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wesleyv21-blog · 6 years

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Galapagos: Been there, done that(;

Hello once again!

Quito has never felt quite like home until now. After about 6 hours total of travel (including the hour I lost due to the time difference) from the Galápagos back to the Andes, I’m very glad to be back home-loosely speaking. There’s so much to tell yet so much that words can’t express, but I’ll give it my best shot to review everything that was our excursion to Guayaquil and the famous Galápagos Islands.

Last Wednesday we flew from Quito to Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. Nicknamed the Pearl of the Pacific for its beauty and the pride of its inhabitants, Guayaquil is the financial hub of Ecuador and really always has been. It’s named after the legendary figures of Guayas and Quil, an indigenous couple who according to legend led the resistance against the Spanish in what is now the area around the city. It was damn beautiful—and hot as hell compared to Quito! Upper 80s with 100% humidity and no clouds! Our first stop was the centrally-located Parque Histórico, where we took a tour of the zoological/botanical gardens that featured animals and plants from all over Ecuador. Crocodiles, otters, parrots, mangroves, monkeys—it was pretty cool! After that, we ate lunch on the famous Malecón (Boardwalk) that sits right on the River Guayas. Then, we toured an art museum that housed an impressive collection of pre-Columbian art from all around Ecuador. Ecuador is home to the first culture in South America to make pottery (the Valdivia culture). The Ecuadorian coast can also boast to be the home of the Manta-Wantawillka culture, the best and only ocean navigators in the southeastern Pacific. In addition, the infamous Spondylus shells are found in the depths off the Ecuadorian coast. These shells were traded as far north as Baja California and as far south as Chile and formed an important part of the economies of various ancestral societies. Alas, our time in Guayaquil was limited to a day, but what a day we spent! It’s a beautiful city that doesn’t have a tradition of tourism interestingly enough, yet I couldn’t recommend it more.

Thursday was the big day, the one we were all looking forward to: the arrival in las Islas Encantadas, the Galápagos Islands. The word “Galápagos” comes from old Spanish and means a saddle; it originally referred to the various species of tortoises that inhabit the islands and then came to refer to the islands themselves. We spent Thursday and Friday in San Cristobal, the capital and home of the oldest human settlements on the islands. Unlike mainland Ecuador, there is no history of ancestral communities living on the islands. Even though the Manta-Wantawillka were the first to discover the islands, they didn’t settle them because they’re very inhospitable. Only 2 islands have natural sources of fresh water. Only 4 are inhabited. I never knew the meaning of “desert island” until I came here. Yet they’re a curious mix of tropical, desert, and high altitude. On the same island (such as San Cristobal or Santa Cruz), you can encounter 5 different micro-climates, each with their own vegetation, animal life, and weather. And then there are the islands that look like they’re otherworldly, such as Bartolomé or Baltra. Bartolomé is red and rocky with an occasional cactus sprouting out of the lava flows and this scraggly grey lichen sprawled out over the entire surface of the island. Baltra has completely red soil, like deep red soil, and the same grey lichen except in much vaster quantities. There are also ruined buildings all over the island—probably dating from the WWII U.S. military base—which give the island an Old West-type feel.

But anyway, Thursday we spent on San Cristobal. We checked into our hotel and chilled the rest of the day, heading down the boardwalk to the beach and swimming with sea lions (which are called lobos marinos in Spanish, or sea wolves, which to me makes a whole lot more sense than sea lions). Sea lions are literally everywhere on San Cristobal—on the benches, on the beaches, on the sidewalk, on the outdoor patios of the restaurants, sometimes on the street. They’ll chase you sometimes if you get too close—as some of the students found out! The way human settlements work on the Galápagos is that 97% of all the territory of the islands is reserved as the national park, leaving 3% for human development. San Cristobal boasts a population of about 8,000 people; Santa Cruz is the biggest in population with around 18,000. So yea, Thursday we spent exploring and swimming and trying to avoid sunburn (which would prove a losing battle the entire trip, as there was hardly ever a cloud in the sky all the days we were there. The sun would be roasting us from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. every day).

