He saw and he believed!

Easter Sunday Year C 17th April 2022 

Gospel John 20: 1–9

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved.

‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,’ she said, ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb.

They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

Jesus and Mary (Titian)

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

Perhaps, like Mary, I came to my place of prayer before dawn, ahead of the busy-ness of the day. But at whatever time I come to pray, I might be able to imagine myself in the quiet of the garden, alongside her, peering into the darkness of the empty tomb.

As I become still, I read the text, and then ponder.

What do I notice going on within me? To where am I being drawn?

Mary, thinking the body to be stolen, does not consider that Jesus has been raised from death. In her alarm, she has failed to understand the teaching of the scripture. When Peter goes into the tomb he sees only loss, the absence of a body. The other disciple, seeing beyond this, feels the stirring of belief in the presence of the Risen One.

What, in my life at the moment, is marked by absence and loss?

What, when seen with the loving eyes of a disciple, is filled with Christ’s presence?

What does the resurrection of Jesus say to me about death, suffering, conflict, loss ...?

I remain in the empty tomb, speaking to the Lord from the heart. Glory be ...

Jesus, remember me

 Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord Year C - 10th April 2022

Gospel Luke 22: 14–23: 56 (part)

When they reached the place called The Skull, they crucified him there and the two criminals also, one on the right, the other on the left. Jesus said, ‘Father forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.’ Then they cast lots to share out his clothing. The people stayed there watching him. As for the leaders, they jeered at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers mocked him too, and when they approached to offer him vinegar they said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’ Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews’.

One of the criminals hanging there abused him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well.’ But the other spoke up and rebuked him. ‘Have you no fear of God at all? You got the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Indeed, I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.’

It was now about the sixth hour and, with the sun eclipsed, a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. The veil of the Temple was torn right down the middle and when Jesus had cried out in a loud voice, he said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’. And with these words he breathed his last.

The Cross as Tree of Life, San Clemente, Rome

Gospel Reflection from  St Beuno's Outreach

Coming to my prayer, I do not rush; I allow myself to become still in body and mind in the presence of God. I ask the Holy Spirit to help me.

I may like to place myself somewhere in the scene as I read this familiar gospel passage slowly. What do I see, hear, taste, smell, touch ...? With whom do I identify or want to speak? What do I notice about Jesus?

I ponder what I want to say to Jesus. Perhaps I may speak with him about his choice to become a human being for me, leaving his eternal life to die in this way because of my sinfulness.

Then I share with Jesus how I have responded to him in the past, how I long to respond now, and how I hope to respond to him in the future.

I remember that, although I am a sinner, I am also uniquely loved and already forgiven by God. Jesus remembers me and loves me! For this I thank God, ending my prayer with praise. Glory be ...

Neither do I condemn you

 Fifth Sunday of Lent Year C - 3rd April 2022

Gospel John 8: 1–11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everyone, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one sir,’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus, ‘go away, and don’t sin any more’.

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

Like Jesus before me, I consciously slow down in preparation for this  me of prayer. I become more aware of my life-giving breath, and invite Jesus to breathe with me, through me ... to fill me with the Holy Spirit.

I read this striking Gospel slowly, a couple of times, allowing myself to get immersed in this incident in Jesus’s life. I ask that God’s living word might speak to me anew about the inclusive, non-judgemental Way of Christ.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, I stop ‘being in charge’ and invite God to use my imagination. I take in the scene: the frightened, ashamed woman; the conniving scribes and Pharisees; the mood of the watching crowd ... and the figure and presence of Jesus in the centre.

If I can, I allow my ‘inner eye’ to deepen my understanding and experience of the forgiving nature of Jesus and his Father.

No matter the circumstances of my own life, I try to be open to Jesus’s loving gaze, and speak with him about what arises.

When I am ready, I give thanks to God for his boundless mercy.

Glory be ...

He was lost and is found

 Fourth Sunday in Lent Year C - 27th March 2022

Gospel Luke 15: 11–24 (abridged)

Jesus said, ‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of the estate that would come to me”.

So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery. When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.’”

