Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
To be a vibrant Catholic Community
unified in its commitment
to growing disciples for Christ
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney
Mob: 0417 279 437
Mob: 0417 279 437
Assistant Priest: Fr Paschal Okpon
Mob: 0438 562 731
paschalokpon@yahoo.com
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
Mob: 0437 521 257
Postal Address: PO Box 362
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au
Secretary: Annie Davies / Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Jenny Garnsey
Parish Mass times for the Month: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Parents are asked to contact the Parish Office to make arrangements for attending a Baptismal Preparation Session and booking a Baptism date.
Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist: Are received following a Family–centred, Parish-based, School-supported Preparation Program.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: prepares adults for reception into the Catholic community.
Marriage: arrangements are made by contacting one of our priests - couples attend a Pre-marriage Program
Anointing of the Sick: please contact one of our priests
Reconciliation: Ulverstone - Fridays (10am - 10:30am)
Devonport - Saturday (5:15pm – 5:45pm)
Care and Concern: If you are aware of anyone who is sick or in need of assistance in the Parish please visit them. Then, if they are willing and give permission, could you please pass on their names to the Parish Office. We have a group of parishioners who are part of the Care and Concern Group who are willing and able to provide some backup and support to them. Unfortunately, because of privacy issues, the Parish Office is not able to give out details unless prior permission has been given.
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Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction with Adoration - Devonport: First Friday of each month.
Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Monday evenings 7pm – 9:30pm Community Room Ulverstone
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
Parish Prayer
Heavenly Father,
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.
Amen.
Weekday Masses 6th - 9th February, 2018
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin… St Paul Miki & companions
Devonport:
Ulverstone:
Penguin:
Latrobe:
Port Sorell:
Clean/Flowers/Prepare: G Bellchambers, M Gillard
Readings this week – 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B
First Reading: Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Gospel: Mark 1:29-39
PREGO REFLECTION:
I may like to imagine myself alongside Jesus, walking with him as he moves from place to place, from one day into the next.
I watch Jesus as he speaks … touches … responds to others.
What is stirring within me? How do I want to respond?
If I need to, I show him my own hurts and ask for his healing.
Jesus seems to have an almost magnetic pull for those in need.
I ponder what it is about him that attracts people ... and in turn, what attracts me.
In what ways might the Lord be asking me to help reach out to those who are searching, even if that takes me to unexpected places?
Jesus makes time to be alone in prayer within a hugely busy ministry.
Do I notice this same need for quiet in myself …?
How might the Lord be inviting me into a deeper relationship with him in prayer?
I speak to him about this … and listen for his voice.
I ask with confidence for any grace I need, and take time to bring to God those I know who are in need. In time I slowly conclude my prayer, giving thanks: Glory be ...
Readings next week – 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Let us pray for those who have died recently: Dorothy Corbett, Arch Jago, Francis Young,
Valerie McKenna, Graham Gregson, Janelle Payne, Josefina-Daguman Montiel
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time:
31st January – 6th February
Weekly Ramblings
Welcome to Fr Paschal as he begins his pastoral ministry
amongst us – I hope that the next few years are a great experience for him and
a good foundation for his work in the Archdiocese into the future. So as Fr
Paschal commences, just like a lot of old footballers, we have a ‘player’ who
is now moving into a less active role and will be played of the interchange
bench into the future – Fr Phil. On behalf of us all we thank you for your
support and we hope you enjoy looking on and watching the new team play but you
are always welcome to pull on the vestments when you want a run!!
During the week we, the Leadership Team, had another
conversation regarding the Prayer and Reflection Day to be held on 17th
Feb. The details are as follows: the facilitator is Mrs Sharon Brewer from the
National Centre for Evangelisation and will be held in Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic School commencing at 9.30am and concluding at 4.30pm. We are waiting
to get the final timetable for the day from Sharon – that will be here during
this coming week – and will be made available next weekend.