On Friday we took a boat out to a tiny rock called León Dormido to go snorkeling! This was the first time I had ever gone snorkeling and it was amazinggggggg. We wore wetsuits, flippers, and masks—the whole outfit lol. The current around this rock was such that you could just float effortlessly while looking at all the wildlife literally right below you. We swam with schools of fish, sea lions, sharks, and even sea turtles! It was absolutely incredible to be only 10 feet from all these animals you see at the aquarium or on TV. One of the students brought a GoPro camera and got the whole experience—including the animals—on video! After eating lunch on the boat and taking a wonderful nap in the sun (which I later came to regret due to sunburn), we returned to San Cristobal to hear a talk by a local political activist about the tourism industry and local relations of power. This to me is far more interesting than the wildlife, although it’s never emphasized. The activist told us that some people come to the Galápagos not realizing that people actually live on the islands lol, which is indicative of the image projected to the rest of the world. There’s basically 4 entities that run the islands. There’s the Charles Darwin Research Station, which has the most funds of any of the entities I’ll discuss and enjoys the most privileged access to all of the islands—such unrestricted access that not even the local politicians or national park people have. Their agenda, which is ostensibly one of conservation and study, often prevails over the local interests of the people who inhabit and try to make a living on the islands. Second, there’s the Parque Nacional Galápagos, which is the administrative body of the national park aspect of the islands and is overseen principally by the Ministry of the Environment. Their agenda often meshes with that of the Charles Darwin Station, yet the key difference is the amount of money the two have. Whereas the Parque Nacional is funded by the state (meagerly), the Charles Darwin Station is an NGO affiliated with the Charles Darwin Foundation, which receives much more money from international donors. Third, there is the political system on the islands which includes local governments for each of the 4 inhabited islands as well as an overarching political body. Whereas the local governments are elected directly, the Minister of the Galápagos is appointed by the president and thus often a) is corrupt, b) is unpopular, c) does not govern with the interests of the local population in mind, or d) some combination of a, b, and c. Finally, there is the tourism industry, which really comprises two sets of individuals and companies: local and foreign. The foreigners are technically not allowed to operated in the islands by law, yet one always sees the fleets of international cruise ships circling the islands like vultures with their tourists on board. The corrupt politicians allow the international cruise lines to operate illegally, and the fucked up thing is that the conservationist agenda usually goes along with it because the rhetoric of tourism in the Galápagos is ostensibly to minimize the environmental impact of tourists by having them take up as little space as possible for as little time as possible. So, it’s very common for a trip to the Galápagos to be spent almost entirely on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship or another similar one, which then lays anchor at various ports only long enough for tourists to disembark to take pictures, buy things, eat, etc.

We’re not taking this route obviously. In fact, this piece is important for yall to know in case you ever want to come to the Galápagos or have friends/family who do. It’s vital that visitors to the islands DO NOT rely on big-name, international travel agencies to visit the islands. In addition to the environmental impact these companies leave behind, they siphon money out of the local economy. Only 1/3 of the money spent in the Galápagos stays in the pockets of the local galapagueños. Even though the islands are the richest province in Ecuador, they should be a lot better off. Instead, their environment and their jobs get auctioned off to foreign companies because of corrupt politicians and because tourists don’t know any better and go with the household names over the local establishments and tours. The latter is wayyy more fun, trust me. And part of the fun lies in knowing that I’m contributing to a responsible tourist ethos. I came into this trip thinking that tourism was inherently exploitative. Now I understand that that’s not the case. However, when big transnational companies appropriate the livelihood of the local population, that’s when tourism becomes a problem. Now yall know and can plan a smart, eco-friendly, and relatively sustainable trip to these magical islands.

