Fr John’s reflection for Sunday 7 Sept 2025
I remember hearing an interview with Paul Davies, an English Physicist who had just written a book called “The Mind of God.” I remember the interviewer being enthralled by the discussion so much so that at the end of the hour that he apologised for going through the usual interludes for time checks, the news headlines and the usual announcements. What struck me in listening to the interview and later in reading the book was the author’s belief that mathematics was the language with which God wrote the universe. I hear the audible groans and memories that people may have had in learning mathematics as abstract and an arcane discipline. Yet I sense that God speaks in a language that can be understood and helps us to discover more about our universe. In fact, it may well be that quantum physicists may be helping us to deepen our understanding of how the mystery of God touches every aspect of our lives.
This wisdom helps us to understand how God is our refuge. We discover that this is not as a security blanket but a discovery of how God touches our hearts and our minds. It helps to allow us insight into the work of God that is ever creative and ever new. It transforms how we view ourselves as part of the unfolding of creation and builds on foundations that are eternal. It helps us appreciate how we can participate in that unfolding. This allows us the possibility to notice how we can have a positive influence on those around us and how we can be instruments of peace.
It also notices how everyday acts of compassion, justice and kindness can shape our lives. In Paul’s letter to Philemon, he focuses on his relationship with Onesimus. This is a practical story of forgiveness and reconciliation where a person is no longer considered as the property of another but rather as a brother in Christ. Thus, we see Paul encouraging Philemon to welcome Onesimus as though he was Paul. This shapes each of our encounters because it helps us to notice how we can meet Christ in the people with whom we share our lives. If we see the other person as Christ this realigns our everyday relationships that allows us Christ to be at the centre of our universe. In this we discover a new language that helps us to know the mind of God.
DE COLORES!
Fr. John Armstrong
“The intellectual quest is exquisite, like pearls and coral. But it is not the same as the spiritual quest. The spiritual quest is on another level altogether. Spiritual wine has a subtler taste. The intellect and the senses investigate cause and effect. The spiritual seeker surrenders to wonder.” (Rumi Wisdom; trans. Timothy Freke)