HEALING MASS:
Catholic Charismatic Renewal are sponsoring a Healing Mass with Fr Alexander Obiorah at St Mary’s Catholic Church Penguin on Thursday 8th February commencing at 7pm. All denominations are welcome to come and celebrate the liturgy in a vibrant and dynamic way using charismatic praise and worship, with the gifts of tongues, prophecy, healing and anointing with blessed oil. After Mass, teams will be available for individual prayer. Please bring a friend and a plate for supper and fellowship in the hall. If you wish to know more or require local transport, please contact Celestine Whiteley 6424:2043, Michael Gaffney 0447 018 068, Zoe Smith 6426:3073 or Tom Knaap 6425:2442.
Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
MARRIAGE MASS – RENEWAL OF VOWS: to be celebrated by Archbishop Julian Porteous on Sunday 11th February at Church of the Apostles, Launceston 10:30am or Sunday 18th February at St Mary’s Cathedral, Hobart 10:30am. Couples celebrating Catholic Marriage milestones are invited to RSVP to the Office of Life, Marriage and Family by emailing ben.smith@aohtas.org.au or on 6208:6036. Catholic married couples will receive a special acknowledgement from Archbishop Julian on the day.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
8th Feb CCR Group Healing Mass – 7pm St Mary’s Church Penguin
This is an article taken from the archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article here
There’s an oddity in the gospels that begs for an explanation: Jesus, it seems, doesn’t want people to know his true identity as the Christ, the Messiah. He keeps warning people not to reveal that he is the Messiah. Why?
Some scholars refer to this as “the messianic secret”, suggesting that Jesus did not want others to know his true identity until the conditions were ripe for it. There’s some truth in that, there’s a right moment for everything, but that still leaves the question unanswered: Why? Why does Jesus want to keep his true identity secret? What would constitute the right conditions within which his identity should be revealed?
That question is center-stage in Mark’s gospel, at Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus asks his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers: “You are the Christ.” Then, in what seems like a surprising response, Jesus, rather than praising Peter for his answer, warns him sternly not to tell anyone about what he has just acknowledged. Peter seemingly has given him the right answer and yet Jesus immediately, and sternly, warns him to keep that to himself. Why?
Simply put, Peter has the right answer, but the wrong conception of that answer. He has a false notion of what means to be the Messiah.
In the centuries leading up to the birth of Jesus and among Jesus’ contemporaries there were numerous notions of what the Christ would look like. We don’t know which notion Peter had but obviously it wasn’t the right one because Jesus immediately shuts it down. What Jesus says to Peter is not so much: “Don’t tell anyone that I’m the Christ” but rather “Don’t tell anyone that I am what you think the Christ should be. That’s not who I am.”
Like virtually all of his contemporaries and not unlike our own fantasies of what a Savior should look like, Peter no doubt pictured the Savior who was to come as a Superman, a Superstar who would vanquish evil through a worldly triumph within which he would simply overpower everything that’s wrong by miraculous powers. Such a Savior would not be subject to any weakness, humiliation, suffering, or death and his superiority and glory would have to be acknowledged by everyone, willing or begrudgingly. There would be no holdouts; his demonstration of power would leave no room for doubt or opposition. He would triumph over everything and would reign in a glory such as the world conceives of glory, that is, as the Ultimate Winner, as the Ultimate Champion – the winner of the Olympic medal, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the Academy Award, the Nobel Prize, the winner of the great trophy or accolade that definitively sets one above others.
When Peter says: “You are the Christ!” that’s how he’s thinking about it, as earthily glory, worldly triumph, as a man so powerful, strong, attractive, and invulnerable that everyone would simply have to fall at his feet. Hence Jesus’ sharp reply: “Don’t tell anyone about that!”
Jesus then goes on to instruct Peter, and the rest of us, who he really is a Savior. He’s not a Superman or Superstar in this world or a miracle worker who will prove his power through spectacular deeds. Who is he?