On Saturday we arrived on Santa Cruz, the biggest island population-wise and the tourism hub. We stayed on land and checked out the Center of Environmental Interpretation, a system of trails with cool information about the formation of the islands as well as sociological information about the human aspect of the islands. We hiked up breathtaking (literally and figuratively) trails and spied frigate birds, boobies, big spiders, marine iguanas, giant cactuses, etc. I found out that the colonists as the residents are called have their residency pretty much for life; the only way they can lose it is by failing to renew it once every 10 years or so. Yet obtaining residency in the first place is tricky: one must marry someone with residency or be born to parents who have residency. Living on the islands is so exclusive so as not to upset the delicate ecosystems or overburden the economy. This whole time we had been eating fabulously. I’ve never had seafood so fresh in my life. Lobsters, tuna, shrimp—out of this world delicious. At dinner some of us met this random U.S. dude touring the islands after having just graduated college. He rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning, but then he mentioned how he really wanted to try ayawaska recreationally. Ayawaska, or ayahuasca, is an entheogen that combines two vines found in the Amazon—one contains a neurotransmitter released at birth and at death, and the other contains an enzyme that allows for the metabolization of the neurotransmitter. This combination is distilled into a drink and taken by shamans (yachakuna in Kichwa, where the term ayawaska comes from) of various Amazonian nations in order to divine the future, receive instructions or warnings, or cope with loss or other powerful life events/emotions. It is a sacred plant, and partaking in an ayawaska ritual requires years of dedication, preparation, and for outsiders, trust and bonds of communion with a local population. It cannot be taken recreationally, and the fact that this tourist expressed an interest in doing so even after one of us pointed all the above out to him just really irritated me. However, it’s important I use him as an example and continuously strive to root out my own ignorance and prejudices toward cultures different than my own.

Sunday was the best snorkeling day by far. We took a boat from Santa Cruz to the little island of Bartolomé, which is home to perhaps the most iconic image of the islands (Google Galápagos and you’ll probably see it, or check out my Facebook as I posted a picture of it). Bartolomé is so inhospitable that it’s been used as a site to film movies that take place on Mars. There’s dried lava plumes, ridges, cliffs, and tunnels everywhere, and the sparse vegetation only adds to the merciless landscape. With no trees and no clouds to shade us, we were sizzling as we climbed up to the summit to look down on the bay. But it was all worth it once we jumped in the water! We snorkeled and swam with penguins! The second smallest species in the world. They were adorableeee! And they zoomed in the water right past us as we snorkeled! We also saw numerous sharks lurking on the seafloor, as well as seastars and tons of fish. There’s this giant fish called a parrotfish that is as brightly colored as its namesake. They are absolutely breathtaking. And the water was a bright turquoise—I’ve only ever seen water that beautiful in the movies haha. We also ate lunch on the boat (an incredible experience), and on the way back to Santa Cruz (about a 2 hour ride), I sat up top with the captain and jammed out to his playlist of reggeaton classics while the wind whipped my hair and the sun beat down on my back. Simply beautiful.

Monday was our last full day. We visited two sinkholes that are named Los Gemelos (the Twins) because they’re right next to each other. They were pretty cool but uneventful haha. Then we visited the famous Charles Darwin Research Center. We toured the tortoise breeding program and saw baby tortoises! They were absolutely the cutest things ever—only like the size of your hand, moving all around their enclosures exploring to their precious little hearts’ content, and eating leaves like you’ve never seen anything eat a leaf. The day passed far too quickly and left us all with sadness and nostalgia. We played classic group games like Hot Seat and the question game and games of that sort through the night. As we were leaving today, I couldn’t help but feel that this is an adios and not a chao—a goodbye forever and not an “until next time.” I certainly would love to return but I just don’t see how I’ll ever be able to for the rest of my life. Then again, I’m one of the 1% of the world population who has ever visited the islands. And what a fulfilling trip it was. Still though, returning to Quito has filled me with a profound sadness. It’s not just leaving behind such a paradise and knowing that I’ll never be able to recreate that experience in the same way. It’s also returning to the daily grind of classes and homework. But even more than that—being in an airport for the first time since January has filled me with homesickness for one of the really only times so far. I can’t really explain why beyond that just physically being in an airport made me recall the flight to the unknown that took place what feels like eons ago. The domestic and international arrivals share the same exit point, so I was literally back in the same place I was when everything was so new and I didn’t know anybody or anything. It was a weird feeling.

