As a farmer's son, today's parable speaks volumes to me. In November you ploughed the land, spread fertilizer, later on ploughed again, harrowed, rotavated and then you were ready to plant six months later. Beautiful soil well broken and land fertilised to receive the golden grain.  My father would lift it up and let it flow through his hand like dry sand blowing in the wind. Beautiful. In Ireland with rain and sun you could look forward to a good harvest.  Still more work to be done with spraying and keeping the birds away with scarecrows. Most of the work was done in preparing the land.  No preparation and the planting was a waste of time and certainly no harvest.  Do you understand me?  Are you hearing me?  If we do not prepare for our mass/readings then even the greatest of preachers are wasting their time.  Yes, many people will say great sermon, Fr Jack, but by the time they get home the cares of the world take over.

Read the readings again and make them their own.

NO PREPARATION, NO RESULTS

Fr Jack

Paul in the second reading makes what I think is a massive assumption.  "Our interests are only in spiritual things."  May be true for some people but not all.  If we were all interested in the spiritual things only we would be living in a different world.  Yes I believe it is possible.  "Jesus says his yoke is light."  Yes, anything we grasp with both hands and put our heart into is light and easy and very possible. But for many their faith is routine, tired and boring and I agree, because our heart is not in it.  We need to appreciate what God has done for us and is still doing.  The times he has protected and brought us through.  I remember several times when God positively intervened in my life. And yes I believe he has even greater things in store for me and all of us.  Make sure you enjoy the journey by sorting out your priorities.

Those of us who are baptised should consider ourselves dead to sin and alive with the life of Christ.  Jesus talks about giving a person a cup of water. Seems simple enough in our western world where water is available at the turn of a tap.  But for three quarters of the world's population water is like gold.  As Pope Francis says:- "Access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights. Our world has a grave social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water, because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity. This debt can be paid partly by an increase in funding to provide clean water and sanitary services among the poor.

We are worth more than many sparrows. Might seem like an insult at first but when we read the whole thing in context it is clear that Jesus, God is crazy about us.  But Jesus wants us to respond to him, in that way we become more responsive to him.   And in becoming more responsive we become more aware.  Our whole problem is the limitation of our mind and heart.  We lack a God language to help us appreciate.  We fail to look around our world and appreciate the beauty of what God is doing for us.  People say they want signs, open your eyes and there are signs everywhere.  All the bad signs and things you see or hear are man-made.  And sadly, often we blame God.

Today's Gospel is a very touching story about Jesus. "He felt sorry for them."  He passionately cares for each one of us.  An awesome thought.  God caring for me. They were harassed and dejected.  A man came to see me as I am writing this.  He's got food and he has got a house, a job, a family but he was harassed and dejected. Life is tough, he said.  And yes, it is tough for many people.  Increased prices and bills, fraught relationships, lack of appreciation by partner, employer, family and friends.  Boredom and routine, no light at the end of the tunnel.  I was/am in total sympathy. Then Jesus goes on to talk about a few labourers.  And a great harvest.   For far too long I think many people have seen this to refer to priests. I would like to reduce today's gospel to one sentence.  "TALK TO AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER."

"God loved the world so much that "Do this in memory of me."  How often did I hear at a funeral,  "we will never forget them."   Yet within a few days Granny is totally forgotten. "At the going down of the sun, we will remember them." and as we are saying it we are bombing the hell out of people in another corner of the world. We surely have a short memory.  So Jesus, totally aware of our inability to remember, told us to;- "Do this in memory of me." Keep the memory alive, Jesus says, never forget how good I have been to you and how much I love you.  Thank God billions of people and priests have gathered together around the world to keep the Memory alive.   Here in St James we do it nine times a week and the same world-wide. The memory of Jesus still lives on. Long may it continue.  But for the above to be real and true we must keep loving people as much as he did. Visiting the sick. Visiting those in prison. Feeding the hungry. Giving drink to the thirsty.  YES, AND WELCOMING THE STRANGER.  

"God loved the world so much that He gave us his only son." What a beautiful statement from the mouth of Jesus himself. May all of us, but especially parents be faithful to receiving that great gift every week in the sacrament of Holy Communion and helping their children to appreciate it. It is frightening how callous we can sometimes be in the face of Jesus. Please receive often and never become casual. We are talking about God himself.

