A radical season of change

Lent is a radical season of change, a time of fasting but also a time of deepened prayer and charity, looking outwards to those in need. Here’s today’s reflection from the daily Mass.

BIBLE READINGS: You can find the readings for Friday after Ash Wednesday here

I wonder how many people, in the days before Lent, had the conversation which starts, “What are you giving up for Lent?” And I wonder, by the end of Lent, how many people will have given up ‘giving up’ something?

There is a similar, yet more serious conversation going on between God and his People in the reading from Isaiah. They seem to be impressed with themselves and don’t understand why God doesn’t share their own enthusiasm for their fasting. ‘They delight to draw near to God. “Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?” But God sees that, as they fast, they are also committing great injustices. The fast that God desires is one of liberation and justice, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, lifting oppression, housing the homeless. That is a far more radical demand.

Fasting and sacrifice is only one aspect of Lent. It is also a time of prayer and charity—reaching out to those in need. It is, then, a radical season, one which takes our relationship with God seriously, but also a season which demands that we look outwards to the world. By the end of Lent, it’s not only we who should be changed in some way, but so should the world. “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily.”

Mass today is at S Saviour’s at 10am

DAY BY DAY

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Not in the small print

Jesus spoke openly about the difficulties and challenges of discipleship. As we set off on our Lenten journey, we pray that the sacrifices we make will draw us closer to the Lord. Today’s reflection from the daily Mass.

BIBLE READINGS: You can find the readings for Thursday after Ash Wednesday here.

How many of us have signed contracts and agreements without reading the small print? All those Terms and Conditions we sign for products and services when all we’ve really done is scroll through thousands of words which mean nothing to us, but which we’ve given our assent to.

In the gospel reading, Jesus is clear about the difficulties and challenges which lie ahead. Firstly, he speaks of himself, and the suffering and death he will experience. Then he turns to all and says, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Jesus doesn’t hide these conditions in the small print. He speaks openly and clearly about them.  It is through a life of service and sacrifice that we will find fulfilment.

Whenever we meet with difficulties, it is natural to want to blame someone, or to be angry. God is often the subject of our anger, as though he has let us down or been unfaithful to us or malevolent. Today’s gospel reminds us of the pain of living and the difficulties of discipleship. The way of Christ is not always an easy one. It comes with a cross. But as Jesus says on another occasion, “Your endurance will win you your lives.” As we begin our Lenten journey, we pray that the sacrifices we make along the way, will make us stronger, deepen our faith and draw us closer to the Lord, whose death has brought life to the world.

Mass today is at Ss Dyfrig and Samson at 10am

DAY BY DAY

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Ash Wednesday

“May this holy season of Lent be, for us, a time of penitence and renewal, a springtime of growth, a means through which we find our voice to praise the Lord and rejoice in his salvation.” Read today’s reflection from the Daily Mass.

BIBLE READINGS: You can find the readings for Ash Wednesday here

Vivienne Westwood, the fashion designer and businesswoman, who was largely responsible for bringing punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream, once said, “I just use fashion as an excuse to talk about politics. Because I’m a fashion designer, it gives me a voice, which is really good.”

What we wear often defines us. It can identify our class and values, our age and politics, our musical likes and inspirations, our personality, and so much more besides. Vivian Westwood said that, for her, the outward display and expressions of fashion were a means of expressing and addressing real problems and situations.

In our first reading from the prophet Joel, we read, ‘Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.’ Whilst tearing garments may have been a sign in Joel’s time of sorrow, penitence and frustration, it could all too easily become a shallow show with little or no real meaning. Joel’s call was to an internal conversion of heart.

Today, as we begin our Lenten journey, we are called to look within and to what’s really important. The ‘cosmetic’ and outward act of receiving ashes on our forehead, gives not just an expression of penance but a means to address what lies within. As we focus on our mortality and our propensity to sin, so we find our voice with the weeping priests of Joel’s day, to say, ‘Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations.”

May this holy season of Lent be, for us, a time of penitence and renewal, a springtime of growth, a means through which we find our voice to praise the Lord and rejoice in his salvation. May our lives, from this moment onwards, be fashioned by love and our need of God.