So, there ya have it—the Galápagos episode over and done with. These words fail to do justice to the sights, smells, sounds, emotions, and thoughts that comprised this trip. I encourage yall to go and see for yourselves, because the Enchanted Islands will certainly enchant you—as they have done me.

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 years

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21st June >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 10:26-33 for The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A: ‘Do not be afraid’.

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Matthew 10:26-33

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not be afraid. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.

‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.

‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 10:26–33

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body.

Jesus said to the Twelve: “Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Reflections (3)

(i) Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

It is striking how many times in the gospels Jesus calls on his disciples not to be afraid. On one occasion, he said to his disciples in the boat in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, ‘Why are you afraid, you of little faith?’ Jesus identifies fear as a sign of little faith or a lack of faith. We tend to think of doubt as the opposite of faith, but so often in the gospels the opposite of faith is not doubt but fear. Genuine faith is always a courageous faith.

In today’s gospel reading Jesus calls on his disciples not to be afraid no less than three times. The Lord asks us not to be afraid when it comes to proclaiming the gospel and sharing with others the good news that we have been given. He says, ‘what I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the house-tops’. In a sense, the Lord is calling there for spiritual courage. The church in Ireland over the centuries has shown great spiritual courage. You only have to think of those times when people witnessed to their faith, when it was very risky to do so. Or, we think of our male and female missionaries who brought the gospel to places where conditions were harsh and inhospitable. We may have lost something of that spiritual courage in more recent times. There are many reasons for that, the various scandals that have traumatized the church in recent years being one of them. Also, the culture in which we live is less supportive of the values of the gospel than it was in the past. Living the gospel, practising the faith, especially for young people, can mean swimming against the tide much more than was the case in the more recent past.

We can all become very guarded about where we stand, spiritually. At an official, institutional, level, the church needs to be more courageous. It needs to launch out into the deep in ways that has not been done before. Institutional spiritual courage can support and enhance personal spiritual courage. We can all be helped by it to launch out personally into the deep, into the spiritual deep, in ways we have not done before. Spiritual courage is not spiritual arrogance, or much less, spiritual triumphalism. We have known something of that too as a church and it has not served us well, and never will. The root of spiritual courage is trust, trusting not in ourselves but in the Lord. It is a profound trust in the providence of God who, as today’s gospel reminds us, values all of creation, including the humble sparrow, and who sees and appreciates the much greater worth of each individual person, ‘you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows’.

Jesus speaks of God as a heavenly Father who values us so much and is so lovingly involved in our lives that he knows the number of hairs on our head. As believers in Jesus, we enjoy an intimate relationship with God, a sharing in Jesus’ own relationship with God. We are valued and watched over by God, just as Jesus was. This sense of God’s loving care for us gives us the assurance and confidence to publicly proclaim our relationship with Jesus our brother, and with God, the Father of Jesus and our Father. We are to proclaim this graced relationship from the housetops, not as a self-congratulatory boast, but as good news for all to hear, because everyone is called into this same relationship. We are to declare ourselves for the Lord in the presence of others, knowing that the Lord is declaring himself for us in God’s presence. The grace and privilege of being taken up into Jesus’ own relationship with God is an empowering call to witness publicly to who we are and what we have received. As Paul reminds us in today’s second reading, ‘divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift’. The more we each appreciate our worth in God’s eyes, just how graced we are, the more we will entrust ourselves to God, and the greater our trust in God the greater will be our spiritual courage, the freer we will be to declare ourselves for Christ, in the words of today’s gospel reading.

Spiritual courage can be infectious. One person of spiritual courage can give spiritual courage to others. That is the deeper meaning of what we call encouragement. Each one of us has a role in giving spiritual courage to everyone else. The earliest Christian document we possess is Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. There, Paul repeatedly calls on those early Christians to encourage one another. He recognized that they had a very important ministry to each other, the ministry of giving each other spiritual courage. What was true of the church then is just as true of the church today. We can build each other up spiritually or tear each other down. Paul in today’s second reading reminds us that the legacy of Adam to the world was sin, whereas the legacy of Christ was God’s grace, the power of God’s love. We can align ourselves with Adam or with Christ in terms of the legacy we leave to others. Our calling is to allow Christ to grace others, to encourage others, through us.

