2nd Sunday Lent, Year A, Shaftesbury

Mt 17:1-9; Gen 12:1-4; 2 Tim 1:8-10
Most people like to know where they are going, and I'm one of them. I might tolerate being blindfolded on my way to be shown a surprise, but, generally speaking I like to see where I'm going. The simple point I want to make today is that God does not leave us blindfolded in our following of Him: He has shown us where we are going, and that is a major part of what the Transfiguration was all about, as we heard in today's gospel.

The Transfiguration happened at a very significant moment: Our Lord was heading to Jerusalem where crucifixion and death awaited Him, and He had predicted to His disciples that He was going to die. Obviously, if they had understood Him, this would have been a deeply discouraging prediction. To remedy this discouragement Our Lord took three of His chosen disciples, Peter, James, and John up the mountain and showed them Himself in His transfigured glory. The sight of that glory was given to sustain them through the suffering of the crucifixion. The sight of that glory was to give them a foretaste of the glory that awaited Christ in His resurrection. And, the sight of that glory was to give them a glimpse of the glory that awaits every follower of Christ if we follow Him in carrying our cross, if we follow Him in our own personal crucifixions in life.

Back to my opening point: I said a moment ago that God does not leave us blindfolded in our following of Him. Now, there is another sense in which, as St Paul says, "we walk by faith and not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7): there are many details of what will happen to us in life that we simply do not know, we do not know the exact manner of our Lord's presence and support to us in our life.

But, I want to illustrate the point that God does not leave us blindfolded in our following Him, He does enables us to see our way and does so in at least three ways:
First, as I just said, in the Transfiguration and His Resurrection, and the revelation of Heaven, He has shown us the glorious DESTINATION that lies ahead for those who are faithful in following Him.
Second, we have His PROMISES to encourage us to set out in following Him. In our first reading we heard the example of God's promise to Abraham (Gen 12:1-4), when Abraham was called upon to leave behind the country and people he knew and head off for a distant land he did not know, and what he was given to enable him to make that departure, what he was given was the Lord's promise, a promise that we know the Lord was faithful to –that included the promise of BLESSINGS to help him on the way. The New Covenant that we belong to likewise promises even more blessings and strength to us on our pilgrim way towards Heaven.
Third, the Lord enables us to see the way we must follow Him by the fact that he has shown us the WAY OF LIFE that we must lead: He has shown us the virtues, the commandments, and, the particular focus in this LENTEN season, He has shown us that we need to carry our cross.

All of the ways in which the Lord shows us how we are to follow Him, the promises we have to support us in our following of Him, and the goal that our following Him is heading towards, all of these things have a greater importance when we are in difficulty, when we are in hardship. And, that holds especially for the hardship of discipleship, which includes the hardships of being faithful to our Lenten resolutions. As we heard in our second reading (2 Tim 1:8-10), there are many "hardships" involved if we are to pursue the holiness that we are "called" to achieve. But that same St Paul reminded St Timothy that we do not do this by our own strength but we do it "relying on the power of God".

So, to conclude, Lent is a time for purification, a time for struggling against sin, at time of employing the remedies for sin: prayer fasting and almsgiving. To strengthen us to endure these hardships today's readings remind us of God's promises to us of the destination, and of the transfigured glory of that final state. God shows us the way, He does not leave us blindfolded.

Giving Up Joyfully! 1st Sunday of Lent, Year A, Shaftesbury

Mt 4:1-11; Gen 2:7-3:7
We’re starting Lent now, when the Church fasts and prays in a particular way, and when we typically express this in small acts of “giving something up” for Lent. Today, I want to say a few words about why ‘giving things up’ should make us happy not sad.
I was thinking about this recently because a parishioner said, “You’ve given up so much for us as a priest, the opportunity of a decent salary, of a wife and children.” I could have responded by adding a few other things I’ve given up to be a priest! But instead I said what first came to my mind, which was that I don’t live my life feeling like I’ve given up much at all, I think I’m the happiest person in the parish, and there is no-one here I’d rather be.
Now, no doubt someone is going to come up to me at the end of Mass and say, “Father, you’re not the happiest person in the parish –I am!” And maybe we can have a competition to determine who is the happiest! But regardless, my point is that I’M certainly not miserable. And I want to take this as an illustration of how we shouldn’t expect that “giving things up” should make us unhappy.