Mass today is at St Paul’s Church at 10am, St Mary’s Church at 11am and St Saviour’s at 7pm

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Bread and Milk?

“As we prepare for Lent, we will already be thinking about how we can trim our lives of a few comforts so that we can realign our lives with God who gives us life and sustains us.” Read today’s reflection from the Daily Mass.

BIBLE READINGS: You can find the readings for Ruesday in the sixth week of the year here

Whenever we receive warnings of severe weather coming our way, many people rush to the shops to buy their essentials—which usually includes bread and milk.

Paul Farhi, a staff writer at The Washington Post, shared his own bread-and-milk panic theory in 2005. He suggested that it’s the symbolism of bread and milk that puts them first on our list when disaster loom. He wrote: “Bread is the host, the stuff of life, a palpable object of survival. Milk is a no-brainer, too – it’s the sustenance that a mother provides an infant, a biblical promise (“a land flowing with milk and honey”), a smooth and nutritious foodstuff.”

In the gospel reading, there is a similar concern on the part of the disciples. They are in the boat with Jesus and, with a slight sense of panic, realise they don’t have enough provisions. They’ve only brought one loaf of bread—particularly great oversight considering it hadn’t been long before that Jesus had multiplied the loaves in the deserted place. Thousands of people were fed, and baskets of bread left over. Jesus attempts to turn their attention away from the mundane by giving them a more important thing to think about but still they talk about the lack of bread. In the end, he has to spell it out even more clearly. “Do you still not understand?” he says. Perhaps we can detect a certain frustration in his voice.

We can all so easily miss the point or distract ourselves with unimportant things. We can avoid talking about what’s really important, or not do what needs to be done. We can miss the point of the church and our calling, and pour our efforts into doing things that we don’t really need to do. As we prepare for Lent, we will already be thinking about how we can trim our lives of a few comforts so that we can realign our lives with God who gives us life and sustains us, and who in the Eucharistic feeds us with the Bread of Life

Mass today is at St Mary’s Church at 630pm

DAY BY DAY

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Give me a Sign!

“We need signs by which to live, to ensure we are moving in the right direction. Jesus is the sign given by God.” Read today’s reflection from the Daily Mass.

BIBLE READINGS: You can find the readings for Monday in the sixth week of the year here

We’d be lost without signs. We’d end up driving down one one-way streets, be left looking for the toilets in pubs and restaurants, not know when it was safe to cross a busy crossroads, or not be able to find the cheese aisle in a supermarket. Imagine a world without signs. We’d have to talk to others to find out where we wanted to go!

In the gospel reading, the Pharisees want to talk to Jesus. Or, rather, they have come to argue with him. They try to test him, by asking for a sign from heaven. If he could provide one of those, then that would prove his power. But Jesus refuses to fall into their little trap. He is exasperated at their need for a sign, and he eventually leaves them to their petty arguments.

Sometimes, as we try to make sense of life or look for comfort or reassurances, some may see signs everywhere—often in the most extraordinary of places. For example, seeing faces in random places—whether that be clouds, cookies, crackers or burnt toast—is a common phenomenon known as “pareidolia.” It is driven by the brain’s evolutionary and automatic drive to identify faces for social navigation, which often causes it to see things that are not actually there. Some people can take this to extraordinary levels, inventing all kinds of ways in which they believe signs have been given to them either from God or from beyond the grave.

God has revealed his purpose to us in Christ. He has shown us how to follow him, and how he desires us to live. We need signs by which to live, to ensure we are moving in the right direction. Jesus is the sign given by God. If we remain close to him, follow him, and be faithful to him then we will experience his merciful love, his loving care, and his caring touch, for he is the way, the truth and the life.  He is the good shepherd who leads us through the darkest valley to pastures green.

Mass today is at St Dyfrig and S Samson’s church at 630pm

DAY BY DAY

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Sharing the Good News

In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers the task of spreading the Good News of Jesus – evangelisation.

Readings for the Feast of St Cyril and St Methodius (Saturday 14 February) can be found here.

What do you do with those flyers that are so often pushed through our letterboxes, advertising everything from takeaways to double glazing to gardening services? Most of us probably put them straight in the bin, but the people who send them out must think it’s worthwhile, or they wouldn’t bother. For every thousand flyers delivered, perhaps a handful will actually respond.

