-
The 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time A



For some reason when I read this Gospel these words came to me:
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.

At the end of the storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver
Song of a lark.
For the most astute of you and football fans you will know that this is the Anthem of Liverpool football club. But, it makes a good point about today’s Gospel.
Peter focus is on Jesus and looks at him. Without thinking putting his faith in Jesus he walks on the water and heads towards the boat. At this point because he has put his faith in Jesus he has not recognized the storm that is around him. As soon as he noticed that there was a storm around him he realised what he was doing and Jesus helped him out.
I have not meant many people who have walked on water but there is a parallel with our own lives. We can often be walking over many storms of life and the sea devours us if we are not careful but, we feel the strength of the storm. A natural response for all of us is that when things seem to go wrong in our lives and the storm clouds gather we can then have doubts about God. We tend to lose focus on the world. We lose some faith in Christ. And so because of the noise of the storm around us because we are battling against the elements we cannot hear the voice of God.
And the natural response is to run as far away for it is far easier than facing the storm. We lack courage and faith.
So in these storms of our lives how do we keep focused? Well we can get a few clues from Jesus himself. We discover that Jesus went off to a lonely place to pray: To be alone and recharge the batteries rather than rushing all the time. To remember a grace filled moments to enjoy and bask in the Sunshine and warmth this gives. To see each moment as a sacrament: the sacrament of the present moment listening to the voice of God at that time at that space keeping the focus in the one who loves us and says “My dear Child I love you very

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Year of Service

-
Image
  This last weekend I was able to look back with friends at the wonderful year I had with the Vincentian Volunteers. Looking back I can see that there are many elements to this year that have remained always with me. These I can now see and after reflection have shaped my life since this most formative year. From this year I went on to train for the priesthood and became a priest. After 16 years I left ministry and now try my best to live my Christian values and life in the world. In a recent upgrade to my CV I realised that my whole adult life has been in some sort of service to others and usually to the most vulnerable and those on the fringes of society. From working in Top Shop to ministry to the Hospital to the work I now do in education. This all stems from this year I had with the community and putting Love in action. Yes I have made mistakes on the way and my human frailty has been evident but this life was never going to easy and straight forward.  When I look back on that yea
Read more

Easter

-
Image
  Over the last few years I have had major issues with the Catholic Church. I think that my issue is the authority of the Church and how many clergy, not all, use and abuse their power and class the laity as stupid idiots. I can say this as for 16 years I was a priest and caught up in the system. When you're in the middle of it you can't aways see what is going on around you. I could not see what the Church as a structure was doing to peoples lives. Until I was out I realised that the Church and Im talking about the Catholic Church here is full up of repressed men who are scared of change scared of themselves and scared of the laity. Those who speak out especially clergy who want significant change are laughed at by others and classed as trouble makers. This includes Pope Francis himself who wants change but sometimes can't get it because of what he has inherited. It is an issue that has gone on your centuries.  This does not allow for a healthy functioning Church. There ne
Read more

What have we learnt? Covid and the last year.

-
Image
Over the last year since the start of the Covid pandemic there has been much in the press about the affects on society. We have seen that there are many people who are anxious, feel alone and worried about the future. So I looked on the Internet for the Christian response to the Pandemic. I was not surprised to see that there were many articles to suggest that the Christian Church as a whole has failed in this time.  In the first Lockdown the Churches were asked to close and there was no public worship. As the infection rate went down the Churches could open for private prayer. In the recent lockdown many places of worship have remained open although the infection rate being a lot higher. I have maybe been a thorn in peoples sides by asking why. I even wrote to the Cardinal  to ask him why. I argued that they should be left shut because of the demographic that tend to go. I got a standard reply back. When I looked in newsletters I read many times about how to give your collection and t
Read more