The Messiah is a dying and rising Messiah, someone who in his own life and body will demonstrate that evil is not overcome by miracles but by forgiveness, magnanimity, and nobility of soul and that these are attained not through crushing an enemy but through loving him or her more fully. And the route to this is paradoxical: The glory of the Messiah is not demonstrated by overpowering us with spectacular deeds. Rather it is demonstrated in Jesus letting himself be transformed through accepting with proper love and graciousness the unavoidable passivity, humiliation, diminishment, and dying that eventually found him. That’s the dying part. But when one dies like that or accepts any humiliation or diminishment in this way there’s always a subsequent rising to real glory, that is, to the glory of a heart so stretched and enlarged that it is now able to transform evil into good, hatred into love, bitterness into forgiveness, humiliation into glory. That’s the proper work of a Messiah.
In Matthew’s Gospel this same event is recorded and this same question is asked and Peter gives the same response, but Jesus’ answer to him here is very different. In Matthew’s account, after Peter says: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”, rather than warn him not to talk about it, Jesus praises Peter’s answer. Why the difference? Because Matthew recasts the scene so that, in his version, Peter does understand the Messiah correctly.
How do we imagine the Messiah? How do we imagine triumph? Imagine Glory? If Jesus looked us square in the eye and asked, as he asked Peter: “How do you understand me?” Would he laud us for our answer or would he tell us: “Don’t tell anyone about that!”
Reading Scripture with the Mind of Christ
This article has been collated from the daily email series from the Center for Action and Contemplation and Fr Richard Rohr OFM. You can subscribe and receive the emails by clicking here
Looking at which Scripture passages Jesus emphasizes, we see
that he clearly understands how to follow the thread that confirms the God he
encountered, knows, loves, and trusts. At the same time, Jesus ignores or openly
contradicts many texts in the Hebrew Scriptures that are punitive,
imperialistic, classist, or exclusionary. He never quotes the book of Numbers,
for example, which is rather ritualistic and legalistic. He never quotes Joshua
or Judges, which are full of sanctified violence. In fact, he teaches the
opposite.
Jesus does not mention the list of twenty-eight “thou shall
nots” in Leviticus 18 through 20, but chooses instead to echo the rare positive
statement of Leviticus 19:18: “You must love your neighbour as yourself.” The
longest single passage he quotes is from Isaiah 61 (in Luke 4:18-19): “The
Spirit of the Lord has been given to me. He has anointed me to bring good news
to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight, to set
the downtrodden free, and to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord.” Jesus
appears to have deliberately omitted the last line—“and the day of vengeance of
our God” (Isaiah 61:2b)—because he does not believe in a vengeful God.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Hierarchy of Truths: Jesus’ Use
of Scripture (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2014), CD, MP3 download.
'WINTER' SMALL GROUP LAUNCH
This is taken from the weekly blog by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Baltimore. You can find the orginal blog here
When we first started studying healthy, growing, Evangelical churches around the country one of the things we learned about was Small Groups. The concept was not entirely unheard of in Catholic parishes, as the Renew program, widely used a number of years ago, was based on small group discussion, as a form of adult education. But the idea that parishioners would commit, in an ongoing way, to an additional weekly gathering, in their homes, for the purpose of faith sharing and spiritual growth seemed like an impossible idea.
In fact, the first time we attended a church conference at Saddleback Church, as avidly interested in everything they had to tell us as we were, we actually skipped the sessions on small groups. It didn’t occur to us that they could even be attempted in a Catholic setting. Eventually we came to the realization that we’re simply never going to get people to go deeper in their discipleship, if all they’re doing is showing up on Sunday mornings. We learned that they’ve got to serve, they’ve got to give, and sooner or later they’ve got to share their faith. And one great way to do that is through small groups.
We say small groups are our Schools for Discipleship. It is where our great big church gets small. In church on Sunday there are 4,000 people and it is mighty easy to get lost in the crowd. In a group we can be accountable for growing as disciples. In church parishioners sit in rows and listen to me, in groups they sit in circles and they get to talk. My whole aim in the weekend homily is just to get the conversation started. The conversation happens in small groups.
