of each heart for the Kingdom begin.
Only by His death is ultimate victory accomplished.

Verse 31 deserves special attention:
“Now sentence/judgment/justice is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world (satan) is to be driven out/cast out/ejected.”

This is a mission statement, a declaration of war, and a declaration of victory.

The purpose of Jesus is to drain the whole world of evil.

He definitively did this on Calvary.

The decisive battle is won, and it is a victory that keeps on growing.

Jesus began changing the world and began draining the whole world of the swamp of evil on Calvary.

In each era of history since then, He has continued to drain the swamp of evil and advance the kingdom of God.

Jesus is still draining the various swamps of evil today.

Every day we can declare with Him, ‘Now the prince of this world is ejected’.

Today we can declare with Him, ‘Now the prince of this world is ejected’.

And it’s true.

In our own era the swamp of evil has become boldly visible to extents and complexities never before seen.

Jesus is still about His mission of draining the swamp, and a major victory is immanent.

Sometimes an enemy has to be lured out of the shadows before it can be vanquished on a massive scale.
​
This seems to be what is happening in our era.
So do not be dismayed.
The plan to massively vanquish evil is in operation.
Jesus will attain His full purpose.
‘Today the prince of this world is ejected.’
Amen.

The Gospel for this Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent Year B, comes from chapter 3 of St John and contains part of the late-night conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.

It also contains one of the best loved and well-known verses in Sacred Scripture: John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

We are very fortunate that the details of this important conversation were recorded for us. Can you imagine how different our understanding of Jesus and His mission would be without them?

Nicodemus is a member of the Pharisees, a movement within Judaism that tried to live out God’s law as perfectly as possible; and Nicodemus was respected and influential which meant that if he didn’t have the official status of elder he certainly had the unofficial status. In him we see someone seriously trying to please God in everything, and who had a much greater knowledge of scripture and the law than most people of his time.

To Nicodemus Jesus can talk and entrust knowledge succinctly, and in many layers, because He knows this fine mind will retain this teaching/knowledge and mull over it and wrestle with it from many different angles, through many and varied conversations, and over many years until true understanding comes.

So what does Jesus entrust Nicodemus with?

Firstly with an understanding of the depth of the agape love of God, and secondly with the eternal ramifications of our responses to that agape love of God, among other things.

To give one’s only son is a sacrifice few can comprehend, and even fewer can make. Many see the life of their only son as more precious than their own, because the whole future of their family rests on him. Without a child to assist, provide for, dream for, aspire to make the world a better place for, life loses almost all of its purpose and motivation.

God’s commitment of covenant love for us is so great, that even as He tells Nicodemus this, He has already begun the process to sacrifice His Son for each one of us. This is incomprehensible love verging on outright lunacy in its extravagance and costliness.

The only appropriate response to this covenant love of such unimaginable magnitude is to accept such a gift of salvation with gratitude and to commit our lives in covenant love to this only begotten Son of God.

One of the eye-openers of this passage of scripture is that there is no in-between. Either we respond with agape love to God and dwell in His light, or we respond with agape love to evil and dwell in darkness.

There is no middle ground.

On the choice of where we give our agape love is what hangs our eternal future.

The sad and bad news is that more of us choose evil and darkness over God and light.

The good news is that we still have an opportunity to choose God and light, but it has to be a total agape love response. It can’t be anything less.

We were made to give ourselves in agape love.

What we have chosen to love with agape love will be given us eternally.

Choose well.

​#GospelReflection

This wasn't even on my radar until this morning.

That is, until a mid-20s, confident, athletic, law degree-d youth leader happened to visit the Blessed Sacrament chapel while my son and I were still doing our weekly holy hour. Said son is non-athletic like his parents (bless him!), and has much less confidence. Said youth leader did the 'fish in the barrel' thing that greatly upsets me, ergo, 'I need another bloke to make the fraternity part of Exodus 90 work, here's a bloke, he's here, maybe it is meant to be, let's go ask him' without taking into account any discernment of whether Exodus 90 was a good fit for my son's needs and personality and his current place on the spiritual journey of life.

Life is not at all easy for young men who go to church and who aren't athletic and don't ooze with confidence.

Case 1: Every visiting priest does the 'fish in the barrel' vocation chat. Listen, please, you only have the right to do that chat if you have taken the time to get to know the young man in question, and have attained a good grasp of his strengths and talents, and can say with truth 'I think you have what it takes to be a good (insert vocation here) because (insert observed behaviour A), (insert observed talent B), (insert observed charism C), would you please consider it, or at least come and have a deeper chat with me about it.'

