Go make disciples

It is no wonder that the Gospel of Matthew ends with the disciples gathered on a mountain. Mountains are key in the history of Israel, as well as being key to the ministry of Jesus. So I am sure it was with light hearts that the disciples made the journey from smelly Jerusalem that sunny Spring day to the fresh air upon the slopes of the mountain, with the gentle breeze sweeping across the landscape from the lake below. As the eleven gathered there, Jesus appeared to them and the natural reaction for most of them was to fall down and worship the one who was now demonstrated to be worthy of praise (although some hesitated - wondering if their concept of the one and only God could be extended to this very human Jesus). Then Jesus offers his final words to the disciples and to the Church - five short statements that provide us with the shape of church mission ever since. First he declares that all authority has been given to him - a somewhat bizarre declaration if it is not understood correctly. He ends with a reminder of the promise that was made at the birth of Jesus - that he will be called Emmanuel - God with us; now it will be Jesus who remains with his Church until the end of time. In between Jesus gives the church the Great Commission, the call to the church to GO! There are three elements to the commission: (1) make disciples; (2) baptise them; and (3) teach them. It is clear that the Catholic Church has been very faithful over the centuries to the last two, but that there is a natural priority and order to the commission that requires that the first step is to make disciples. Unless a person is allowed to be and called to be a disciple, the other two aspects appear to make little sense.

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Recorded at St Paul's (10'05")
Trinity Sunday. Matthew 28:15-20.

Teaching with authority

Any male who had completed his bar mitzvah was eligible to read from the Torah in a Synagogue service and to offer commentary upon the reading. What the commentary contained would always be a reflection upon what the student had learned from his rabbi - who in turn would offer the insights that he had learnt from his rabbi - and so forth all the way back to Moses, the lawgiver. No one would ever attempt to set aside the Torah or to teach something that was contrary to it; no one would ever claim divine guidance or insights that could not be traced back to the teaching that they had received. The old ways and the received wisdom was always preferable to anything that even had the hint of something 'new' or 'radical' about it.

So when Jesus of Nazareth stood up in the Synagogue in Mark 1, and begins to teach something that no one had heard before, it is no wonder that his listeners were 'astonished.' And then he backed up this new teaching authority with the deliverance of a man who had many demons ...

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Recorded at St Paul's, Camden 6pm (12'07")
Sunday 04, Year B; Deut 18:15-20; Mark 1:21-28

Called to follow

Recorded on my mobile phone at Zero Gravity 2012, a summer camp for 200+ teenagers held at Mount Tamborine on the Gold Coaast hinterland. The Sunday Eucharist was the culmination of the four-day camp. The readings of the second Sunday provided a great reflection on discipleship and evangelisation.

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12'09"

Grace, peace and purpose of Christmas

Time magazine this year declared the Protester to be the 'Person of the Year' - and certainly 2011 was an extraordinary year of protests and revolutions. But it was not the first year to be noted as such - and one event that began a revolution that continues to this day was the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, which we celebrate on this Sunday of the Nativity.

The revolution that Jesus began was not begun with riots and violence, but with a revolution of grace and peace.

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Recorded at St Paul's, Camden

PowerPoint slides

The Kiva.org parish page can be found here: http://www.kiva.org/team/stpaulscamden

Signs of the Spirit

As we move through the Easter season, the liturgy today moves in its focus from looking back to the events of Easter, to looking forward in anticipation of the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the Church at Pentecost. All the readings today provide insights and guidance concerning the life in the Spirit and how this can be recognised and discerned. We are given a range of different hints across the readings today about what it means to live in the Spirit and to long for the Spirit to work in our lives.

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Easter 6A. 8'21".

Chosen race and royal priesthood

During Easter we have been reading from the first letter of St Peter, and we come today to what must be one of the most extraordinary declarations in scripture. Peter addresses a mixed community - young and old, men and women, gentiles and Jews, leaders and members - and to each person he reminds us that Jesus has drawn very near to us and wants to make us into living stones to form a spiritual house. Then, using words that were once addressed to the tribes of Israel gathered with Moses around the mountain of Sinai, he then declares that we share in this same dignity and more - of being a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Strangely the liturgy omits verse 10, which declares, 'You were once no people, but now you are God's people; once you had no mercy, but now you have received mercy.'

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Recorded at Mater Dolorosa, 12noon (Mass with Disciples of Jesus Community, 8'54")
Sunday 5A in Easter. 1 Peter 2:4-10.
Post #150!

On a mission from God

14th Sunday in the Season of the Year (C)

Having just moved from Nowra to Fairy Meadow parish, I can see why Jesus instructs his disciples not to move from house to house: for any of you who have moved recently, you will know what a pain it is to pack and move. In this Gospel (from Luke 10) we are given deep insights into the wider mission - not just of the apostles or leaders of the Church - but of the whole community to the world at large. Let us join Jesus as he continues his journey to Jerusalem and be consoled by the beautiful and lyrical image given from Isaiah 66 of a mother tenderly caring for her child.

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Recorded at St John Vianney's (7'48")