Groups are also our delivery system for member care. Our church is too large for the pastor to provide the care that is requested and required. In a small group we can make sure members are never lost sight of, their group members can walk with them through difficult seasons. Time and again I have seen inspiring examples of small groups gathering together in support of a group member. On the other hand, when people have complained to me about a lack of support from the parish at some critical moment, it always turns out they weren’t in a group and they really have no one to blame but themselves.
Anyway, this weekend is our Winter Small Group Launch, we’ll be helping you connect with a group, as an ongoing commitment, just for this semester as a limited commitment, or just for Lent, to give it a try. We’ve got all kinds of groups that meet every day of the week at all different times. We even have groups that meet online.
Do yourself a favor and get into a group in 2018.
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
Amen.
Weekday Masses 6th - 9th February, 2018
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin… St Paul Miki & companions
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 10:30am Eliza Purton 12noon Devonport
7:00pm Penguin … CCR Healing Mass
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
Next Weekend 10th & 11th February, 2018
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin & Devonport Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 10th & 11th February, 2018
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: M Gaffney, H Lim 10:30am: F Sly, J Tuxworth, K Pearce
Ministers of Communion: Vigil: B, B & B Windebank, T Bird, J Kelly, R Baker
10:30am: S Riley, M Sherriff, R Beaton, D & M Barrientos
Cleaners. 9th Feb: F Sly, M Hansen, R McBain 16th Feb: P Shelverton, E Petts
Piety Shop 10th Feb: R McBain 11th Feb: O McGinley
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: J & S Willoughby Ministers of Communion: B Deacon, K Reilly
Cleaners: B & V McCall, G Doyle Flowers: M Byrne Hospitality: T Good Team
Penguin:
Greeters: G & N Pearce Commentator: Readers: A Guest, J Barker
Ministers of Communion: M Hiscutt, M Murray Liturgy: Penguin Setting Up: E Nickols
Care of Church: Y & R Downs
Latrobe:
Reader: P Cotterill Minister of Communion: I Campbell Procession of gifts: J Hyde
Port Sorell:
Readers: M Badcock, L Post Minister of Communion: B Lee
Clean/Flowers/Prepare: G Bellchambers, M Gillard
Clean/Flowers/Prepare: G Bellchambers, M Gillard
Readings this week – 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B
First Reading: Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Gospel: Mark 1:29-39
PREGO REFLECTION:
Having come to some inner quiet, I read this passage slowly, reverently.
I may like to imagine myself alongside Jesus, walking with him as he moves from place to place, from one day into the next.
I watch Jesus as he speaks … touches … responds to others.
What is stirring within me? How do I want to respond?
If I need to, I show him my own hurts and ask for his healing.
Jesus seems to have an almost magnetic pull for those in need.
I ponder what it is about him that attracts people ... and in turn, what attracts me.
In what ways might the Lord be asking me to help reach out to those who are searching, even if that takes me to unexpected places?
Jesus makes time to be alone in prayer within a hugely busy ministry.
Do I notice this same need for quiet in myself …?
How might the Lord be inviting me into a deeper relationship with him in prayer?
I speak to him about this … and listen for his voice.
I ask with confidence for any grace I need, and take time to bring to God those I know who are in need. In time I slowly conclude my prayer, giving thanks: Glory be ...
I may like to imagine myself alongside Jesus, walking with him as he moves from place to place, from one day into the next.
I watch Jesus as he speaks … touches … responds to others.
What is stirring within me? How do I want to respond?
If I need to, I show him my own hurts and ask for his healing.
Jesus seems to have an almost magnetic pull for those in need.
I ponder what it is about him that attracts people ... and in turn, what attracts me.
In what ways might the Lord be asking me to help reach out to those who are searching, even if that takes me to unexpected places?
Jesus makes time to be alone in prayer within a hugely busy ministry.
Do I notice this same need for quiet in myself …?
How might the Lord be inviting me into a deeper relationship with him in prayer?
I speak to him about this … and listen for his voice.
I ask with confidence for any grace I need, and take time to bring to God those I know who are in need. In time I slowly conclude my prayer, giving thanks: Glory be ...