I want to take a step back, however, and note that there is fear that sometimes lurks within us whereby we somehow think we can out-do God in generosity. That you might give up something, you might give Him this thing and He would respond without being even more generous to you.
Well, let’s remember the promise of Scripture, that “whoever sows generously will also reap generously”(2 Cor 9:6).
And this applies to Lent also.

That same passage of Scripture says, “God loves a CHEERFUL giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). When we give things up for God in Lent we need to try to do so with a light and cheerful heart not with a heavy heart –with a heart that trustfully and happily expects to get more back from God than we give.
For example, one of the things I’m off for Lent is alcohol. It is more than possible that at 9pm on Saturday night I might find myself starting to reach for the bottle, but then stop myself and crabbily say to God, “Oh, alright then, if it really matters that much to you, then I won’t have a whisky tonight!” That would not be cheerful giving!

But HOW do we give cheerfully? After all, in the short term any act of self-denial is hard. Well, there are a number of things we need to bear in mind, and to make as part of a small prayer each time we are giving something up:
First, to recall the many promises of Scripture that show He will not be out-done in generosity.
Second, to recall that He is with us in this act of self-denial. After all, we are doing this 40 days of Lent to go with Him into the desert as He went into the desert for 40 days of prayer and fasting. We have Him, and His strength, with us.
Third, we need to have the long-term goal before our eyes. The long-term happiness:

The goal of Lent is to take us to Easter. The goal of Jesus dying on the Cross was to bring us the new Resurrected life of Easter. That journey wasn’t easy for Him, and it’s not easy for us. To have the Old Man of sin (Adam) die and the New Man (Christ) live in us is a struggle. Our first reading outlined how Adam and Eve fell in sin, and we go into the desert of Lent to gradually have grace transform us from that fallen state to that of Christ. It’s a long road, the Royal Road of the Cross, but Lent leads us to a Resurrection –if we enter into it properly.

To bring this to a practical conclusion. The Catholic tradition offers us the 3 remedies for sin in this holy season: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving –and we should seek a least a little of each of these 3.
(i) “Giving something up for Lent” is a small act of fasting –compare that with the way Muslim fast in Ramadan, or the way Catholics in the past fasted more vigorously. If you want some suggestions for things to give up for Lent look in the list of suggestions in the newsletter (as copied below this sermon);
(ii) Prayer needs to be the spirit with which we do this “giving up”, but is also something important in itself. Maybe add as little as extra Hail Mary each day in Lent. Or, especially for the many of you who are retired: attending weekday Mass at least one extra day per week in Lent would bring you many graces. Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings would also be very valuable. Maybe a decade of the Rosary. Resolve on one!
(iii) Finally, Almsgiving –giving to the poor, to others, in some form. Following our Ash Wednesday fasting we have a retiring collection today, that’s one way of giving. But maybe also some little act around the home or for our neighbour.

Lent is supposed to change us: it should make us generous in almsgiving. But, back to where I began, it should not make us miserable, it should make us joyful in Christ. Joyful enough that we should all strive to say, “What I’ve given up has left me the happiest person in the parish!”
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from this week's newsletter:
Giving Things Up For Lent
The season that the prayers of the Church call "this joyful season" started last Wednesday. Have you thought yet about what to give up this Lent? How about one or more of: meat, alcohol, TV (maybe for one day a week at least), dessert, chocolate, unnecessary internet surfing, coffee, tea, computer games, cheese, your favourite TV soap opera, crisps, your favourite snack food, reading blogs, facebook, eating at restaurants, give up or restrict your use of your favourite radio station, limit yourself to one coffee per day. Why is Lent "joyful" when we are giving things up? Because it helps us orient ourselves to our true joy in God in heaven.