We may think the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles was like a bit of magic but they worked hard at it 

Two very important things 

1. They stayed together
2. They were discussing the scriptures.

Staying together is so important.   That is the church.  We stay together and the more we support each other the more powerful we/the church will be. Remembering we are the church. People often ask me will I retire. Living without the church/my family/YOU I think I could lose my faith. We need each other. Thanks for being there for me and each another. Long may it last. The better it is, the greater the presence of the spirit among us. Our own Pentecost.

How is your prayer life doing?  I am sure we all worry about our ability to pray from time to time and we worry about our own sincerity, I know I do.  Chapter 14,15,16,17 of John's Gospel is known as the Priestly Prayer of Jesus. Jesus’s prayer for the world before He goes to the Father.  Looks very straight forward, factual and is Jesus sharing with his Father what He wants. He is more or less telling God that he came and did what He requested. So now you keep your side of the bargain and take me back to heaven. I love it. Read it again and let it help you in your prayer life.

Do you enjoy mass every week, some weeks or never.  Why do you come?  A dangerous question but one worth reflecting on. Challenge yourself.  What does your faith mean to you?  If you were accused of being a Christian. Would you have enough evidence to prove, yes, I am a Christian.  Jesus gives us fairly simple answers.  "If you love me, keep my commandments."  Keeping the commandments can seem very boring, but they are all an attempt to get to know Christ better. Boring, OK but positive. Good for our health, wellbeing and peace of mind.  It proves I love Christ and that is far from boring.  You are not an orphan.  I am truly a son/daughter of the Father all wrapped up in a divine love. What a claim. I now await the coming of the Holy Spirit. to convince me more of who I truly am.

I love the first reading from Acts. The apostles were faced with a very real problem of taking care of everything. So they called a meeting of all the elders and agreed to elect seven people to take care of other jobs.

A great sign of the church in action.

Thank God here in our own parish we have a great band of people taking care of so much,

Readers,

choirs/band/singers

Eucharistic ministers/sick/housebound

servers

cleaners

flowers

finance

health and safety

hospitality

safeguarding

catechetical work of many kinds

Liturgy groups

SVP/poor

Legion/lonely

School/s

Secretarial

The one I forgot - We have got our own parish co-ordinating council who decides what we need to do here in our own parish. Why don't you write to them with suggestions of what you may feel we need to do here in our own parish. Would like to offer your services to any of the above groups for an hour or two a week?

YOUR PARISH NEEDS YOU.

Today's gospel shows Jesus as an absolutely caring shepherd.  No hint of cheating or callousness.  But the true shepherd who cares for all his sheep. Minding the sheep as they come and go and always leading them to pastures new. This is Jesus and also our Heavenly Father, continually watching over each one of us with a fatherly affection.  We in turn should express that love in our care for each other.  I hope in some small way my own love shines through as a reflection of the love of God.  As individuals and as parish we need to be continually showing forth the love of God. This is where vocation comes in, going beyond the call of duty, giving without counting the cost. loving as we have been loved.  Would I do it all over again?  An impossible question to answer, but what I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed my 50 years and am very happy with my decision.  I would encourage any young person with a big heart to check it out.

I love this story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  Let us assume for now that they are husband and wife.  Having a good chat about all the goings on in Jerusalem over the last few days. In their discussion I like to think they enlightened each other.   Wherever two or three are gathered in my name I am there in their midst.   The Gospel puts it very graphically and says Jesus walked with them.   Nothing surprising there.  So whenever two or three of you gather in your house to prepare the Sunday reading, Jesus is there with you.  This sort of preparation can make Christ very real for you and your children who have a great imagination, it is a fantastic faith builder and form of prayer.  God is in his word and it is only when we break the word that we find Christ. "I live now, not I but Christ lives in me."

When Jesus rose from the dead, he met Mary Magdalene who clung to his feet.

She is obviously delighted to see Jesus again and it seems a reasonable thing to do, however, Jesus seems very abrupt and tells her not to cling to him but to go back to Jerusalem and tell the brothers.

Here Jesus is being adamant that He has opened the gates of heaven and we should not cling to him but get on with preaching the Good News.

Same idea on the Mount of Trans-figuration  when Peter wants to build three tents and stay on the mountain.  

Jesus is adamant that they must go down and preach the Good News.

Today we see Jesus breathing on the apostles and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit, your sins are forgiven, we are free so get on with telling others what Jesus has done for you. As you read this you can reflect on what Jesus has done/means  for you?  Is it worth telling others?

