Category: Deacon Tony reflects

As I sit down to write this, it is World Holocaust Day [27^th January]; a day when we remember the victims of hatred specifically from World War 2, but also in the years since then. At times it can be very frustrating and infuriating that mankind does not learn and we repeat the mistakes of the past. I was reminded of this on two occasions only yesterday. The first was an encounter with a woman from eastern Europe, who has been in this country for nearly 2 decades. She worked in the NHS and is now unable to work due to illness. She had to move house recently because people; her neighbours, were threatening her, damaging her property, calling her horrible names and telling her to get back to where she came from.

The second reminder of this came last night when I went to the cinema and watched the remake of the Color Purple; this time it is a musical. This is set in the first half of the twentieth century in the southern states of the USA, where racism was prevalent. For the first hour or so there are no white people in the film. The film is mostly about the interactions of one lady who had a tragic childhood and was given away by an abusive step-dad to an abusive husband and the people she met who brought some joy into her life. As well as some morally questionable behaviours in the film there are clear Christian values in this and some of the time is spent in a very lively church.

The first interaction of a white person in the film ends with a very confident black lady being demeaned and beaten up; and then jailed for defending herself. This lady went from being an extremely confident lady to becoming a scared shell of the woman she used to be. Racism, xenophobia, hatred, whatever label we want to put on it, should have no place in our society, and yet it still thrives. It is so easy for people to point the finger at someone different when things go wrong. Sadly, many people listen to them; and are encouraged by some of the media in doing so.

As Christians we are called to love. Not to just love the people we like, the people the same as us, but also to love our enemy [Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27; Romans 12:14 & 12:20]. Today the Catholic Bishops of England & Wales have dedicated this Sunday to pray for Racial Justice¹, the theme being Seeing one another in the life of the Church. We are encouraged to look at the lives of the saints; who during their lifetime saw aspects of society, which prompted them to act through their Christian faith and do something about it. Some saw a lack of care for the sick and opened hospitals or hospices, others decried a lack of opportunity for poor people and opened schools.

We are ALL encouraged to look around us; not to look for differences in others; but to see that they are another human being, made in the likeness of Christ; our brothers and sisters here on earth; a gift from God to us all and to care for one another. In this week’s edition of the ‘Big Issue’ we are introduced to 100 ‘Changemakers’ for 2024; all of whom have identified an injustice or gap in the support available to the vulnerable; and done something about it. These people set an example for us all and the Big Issue is encouraging readers to support their initiatives.²

In our Gospel today, the people of Capernaum were impressed by Jesus because he taught with authority, that authority was then confirmed by the actions of Jesus when he called out an unclean spirit. Those unclean spirits recognised who Jesus was; whilst others, including the so called learned; could not see or hear who was in front of them. As Baptised Catholics we have the authority and responsibility to share the Good News that Jesus is our Saviour. He has been called to save everyone, regardless of what we look like, regardless of which language we speak, regardless of which faith we started out in. Jesus is the only way to the Father [Jn 14:6].

In the first reading we hear how God promised to send prophets to the people because they were afraid to hear God directly. These prophets should not be looked upon as some sort of magicians with party tricks who could predict the future using their own energies or methods, these people were spokespersons for God and if we look at the Old Testament, God sent many prophets to guide the Chosen People and to try and keep them close to Him.

St Paul, writing to the early church in Corinth, suggested that single people could devote more of their time to God than married people. St Paul was writing to the Corinthians under the impression that Jesus would return imminently. With that in mind, Paul thought that being married with the responsibility of children would have been a distraction from focussing on Jesus. This does not mean that a vocation to be married is any less than a vocation which involves remaining single. Both vocations have their values and challenges. A single man or a single woman may be able to devote more time to serving God and their community; they have the potential to be more available to serve the Community. Married people serve God in a different way; their Sacrament is a sign of God’s love, and they can help the Church to grow through this love. Not only by raising children in the faith, but also in the way they love each other; they are a tangible sign of how Christ loves His Church.

