33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – 17th November

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A rule of life

We live in a world where the opinions of others matter deeply. We can become fascinated by the latest developments whether they be about finance, politics, fashion or sport. Part of the fascination can be motivated by a deep interest in a particular aspect of life and how it can help us to give expression to who we are. Yet too often the opinions can just become chatter which prevents us from becoming more deeply engaged either with the person who is speaking or what they are speaking about. It just becomes background noise to an already crowded world vying for our attention. What is more difficult is the intrusiveness of technology which can start to notice what we are paying attention to and give us more of the same. Whether it is a search engine, an electronic device or a social media page we can find our direction being channelled into unexpected avenues and our ability to reflect being influenced by the amount of material on offer.

In such an information-rich environment how do we choose what to listen to? There can be a constant diet of bad news or misinformation that we find it hard to filter out and reflect on what is truly important and valuable. We find that people play with our emotions in ways which can cause us to react rather than reflect more deeply on what actually brings us life. We can be fed with a diet which is not truly nourishing and which does not settle well in our stomachs. There is a sense that we become consumed by what we hear rather than listening to a deeper truth.

This is where we need to look at what brings life and purpose to us. Where do we find meaning which is substantial and life-giving? This is where we need to work for that which brings hope, faith and charity into our life. This is called a rule of life which is not about rigid discipline but rather a way of reflecting on who I am and what I seek to become. The simplest example is the ancient command echoed by Jesus as the golden rule, “Love the Lord with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength and all your soul and your neighbour as yourself.” This allows us each day to reflect on how we live this ancient truth which reflects that when we come close to God we come close to others and close to ourselves. We become people who live in a communion which seeks to be present to the God of all creation not the gods of our own creation.

Fr. John Armstrong

30th Sunday of Ordinary Time – 27th October

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To be good or to do good

One of the temptations of the Christian life is to believe that we win God’s love by what we do rather than who we are called to become. If we believe that our goodness is judged by the number of good acts that we perform then we will only be judged by our last good act. We will also start to believe that our relationship with God is based on transactions rather than relationship. We become hooked on a spirituality which is as transparent as our fly buy cards or the number of reward points that we have collected. We can start to treat God in the same way by bargaining our way through life by saying something like,   ” I have done all these good things, now I would like this to happen in my life”. We also start to make comparisons with others especially when from outward appearance their life does not appear to be as holy and devout as our own. We can start to see God as our own personal friend who deals with us exclusively on our own terms.

Yet the reality that we discover is that we are called to be good in spite of all the struggles that we encounter in life. This includes our own internal struggle to live a life which responds to the grace of God in a way that does not just focus on my own goodness. The heart of the spiritual life is to recognise that it is God who loved us first and who wants to enter into a relationship as we are at the moment. This is especially true when we experience our own failures, sinfulness, addictive behaviour and lack of vision. We come before God not because we are perfect but so that we can be perfected in God’s love for us. This calls us to notice that our holiness does depend solely on our good acts as though it can be achieved through our own effort. Rather it is a discovery that God wants to work with us each day to strengthen a relationship which enables us to undertake good actions which flow out of that enduring relationship. In this way, we discover the freedom to be ourselves and creativity which glorifies God with our whole life.  No longer do we engage in God acts because they will bring rewards in the future which guarantee our salvation, we engage in God acts because they are an expression of God’s love for us and our love for God and for others. 

In this way, we discover a humility which does not diminish us but enlivens us to walk with God each day. It allows each day to be a gentle surrender to God’s providence to provide what is needed and how we can be present to others. It is an open-hearted response which says yes to each day to the people I meet and the work that I undertake with love and compassion. 

Fr. John Armstrong

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time – 13th October

Praying for healing and mercy

Even in an age of greater levels of medical care, there can still be a feeling that sickness isolates us from the rest of the community. We start to recognise that our priorities shift and that we start to wonder how this will change the way we live and interact with others. Much has been done to recognise that the way we live with an illness is not just about the treatment provided but the way that the treatment allows the person to be treated with dignity and engaged in the healing process. We are not just worked on as though we are a car going in for a service but rather as a person who has inherent worth which allows them to discover who they are called to become even in the midst of suffering.

This is part of our prayer which deeply engages with who we are and who we wish to become. There is a desire for wholeness and integration which helps a person to recognise who they are in spite of the suffering they may experience. There is a call to holiness which does not just endure suffering but which seeks to assist the person not to become their illness or condition. Just as we see people being labelled as lepers causing them to be excluded from the heart of a community we need to see the person not just their illness. Once we actually see them they discover that even in the midst of great suffering they can still be loved and accompanied as a person with inherent dignity and worth.

This is a call where the gifts of both healing and mercy come to the fore because they seek to help the person discover God’s compassionate face through human hands. They help people to discover that even in the most difficult circumstances that they can experience the healing touch present in a person’s expertise but also in their attitudes. Far from being isolated from the community, they are surrounded by people who look out for their welfare and wellbeing. In being accompanied they discover their true identity in God who seeks them out with grace and mercy. Our whole system of welfare is based on this fundamental dignity of the human person which sees people created in God’s image and likeness. This changes how we see ourselves and see others in great suffering as people who we hold in prayer.