Case 2: Then the young men who go to church and who aren't athletic and don’t ooze with confidence go to various Catholic summer school offerings that are presented by gung-ho extrovert on-fire young men that make the others feel woefully inadequate and lacking in faith and commitment.

End of mini rant.

But a brief look at the Exodus 90 program got my hackles up, and it has taken me a few hours and reading blogs on the topic to get a better handle on why.

I can understand that for a unmarried Catholic male who has walked The Camino, and who is ready for an equally satisfying challenge, that this is cat-nip.

I can understand that if your life was out of order, and you have had a massive conversion experience, then the desire to get your life into God's order, and the desire to do significant penance for past mis-deeds, would make Exodus 90 a really good fit for you.

I can understand that if you have an inkling that a vocation in one of the rigorous religious orders might be in your destiny, then doing the Exodus 90 would be a prudent step on the discernment path. But with the caveat that the temptation to do it on human power alone, with human boasting of same when completed should be enough to make a wise person run in the opposite direction.

I can understand that if you have a major prayer intention (eg return of a prodigal child, return of a separated spouse, needing clear direction on vocation, starting up a new ministry) that an Exodus 90 process would add lots of power to those prayer intentions.

I can understand that if you have a major habit or addiction that you want to break, that Exodus 90 could be very helpful with that.

But I can also see

That it is suited to unmarried men, particularly if they are living alone or in a household of like-minded individuals.

That you will have to have very strong social relationships, capable of surviving lack of maintenance for 90 days, because snacks, dessert, going to a movie, sharing a soft drink, re-posting a joke on social media,  are the ways we usually connect with our loved ones and friends for fun and conversation. The fraternity part of Exodus 90 is going to be focussed on survival, mutual support and spiritual growth, and not on those lighter moments that make life worth living.

That the Exodus 90 days of deprivation are as tough as an elite warrior boot camp, and most will not be able to complete the challenge and feel or be made to feel that they are failures and have let themselves, God and their loved ones down. That's a pretty big risk if you are already emotionally or mentally fragile.

I am concerned

That although there is a component of prayer and spiritual reading, there is no overt commitment to sacramental life.

That those whose livelihoods depend on regular blogging or posting on social media (artists, journalists, interior designers) would be greatly disadvantaged career-wise.

That the Exodus 90 lifestyle is unsustainable, you can't continue at that pace, and those who in actual life do so are specially called and gifted by God for the rigours of such a penitential lifestyle in religious orders or as hermits.

That too many will take up the challenge because a buddy invited them, and try to achieve it on human power alone, rather than as a response to a call of God, depending on Him for the grace and power to complete each day.

That going 'cold turkey' on so many ascetical practices at once is a recipe for disaster. It would be better to commit to three of them over the first 2 weeks of the challenge and then decide in the fraternity group whether to add another one in week 3 or not.

That keeping going for the Lenten distance of 40 days is hard enough, and that there's some ancient wisdom in our liturgical cycles of feasts and fasts.

That there are reports on YouTube of people having major counter-reactions to the extreme disciplines when they reach day 91 and beyond; think about the behaviour of boarding school types when they hit the undisciplined life of university because that's what the counter-reaction looks like. People who go on long fasts with liquid diets know that when the fast finishes that it is important to return to normal eating patterns at a slow and gradual pace.

That there are many housebound people who depend on social media for their connection to the outside world, and for whom the departure of swathes of good people from social media for Lent or Exodus 90 vastly impoverishes their lives. Fasts from social media don't have to be total, limiting it to only after 6pm of an evening or for an hour daily are quite effective.

The bottom line?
​
I don't doubt that God can do great things in the lives of those who undertake an Exodus 90 process, as long as the goal is God and not a bucket-list item or a badge of honour or bragging rights, but a response to a personal call from God to go deeper through penance and reparation for a specific purpose.

Write Non Fiction In November : #WNFIN Day 26
​
Trudging, trudging, trudging, slowly onward we go. This one is an ode to all those who are still in waiting mode.

For the last six months there have been so many promises of breakthrough, increase, acceleration, provision, unforgettable encounters with God, new missions, new authority, abundant harvest, end time revival and astounding joy.

That's a long time waiting if that's all that's been keeping you going and faithful is the hope of seeing these promises fulfilled.

I certainly hope these good things are happening somewhere. I've heard of one big breakthrough, and a few smaller ones, (already recorded in an earlier blog-post) but by and large in my area there's no change and not even a shadow of a change for the better. In fact, in the short term there's a cloud or three on the horizon of worse.