Readings next week – 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B
First Reading: Leviticus 13:1-2. 44-46
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
Gospel: Mark 1:40-45
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Joy Kiely, Judy Carpenter, Vic Slavin, Rex Bates, Phil Tuckett David Welch & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently: Dorothy Corbett, Arch Jago, Francis Young,
Valerie McKenna, Graham Gregson, Janelle Payne, Josefina-Daguman Montiel
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time:
31st January – 6th February
31st January – 6th February
Josie Williamson, Coral Hankey, Lance Cox, Gavin Davey, Lachlan Berwick, Desmond Hanson, Frank Meagher, Mick Groves, Pamela Haslock, Joan Nolan, Basil Cassidy, Darrell Smith, Betty Hodgson, Sylvia Strange, David Rutherford.
May they Rest in Peace
Weekly Ramblings
Welcome to Fr Paschal as he begins his pastoral ministry
amongst us – I hope that the next few years are a great experience for him and
a good foundation for his work in the Archdiocese into the future. So as Fr
Paschal commences, just like a lot of old footballers, we have a ‘player’ who
is now moving into a less active role and will be played of the interchange
bench into the future – Fr Phil. On behalf of us all we thank you for your
support and we hope you enjoy looking on and watching the new team play but you
are always welcome to pull on the vestments when you want a run!!
Last month I asked people to complete an evaluation form on
the Advent Reflection Program – Chosen. I got almost 250 responses and over 80%
were positive for doing something similar in the future. As mentioned over the
past few weeks this weekend we are inviting people to sign up for a Lenten
Discussion Group – a form will be available during Masses this weekend and
people will then be contacted in the next week with further details from their
group leader.
During the week we, the Leadership Team, had another
conversation regarding the Prayer and Reflection Day to be held on 17th
Feb. The details are as follows: the facilitator is Mrs Sharon Brewer from the
National Centre for Evangelisation and will be held in Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic School commencing at 9.30am and concluding at 4.30pm. We are waiting
to get the final timetable for the day from Sharon – that will be here during
this coming week – and will be made available next weekend.
Please take care on the roads and in your homes,
Catholic Charismatic Renewal are sponsoring a Healing Mass with Fr Alexander Obiorah at St Mary’s Catholic Church Penguin on Thursday 8th February commencing at 7pm. All denominations are welcome to come and celebrate the liturgy in a vibrant and dynamic way using charismatic praise and worship, with the gifts of tongues, prophecy, healing and anointing with blessed oil. After Mass, teams will be available for individual prayer. Please bring a friend and a plate for supper and fellowship in the hall. If you wish to know more or require local transport, please contact Celestine Whiteley 6424:2043, Michael Gaffney 0447 018 068, Zoe Smith 6426:3073 or Tom Knaap 6425:2442.
LENTEN
LITURGY PREPARATION:
All are welcome to attend a Lenten Liturgy Preparation at Parish House, 90 Stewart
Street Devonport on Sunday 11th February at 2:30 pm. For further
information please call Peter on 0437 921 366.
Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport. Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 8th February – Tony Ryan & Alan Luxton.
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
MARRIAGE MASS – RENEWAL OF VOWS: to be celebrated by Archbishop Julian Porteous on Sunday 11th February at Church of the Apostles, Launceston 10:30am or Sunday 18th February at St Mary’s Cathedral, Hobart 10:30am. Couples celebrating Catholic Marriage milestones are invited to RSVP to the Office of Life, Marriage and Family by emailing ben.smith@aohtas.org.au or on 6208:6036. Catholic married couples will receive a special acknowledgement from Archbishop Julian on the day.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
8th Feb CCR Group Healing Mass – 7pm St Mary’s Church Penguin
11th Feb Marriage Mass Renewal of Vows – 10:30am Church of the Apostles, Launceston
14th Feb Ash Wednesday – Mass Times: 9:30am Latrobe, 12noon Devonport, 7pm Ulverstone
17th Feb Parish Retreat & Reflection Day – 9:30am – 4.30pm Our Lady of Lourdes School
HOW DOES GOD ACT IN OUR WORLD?