And/Or

(ii) Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In all our lives there are areas that are quite public and other areas that are very private. We are happy to talk about some things in the public forum, but careful to talk about other matters only in the privacy of our home, or perhaps not at all. The line between the private and the public can vary between one person and another. Issues that some people might consider to be of legitimate public interest, others might regard as belonging exclusively in the private domain. We know more about some people than about others, and some are more open about themselves and their lives than others. Whereas we might consider some people too closed, keeping private what could easily be shared with others, we might think of others as too open, sharing too easily what would better be kept private.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says: ‘What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the house-tops’. It is clear from the context that what Jesus wants people to tell in the daylight, to proclaim from the housetops, is the gospel, the good news that Jesus himself preached and lived. Jesus wants his disciples to declare themselves for him publicly, to acknowledge him openly. The gospel reading strongly suggests that our faith is to be lived publicly.

When we look at the private areas and the public areas of our lives, where does our faith belong? Do we see it as belonging more to the private area or to the public area? There was a time in our history when living the faith, in its Roman Catholic form, was against the law of the land, and, in order to stay alive, people were forced to live their faith in a private, undemonstrative way. That phenomenon of the ‘underground Church’, as it is often called, was not unique to Ireland. The ‘underground Church’ was a significant reality in certain parts of Europe until quite recently, and remains a reality in parts of the world today. In our own land, with Catholic emancipation in the early part of the nineteenth century and with the founding of the Irish Free State in the early part of the twentieth century, the church became very much an ‘over ground Church’, a very public phenomenon. Two events this century could be seen as the highpoint of the public expression of our faith, the Eucharistic congress in 1933 and the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1981.

In more recent decades, there has been a tendency for believers to retreat somewhat from the public domain. Many of us have become more circumspect about witnessing to our faith. We are less likely to publicly declare our allegiance to Christ. We sense that the environment has become more hostile to the gospel, and in that we are probably right. The recent exposure of scandals in the Church has been one factor in all of this. There is a danger that we will have a collective loss of nerve when it comes to the gospel and to the Church, through and in which, for all its faults, we receive and hear the gospel. This Sunday’s readings have something important to say to us in that context. Three times in the course of the gospel reading, Jesus calls on his disciples not to be afraid. The fear he is talking about is the fear of witnessing publicly to himself. We all have a whole variety of legitimate fears. Parents will be fearful of their children getting into trouble; we are all fearful of a nuclear arms race, of the consequences of growing inequality both at home and on a more global scale. There are many things about which we need a healthy fear. However, Jesus strongly indicates in today’s gospel reading that one thing we should not be fearful of is bearing public witness to himself and his gospel.

In saying to his disciple, ‘Do not be afraid’, Jesus was not trying to minimize the opposition they would encounter when they began to proclaim the gospel by their lives. He is not saying to them or to us, ‘do not be afraid because there is nothing to fear’. There are a set of values embodied in the gospel, in our faith, that are very challenging and will be experienced as threatening by some, perhaps even by ourselves from time to time. There can often be a risk in taking a public stand for gospel values, such as the respect for life at all its stages, justice for all, the fundamental equality of all men and women under God, the priority of forgiveness over revenge, of serving over acquiring. Jesus was saying, ‘do not be afraid because when you courageously bear witness to me and my gospel, God will be watching over you’, or, in the words of Jeremiah in today’s first reading, the Lord will be at your side. The gospel reading is assuring us that the Father cares deeply for those disciples who have the courage to live publicly their faith in Jesus and his gospel.

St. Paul in one of his letters speaks about carrying a treasure in earthen jars. He was referring to the treasure of the gospel, and he understood himself to be the earthen jar. We are all carrying a treasure in earthen jars. The fact that we show ourselves to be all too earthen from time to time does not make what we carry any the less of a treasure. In today’s gospel reading Jesus assures his disciples of their worth: ‘you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows’. Who we are as Christians and the values we stand for are of inestimable worth. If we really appreciated that worth, it would go a long way towards making us less fearful in the living of our faith.

