Keep on Swimming

I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow.
1Cor.3:6,7

Paul decries the groups forming in the Corinthian Church, saying it shows immaturity. The only thing that is worthy of effort and attention is God who is the one who is actually doing all the planting and nourishing of faith. 

The genius of the Alpha Course we are currently running is that it meets people no matter where they are at in their faith walk. The mature believer is refreshed and renewed, you could say watered. The Unchurched have the seed of faith planted. It matters not whether planting or watering is happening. It all comes from God.

There is a peace that comes from not worrying about what is happening in a person's faith walk. Trusting that somehow God is at work means it's his business not mine. I'm just to keep on doing my allotted work. As Dory says in Finding Nemo, just keep on swimming.

Jesus, you know how I can worry about things that are not really my responsibility to worry about. I release these back into your loving arms, freeing up my arms to do the specific work you are calling me to do.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

The Power of God

In my speeches and the sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit. And I did this so that your faith should not depend on human philosophy but on the power of God.
1Cor.2:4,5

Saint Paul tells the Church of Corinth his message of the good news about Jesus has nothing to do with human wisdom but everything to do with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

It's night two of Alpha tonight. The topic is "Who is Jesus?". We are relying totally on the Holy Spirit to make the guests hearts receptive to the Good News about Jesus and what he has done. This is so their faith "should not depend on human philosophy but on the power of God."

Holy Spirit, be with us tonight as the Good News of who Jesus is is proclaimed. 
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

Keep On Praying

When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. ‘Do not cry’ he said. Then he went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you to get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 
Lk.7:13-15

Jesus happens upon a funeral procession for a widow's son. In his compassion for the widow, Jesus raises the son from the dead and restores him to his mother.

Today is the feast of Saint Monica. The Gospel is well chosen, depicting a dead son given back alive to a mother. Saint Monica experienced the same type of resurrection of her son Augustine from a life of sin to Sainthood.  Saint Monica is most famous for her ceaseless intercession for her wayward son, receiving a prophecy from a bishop she was harassing that, "The son of so many tears shall not perish".

The message I'm receiving this morning is don't give up. Keep on  interceding for loved ones in need. Jesus will act, if for no other reason than for the sake of his compassion. 

Thank you Jesus that you love my children even more than I do. I place them in your care.
Saint Monica, please pray for us.

Get the Real Oil

The foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. 
Mt.25:3,4

Jesus is telling the Parable of the Ten Virgins to describe the kingdom of heaven. The five foolish ones have the appearance of readiness for the bridegroom but have no resources. The five wise are equipped and resourced, allowing them in the end to be received into the wedding banquet.  

Faith is an inside out job. I can have the appearances of a believer but with no inner spiritual oil I'm just a sham not worthy of the kingdom of God. I need to keep my spiritual tank topped up, ready to meet Jesus whenever he returns. 

How do I keep my oil topped up? This morning prayer is a good start. The sacraments are further bowsers where I can fill up. It would be good to get to Mass today...

Thank you Jesus that you bend over backwards to make your oil available to me. It's still my responsibility to seek and receive it. Help me do that today.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Happiness in Fidelity

What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment.
Mt.24:45,46

Jesus warns his disciples to stay awake and be ready for his return. Why? Because it will be a day of judgement, starting with a look at what we have been doing in his absence.

Jesus indicates there are only two outcomes from his return, happiness for the faithful and weeping for the unfaithful. I remember a prime minister who at the height of his career was having an affair with his personal secretary. He fell from being internationally lauded to becoming a footnote in New Zealand  history.

Jesus says, "If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones." Lk.16:10 It's time for me to be faithful in the small so that should Jesus return tonight I am found faithfully at my employment.

Jesus, there is happiness found in faithfulness. Thank you Lord for the virtue of fidelity. 
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Come and See

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see’ replied Philip.
Jn.1:45,46

Philip is entreating his friend Nathanael to meet with Jesus. He counters Nathanael's skepticism with the simple but powerful invitation. "Come and see."