Why is it good for us to 'give things up for Lent'?
The practice of ‘giving something up for Lent’ is an important way of fasting. Fasting is good for us for five reasons: First, at a human level, like dieting, fasting disciplines our desires. Second, at a supernatural level, more than mere dieting, fasting is a prayer. It thus needs to be offered to God; ‘offer your very bodies as a living sacrifice acceptable to God’ (Rom 12:1). In particular, fasting is something we can offer in reparation for our sins. Third, fasting (and any form of penance) is also a means of detachment from the things of this world and attachment to the everlasting realities of the next. Fourth, fasting can free up our hearts to better enable us to love others. One way we do this is by the traditional Lenten practice of giving to the poor. Fifth, and most importantly, fasting unites us to Jesus: Jesus went into the desert and fasted and prayed for us for 40 days, in Lent we go into a spiritual desert to be with Jesus for 40 days of fasting and praying. Uniting ourselves to Jesus's suffering unitesus , above all, to His suffering on the Cross which is the path to the new life of the Resurrection, the new transforming life of grace within us.
Finally, this can be summed up by noting the Church’s threefold Lenten remedy for sin: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (giving to the poor). These three should all go together, not in opposition, i.e. it’s not enough to say, ‘Oh, I’m not giving up things, I’m doing something positive!’ Each of us would do well to add a small part of each of these three to our Lenten season: add a small prayer to your usual daily or weekly routine, give something up for Lent, and give some money to a good charity.

Giving Things Up For Lent: Why? With suggestions of what to give up for Lent

Giving Things Up For Lent
The season that the prayers of the Church call "this joyful season" started last Wednesday. Have you thought yet about what to give up this Lent? How about one or more of: meat, alcohol, TV (maybe for one day a week at least), dessert, chocolate, unnecessary internet surfing, coffee, tea, computer games, cheese, your favourite TV soap opera, crisps, your favourite snack food, reading blogs, facebook, eating at restaurants, give up or restrict your use of your favourite radio station, limit yourself to one coffee per day. Why is Lent "joyful" when we are giving things up? Because it helps us orient ourselves to our true joy in God in heaven.

Why is it good for us to 'give things up for Lent'?
The practice of ‘giving something up for Lent’ is an important way of fasting. Fasting is good for us for five reasons: First, at a human level, like dieting, fasting disciplines our desires. Second, at a supernatural level, more than mere dieting, fasting is a prayer. It thus needs to be offered to God; ‘offer your very bodies as a living sacrifice acceptable to God’ (Rom 12:1). In particular, fasting is something we can offer in reparation for our sins. Third, fasting (and any form of penance) is also a means of detachment from the things of this world and attachment to the everlasting realities of the next. Fourth, fasting can free up our hearts to better enable us to love others. One way we do this is by the traditional Lenten practice of giving to the poor. Fifth, and most importantly, fasting unites us to Jesus: Jesus went into the desert and fasted and prayed for us for 40 days, in Lent we go into a spiritual desert to be with Jesus for 40 days of fasting and praying. Uniting ourselves to Jesus's suffering unitesus , above all, to His suffering on the Cross which is the path to the new life of the Resurrection, the new transforming life of grace within us.
Finally, this can be summed up by noting the Church’s threefold Lenten remedy for sin: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (giving to the poor). These three should all go together, not in opposition, i.e. it’s not enough to say, ‘Oh, I’m not giving up things, I’m doing something positive!’ Each of us would do well to add a small part of each of these three to our Lenten season: add a small prayer to your usual daily or weekly routine, give something up for Lent, and give some money to a good charity.

9th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, Shaftesbury

Mt 7:21-27
I’m only going to preach a short sermon today because Paul Bowe, our chairman of the parish finance committee is speaking at the end of Mass.
You may never have thought of this fact, but, it is much harder to preach a good short sermon than to preach a long one.

Today we heard the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, which concludes our 6 weeks of sermons on this topic.