And/Or

(iii) Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Archbishop announced a new initiatives for the church in Dublin in recent weeks, concerning what is termed parish pastoral workers. Men and women who have a primary degree in theology or religious education, or its equivalent, are invited to apply to enter a process of formation to become parish pastoral workers. The formation programme lasts one year and will be based in Mater Dei Institute. During that year the candidates will spend two days a week in Mater Dei for academic study and three days a week in a supervised placement in a parish of the Diocese. After successful completion of that one year programme the candidate will be offered an interview for a three year contract as a parish pastoral worker in the Dublin Diocese, based in some parish. It is envisaged that these parish pastoral workers will work in partnership with the priests and the pastoral councils of parishes. Their tasks will include helping to build community in the parish, promoting lifelong learning in the Christian tradition and in Christian living, enhancing the prayer and worship of the parish community, and encouraging involvement in existing and new initiatives to promote the mission of the church today. It is hoped that twenty candidates will begin the one year programme in Mater Dei Institute this September. This is a new and exciting initiative in the Diocese that has the potential to enrich and enhance the various ways that the church ministers to people today.

I was reminded of that recent initiative by this morning’s gospel reading. There the Lord asks us not to be afraid when it comes to proclaiming the gospel and sharing with others the good news that we have been given. He says to his disciples, ‘what I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the house-tops’. In a sense, the Lord is calling there for spiritual courage. The church in Ireland over the centuries has shown great spiritual courage. You only have to think of those times when people witnessed to their faith, when it was very risky to do so, such as the many Irish martyrs whose feast we celebrate last week. Or, we think of our male and female missionaries who brought the gospel to places where conditions were harsh and inhospitable. It is probably true to say that we have lost something of that spiritual courage in more recent times. There are many reasons for that, the various scandals that have traumatized the church in recent years being one of them. Also, the culture in which we live is less supportive of the values of the gospel than it was in the past. Living the gospel, practising the faith, especially for young people, can mean swimming against the tide much more than was the case in the more recent past.

We can all become very guarded about where we stand, spiritually. The recent initiative in this Diocese could be seen as one expression of institutional spiritual courage. It is an effort to launch out into the deep in a way that has not been done before. Institutional spiritual courage can support and enhance personal spiritual courage. We can all be helped by it to launch out personally into the deep, into the spiritual deep, in ways we have not done before. Spiritual courage is not spiritual arrogance, or much less, spiritual triumphalism. We have known something of that too as a church and it has not served us well, and never will. The root of spiritual courage is trust - trusting not in ourselves but in the Lord. It is a profound trust in the providence of God who, as today’s gospel reminds us, values all of creation, including the humble sparrow, and who sees and appreciates the worth of each individual person much more clearly than we see it ourselves. Indeed, we are worth so much in God’s eyes that, as Paul reminds us in today’s second reading, ‘divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift’. The more we each appreciate our worth in God’s eyes, the more we will entrust ourselves to God, and the greater our trust in God the greater will be our spiritual courage, the freer we will be to declare ourselves for Christ, in the words of this morning’s gospel reading.

Spiritual courage can be infectious. One person of spiritual courage can give spiritual courage to others. That is the deeper meaning of what we call encouragement. We each have a role in giving spiritual courage to each other. The earliest Christian document we possess is Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. There, Paul repeatedly calls on those early Christians to encourage one another. He recognized that they had a very important ministry to each other, the ministry of giving each other spiritual courage. What was true of the church then is just as true of the church today. We can build each other up spiritually or tear each other down. Paul in this morning’s second reading reminds us that the legacy of Adam to the world was sin, whereas the legacy of Christ was God’s grace, the power of God’s love. We can align ourselves with Adam or with Christ in terms of the legacy we leave to others. Our calling is to allow Christ to grace others - to encourage others - through us.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 7 years

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25th June >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflection on Matthew 10:26-33 for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A: ‘There is no need to be afraid ‘.

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Canada & Southern Africa)

Matthew 10:26-33

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 10:26–33

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body.

Reflections (2)

(i) Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

And/Or

(ii) Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ieJoinus via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

0 notes