Philip uses the same phrase that Jesus had used the previous day when calling James and Andrew. "Come and see". It places the initiative back on the one who is being called, letting them approach on their terms. It also stops any argument. It's both an invitation and a command whose only response can be yes or no. 

"Come and see" is most effective where there is already a relationship. Philip was obviously friends with Nathanael. It's an invitation I can use with friends and family when inviting them to an Alpha Course. 

Jesus, you are worth seeing. Help me seize the moments with friends and family where I can invite them to come and see you. 
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Inside Job

Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.
Mt.23:25,26

Jesus is warning the Pharisees of the true nature of their hypocrisy. He warns that cleansing is only effective when it is done from the inside out.

We live in a world where appearance is everything. Groomed and air-brushed social media photos are presented as reality. Jesus tells me no, work on your inside then the outside appearance will take care of itself.

How do I clean my inside? Cleaning up my thoughts would be a good start. Being careful about what I expose my inner heart to would be another good place to work on. 

Saint Paul gives the complete antidote:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil.4:4-7 

Rejoice, be gentle not anxious, be prayerful, have an attitude of gratitude. These are all doable. Then the peace of God will guard my heart and my inside will be clean.

Jesus, outside appearance takes way too much of my time. Help me put less into the outside and more into the inside.
Saint Paul, please pray for me.

A Great Servant

The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.’
Mt.23:11,12

Jesus is warning about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, saying at best they are an example of something to be avoided. Humility is the key to greatness.

There's something in me that desires the limelight. Celebrity culture has its effect. In the world, humility is seen as a weakness. To be great is to be rich, handsome, powerful and brainy. Jesus says no. To be great I must be a servant placing others needs before my own. 

This upside down world Jesus depicts seems, well... upside down. Actually, it's the right way up. Today I can practice at being a great servant.

Jesus, you know my natural inclination is to be served rather than serve. Help me right myself and become a servant to those I encounter today.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Love God Love Others

Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’
Mt.22:37-40

The Pharisees are trying to unsettle Jesus with theological questions. In answering the question of what is the greatest commandment, Jesus' reply is both simple and profound... love God and love others.

Love God and love others. Jesus holds this commandment in the supreme position. It encompasses everything that God has revealed in both the Old and New testaments. It's a commandment, not an option, for an authentic follower of Christ.

It's a commandment for me on how to live today.

Jesus, help me as I try to love you and love others today. 
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Clothed in Christ

“How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’
Mt.22:11-14

To describe what heaven is like, Jesus tells the parable of the wedding banquet. In the parable the king hosting the banquet sees a man ill dressed for the event and has him banished outside.

I have to remind myself this is a description of heaven. Heaven is not a place where all people will float in and settle for eternity. Yes, all are invited but Jesus depicts strict criteria for admission; primarily, being correctly dressed. 

So what is this wedding garment I need? Saint Paul tells us in Galatians 3:27: "for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."  I must be "clothed in Christ" through baptism. This sharpens my focus not only on my own relationship with Jesus but also on others relationships with him. They need to know him so they can accept him and be clothed in him.

Jesus, our Alpha Course is about to start. Help me keep an eternal perspective as to why we are doing this; to bring more to the wedding banquet clothed in you.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us. 

Generosity

I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?” Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.
Mt.20:14-16

Jesus is explaining again what the kingdom of God is like, comparing it to workers in a vineyard. The vineyard owner is seen as benevolent and generous to the last comers, paying them as much as the first.

I saw a bumper sticker a couple of months ago that made me laugh. It read, "Yes, Jesus loves you - but I'm his favourite". The truth is we are all his favourites. This seems a contradiction and in the world's eyes it is. However, in Jesus' eyes I am his favourite brother. 

My mother became a believer on her deathbed aged ninety-two. I saw the generosity of God at work. Ninety-two years of professed atheism was forgotten in an instant as mum received the promises of God in all its fullness. She was denied nothing.