Last night I got excited by an idea, which I thought had great promise. Having run it up the flagpole to see if anyone else wanted to work with me on making it happen, the last time I checked all was silence. On my own it has no chance, with a core group of others it might get just enough momentum to do some real good. If all else fails, I will blog about it tomorrow night in the hope that others can pick up the idea and the vision and run with it.

So let us celebrate the unsung heroes who are trudging:

To all of those going through long and difficult paths in hope of being able to adopt a child, no matter the outcome your generous and persevering hearts do us proud.

To all those going through long, painful and unpredictable court cases seeking justice, your faithfulness and patience do us proud.

To all of those caring for a relative with dementia or with a long term degenerative disease, we salute your sacrifices with grateful hearts, because you show us what true, enduring and tender love really is.

To those of you who battle despair and discouragement every day because opportunities for paid employment that fits your gifts and talents are so few and far between, thank you for battling on and for your witness of perseverance.

To all those who carry the searing pain of infertility, and who refuse to take God out of the equation and seek laboratory intervention contrary to His ways, we salute your courage, your trust and your steadfastness.

To all those carrying the memories of trauma and violence, for whom every day is a struggle to comprehend that kindness and goodness is possible, and who struggle every day to forgive, you are heroes and heroines of greatest valour, and we salute you.

To all those who work so hard, and such long hours, for minimum rewards, you who cook, and clean, and sew, and mow, and drive, and package, and do manual labour, you are the indispensable ones, with deep gratitude we salute your patient endurance.

To all those in aged care facilities, surrounded by monotony and in constant discomfort, who face life with cheerfulness and acceptance, we applaud you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your witness of holiness.

To the single mums who chose life for your baby rather than abortion, and who consequently face so many struggles every day, we salute you and honour your sacrificial love and dedication.

To those who have a loved one in prison, and who endure all the hardships, loneliness and humiliations that go with it and who never give up on them, we salute your loving fidelity and we honour you.

To those whom chronic ill health has robbed even the faintest hope of finding spousal love, and whose loving hearts overflow to those few family and friends who can see past the externals to the hearts of true gold that you have, we salute your compassion and empathy towards us and your patience in suffering.
​
Your situations may never change, that may not be God's plan. Should those big miracles happen, our shouts of thanksgiving will mingle with yours. But when the time comes the praise and honour and glory given by Him to you in paradise will be worth it. That is a promise you can truly count on.

​Recent days have been full of rare treats, an Ordination Mass for two Dominican priests and a Dominican deacon, and one of the first Masses of Fr Matthew Boland O.P.
 
Treats like that deserve to be shared, so here are some of my amateur photos and some notes from the homilies:

​The Ordinations took place at St Benedict's Broadway on 9 July 2016. It is a beautiful church, with a lot of history and currently part of Notre Dame University campus. Some of the WYD Sydney events took place here (for anyone who thinks it looks familiar).
 
Ordained Priest were Matthew Boland and James Baxter, and ordained Deacon was Robert Krishna.

​The readings were from Jeremiah 1:4-9 Do not say 'I am a child', go to those whom I send you ; Psalm 89 I will sing forever of the goodness of the Lord / I have chosen David my servant and with oil anointed him ; 2 Corinthians 5:14-20 The love of Christ overwhelms us. He gave us the work of handing on the news of reconciliation ; Luke 22:14-20, 24-30 The Last Supper narrative, Here am I among you as One who serves.
 
The homily was given by Archbishop Anthony Fisher O.P. and this is a rough transcript:
 
