The parable of the soil, of the seed, of the birds and the thorns, of the sun and the sower alerts us to Jesus’ deep sense of connection with life in its multiple forms. It calls us to examine our connection with the natural world. For a long time, we have focussed on the human character in the parable, a character who evokes an agricultural world that is far removed from our post-industrial world, but not so far removed from the world of millions of people in our planetary home who live close to the soil and to earth’s elements and who struggle to produce the food they need to stay alive. Is the Matthean Jesus presenting in the sower an image of an estate owner, or a tenant farmer or even a slave? Or is the reader being asked to imagine the sower, whether estate owner, tenant farmer or slave, as an image of an extraordinarily generous God whose life-sustaining gifts are there for all, no matter their readiness to receive? It may not be one or the other but both. What of the silty clay loam or red sandy soil, of the wheat or barley seed, of the birds and the thorns and the sun? We know that barley was domesticated some ten thousand years ago in what became bible lands and that these lands are also the original home of the finest bread-making wheat. The birds and the thorns and the sun are for another reflection. We bring our experience of looking and listening and being into dialogue with the parable and search out its meaning for us. We trust that God will ensure an abundant harvest if we but learn to look and to listen to the needs of a planet in peril.
Praise to God, and joy in God’s merciful love, justice and peace, are themes which run through the readings for this Sunday. The First Reading from Zechariah describes how God will defeat his enemies and establish himself as king – not through war and aggression, but with humility and peace. The Psalm is a great hymn of praise, central to the Jewish faith. It speaks of God’s kindness and compassion to all, and offers us the reassurance that the Lord will always be faithful and loving, ready to support and raise us up when we fall. In the Second Reading, Paul reminds the Romans, and ourselves, of what the suffering and death of Jesus has achieved for us. He speaks of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In today’s Gospel, through his own prayer to his Father in heaven, Jesus reminds us that he is the one who will reveal God to us. Humility and gentleness are the virtues he emphasises; rest and freedom from burdens are the gifts he promises. This week we pray particularly for all those who feel overwhelmed by the pressures of daily life – whether through ill-health, conflict, poverty, loneliness or isolation. With the help of our prayers and action, may they come to know the love and peace of Christ.
In this week’s gospel, Jesus teaches, “Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.” Part of ‘losing our lives’ for Jesus means extending the self-giving, compassionate and merciful love we have received from him to others, especially the poor. As Christians, we must be prepared to accept suffering, not out of a masochistic sense that suffering is good or that we deserve it, but as a response made in love to give up anything and everything that impedes or undermines the life and love to which Christ calls us.This can sometimes mean prioritising him and the demands of discipleship over the demands of family. Consider St Francis of Assisi as an example. St Francis, in defiance of his enraged father, left his affluent home and the life his family had planned for him to live a life of radical poverty, humility, and dedication to serving the poor, in imitation of the life, poverty, and love of Jesus. St Francis is renowned as Il Poverello (Italian for “the little poor man), and as a “little Christ.”‘Losing our lives’ for Jesus does not necessarily mean we will be called to Jesus’ level of self-sacrifice. Still, our hearts need to be oriented towards this calling and open to its demands, painful and costly though that may sometimes be. But Jesus is very clear in calling us, indeed challenging us, to live the life of freedom and self-giving love for which we were created.Challenging and demanding though it is, each and every one of us is called to be a “little Christ.”
‘Do not fear’, ‘Do not be afraid…’ Jesus recognises that there will be much that will cause his disciples to be afraid but tries to get them to distinguish appropriate from inappropriate fear. There is a false fear and a true fear. Disciples need not fear those who can kill the body, because their entire physical existence is held within the hands of God and is precious in God’s sight: if God values the life of sparrows sold two for a penny, marking when they fall to the ground, how much more does the heavenly Father value and protect the lives of believers, worth more than hundreds of sparrows! Those who stand firm in witness to the Gospel and the values it enshrines, even to the point of death, can be confident that their ultimate fate lies in the hand of God and will one day be vindicated.The only valid fear for disciples should be that of falling out of God’s favour and so of losing, not one’s body, but one’s soul. This is a Gospel which illustrates the adage that Christianity is comforting but not comfortable. Matthew presents Jesus as insisting that the Gospel is not something to be talked about and lived behind closed doors. It – and the values it enshrines – demands public witness and proclamation.