Jesus concluded His Sermon on the Mount with the well-known parable of the man who built his house on sand, and the man who built his house on rock. Rock is obviously a better thing to build on, and “everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them” (Mt 7:24) will be building his life on such a solid and reliable foundation.

I want to pose one simple question today: why would anyone build their house on sand? It sounds so obviously foolish.
The answer, however, is that doing what is easy and quick always has a certain attraction –even when we know it won’t be as good, or as good for us.
If we apply this to the Lord’s moral teaching, which is what His Sermon on the Mount focussed on, we know that many elements of His teaching are tough: His more complete and fulfilled Law is a tougher law, as I noted a couple weeks ago.

But such toughness is only tough in the short term. The man who built his house on rock struggled in the building, but his life was better off afterwards.
If we make the effort to live the moral code Jesus gave us then we too will be better off, better able to withstand the storms and difficulties of life:
“Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock” (Mt 7: 25).

"Chocolat" Lent Course Concerns

Some comments by Fr Dylan James, 1st March 2011

A number of parishioners have expressed concern about the fact that this year’s ecumenical Lent groups are using a book based on the film Chocolat. The course book, Christ and the Chocolaterie. A Lent Course, by Hilary Brand, notes that, “Chocolat could easily be seen as an anti-Lent film” (p.15) because it pits traditional Lenten restraint against chocolate indulgence. The book also notes that, “The film’s philosophy of indulging yourself... very much taps into the spirit of our age”(p.9). It should be noted, however, that the book seeks to use the film as a series of discussion points, and can be usefully used to do this –the book does not aim to use the film as a blueprint for indulgent moral living. Nonetheless, having read the book carefully I think I should note a couple of seriously misleading statements and attitudes it contains:

(1) Jesus and the Apostles taught us to fast
The book makes the misleading claim that, “Christ never commanded his followers to fast... and neither did the apostles”(p.10). Such a statement misrepresents the words and example of Jesus and ignores what history and the Bible record as the practice of the Apostles.
(i) First, Christ taught us to fast by His example:
He fasted for 40 days in the desert (Mt 4:2)
(ii) Second, Christ not only showed us the importance of fasting but taught us how to fast:
“ ‘When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father” (Mt 6:16-18)
(iii) Third, the Gospel shows us that prayer and fasting go together:
“this kind can only be driven out by prayer and fasting” (Mk 9:29)
(iv) Fourth, people sometimes confuse the fact that although Jesus did not have His disciples fast while He was among them He did nonetheless teach that they would fast later:
“Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.’” (Mt 9:14-15)
(v) Fifth, the New Testament shows us that the disciples actually did fast after Jesus’ Ascension:
“after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts13:1-3)
“Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord” (Acts 14:23)
(vi) Sixth, we know from historical records outside of the Bible that the Early Church fasted a great deal:
The late 1st Century record of the practice of the early Christians, The Didache [The Teaching of the 12 Apostles], required Christians to fast on many occasions, especially to “fast on Wednesdays and Fridays” (Didache 8). This gives us a clear record of how fasting was very common among the early Christians, and so should be common among us too!

(2) The book and film attack the Church by presenting it as a negative caricature of itself
The film and book repeatedly portray and describe the Church as “traditional, hierarchical and authoritarian” (p.28; 29-30). What neither the book nor the film show us is that the Church and its traditions can be life-giving and the place of our encounter with Christ. Far from tradition being something we should shy away from, the Bible tells us that our Christian “traditions” are something to which we should “hold firm”(2 Thess 2:15). Given that my experience of the Church, her life, and her traditions has been something that has beautifully enabled me to tap into all the riches of 2000 years worth of experience about how to live and about how to know and meet Christ, I am rather saddened to see the Church presented in caricatures like this.

(3) The book’s chocolate recipes for meetings risk introducing self-indulgence into Lent!

If these 3 points are born in mind, and a bit of related common sense, then the course book topics can serve as a useful starting point for discussion –and this is the main intention of the course book.