ELEVENTH SUNDAY (A) 15 June 2008

We can only wonder at what was going on among the people that made Jesus so troubled when he looked at them. We are told that what he saw was a people who were harassed and dejected. Perhaps they were overcome with the burdens of living; perhaps the social environment was making certain aspects of life unbearable; perhaps they seemed to be moving along in an aimless sort of way. What is certain, however, is that Jesus felt something for them right in his heart. He felt compassion. It is the sort of reaction that goes beyond simply analysing the situation. He is concerned for them and their welfare, and he wants what is good for them. Of course, he has analysed the situation to some extent. When he says that they are like sheep without a shepherd he is making a judgement that the leaders in the society have been negligent or lacking in imagination in dealing with the situation of these people. A modern word that we would sometimes use for this is to say that they were clueless. Jesus clearly wants to lay the blame for some part of the people’s dejection at the feet of the leaders. But this is still a problem for all the people. Sometimes leaders are only as good as they are allowed to be.

This is why Jesus calls on all the people to pray, and he tells them what to say in their prayer. The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest. Like all good prayers this one begins by acknowledging the reality of the situation before it petitions God. The situation is that the harvest is ripe. In other words, the time is ripe for something to happen. In speaking of the harvest in this way Jesus seems to be suggesting that among this people who are harassed and dejected there is a lot of good will, ability and eagerness to do good – it simply needs to be given the opportunity to come to life. So in acknowledging the situation this prayer also praises God for the blessings he has given to the people.

One of the effects of their prayer is that they will come to see their own situation a little more clearly. Not only will they recognise their troubles, but they will also see the resources that exist among themselves to deal with these. In fact, we see the prayer beginning to be answered when Jesus chooses some of the disciples and sends them out. Jesus has found among this people some who are able to be shepherds. He sends them out on a small mission, just among the local people. He speaks to them about what they are to do. When you look at the list – heal the lepers, cure the sick, raise the dead – it is all about bringing healing and wholeness to people. It is about restoring their hope. The Apostles are to help the people move out of that harassed and dejected state and move on with confidence in their life. People will begin to look forwards rather than backwards, where they would wallow in self-pity.

As we reflect on this gospel story there are a few lessons we can draw from it. The first is that we always need people who will throw light on our situation. Jesus behaved like a prophet by helping the people realise that they were harassed and dejected. It is quite common in our world to meet people who tell you that things are not quite right for them, yet they don’t know what is wrong in their lives. The prophet figure is the one who shines a light on our lives so that we can see them more clearly. The prophet figure is the one who holds up a mirror to us so that we can see ourselves as we really are. So, we need in our midst the prophet figure – the one who will feel compassion for us, and who has our best interests at heart. We also need people who can be shepherds or leaders. These are the people who can help us move forward to a different place, to a positive place where we can be filled with hope in what God has promised. These are the people who have dreams and a vision, and who can imagine how God’s plan can take shape concretely in our own situation.

The second lesson we can draw from the gospel story is that the prophets, the shepherds and leaders are going to be found among us, in our own communities. They need to be recognised and called forth – just as Jesus sent the Apostles. The third lesson is related to this one, and it is that we need to pray to God that these labourers will be found among us. An important thing that happens when we pray is that we begin to discern our needs as we present them to God, and we also begin to recognise what sort of people we need as prophets and shepherds at this time. Then they can be called and sent forth. Praying for labourers in the harvest may also have the result that we will allow these prophets and leaders to work among us, rather than challenge their authority.

As we reflect on these possibilities, I wonder if it would help to see World Youth Day next month as a time when we might see that the harvest is indeed rich, that there is a lot of talent among our young people, and that they themselves might be trained and graced to become the next generation of prophets and leaders among us.

Fr. Gerard Kelly

TRINITY SUNDAY (A) 18 May 2008

Every so often things happen that make us ask questions about God. During the week I have heard people asking what must God be like if so many people can be killed in natural disasters like the cyclone in Burma or the earthquake in China. Sometimes people struggle to believe in God when they are experiencing great pain or suffering, or watching someone else suffer. Other people seem to have no problem believing in God, and can’t understand why others have doubts. These varied responses force us to ask a basic question, “What is God like?” I believe we have an answer in our readings today on this feast of the Holy Trinity – which is a feast that focuses our worship on God.

I found myself reading and re-reading that phrase in the gospel that says, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son”. Here, in this saying of Jesus, we have the basic Christian understanding of God. If you want to know God, then know that God loves. This may sound like a fairly easy thing to say, but we need to remember that at the time of Jesus there were competing images of God in the world. Other gods – pagan gods – may have exercised power; they may have acted in anger according to their mood on a particular day; or they may have exercised control over people’s lives, but you wouldn’t say that they loved. A god who loved would have appeared to many to be a weak god. Jesus preached something different; he knew what Moses knew, as we heard in the first reading, where God was described as a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness. The power of this God is demonstrated in love, and in God’s standing in solidarity with people. Rather than God’s greatness being demonstrated simply through his power over nature or his remoteness, the real greatness of God is found in his feelings for the people, in his desire for their welfare. For many people, this seemed like weakness, but in the message of Jesus this was God’s true strength.

The difference between this view of God and the pagan view is that the God Jesus reveals is a personal God who gets close to us. The other gods were nothing more than impersonal forces, perhaps like a cyclone or an earthquake. Jesus makes the point that God’s great act of love was that he gave his Son. The Son then reveals what God is like. The Son hasn’t come to condemn, but to offer salvation, to offer life. This means that God’s basic relationship to us is to be a friend to us. St Paul calls it fellowship.

I believe we can appreciate the real possibility of God’s closeness to us when we realise that he has given us the Holy Spirit as his gift. Paul talks about the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. In the first instance he is speaking about the relationship between the Father and the Son, and the love they have for one another. This is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. But Paul is also saying that God invites us into that very fellowship by giving us the Holy Spirit. This is what Moses was referring to in our first reading when he prayed to God to adopt us as his heritage. It is also why St John talks about us as becoming like God.

This is very important, because it suggests to us that when we understand God properly – when we understand that God is love – then we will also come to see ourselves in a new light. This takes us right back to the story of creation where man and woman were made in the image of God.

Once we purify our understanding of God we need to ask ourselves what our response to God ought to be. In our first reading we saw Moses’ response: he fell to his knees and worshipped God. This can be a challenge for many people today. Worship can seem like a fairly passive response, especially as our age is so used to lots of activity. But worship is not passive, and we know that some Christians prefer to dance and shout. But there are also people who think that worship is nothing more than an effort to appease an angry God. If you have the wrong understanding of God then you might easily think this. But if God is love, then an act of worship is fundamentally an act of love.

So, how do we love? One answer to this is to say that if we are made in the image of God then we love like God loves. We love by developing those qualities that we have seen in God. This means that we are people of kindness, tenderness, compassion, and faithfulness. When we love our neighbour in this way, we are also loving God. This is our act of worship. St Paul tries to be concrete about it when he says, help one another, be united, and live in peace.

These are no doubt things that we are always trying to do. Today’s feast of the Trinity gives more meaning to these very human desires. So, let’s worship God by lives that imitate God’s fellowship with us.

Fr Gerard Kelly