Mission and reconciliation are prominent topics in the readings. The people of the Old Covenant received their mission through Moses. We, the people of the New Covenant receive our mission through Jesus. What is our mission? We are commissioned and sent to proclaim loud and clear to all and sundry that the kingdom of God has come.The gospel passage reminds us that Jesus chooses some of his disciples for specific tasks. That is not to say that the others have nothing to do. The whole Church is missionary. Each of the baptised is duty bound to spread the Gospel to the best of his or her ability. There are many ways of doing that. But the basic and most important contribution which we can make is to live a deep Christian life
The apostles worked many miracles. In our day the miracles may not be as frequent or as evident but the power is there in the Church. Every Christian is called upon to be an influence for good in society. The presence of the kingdom is announced, Christ’s mission is continued and extended when we bring the compassion of Jesus into the lives of others. Through our ordinary daily contacts with people, especially with the lonely and those on the margins, we can and ought be instruments of acceptance, reconciliation and healing. We don’t have to go on the foreign missions in order to do that. For most Christians the home, the parish, the work-place are the mission territories where we spread the Gospel message as best we can.
As is typical in the writings of St John, this week’s Gospel can be read on two levels. The words spoken by Jesus would have been shocking to those who heard them. For the Jewish people, to eat flesh and drink blood was unthinkable; it was abhorrent. Jewish dietary laws forbade the eating of flesh with its blood in it. Blood was the symbol of the life of the creature. At the end of the flood story in Genesis, God gives to humans all the plants and animals of the earth as food for them, ‘with this exception: you must not eat flesh with life, that is to say blood, in it’ (Genesis 9:4). Now here is Jesus saying that his followers must eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have life. In the continuation of this gospel passage, many turn away from Jesus at hearing him say this. Jesus then asks the disciples if they too will leave him. Peter answers on their behalf with a wonderful acclamation of faith: ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
The giving of Jesus’ flesh and blood for the life of the world is a reference to the salvific nature of his death and the inauguration of a new covenant through his sacrifice. In the Old Testament, a sacrifice was not complete unless it was also eaten; the Eucharist is our participation in Calvary, where we truly consume the once-for-all sacrifice under the species of bread and wine. Under that veil, Christ is present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
This weekend we celebrate the mystery of the Godhead, that God is a Trinity of distinct, yet undivided, persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three are not three Gods but One. God is One but not solitary. A community of persons, each equal in substance, in majesty, and power. The Church reminds us that the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of our Christian faith and life, because it is the mystery of Godself. This mystery of the triune God models for us what the human community ought be – a community of love. God our Father created our world out of love and continues to hold it in existence because of love. Jesus Christ, the Beloved Son, came into the world for love of humanity and gave his life in obedience to the Father, and as a evidence of his love for humanity (John 15:13). The Holy Spirit, who is the very dynamic of love between the Father and the Son, animates the world and pours God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5). When we love sincerely, we are manifesting God’s presence in our lives, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Coming to faith is not so much acquiring a new set of beliefs about God as it is discovering God’s existence within the realities of our daily lives. The gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit help us to be more attuned to the actions of God in our lives and in our world. At baptism, the Spirit comes upon the newly initiated Christian, and at confirmation, the Spirit of God is renewed and confirmed in the faithful.The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are: wisdom, understanding, counsel (right judgment), fortitude (courage), knowledge, piety (reverence) and fear (awe) of the Lord. The Church lists twelve fruits of the Spirit: charity (love), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity. These gifts and fruits are still very much in need in our world today.
Whether we realise it or not we are commissioned to go out to the world at the end of every liturgy, ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.’ This changes our worship. We are not here just for ourselves. Mass, which comes from a word meaning ‘to be sent’, indicates that our liturgy is about celebrating what God has done in the world in and through us, and is a preparation for what God still wants to accomplish. Finally, we continue to experience the abiding presence of Christ in our daily lives or else we wouldn’t be here. God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, is not distant to our lives or impervious to our needs; we believe in a Companion-God who seeks our company as much as we need his. In this Mass, then, let’s thank God for the mountain top of Christ’s Ascension that lifts us up out of our everyday life to celebrate that we are creatures, not the Creator. Let us hear again Christ’s call to each of us to move away from the complacency of a spiritual cafeteria to a church moving out to change the world. And let’s rejoice in Christ’s presence which abides before us, behind us, over and in us, within and without, now and forever. Amen.
The coming of the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ promise to all of us who have faith in him. The word that Jesus uses here for the Holy Spirit, paraclete (in Greek), means advocate, defender or consoler and is often used to describe a helper or witness in a court of law. Just as Peter tells his readers to be ready for whenever they are called to make a defence for themselves, Jesus promises a defender who will always be with them. The Holy Spirit is an advocate and witness for our faith. The Holy Spirit also testifies to Christ’s saving work in our lives, including times of doubts, trials and shortcomings. In a world that sometimes seems devoid of God’s presence and action, the Holy Spirit dwells within us to help us “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.”
When the world rejects Christ and his good news, we have the Holy Spirit to help us follow Christ, loving as he loved, suffering as he suffered, and living in unity with the Father as he has made possible. And when we do this, God himself, in the fully divine person of the Holy Spirit, advocates for us, defends us and comforts us.