The work of evangelism, of spreading the Gospel, can often feel like this. We put in an enormous amount of effort for seemingly little reward. We might feel that figures such as St Cyril and St Methodius were much more successful in this work than we could ever hope to be. Yet our readings today remind us that proclaiming the Gospel is never easy and often brings mixed results. In the passage from Acts, Paul and Barnabas are on their first missionary journey and have reached Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). At the start of the reading, Paul is addressing the Jewish population of the region and commenting on how they have not received the Gospel. Paul, however, is not about to give up. Instead, he simply turns his attention to another group, namely the Gentiles.

In the Gospel Jesus sends out the 72 missionaries in a simple and humble manner. There is no “hard sell” here – they are merely to proclaim a message of peace. Sometimes, Jesus says, the message will remain with the person; other times it will return. In the verses that follow today’s reading, Jesus warns them that whole towns may reject their message, in which case they are to move on somewhere else.

As we seek to spread the Gospel in our own day, we shouldn’t think that if we adopt this or that strategy results will automatically come, like pulling a lever. Instead, we must simply proclaim the good news to all and sundry with simplicity and humility. And who knows, someone might actually pick up the leaflet, read it, and respond.

Mass today is in St Mary’s at 11.30am (Morning Prayer and Rosary at 11am)

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day By Day pages.

Healing our divisions

Divisions in society, among nations, and even within the church seem to be a feature of modern life. Jesus shows us another way, as Fr Richard explores in today’s reflection on the daily mass readings.

Readings for Friday in the fifth week of Ordinary Time can be found here.

We are all familiar in modern history with nations that have become divided for a variety of reasons. Examples include East and West Germany, North and South Yemen, North and South Korea, and close to home Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Some have reunited, while others remain apart. There are those in the USA who believe that their nation is so hopelessly divided that the time has come for a “great divorce”, with one country for the Democrats, and a separate one for the Republicans!

Yesterday’s first reading foretold the division of the Kingdom of Israel, established by David, into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. In today’s passage things move forward. The prophet Ahijah tears his garment into twelve pieces, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Ten tribes – the northern kingdom – are to be given to Jeroboam, while Solomon and his descendants will retain one tribe, which will become the southern kingdom. In case you’re thinking that only adds up to 11, the tribe of Benjamin is usually counted as one with Judah. 1 Kings is clear that the separation of the kingdom was a result of Solomon’s sin. And surely division is always the result of our sinfulness – our inability to get on with each other, tolerate difference, and reach compromise.

In the Gospels, we see Jesus bringing wholeness and healing as he overcomes the consequence of human sin. In yesterday’s passage he reached out (after a little persuasion on her part) to a Gentile, foreign woman. Today we see him healing the deaf man with a speech impediment, bringing wholeness to his life but also symbolising the in-breaking of his Kingdom. The Church, as a human institution, has had its fair share of divisions over the past 2000 years. As the Body of Christ, however, we should be about overcoming that which separates people from one another, and bringing healing and wholeness to society and to the world, in Jesus’ name.

Mass today is in St Saviour’s at 10am.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, then check out our Day By Day pages.

The great reversal

Some people appear to have it all but throw it all away; others who seem to have nothing can achieve great things through persistence and faithfulness. Fr Richard explores these contrasting fortunes in today’s reflection on the daily mass readings.

Readings for Thursday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time can be found here.

The world of film loves a story which centres around a reversal of fortunes, either rags to riches or the other way round. Examples include The Wolf of Wall Street, which tells the true story of Jordan Belfort. He was a successful stockbroker who became very wealthy but was brought down by a mixture of hedonism and greed. On the other hand, Slumdog Millionaire is about a boy from the slums of Mumbai, India, who overcomes many hardships to win big on a TV quiz show thanks to his natural talent.

We see both of these trajectories in our readings today. Solomon was the classic insider who had everything. He was King of Israel, son of David, builder of the great Temple, and the one whom the Queen of Sheba travelled a great distance to see because of his legendary wisdom. And yet today we learn that he threw all of this away by worshipping other gods. As a result, the God of Israel promises that after his reign the kingdom will be divided, which did indeed happen.