Generosity is held up by Jesus as a great virtue. It's time I worked on it.

Jesus, you are generous to me. Help me be as generous to others I meet in my day.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

When All is Made New

What are we to have, then?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. 
Mt.19:27,28

Jesus has just warned that material riches can be an impediment to gaining the kingdom of heaven. Peter protests, asking what is the reward of the disciples who left everything to follow him. Jesus replies, in this life nothing but your freedom. However, in the next....

There is an eternal perspective that is essential to following Jesus. In this world the advantages can seem very few. Professing my faith gains me little kudos and much derision.  In some countries declared Christian faith can cost your life. And yet, we declare it.

I need to keep one eye firmly fixed on the promise Jesus gives. "When all is made new...", every tear is wiped away and I will share in his glory.

Jesus, your faith in the kingdom of God cost you your life. Give me faith that is based on your promises so I can endure the hardships it brings here on earth. Not only endure but call others to join me.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?
Lk.1:41-43

Early in her pregnancy with Jesus, Mary travels to help her cousin Elizabeth who is also miraculously pregnant. On Mary's arrival, Elizabeth and the baby in her womb are both filled with the Holy Spirit.

Here we have the first three New Testament recipients of the Holy Spirit, Mary who received him at the conception of Jesus and Elizabeth with her child John. Not surprisingly, the Holy spirit was at work everywhere in the new unfolding of God's plan of salvation.

This remains true for all New Testament people. When I am working out God's plan of salvation in my wrinkle of time and corner of the world, the Holy Spirit is in boots and all. Come Holy Spirit!

Veni Sancte Spiritus!
Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Water into Wine

This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body. They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.
Mt.19:5,6

Pharisees are testing Jesus over a question on divorce, then allowed by Mosaic law. Jesus answers by stating that, as God is involved in marriage, it is above interference by man. 

The "until death do us part" of marriage frightens people away from it. It's easier just to live together so the door is always open to walk out when it gets hard... and it always gets hard sooner or later. 

That promise made before family, friends and God has made me dig deeper, try harder. I watch my four married children do the same. There is infinite strength on tap when two become one. I'm so glad God is involved in my marriage. He turns the water into wine. I need to tell my wife I love being married to her... today.

Jesus, you turned water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana. Turn my water into wine as I love my wife today.
Saint Thomas Moore, please pray for me.

Further Up Further In

I can assure you my brothers, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upwards to receive in Christ Jesus.
Ph.3:13,14

Paul writes to the Church in Philippi, encouraging them in their faith by his own example.  He is straining ahead for the prize above all prizes, eternal life with Jesus.

The thing about my Christian faith is that I can never say I have arrived. At best I'm moving in the right direction. There is always a calling for me to go further up and further in. Each moment, each encounter today is a chance to surge ahead in the race. That's an exciting way to live.

Jesus, sometimes I run low on energy for the race, I falter. Fill me Holy Spirit so I am not drained but running on the overflow, further up and further in.
Saint Claire, please pray for me.

Cheerful Giver

Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves a cheerful giver. And there is no limit to the blessings which God can send you.
2Cor.9:7,8

Paul encourages the Church at Corinth to be exemplary in generosity, a virtue in which God will never be outdone.

Today is the feast day of Saint Laurence who is revered for his generosity in almsgiving to the poor. The opposite of generosity is miserliness which is where my compass tends to point. I joke about my scottish tight-bum but it aint no joke. 

God has given me a wife who is generous, both materially and in time. She has no problem stuffing twenty dollar notes into the letterbox of needy families. I do. 

Jesus, I want to be a cheerful giver that you love. Help me be a generous person today.
Saint Laurence, please pray for me.

Little as a Child

I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Mt.18:3,4

The disciples ask who is the greatest in God's Kingdom. Jesus turns their perspective on greatness upside down by calling a child and saying here is the greatest. Be like him if you wish to enter the kingdom of God.