Further Reading

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

CCC 547-550: Jesus accompanies words with miracles
CCC 447, 438, 550: Jesus’ power over demons
CCC 64, 762, 2595: the role of the prophet
CCC 922, 1618-1620: virginity for the sake of the Kingdom

Please keep in your prayers this week

• Those who are sick, those recovering from surgery, those who are dying, the recently deceased and those who mourn.
• All those struggling to feed their families at this time.
• Those working to help others who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
• Those discerning a vocation and those considering coming into the Catholic Church.
• The innocent people caught up in wars and conflicts around the world, but especially those in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and Russia.
• Those on pilgrimage or those planning a pilgrimage at this time.
• For Kristoff, Olivier, Lenora and Chimamanda due to be Baptised at St Bede’s on Sunday.
• Those who work to promote racial justice in our Community and for those who work to repair the damage done to people through physical and mental attacks .
• Married people, that we all recognise the responsibility we have to promote our Sacrament in the way we live and love each other

1 Racial Justice Sunday – Catholic Bishops’ Conference (cbcew.org.uk)

2 The Big Issue, Issue 1599 [The Big Issue Group, London, 2024] 7-29.

A first glance at today’s readings gives an indication of people being called and following; people who stuck to their call without hesitation or resistance. And, if we read these texts in isolation, we could be left feeling a bit disheartened. However, if we look a little bit closer at the story of all those involved in today’s readings and Gospel then we can see that they, like us, had their flaws and their moments of doubt.

In the first reading Jonah follows God’s call and goes to warn the people of Nineveh, they ‘renounced their evil ways’, had a change of heart and behaviour, ‘and God relented’. Well done Jonah, but what is Jonah more famous for? He was swallowed by a whale and spent three days in the belly of the beast until he was regurgitated. How did he find himself in the belly of the whale? He was running away from God. He thought that what God was asking of him was too much and he tried to avoid it.

In our second reading we have St Paul, the greatest of preachers, encouraging his readers and listeners to sort their lives out, put their affairs in order. He is secure in what he is teaching, he has no doubts. But, as we all know, Paul originally persecuted Christians, he was present at the execution of St Stephen; the first martyr; he approved of the stoning of Stephen. That all changed on the road to Damascus, when Jesus appeared to him and changed not only Paul’s life, but the course of history; as Paul was called to take the Good News out to the Gentiles, calling all people to be descendants of Abraham, not just the Jewish people.

In the Gospel, St Mark, makes it sound so straightforward, Jesus walks along a beach and calls 4 fishermen to follow him and become fishers of men. They all appeared to have obeyed instantly, but we know that at crucial times, even these most esteemed saints, abandoned Jesus; denying him as the Christ; leaving him to fend for himself.

There are times when even if we do not run away from God, our actions can appear as if we do not believe in God or trust in Him fully. For me, I can sometimes grudge the time I need to spend fulfilling my calling as a Christian. In the past it would be when I returned to work after Christmas or Easter and heard about all the time people had to spend time with their family or catch up with jobs, their holiday time seemed to be filled with relaxation or getting things done, whereas these times for me were spent going to church.

On reflection, I now realise that these were times I got to spend with my church family, enriching my life. There will always be jobs to be done at home, but all of my church family will not always be with me. I have some wonderful memories of the times I spent with some people who have now gone to the Lord or who have moved to other parishes. If I had given in to those grudges or temptations, I would not have those memories to treasure.

This Sunday has been designated as the Sunday for the Word of God.¹ Pope Francis, writes about this day “Devoting a specific Sunday of the liturgical year to the word of God can enable the Church to experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world.” As I said earlier, if we had taken the readings from today in isolation, we could be under the illusion that everyone called followed completely all of the time and never wavered. Even the saints struggled with their calling. But Jesus; the Word of God, made man; has come to encourage us to love, to forgive and to serve.