Fr. John Armstrong

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time – 29th September

The climate is changing!

In our post-modern age, we often live as though our world is empty and meaningless and where we are called to define our own meaning. Things become what we want them to be rather than what they are. There is a sense in which this retreat away from reality stands in stark contrast to even our understanding of the natural world which underpins much of our scientific research and our theological thought about the source of all life. Things, when viewed solely by their utility rather than by their essence, lead us into unchartered waters where we start to view something as having value and worth if it is useful to ourselves. This causes us to act in a way which is centred solely on what we need for this moment and this day and ignores both the physical and spiritual reality that at the heart of life we have a connection with God which shapes how we become stewards of all creation.

Hence, when we close our hearts and our minds to the reality of the world we live in and focus solely on what we need for the moment we can rob others of the vitality with which they need to live. It can cause us to look for what will make us wealthy, successful and relevant at the expense of others and future generations. We can become driven by immediate concerns rather than looking to that which can sustain life in all its beauty and diversity. When we look solely at what we own, the power that we possess and the status we have achieved we have an ability to divide people into categories: rich and poor; liberal and conservative; citizens and refugees; the haves and have nots. Such divisions are based on artificial constructs some of which are based on birth, opportunity and identity. They can cause us to see others solely through the prism of the label we put upon them rather than as people equal in dignity and worth. When we lose our sense of humanity we live on shifting sand for it would be too easy for us to lose what is essential to life, the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of God. Wealth, power and success can become illusory and can be stripped from us by sickness, unemployment, failure and ultimately by death. We can actually construct a philosophy devoid of hope, which lacks faith and denies charity rather than a philosophy which proclaims life in all its wonder and diversity.

In seeking to discover who we are called to become we need to listen to the heart of God which beats through all creation. This is a recognition that we are not called to just use our environment as we please but rather as a stewardship entrusted to us by God. This starts not only with how we treat each other but how we seek to care for the environment in which we live for the good of God and the good of each other. We are not called to live as aliens in a strange land who seek escape from reality either through denial or apocalyptic rhetoric. We are called to be a living witness that God created all things and sustains them in being. We are called to be co-creators who seek to live that vision which we encounter in the person of Jesus Christ. This way of life seeks us to be present in our current situation with grace. We seek the truth of life by reflecting on what challenges we face and what moves us into action. We seek to discover how our life changes through these encounters in a way which lies at the core of who we are. As people on a pilgrimage, we are called to travel with each other by acknowledging that each of our stories interweaves with the divine story. We are not called to be people removed from our current reality but people who live an incarnate faith which engages with the way we live in our world and creates a way of life which professes what we believe.

Fr. John Armstrong

24th Sunday of Ordinary Time – 15th September

To whom do I confess my sins?

There has been much debate over recent months since the Royal Commission on the sacrament of confession and about the seal of confession. Many jurisdictions have enacted laws or are proposing laws to mandate what is heard in this sacramental setting as reportable if a person confesses to having abused a child to the priest. The question has largely focussed on what is being confessed and who it is being confessed to. In the civil understanding, the knowledge is revealed to another human being whereas in the sacramental understanding the priest acts in the name of Christ and so that the person is bearing their soul to God. I think what lies at the heart of the issue is whether a person is truly penitent and therefore able to take responsibility for their actions before God and before the Christian community. A person should never approach confession solely for their own good but out of genuine desire to reform their lives and to be open to being transformed by God. The sacrament should never be seen as cheap grace or a get out of jail free card! The fruits of a good confession should prompt a person to care for others and not just for themselves. It is never just about the healing of the individual but the healing of the whole community.

So how do we assist a person to make the first steps towards a good confession and a penitential life? I think that we should not see a good confession just as a private act which a person undertakes solely for their own redemption. This is not just about having a private conversation with God but a place where we consider how our actions have both seen and unseen consequences on those around us. These can either cause harm or benefit the life of another. This is where we need to reflect the orientation of our life and the direction in which we are heading. When we look at the younger son we see a person who wants to have all the benefits of the Good News on his terms rather than with the closeness of a loving relationship with God.  In a similar way, the older son sees himself as slaving for the Father but lacks the insight of what this relationship means. He lives in the same house but also the closeness of that loving relationship alludes him. The difference is that the Father looks out for both of them and takes the initiative. He provides the grace necessary for us to take the initiative to reach out to those who may seem lost or even to ourselves, when the focus is on an open squandering of the gifts or the critical judgment of others. God enables us to be attentive to that need for mercy, healing and forgiveness.

I feel that the deeper question that our community faces is how do we see reconciliation as a communal activity rather than just a private matter. At the heart of this activity is the seeking of the will of God which brings healing to our communities. This is more than just an attitudinal shift which seeks the restoration of what has been lost but rather the development of a reconciled heart. Much has been done to ensure that our communities become places where children can grow to maturity in safety but there is a deeper call to encounter a God who transforms our lives to heal and be healed from the harm that lies in the human heart. This is never about just pious intentions but a genuine desire to allow God’s grace to be discovered and lived. Without it, we will live in quiet desperation looking for a person who can rescue us for ourselves rather than reaching out for the person who can restore us into full communion. It will rely more on our efforts rather than God’s promptings to be reconciled and reconcilers.

Fr. John Armstrong