'What does it mean to be a priest of Jesus Christ? If we look at some of the great Hollywood movies from the 1950s onward, the priestly characters are depicted in a romantic and heroic light. A bit too far from reality in places, but they did manage to capture the spirit of sacrifice with some accuracy. Jesus turns our notions of leadership and greatness up-side-down when He reveals that He is among us as one who serves. Every priest is called to serve after the example of Jesus. If this is how Jesus acts, then we must do the same; we must empty ourselves and empty ourselves for others. Thus we may preach Him as His ambassadors. We are members of the Dominican order, called to preach Him, an order that is essentially clerical, but hopefully not clericalist. This year we mark the 800th anniversary of the Dominican order, and see these three as a special gift to us. Dominicans made their mark in the colonial period of Australia, even before the Benedictines. There is a patch of land nearby that is still called Blackfriars Estate. By the 1880s much of the original land was taken by the education office and acts of parliament. Those school buildings and the former teachers college now form part of the UTS campus (University of Technology Sydney). A Dominican is currently chaplain at UTS and our newly ordained Fr Baxter will be chaplain to Notre Dame campus. There is a story about how St Dominic spent all night in a pub conversing with a heretic, in order to convert him. Who knows, perhaps Matthew's experiences of working in a pub might prove advantageous as well. James had an experience in Year 2 of primary school of the truth and reality of the resurrection of Jesus. Time spent in his Year 11 days with an elderly priest caused James to ponder on the worthwhile life this priest had lived. He went off to Uni to study law, and it was only then that he started questioning whether law was the right path. An end of year retreat in 2003 started him thinking more seriously about the mission of the Church and what his own role in that might be. Matthew studied Maths and Physics and walked the Camino. The influence of Fr Dom Murphy began his attraction to the Dominicans. We know that Matthew has a particular passion for introducing others to the thought of St Thomas Aquinas. Robert has had a long journey too. At various times he has been a Hindu, an agnostic, an atheist, Anglican and finally a Catholic after a long intellectual search. For him, too, that end of year retreat in 2003 was a turning point in his vocational journey. Aquinas said that we should be awestruck that God should grant such graces in sacraments through human agency. No one can fully express the sweetness of this Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is the Sacrament of Sacraments. It is not just a sign of Christ's love, but Christ Himself, present body and soul, humanity and divinity to bring about communion with us. The hour has come for the three of you to take your place in a new way at the altar of the Lord. You are called to be heroes, to self-sacrifice, to put others first. You are called to serve, for that will prove your true greatness.'

​One of Fr Matthew Boland's first Masses as principal celebrant was at St John the Baptist, Woy Woy, on 11 July 2016. This parish was home base for him during his early adult years and the long process of discerning God's vocational call. He was often at morning Mass at Woy Woy when visiting his parents on study breaks.

​11 July was the memorial of St Benedict, and the readings were from Monday Week 15 of Ordinary Time Year II : Isaiah 1:10-17 God desires worthy sacrifice from hands clean of evil deeds : Matthew 10:34-11:1 Turn away from things not worthy of Me.

Again, this is only a rough transcript of Fr Matthew Boland's homily:

​'Some may think of St Benedict as a remote and distant figure from 6th century Norcia, but his story still resonates today. As a young man Benedict went to Rome to study, and saw the dissolute life of the city. His response to that was to begin a search for silence and a search for God. After a while a dying monastery asked for his help in getting it healthy again. The monks there were living a rather loose monastic life, and Benedict came to them bringing added strictness to their lives. Unhappy some of the monks tried to poison Benedict. However as he said the blessing, the cup containing the poison broke. That's a good reminder to pray grace before meals – just in case – isn't it? St Benedict is not without his influence in Australia. We have the monastic town of New Norcia near Perth together with the AFL Oval at Subiaco. The first archbishop in Australia was Bede Polding, a Benedictine. What can St Benedict teach us today? That we need silence in our lives in order to hear the Word of God and His message to us. That we need time to be with Him in silence, to listen. The prophet Elijah had his own search for God, going up a mountain (whenever the scriptures talk about going up a mountain, that's code for 'something really important is going to happen – pay attention'). It was in the gentle breeze that Elijah met God. If we don't give time to God, it is very hard to hear what He has to say. God has to be number 1 – even above family – and then everything else will fall into place. Take advantage of the silent moments at Mass, at adoration and at other times of prayer. Lectio Divina is a good way of meeting God in His Word. We ask that through the intercession of St Benedict before God, that His peace may come into our lives. Let us imitate St Benedict and include a bit more silence in our lives.'
 
St Benedict, pray for us.
St Dominic, pray for us.

"Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners." Message of the Angel to the children of Fatima 1916

This message was given at the second visit of the Angel of Peace, in the summer of that year.

What is a sacrifice? It is something a person gives up for the sake of a higher cause or the acceptance without protest of an unsought suffering.

Sacrifice isn't something that we talk about much anymore except in the context of elite athletes, memorial days to acknowledge those who died in the Defence Forces, ballet dancers and ambitious businessmen. Sometimes we mention it around Mother's Day, or at a eulogy for someone with strong family values. When Lent comes around we talk about what we might be giving up as a penance, but not specifically in the context of sacrifice.

But in God's economy, sacrifice must be important otherwise the Angel would not have encouraged it. We see it first in Cain and Abel offering to God the fruits of their labours. Genesis 4:3-4. We see it in the temple worship offerings of oil, bread, wine and livestock, Exodus 29. It reaches its pinnacle in Jesus, 'He is the sacrifice that takes our sins away, and not only ours, but the whole world's.' 1 John 2:2.