This is a day to look into our hearts and ask how well do we know the Word of God?

At Christmas, my daughter gave me a gift of a Bible in one Year, this prompts me to look at the Bible every day, and if I manage to stick to it, I will have read the whole Bible by the end of the year. There are various ways of doing this, there is the Bible in a Year podcast with Fr Mike Schmitz,² or there is the Bible in One Year with Nicky Gumble from the Alpha Course, this can either be done through an App on the computer or by buying a bible which is laid out according to the reading plan for each day.³ There are also other resources available through the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales at their website.⁴ This includes a seven week course aimed at helping Catholics to get to know the Bible better and is sponsored by the Bible Society, the whole course can be downloaded at their website.

Back in September 2019; when Pope Francis declared that the 3^rd Sunday of Ordinary Time would become the Sunday for the Word of God each year; he said, “the great challenge before us in life: to listen to Sacred Scripture and then to practice mercy”, he continued, “God’s Word, has the power to open our eyes and to enable us to renounce a stifling and barren individualism and instead to embark on a new path of sharing and solidarity.” May this Sunday be for us, a new beginning, where we commit to learning more about Jesus, form a more intimate relationship with Jesus and take Jesus out into the world by what we do and say. 

Further Reading

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

CCC 51-64: God’s plan of Revelation
CCC 1427-1433: inner, ongoing conversion
CCC 1886-1889: conversion and society

Sunday of the Word of God – Catholic Bishops’ Conference (cbcew.org.uk)

Please keep in your prayers this week

• Those who are sick, those recovering from surgery, those who are dying, the recently deceased and those who mourn.
• All those struggling to feed their families at this time.
• Those working to help others who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
• Those discerning a vocation and those considering coming into the Catholic Church.
• The innocent people caught up in wars and conflicts around the world, but especially those in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and Russia.
• Those on pilgrimage or those planning a pilgrimage at this time.
• For the 11 families due to complete their Baptism preparation session On Sunday at St Bede’s.
• All those who proclaim the Word of God, especially those who do so in places where Christians are persecuted.

1 Sunday of the Word of God – Catholic Bishops’ Conference (cbcew.org.uk)

2 The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) on Apple Podcasts

3 The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (alpha.org)

4 Sunday of the Word of God – Catholic Bishops’ Conference (cbcew.org.uk)

The first words spoken by Jesus in St John’s Gospel are “What do you want?” This simple question is one which we are called to answer. It is a question we have probably been asked by lots of people, lots of times. But when it is Jesus asking we really need to think carefully about how we reply. Our answer doesn’t only need to be in what we say, or write down, but in what our answer inspires us to do.

At the time, John’s disciples; including, as we heard Andrew; just wanted to know where Jesus lived? They wanted to get to know more about this Jesus, who John the Baptist had called the lamb of God. Jesus had a simple reply, “Come and see”. This reply is for all of us too. Jesus calls us all forward to come and see. Jesus is calling us into an intimate relationship with him. He already knows us, he knows everything about us, but he wants us to know everything about him, too.

Jesus knows that when we come and see then we will like what we see and become followers. Being a follower of Jesus is not all doom and gloom. Being a follower of Jesus is life giving, it is the only place where true joy can be found. Of course, it is not without its challenges; as we know, Christians continue to be persecuted in the present day; this said, all other joys are temporary, being one with Jesus and following him completely brings complete joy, a joy that never ends.

Back in 2009, Pam [my wife] and I were asked to take on a leadership role with Marriage Encounter; we received a phone call whilst we were in the car with our son. We knew that our son was not always happy about the time we spent on Marriage Encounter work, and we also knew that he needed us as he was still a teenager at that time. To our surprise, he immediately said we should say yes, Following this up with “your community are calling you.”