This is an article taken from the archives of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find the original article here
There’s an oddity in the gospels that begs for an explanation: Jesus, it seems, doesn’t want people to know his true identity as the Christ, the Messiah. He keeps warning people not to reveal that he is the Messiah. Why?
Some scholars refer to this as “the messianic secret”, suggesting that Jesus did not want others to know his true identity until the conditions were ripe for it. There’s some truth in that, there’s a right moment for everything, but that still leaves the question unanswered: Why? Why does Jesus want to keep his true identity secret? What would constitute the right conditions within which his identity should be revealed?
That question is center-stage in Mark’s gospel, at Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus asks his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers: “You are the Christ.” Then, in what seems like a surprising response, Jesus, rather than praising Peter for his answer, warns him sternly not to tell anyone about what he has just acknowledged. Peter seemingly has given him the right answer and yet Jesus immediately, and sternly, warns him to keep that to himself. Why?
Simply put, Peter has the right answer, but the wrong conception of that answer. He has a false notion of what means to be the Messiah.
In the centuries leading up to the birth of Jesus and among Jesus’ contemporaries there were numerous notions of what the Christ would look like. We don’t know which notion Peter had but obviously it wasn’t the right one because Jesus immediately shuts it down. What Jesus says to Peter is not so much: “Don’t tell anyone that I’m the Christ” but rather “Don’t tell anyone that I am what you think the Christ should be. That’s not who I am.”
Like virtually all of his contemporaries and not unlike our own fantasies of what a Savior should look like, Peter no doubt pictured the Savior who was to come as a Superman, a Superstar who would vanquish evil through a worldly triumph within which he would simply overpower everything that’s wrong by miraculous powers. Such a Savior would not be subject to any weakness, humiliation, suffering, or death and his superiority and glory would have to be acknowledged by everyone, willing or begrudgingly. There would be no holdouts; his demonstration of power would leave no room for doubt or opposition. He would triumph over everything and would reign in a glory such as the world conceives of glory, that is, as the Ultimate Winner, as the Ultimate Champion – the winner of the Olympic medal, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the Academy Award, the Nobel Prize, the winner of the great trophy or accolade that definitively sets one above others.
When Peter says: “You are the Christ!” that’s how he’s thinking about it, as earthily glory, worldly triumph, as a man so powerful, strong, attractive, and invulnerable that everyone would simply have to fall at his feet. Hence Jesus’ sharp reply: “Don’t tell anyone about that!”
Jesus then goes on to instruct Peter, and the rest of us, who he really is a Savior. He’s not a Superman or Superstar in this world or a miracle worker who will prove his power through spectacular deeds. Who is he?
The Messiah is a dying and rising Messiah, someone who in his own life and body will demonstrate that evil is not overcome by miracles but by forgiveness, magnanimity, and nobility of soul and that these are attained not through crushing an enemy but through loving him or her more fully. And the route to this is paradoxical: The glory of the Messiah is not demonstrated by overpowering us with spectacular deeds. Rather it is demonstrated in Jesus letting himself be transformed through accepting with proper love and graciousness the unavoidable passivity, humiliation, diminishment, and dying that eventually found him. That’s the dying part. But when one dies like that or accepts any humiliation or diminishment in this way there’s always a subsequent rising to real glory, that is, to the glory of a heart so stretched and enlarged that it is now able to transform evil into good, hatred into love, bitterness into forgiveness, humiliation into glory. That’s the proper work of a Messiah.
In Matthew’s Gospel this same event is recorded and this same question is asked and Peter gives the same response, but Jesus’ answer to him here is very different. In Matthew’s account, after Peter says: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”, rather than warn him not to talk about it, Jesus praises Peter’s answer. Why the difference? Because Matthew recasts the scene so that, in his version, Peter does understand the Messiah correctly.
How do we imagine the Messiah? How do we imagine triumph? Imagine Glory? If Jesus looked us square in the eye and asked, as he asked Peter: “How do you understand me?” Would he laud us for our answer or would he tell us: “Don’t tell anyone about that!”