Contrast this with the Syrophoenician woman from today’s Gospel. A Gentile, a foreigner, a woman, and one whom even Jesus refers to a dog. Yet unlike Solomon she had a faith which cannot be deterred. She answers back to Jesus, and persuades him to heal her daughter. These readings remind us that in the life of faith, status counts for nothing. It is simple, persistent faithfulness which matters. As Mary puts it in the Magnificat: “He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly”. Let us always remember that, and be on the look out for such “great reversals” happening in our world and in our society today. 

Mass today is in St Dyfrig & St Samson, Grangetown, at 10am.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day By Day pages.

God’s address

God cannot be found at a particular address, nor can he be confined to our rules and customs. How does this belief shape our attitude to the world and other people? Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from mass.

Readings for Tuesday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time (memorial of St Scholastica) can be found here.

One of the first things any child learns, after perhaps their own name and those of their family, is their address. Throughout our life, we may have moved many times, or always lived in the same house, but our address is something we know instinctively. In this digital age we have become familiar with entering our postcode then selecting our house name or number from the drop-down menu. Even the grandest in the land has an address; many are the people who have written excitedly to the Queen or King at Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA, and then got an answer – even if it is from a lady-in-waiting or secretary.

If someone asked, “what is God’s address”, we might laugh at the silliness of the question. God does not have a house, we might reply; he is everywhere. King Solomon acknowledges this in his prayer at the dedication of the Temple, that mighty house which was seen as God’s dwelling place. “Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built”, he prays. 

We might know this truth deep down, but there has always been a human tendency to try and confine God, to put him in a box or compartment, separated from the world at large. In many ways, this is what the Pharisees in Jesus’ day had done. For them, God’s address was in the many rules and regulations, customs and traditions that they observed. There was a divide between God’s realm – that which was ritually pure, or clean – and the rest of the world, which was unclean. Hence the dispute about Jesus’ disciples washing their hands. It wasn’t about hygiene but washing off the impurities of the world. 

This attitude can affect Christians. Some talk about “bringing God into this community”, as though he wasn’t already there, in the lives of ordinary people who may or may not be religious. If God truly is everywhere, then such distinctions don’t make sense. Far better to adopt Rowan Williams’ attitude to Christian living: find out what God is already doing, and simply join in.

Mass today is in St Mary’s at 6.30pm

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day By Day pages.

Where is God’s presence?

Why do we have favourite places, at home or out in the world, and why do we have physical places of worship? How is God’s presence to be found – in the bricks and mortar or in the people who make up worshipping communities? Today’s reflection on the daily mass readings with Fr Richard.

Readings for Monday on the 5th week of Ordinary Time (memorial of St Teilo) can be found here.

Do you have a favourite place? Perhaps it is a comfy old armchair in your home, where you like to settle down with a cuppa and relax. Maybe it is somewhere outside the home – a park where you feel at peace, or a busy cafe where you can connect with friends and family. The human instinct to adopt favourite places is due to many things. It can be about a feeling of safety and security, or peace and calm, or perhaps a special place is the repository of important memories. 

All of these human needs are surely at work in our tendency to create and maintain places set aside for prayer and worship, such as the church we are gathered in right now. In addition, of course, we hope and pray that here we will encounter God in a special and particular way, through word and sacrament. 

Our first reading today describes the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem which King Solomon had built. The Ark of the Covenant, containing the tablets of the law, is placed in the Holy of Holies within the Temple. For the people of Israel, the Temple, with the Ark at its centre, was more than just a special and holy place – it represented God’s presence with his people. This is why its destruction at the hands of the Babylonians over 400 hundred years later was such a catastrophe for the nation.

Jesus often spoke of himself as the Temple – God’s presence now revealed not in a building but a person, God’s own Son. Today in the Gospel we see what that presence means when made human – he brings healing to those who are in need. Our church buildings are special and sacred, and we rightly love them and care for them. But they are not museums. They are to be places where God’s presence is shown today, not in bricks and mortar, but through his people carrying on the healing work of Jesus.

Mass today is in St Dyfrig & St Samson, Grangetown, at 6.30pm

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day By Day pages.