But we knew we had to discern. The previous leaders had given us a scripture reading to look at for while we were discerning, that reading was about trusting and being prepared to step out of the boat. We decided we would also look at the readings of the day to help us discern. When we saw the psalm, it was the same psalm used today. “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.” For those that don’t know Marriage Encounter is an organisation, started within the Catholic Church with the aim of promoting and enriching the Sacraments of Marriage and Holy Orders, we were already presenting weekends and fulfilling regional leadership roles, but were now being asked to take on the National role, a role which came with much responsibility and lots of time commitments. Initially we didn’t think we had either the time or capacity to do the role. Having read the readings, the psalm spoke to both us. “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.”

Having discerned to accept the role, most of our hurdles, while they didn’t disappear, became easier to overcome. We put plans in place for looking after our teenage children for the times we would be away. Pressures from work seemed to become less and we both found our employers and work colleagues were extremely co-operative with the role. This is when we heard that ‘God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.’

In the Gospel reading we hear towards the end about the calling of Peter. We know that Peter would eventually be given the keys of the Kingdom. Does anyone think that Peter was able to carry that burden when he first met Jesus? No way would he have been ready, and I would guess that when Jesus said to Peter that he would have the authority on earth to lead God’s people, that Peter did not think that he was either worthy or capable at that time. We are enabled or equipped to do God’s work through the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit. When we try to do things under our own power it is far more difficult. But when we ask God in prayer to help us, He sends his Spirit, His advocate to help us. Jesus did not desert us when he Ascended into Heaven, He sent his Holy Spirit to be with us, we are never alone. We need to trust in God, trust that his Holy Spirit; who we received in Baptism and again in Confirmation; is with us and he gives us the gifts and charisms to do His work.

Today has been designated by the Holy Father as a day to pray for peace. In his message for today, Pope Francis is examining the influence of modern technology on peace in the world, in particular he is looking at artificial intelligence. The link in the St Bede’s Newsletter is well worth a read. We may read that and find it very interesting and think that is for governments and big business to concern themselves with, and Pope Francis does aim some of his message at them. However, we all live in the same world, and just as we can all contribute to destructive things we can also contribute to things which make the world better.

If we can find a way of having peace in our own hearts then that can help us to have peace in our household, we can then take that peace; which for us comes from Christ; out into the world. We all know someone who needs peace in their life, as we pray for peace during our Mass or in our own personal prayers later, bring their face into your mind, concentrate on that image and pray that God brings peace into their life. If you don’t know anyone personally who could really appreciate that prayer at this moment then maybe God is calling you to go bigger, pray for peace in a certain town, or city or country.

Remember, God created this world, and he created us. He asked mankind to look after this world, and His Son asked us to love God and our neighbour. Praying for other people is an act of mercy, it is a way for us to show our love, it is a way for us to show we care.

Further Reading

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

CCC 462, 516, 2568, 2824: the Father’s will fulfilled in Christ
CCC 543-546: to welcome the Kingdom, welcome the Word of God
CCC 873-874: Christ the source of Christian vocation
CCC 364, 1004: the dignity of the body
CCC 1656, 2226: helping children discover their vocation

Please keep in your prayers this week

• Those who are sick, those recovering from surgery, those who are dying, the recently deceased and those who mourn.
• All those struggling to feed their families at this time.
• Those working to help others who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
• Those discerning a vocation and those considering coming into the Catholic Church.
• The innocent people caught up in wars and conflicts around the world, but especially those in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and Russia.
• Those on pilgrimage or those planning a pilgrimage at this time.
• For the families due to attend their 1st Baptism preparation session On Sunday at St Bede’s.
• For those individuals and countries who do not experience peace; may they come to know God in their hearts.

The wise men are truly an example for us. These men were not content to sit around and wait for the birth of the King of the Jews, they read the signs of the day and decided to seek out the newborn king. Wise men indeed. Their intent was to pay homage to Jesus, to bow down before him and worship this much promised Messiah. Herod’s intent was far from noble, he said he wished to pay homage, however, his intention was to stay in power and to quash any talk of anyone else becoming King of the Jews.

