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A Hardened Heart
I am working my way through the early books of the Old Testament, beginning with Genesis and currently reading the story of Moses in Egypt, recounted in the book of Exodus. One of the predominant themes in these ancient scriptures is that of the people – and various individuals – pointedly refusing to listen to the God who is revealing Himself as ‘The Lord’. My readings this morning were continuing the story of Moses and the plagues of Egypt. Pharaoh is giving the people of God a very hard time and The Lord is not at all happy about it. And so, through the person of Moses, The Lord is…
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Lighting Dark Corners
It’s one of those Gospels which makes you think. It’s all about candles and lamps and lighting the way. And about becoming Christ, in the form of light. Matthew tells us the story – You are the light of the world.. your light must shine in the sight of men, so that seeing your good works, they may give the praise to the Father in Heaven. cf. Matthew 5: 13-16 It all goes against the grain, needless to say – after all, we are well used to the idea of hiding away quietly, being humble, not drawing attention to ourselves. But humility does not stand in contradiction to letting our…
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Prophetic Questions
Recently I have been reading one or two of the Prophets of the Old Testament, often referred to – by those who know about these things – as ‘the minor Prophets’. In particular, I’ve been having a look at Malachi and Zechariah. We sometimes think these ancient books have nothing pertinent to offer us, overlooking them in favour of the more ‘popular’ Old Testament writings; I’m not so certain this is always the case, and I find they can indeed offer us something worthwhile. Malachi was writing sometime around 500 BC, at a time when they was a general feeling of weariness for doing good, with the perception that those…
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The Seed of the Word
It can be tempting for us as Catholics to consider that the Word of God is simply that first part of the Mass, which we listen to every Sunday. We may well be listening with attention, but I think we often do so with more than a degree of passivity – listening, if it goes no further than mere listening, is indeed a passive activity. Now, this is not the intention of the Church; our Mass is comprised of two broad parts, each one given the title of ‘liturgy’ – the ‘liturgy of the Word’ and the ‘liturgy of the Eucharist’. This tells us very clearly that an equal dignity…
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Follow The Star
Finally, those three Kings – or Wise Men, depending on the translation you read – have made it successfully to the little stable where their journey finds it’s fulfilment. We took care of this in the parish early this morning, placing the three figures gently within the Manger, close to Mary and Joseph, and shifting the poor shepherds just a little in order to make some room for them. The Baby Jesus lay there serenely throughout. Saint Matthew’s Gospel describes the scene – And suddenly the star they had seen rising went forward and halted over the place where the Child was. The sight of the star filled them with…