So he left the place and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.’

Rembrandt: The Return of the Prodigal Son

Gospel  Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

As I settle to pray, I ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to hear and understand anew God’s message for me.

Perhaps I hear Jesus himself telling me this story, and I identify with the younger son. In my imagination, I notice how it feels to swallow my pride and face up to the foolish way I have behaved. Do I dare believe that my father could welcome me back after everything I’ve done?

How do I express my sorrow and ask for his forgiveness?

Maybe then I am able to put myself in the father’s place. Overwhelmed with joy, knowing that my prayers have been answered, how do I find the words to tell this beloved one of mine how much I love him? How does it feel as I show him that whatever has been done is done, and is left behind?

Leaving the two of them together, I turn to look again at Jesus, my friend, and I share with him what I need and desire from the depths of my heart.

Looking for fruit

 Third Sunday of Lent Year C - 20th March 2022

Gospel Luke 13:1–9

Some people arrived and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them, ‘Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.’

He told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the man who looked after the vineyard, “Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?” “Sir,” the man replied, “leave it one more year, and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.”’

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I begin my prayer by relaxing my body and mind. I breathe in deeply, reminding myself that I am in God’s presence. I ask the Spirit to help me.

I read the text slowly, a couple of times. Perhaps I place myself at Jesus’s feet as I hear him say these words to me. I hear him speak of tragic disasters, contrived and accidental. How do I respond to his comments?

Hoes does this warning make me feel ... frightened ... encouraged ...or ...? I reflect on why and how this is.

As I ponder the parable of the fig tree, I may think of personal times of failure or feelings of uselessness. In what ways does the parable give me confidence?

How do I consider the different responses of the owner and the man looking after the vineyard? I turn to the Lord. I speak to him from my heart, allowing him to love me and care for me.

Perhaps there is some sense in which this feels like a ‘final year’ for me? Whatever my response, I offer it to the Lord, trusting him to grant me all the graces I need to serve him and bear fruit.

I end my prayer with a ‘Glory be ...’

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Listen to him

Second Sunday of Lent Year C - 13th March 2022

Gospel Luke 9: 28–36

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up a mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightening. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem.

Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus. ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen.

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

Having taken time to bring myself into the presence of the Lord, I slowly read through the Gospel.

Jesus goes with his companions to a place of wilderness. It may help my prayer to imagine a familiar mountain or wild place where I have been, or where I have felt close to the presence of the Lord.

I envisage the Gospel scene unfolding in that place, imagining that I am one of the companions that Jesus takes with him to pray.

I stay for a while, simply imagining being in the presence of our loving Jesus, sitting in stillness and silence.

Why has he invited me to be with him in this time of prayer?

What does Jesus want me to hear and see?

I Imagine the rest of the Gospel scene. What is my reaction to seeing the vision of Jesus suddenly transformed in the presence of Moses and Elijah?

I hear the voice of God inviting me to listen to his Son. in silence I listen.

Then, when I feel ready, together with Jesus I pray:

Our Father ...

Worship the Lord your God

 First Sunday of Lent Year C - 6th March 2022

Gospel Luke 4: 1–13

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone.’

Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours’. But Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.’

Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for scripture says: He will put his angels in charge of you to guard you, and again: They will hold you up on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘It has been said: You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’

Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to return at the appointed time.

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

As always, I take my time to come into prayer. I ask the help of the Spirit, to lead me through this scripture. I pray for the grace to be with Jesus in his temptation.

If helpful, I could imagine Jesus, the devil, or the wilderness. What am I noticing? How is this encounter touching me?

The devil repeats the words, ‘If you are the Son of God ...’. What is going on here? Is the evil one trying to undermine Jesus’s relationship with the Father, to make him doubt, to drive him to self-reliance?

Do I recognise that temptation, at times, in my own life?

I might feel drawn to Jesus’s replies, to his calmness and trust. Perhaps I might like to pray Psalm 90 (91) with him once again. How do I feel now?

I stay with him, in the stillness of the empty wilderness. Our Father...

Click here to read or listen to a one-minute homily on this Sunday's readings!