These wise men represent all of the Gentiles; all those born outside of the Jewish race. In reading the signs of the day, they became signs themselves; a sign that God was sending his Son to the whole human race and not just the Chosen Jewish Race and also that our Faith is a not a passive faith it is a faith where we are called to follow the light and walk towards Jesus and when we have found Jesus we are to follow him wherever He takes us.

This is in line with the reading we have from the prophet Isaiah today. The prophet mentions light coming to Jerusalem; all nations coming to the light. All assembling and coming to you, can be compared to the census; sons from far away [Joseph] and daughters being tenderly carried [Mary is traditionally portrayed as riding on a donkey towards Bethlehem]. Isaiah talks about the wealth of the nations coming to you, camels carrying people from Midian, Ephah and Sheba and bringing gold and incense and singing the praise of the Lord. Our Gospel from Matthew, reports all of these as having happened.

These wise men travelled great distances at personal cost and risk to find the child Jesus. What have we done to find Jesus; how do we pay Him homage?

We hear in the Responsorial psalm today that “all nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.” These wise men, who came to pay the Lord homage fell onto their knees and “did him homage”, as we come to Mass, coming together as the Body of Christ, we kneel and worship Our Saviour, we share from His banquet table, call His Father Our Father and as we leave the church building we are told to “go and announce the Gospel of the Lord” or to “glorify God by our lives.” Just like the wise men we have to get up and go, only our task is not to seek the child Jesus, but to seek those who do not know about Jesus. We are to take Jesus out of the church building and shine his light onto a world that is broken and so in need of Jesus.

I am in a very privileged position, as an ordained minister; I get to go out and meet people, I am representing the Church in a formal manner in some very informal locations. In my short time in ministry, I have met so many people that I would never have encountered before. I recently spent some time with a Catholic lady in hospital, who is close to the end of her life. This lady’s faith energised me. This lady still displayed a great sense of humour, and the strength of her witness was powerful. I told her how her faith gave me lots of encouragement, and if it had that effect on me, it must surely have made a similar impression on her daughter and two granddaughters who were with me in that room. This was a lady who; without using any form of a book; was announcing the Gospel of the Lord.

The birth of Jesus, and the arrival of the wise men from the east are a gift to every single person who has been born since the time of Jesus. This was God saying, I’m no longer calling just one race as the Chosen People, I now choose everyone. God is saying I want every man, woman and child, who God has created in his image and likeness; to become his adopted children.

Finally, I would like to repeat the words of Pope Benedict XVI; who died just over a year ago; when he spoke about today’s Solemnity:

Men and women of every generation need on their pilgrim journey to be directed: what star can we therefore follow? After coming to rest ‘over the place where the child was’, the purpose of the start was ended, but its spiritual light is always present in the Word of the Gospel, which is still able today to guide every person to Jesus. This same Word, which is none other than the reflection of Christ, true man and true God, is authoritatively echoed by the Church for every well-disposed heart. The Church too, therefore, carries out the mission of the star for humanity. But something of the sort can be said of each Christian, called to illuminate the path of the brethren by word and example of life.¹

Further Reading

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Solemnity of the Epiphany

CCC 528, 724: the Epiphany
CCC 280, 529, 748, 1165, 2466, 2715: Christ the light of the nations
CCC 60, 442, 674, 755, 767, 774-776, 781, 831: the Church, sacrament of human unity

Christmas appeal – Don’t let their light go out | Friends of the Holy Land

Please keep in your prayers this week

• Those who are sick, those recovering from surgery, those who are dying, the recently deceased and those who mourn.
• All those struggling to feed their families at this time.
• Those working to help others who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
• Those discerning a vocation and those considering coming into the Catholic Church.
• The innocent people caught up in wars and conflicts around the world, but especially those in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and Russia.
• Those on pilgrimage or those planning a pilgrimage at this time.

1 Pope Benedict XVI, CTS New daily Missal, People’s Edition, [Catholic Truth Society, London, 2012] 115.