We live in a celebrity culture where people are famous simply for being famous, where newsreaders become the news, where the rich/powerful/brainy/good looking are held up to emulate.  It's exhausting and it's toxic. Jesus shakes his head and says we've got it all wrong, that we've got it upside down. 

Children are weak, dependant, powerless. Interestingly they also tend to be more now-focussed, contented and happy. Sure they can have tantrums, but they don't stay there. They move on. Jesus isn't calling me to be childish. He's calling me to be childlike. There's the key to the Kingdom...

Jesus, I overthink, regret yesterday, worry about tomorrow. Help me become like a child and enjoy whatever today brings.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Friend

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning.
Lk.9:28,29

In prayer on a mountain top, Jesus is transfigured into a glorious figure. Peter, James and John are given a glimpse into a different time domain where God's reign is total and complete. God the Father spoke to the three, giving a message that would be passed on to the Church for all time.‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.' 

Jesus normally went alone to mountain tops to pray. This time he chose Peter, James and John to witness his transfiguration. The three were close friends of Jesus' and he trusted them to be reliable witnesses... eventually.

I have a few close friends who I trust. They are precious to me but my most treasured friendship is with Jesus. He's the friend who never lets me down... ever. 

What a friend I've found
Closer than a brother
I have felt your touch
More intimate than lovers 

Jesus, Jesus Jesus,
friend forever

Saints Peter, James and John, please pray for me.

Find Life

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
Mt.16:24,25

Jesus has just described how he is to suffer and die then rise again. It was the whole plan of salvation but Peter couldn't get past the suffer and die bit. Jesus underscores suffering and dying to find new life is part and parcel of following him.

We tend to think "taking up your cross" means picking up a heavy burden. Jesus' listeners knew what a cross was, a hideous instrument of suffering and death. Being a Christian involves dying. But I mustn't be like Peter and miss the main goal of the plan... a new, resurrected and eternal life. 

Jesus, I'm constantly having to lose my life. I grasp it with desperate hands. Help me always keep one eye firmly on the end goal... new found life. 

Saint Peter, please pray for me.

Joy

Give me again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervour sustain me, that I may teach transgressors your ways and sinners may return to you.

Ps.50:12,13

King David writes a psalm of repentance after being convicted by the prophet Nathan of his sin with Bathsheba. He had lost his joy and is begging for it to return.

Sin does that. It promises joy but delivers misery, every time. It's not a joy giver, it's a joy taker. David has found the antidote. Repentance. I face it, name it, confess it then walk away from it. And as I walk away, something beautiful happens. I get a skip back in my step. Joy returns.

Thank you Jesus that your mercies are new every morning, that you are always ready to forgive. Lord, give me again the joy of your help.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Commitment

Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’
Lk.9:59,60

Luke records Jesus challenging three men who profess to want to follow him but with conditions. Jesus is clear that being his disciple is unconditional and requires total commitment. 

Commitment is an old fashioned word these days. We all want to keep our options open, especially when it comes to challenging our earthly comforts. Like all ministries both secular and religious, when I'm calling a team together it's unusual to get total commitment. The yes is usually qualified. 

How about my commitment? Being Christian is a "through thick and thin" thing or it's not authentic. I like to think I'm a committed Christian, but am I really? Do I append a "but let me go and..." to my yes? 

Jesus, convict me when I start compromising. Let my fiat mean "Let it be done" as your mother said. 
Holy Mary, Mother of God, please pray for me.

Take Courage!

But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’
Mt.14:27

Jesus is walking on water to the disciples in a boat battling a heavy sea. In fright the disciples believe him to be a ghost but Jesus reassures them of who he is and calls them to courage.

I'm battling a heavy sea at the moment. Jesus is in the storm with me, calling me to have courage. Why? Because he is with me.

Thank you Jesus that it seems to be in the storms of my life that you are closest to me. I take courage from you today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.