When Jesus rose from the dead, he met Mary Magdalene who clung to his feet.

She is obviously delighted to see Jesus again and it seems a reasonable thing to do, however, Jesus seems very abrupt and tells her not to cling to him but to go back to Jerusalem and tell the brothers.

Here Jesus is being adamant that He has opened the gates of heaven and we should not cling to him but get on with preaching the Good News.

Same idea on the Mount of Trans-figuration  when Peter wants to build three tents and stay on the mountain.  

Jesus is adamant that they must go down and preach the Good News.

Today we see Jesus breathing on the apostles and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit, your sins are forgiven, we are free so get on with telling others what Jesus has done for you. As you read this you can reflect on what Jesus has done/means  for you?  Is it worth telling others?

Today has changed the course of history forever, and you and I are the proud knowers of this mystery. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. The cross is empty and the tomb is empty.  We are free. Not even death to worry about. Christ has been there before us. This is the news that has impacted billions of lives.  Do I feel truly free, do I experience the real freedom that Christ brought by his resurrection? Because the cross where Jesus died is empty and the tomb where He was buried is vacant, you really can experience true freedom. His resurrection is really good news. It's news that has impacted billions of lives across millennia in some incredible ways. And it's relevant to you, here and now.If we look around the world and see the suffering, the hunger, the oppression by corrupt governments, we must truly look and see how blessed we truly are.  As some would say we should never get off our knees from thanking God. 

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

It is not the suffering of Christ that pleases the father but his willingness.  

Fr Jack

The cross is our great Christian symbol.  Many people wear it as an item of jewellery, a symbol of what they believe and proud of it. Sadly, others wear it as a fashion item which is rather strange.  Can you imagine wearing an electric chair or a guillotine around your neck?   Because that is what it is a symbol of capital punishment.  And yet it is the sign by which we conquer this world and its enticements.  On the cross Jesus is saying "THE NONSENSE STOPS HERE." The nonsense.......our own ugliness, our own dysfunction, our own lack of forgiveness. our scapegoating, our own hurtfulness. our own self-righteousness. The world's dysfunction is displayed on the cross.  Jesus is saying leave it all here at the foot of the cross and unburden yourself, or in the language of last week's gospel unbind yourself and let yourself go free. This is why it is Good Friday, Jesus unbound the world from all its dysfunction. Why don't you accept it?

Again, a very familiar gospel about the raising of Lazarus. Hopefully when our time comes, we will also rise. But in the meantime, we can do a great job in preparation for experiencing the joy of heaven and get a taste of it here and now.

"The dead man. Lazarus came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth around his face."  Jesus says,"unbind him and let him go free."   I believe we are all bound to many things, either through attachment or inadequacy. Remember last week's newsletter, "Spiritual maturity is gained when we stop attaching happiness to material things."

ATTACHMENT:

to anger

to jealousy

to not forgiving

to my phone

to any possession

to spitefulness

to self-righteousness

to judging

INADEQUACIES:

feeling inferior

not good enough

comparing to others

not being at peace with myself.

Unbind yourself and be free this side of the grave.

To be blind must be a great physical disability. Yet some blind people I know are very positive. They often say "I see." meaning.........I understand!!!  Probably more important.  Why do we often say never discuss religion or politics? because you can discuss them forever.  Sadly, sometimes it is not a discussion, it is an exchange of opinions.  Your opinion----my opinion, is one as good as another?  That is an exchange of opinions. Self-referential? often not very enlightening.  This would be fine in a world without Jesus but Jesus came into the world because he loves us.

My favourite Gospel. I've got a beautiful carving, from Jerusalem,  of this scene. Here you have got a terrific encounter between two people.  Remember this took place two thousand years ago. look at the contrast:-

JESUS           THE WOMAN

a man              a woman

a Jew               a Samaritan

a rabbi             a sinner

God                 a human

And Jesus is at home in this scene. Shattering all our prejudices and isms -sexism, racism, sectarianism, nationalism, superiorism.  He sees his sister and he loves her, does not judge her.  How often am I guilty of judging and condemning rather than seeing the potential of another human being and a friend.  As Jesus says our worship needs to be in SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH, or as the Pope says, "For it is in togetherness that we follow Jesus. Together too, as a pilgrim Church in time, we experience the liturgical year and Lent within it, walking alongside those whom the Lord has placed among us as fellow travellers,"  The woman having met Jesus goes on to talk about him.