Reading Scripture with the Mind of Christ
This article has been collated from the daily email series from the Center for Action and Contemplation and Fr Richard Rohr OFM. You can subscribe and receive the emails by clicking here
Looking at which Scripture passages Jesus emphasizes, we see
that he clearly understands how to follow the thread that confirms the God he
encountered, knows, loves, and trusts. At the same time, Jesus ignores or openly
contradicts many texts in the Hebrew Scriptures that are punitive,
imperialistic, classist, or exclusionary. He never quotes the book of Numbers,
for example, which is rather ritualistic and legalistic. He never quotes Joshua
or Judges, which are full of sanctified violence. In fact, he teaches the
opposite.
Jesus does not mention the list of twenty-eight “thou shall
nots” in Leviticus 18 through 20, but chooses instead to echo the rare positive
statement of Leviticus 19:18: “You must love your neighbour as yourself.” The
longest single passage he quotes is from Isaiah 61 (in Luke 4:18-19): “The
Spirit of the Lord has been given to me. He has anointed me to bring good news
to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight, to set
the downtrodden free, and to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord.” Jesus
appears to have deliberately omitted the last line—“and the day of vengeance of
our God” (Isaiah 61:2b)—because he does not believe in a vengeful God.
Jesus sees where the text is truly heading, beyond the
low-level consciousness of a particular moment, fear, or circumstance. He knows
there is a bigger arc to the story: one that reveals a God who is
compassionate, nonviolent, and inclusive of outsiders. He knows how to “thin slice”
the text, to find the overall pattern based on small windows of insight. He
learned from Ezekiel, for example, that God's justice is restorative and not
retributive (see Ezekiel 18:21-23, 27-29).
We can only safely read Scripture—it is a dangerous book—if
we are somehow sharing in the divine gaze of love. A life of prayer helps you
develop a third eye that can read between the lines and find the golden thread
which is moving toward inclusivity, mercy, and justice. I am sure that is what
Paul means when he teaches that we must “know spiritual things in a spiritual
way” (1 Corinthians 2:13). A hardened heart, a predisposition to judgment, a
fear of God, any need to win or prove yourself right will corrupt and distort
the most inspired and inspiring of Scriptures—just as they pollute every human
conversation and relationship. Hateful people will find hateful verses to
confirm their obsession with death. Loving people will find loving verses to
call them into an even greater love of life. And both kinds of verses are in
the Bible!
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Hierarchy of Truths: Jesus’ Use
of Scripture (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2014), CD, MP3 download.
For Further Study:
Richard Rohr, Hierarchy of Truths: Jesus’ Use of Scripture
(Center for Action and Contemplation: 2014), CD, MP3 download
Richard Rohr and John Bookser Feister, Jesus’ Plan for a New
World: The Sermon on the Mount (Franciscan Media: 1996)
Richard Rohr, The Good News According to Luke: Spiritual
Reflections (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 1997)
'WINTER' SMALL GROUP LAUNCH
This is taken from the weekly blog by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Baltimore. You can find the orginal blog here
When we first started studying healthy, growing, Evangelical churches around the country one of the things we learned about was Small Groups. The concept was not entirely unheard of in Catholic parishes, as the Renew program, widely used a number of years ago, was based on small group discussion, as a form of adult education. But the idea that parishioners would commit, in an ongoing way, to an additional weekly gathering, in their homes, for the purpose of faith sharing and spiritual growth seemed like an impossible idea.
In fact, the first time we attended a church conference at Saddleback Church, as avidly interested in everything they had to tell us as we were, we actually skipped the sessions on small groups. It didn’t occur to us that they could even be attempted in a Catholic setting. Eventually we came to the realization that we’re simply never going to get people to go deeper in their discipleship, if all they’re doing is showing up on Sunday mornings. We learned that they’ve got to serve, they’ve got to give, and sooner or later they’ve got to share their faith. And one great way to do that is through small groups.
We say small groups are our Schools for Discipleship. It is where our great big church gets small. In church on Sunday there are 4,000 people and it is mighty easy to get lost in the crowd. In a group we can be accountable for growing as disciples. In church parishioners sit in rows and listen to me, in groups they sit in circles and they get to talk. My whole aim in the weekend homily is just to get the conversation started. The conversation happens in small groups.