We also see in God's economy that sacrifices have an effect on sin. Some of the temple sacrifices were referred to as sin offerings, and there were whole lists of different sacrifices depending on the role a person played in the community, Leviticus 4 and 5. Priests offered a young bull, leaders offered he-goats and individuals offered she-goats. Each offering was a request for mercy and leniency.

The three children of Fatima really took this request of the angel to heart, and what they did can guide us in our own response. At times of family sorrow, they would offer God their tears. They would offer up the pains of being misunderstood and treated with contempt. They would forgo their lunches and give them to poor children. They would choose to go without drink and suffer thirst, and the consequent headaches. They would offer up any feeling of abandonment they felt. Often they needed the mutual encouragement of each other to keep going through the difficulties of each sacrifice.

Reparation isn't a word that gets used much these days either. It crops up sometimes in court cases that get a lot of media attention. Usually it is in a financial context, for example, payments to the children of the stolen generations, to victims of sexual abuse, to victims of severe injuries following a car accident. A few years ago there was a lot of debate about federal parliament saying an official 'sorry' to the children of the stolen generations because the lawyers were worried that saying 'sorry' would be an admission of guilt and open the way for appeals for monetary compensation.

In God's economy the concept of compensation is clearly set out, in order that there may be speedy resolution of situations between people and so that there are just limits to what is expected by way of compensation. Exodus 21 and 22 set out many of them. For example if two men quarrel and come to blows, if the blows incapacitate one of them from earning a living, the other must compensate the injured one and care for him until he is completely cured. A thief, if caught, is required to repay double what he stole. Other transgressions of the property of another require full restitution or double depending on circumstances.

But reparation is a term used in Leviticus 5 to fix transgressions against God. There are three categories. The first appears to be giving less to God than what is due to Him (tithes, ritual sacrifices). The second is when someone realizes after the fact that they transgressed against a commandment. The third is about sins of fraud through deception, perjury, or exploitation. In each case the reparation is in two parts. The first part requires a standard offering of an unblemished ram. The second part is determining the value of what was denied God or someone else, and paying back the whole sum plus 20 percent. Now we can understand better the promise of Zaccheaus to Jesus in Luke 19, 'Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.'

This teaches us that when we sin, we are expected to make reparation as well as seeking forgiveness. It indicates that we need to do something over and above to restore our relationship with God. For Catholics that is why the priest gives us a penance to do when we go to Confession to seek mercy and pardon for our sins. Giving us a penance trains us to take repairing our relationship with God seriously. Putting it another way, if you promised a dear friend that you would meet them for lunch and then you didn't show up, seeking forgiveness is the first obvious thing you should do. Even if your friend forgives you, your relationship has been damaged and needs a bit of a grand gesture (flowers, chocolates, movie tickets etc) to begin the restoration process.

All this begs the question, 'When was the last time I took any efforts towards a grand gesture for God?'

Scary isn't it? Especially when the next part of the Angel's message reminds us that God is offended by our sins. Each and every time I sin, I offend God, no matter how big or small that sin is.

Mostly we don't understand the full horror of our sins because we so easily forget how good, kind, beautiful, loving, provident and almighty God really is. It is a poor comparison, but maybe it will help. Think of a tender hearted mother and a child. When a mother discovers that her child has lied to her, she is sad because her child did not trust her with the truth, because her child has disappointed her by choosing the lesser path, and because it will be so much more difficult now to help her child on the path to truth, goodness and happiness. The better the mother, the more her heart will grieve. God grieves even more because sin closes the door to heaven for us. No one with unforgiven sin can be admitted into the fullness of the presence of God that heaven is. For sins that don't completely rupture our relationship with God, we thank Him for the merciful option of having our souls purified in purgatory.

The last part of the Angel's message invites us to offer up our sacrifices not just for ourselves but also for others so that they may be granted the gift of conversion. In the later messages of Our Lady at Fatima she often requested sacrifices for sinners.

This anecdote from 'Fatima in Lucia's own words' is instructive:

"One day, I was asked if Our Lady had told us to pray for sinners, and I said she had not. At the first opportunity, while the people were questioning Jacinta, Francisco called me aside and said: 'You lied just now! How could you say that Our Lady didn't tell us to pray for sinners? Didn't she ask us to pray for sinners then?' 'For sinners, no! She told us to pray for peace, for the war to end. But for sinners, she told us to make sacrifices.' 'Ah! That's true. I was beginning to think you had lied.' "

Such is the importance of sacrifices for sinners compared to prayer for sinners.

Let's do something today in response to the heavenly requests that have been given to us.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Blessed Francisco, Blessed Jacinta, holy Sr Lucia, pray for us.