Groups are also our delivery system for member care. Our church is too large for the pastor to provide the care that is requested and required. In a small group we can make sure members are never lost sight of, their group members can walk with them through difficult seasons. Time and again I have seen inspiring examples of small groups gathering together in support of a group member. On the other hand, when people have complained to me about a lack of support from the parish at some critical moment, it always turns out they weren’t in a group and they really have no one to blame but themselves.
Anyway, this weekend is our Winter Small Group Launch, we’ll be helping you connect with a group, as an ongoing commitment, just for this semester as a limited commitment, or just for Lent, to give it a try. We’ve got all kinds of groups that meet every day of the week at all different times. We even have groups that meet online.
Do yourself a favor and get into a group in 2018.
The Saint and her Sibling: Mary and Donald MacKillop
Just prior to the Canonisation of St Mary MacKillop Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ, described her brother, Donald’s, instrumental role in a nineteenth century Jesuit mission among the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory, his ‘New Paraguay’. Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ is bishop of the Diocese of Port Pirie, Australia.
It is an irony of Australian history that in 1891, the very year that the disillusioned social reformer, William Lane, was leading two hundred and twenty Australians to South America in order to found a utopia there – the New Australia in Paraguay – a Fr Donald MacKillop SJ was leading a group of twelve fellow Jesuits to found what he termed a New Paraguay in Australia! Neither knew of the other. Donald MacKillop was one of the two younger brothers of the woman who on Sunday 17 October will become Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop.
Donald and Mary
Donald and Mary were very close to one another, and several of their affectionate letters survive, along with photographs that were taken from time to time of Mary and Donald together. Born in Melbourne in 1853, Donald had the same upbringing as Mary and their other siblings, receiving a remarkable education at the hands of their father, Alexander, a man who was culturally accomplished but hopeless in business ventures and irresponsible with regard to his commitments to his family. His imprudence and absenteeism reduced the family to consistent poverty, such that Mary had to undertake an adult’s role and work to support her brothers and sisters. Donald was fourteen years old when he and his younger brother, Peter were sent from Portland, Victoria, to board at St Aloysius College, Sevenhill, a college for boys just opened by Jesuits expelled from their Austrian homeland. The Jesuits had come to South Australia as refugees in 1848, serving as chaplains to an immigrant party of Prussian Catholics.
You can read the complete article by clicking here
Just prior to the Canonisation of St Mary MacKillop Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ, described her brother, Donald’s, instrumental role in a nineteenth century Jesuit mission among the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory, his ‘New Paraguay’. Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ is bishop of the Diocese of Port Pirie, Australia.
It is an irony of Australian history that in 1891, the very year that the disillusioned social reformer, William Lane, was leading two hundred and twenty Australians to South America in order to found a utopia there – the New Australia in Paraguay – a Fr Donald MacKillop SJ was leading a group of twelve fellow Jesuits to found what he termed a New Paraguay in Australia! Neither knew of the other. Donald MacKillop was one of the two younger brothers of the woman who on Sunday 17 October will become Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop.
Donald and Mary
Donald and Mary were very close to one another, and several of their affectionate letters survive, along with photographs that were taken from time to time of Mary and Donald together. Born in Melbourne in 1853, Donald had the same upbringing as Mary and their other siblings, receiving a remarkable education at the hands of their father, Alexander, a man who was culturally accomplished but hopeless in business ventures and irresponsible with regard to his commitments to his family. His imprudence and absenteeism reduced the family to consistent poverty, such that Mary had to undertake an adult’s role and work to support her brothers and sisters. Donald was fourteen years old when he and his younger brother, Peter were sent from Portland, Victoria, to board at St Aloysius College, Sevenhill, a college for boys just opened by Jesuits expelled from their Austrian homeland. The Jesuits had come to South Australia as refugees in 1848, serving as chaplains to an immigrant party of Prussian Catholics.
You can read the complete article by clicking here
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