Sunday

 Today's Gospel is the parable of the prodigal son. We all know it by heart.

Here's a liberal synopsis.

All the atheists from Wanganui and Wainuiomata had heard of Jesus and drove into Wellington to check him out. He was teaching in the Basilica in Hill Street and some parishioners had arranged tea and cup cakes. Father Patrick and the Cardinal were there and got a little annoyed with all the riff raff stomping around in muddy shoes on the nice newly refurbished marble floor. They said "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them". So he spoke a parable to them:

A man had two sons, they were three years apart in age. The younger less wise one asked his father to give him his share of the inheritance now. The father was a good natured and generous Marine Engineer and did so. So a few days later the younger one sold his violin and cello, put the money in the bank with his inheritance and flew to the USA. There he went around visiting all the women he had chatted with on Catholicmatch and spent most of his money on having a good time; a few of them that were scammers  took the rest. Then because of President Trump's isolationist policies and high tariffs on imported goods, the USA had a recession. Having no money left, the younger brother got a job washing dishes in a restaurant. He was poorly paid and hungry and would gladly have eaten the left overs but his Samoan supervisor wouldn't let him and made him throw all the uneaten lobster and beef steak in the bin. One day he thought of how happy he had been at home and decided he'd use his last few dollars and fly back to New Zealand and apologize to his father saying maybe he could clean his house in return for bed and breakfast. At the airport his father was waiting as he walked down the gangway from the DC 3 twin engined freight plane (that was all he could afford). His father ran to him and gave him a big hug. The son said "I am a sinner, and have sinned against heaven and you and no longer deserve to be called your son". But the father took him to Hallensteins and bought him nice new trendy clothes and then took him to The James Cook hotel for a smorgasbord dinner where he ate as much as he wanted. Meanwhile his older brother was out mowing the lawns  and when he saw his father come home with the younger brother both laughing and chatting said "Hey what's going on here" and got angry. He took his dad aside and said "Hey dad, all these years I've cut the lawns and stood there passing you tools as you worked on your car, you never shouted me lunch or even bought me those Sketcher super comfy shoes I hinted for". His father said "My son, all I have is yours including my six cylinder Holden station wagon, but your brother was dead and is now alive, he was lost and is found'.

Here's the priest's take on the Gospel from Mass this morning:

"The two sons are alike, though on the surface they seem so different. They are both (full) of themselves. They are indifferent to the love of the father. Almost callously so. Cold hearted. They think only of themselves. So how do these men, this little family... So what do they mean to us today (sic). Do we truly believe that God is like that father. Do we really believe that this man is passionately in love with us. All he wants is to be with us. And he will do anything, literally anything, to prove that. Even to death on the cross. Do we believe that God our Father is passionately in love with us. Before we answer, possibly a little too quickly, "Yes of course". If we believe that God is passionately in love with us, are we prepared to do anything like the younger son to seek His forgiveness. Are we prepared to go to the Father, humble ourselves, and ask forgiveness. So the younger son asks us today, will you come back with me to the Father to seek forgiveness. Are you and I prepared to do what the elder son could not do (forgive), this is the test of our faith. It is about being prepared to seek forgiveness. Are you and I prepared to share that same forgiveness with others. As St Paul says in his letters this morning, we are ambassadors of the reconciliation of Christ. Again before we answer perhaps a little too quickly, we must for a moment think of our own families. Are we people that seek forgiveness from those we have hurt. Are we prepared to say sorry?  Are we prepared to forgive?" 

Are dating sites good for you?

 Ok I'll come clean. I've joined an online dating site. Two actually. (Look forward to Pete's post about all the dangers).

I woke up one morning and the idea was in my head. The first was Catholicmatch.

Trouble with Catholicmatch is that it's USA centered. There are only a splattering of NZ women and most are in Auckland. Nevertheless I have, and still am, chatting to some very nice people in the good old USA.

I did a quick look around and found Christian Connection. This has many more locals. Filters let you choose denomination preferences, marital status... I've been in contact with lots and chat regularly with some.

I've got over the slight embarrassment and stigma of belonging to these sites. It all just makes so much sense. I know from my house cleaning days that there are plenty of older women sitting at home feeling a bit lonely. Sure there are plenty of nice ladies at the church I go to. But the problem is how do you know if they are married or not. You can't really just ask. Word would get around; "There's that man that's asking everyone if they're married".

What prompted this post was chatting last night with someone about this subject.

We agreed that a lot of people don't come out and tell the truth straight off about marital status. I've also heard women say that a lot of men just want one thing (no surprise really).

At first I thought that it didn't really matter, 'we'll just chat as friends'. As I've said in a previous, now deleted post, I spend a lot of time talking to fellow women workers and actually feel more comfortable with the opposite sex than many of the same. The trouble is that there is a fine line between just chatting and thinking 'mmm she's very nice!' when she's divorced or separated.

So in conclusion, I do recommend the sites I use, but it is a learning curve. 

Obviously don't divulge personal details too early and be very sparing later, only talking in general terms about these.

Read profiles carefully and use them to start a conversation.

Expect to be ignored most of the time. It's worth putting up with rebuttals to meet a few nice ones.

Always be very respectful.

Decide early on to only chat with those who could be part of a relationship given beliefs etc. It can get hard and painful for all concerned to suddenly back track.

  

The devine presence

Jesus is always there. When I say Jesus I'm thinking the Trinity. Jesus, Father and Spirit. That gets hard on the brain, and Jesus is tangible. It's shorthand. Jesus equals and represents the sum of  God.

Jesus is always there. Never for a moment does God stop being aware of each part of his creation, including me. I wish that I could say the same in reverse. Ereht syawla si susej. No I mean that I gave Him even a moment of thought. Though I'm sure he's happy when I'm with his mother, praying the rosary.

I think we would be greatly surprised at the graces that would be showered on us for remembering his presence.

I came across Isaiah 65 in someone's profile. It speaks to what I was thinking about today.

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
    I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations—
3 a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
    and burning incense on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred for you!’
Such people are smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.

6 “See, it stands written before me:
    I will not keep silent but will pay back in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps—
7 both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,”
    says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
    and defied me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment for their former deeds.”

8 This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes
    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
    there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;
    I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
    and from Judah those who will possess my mountains;
my chosen people will inherit them,
    and there will my servants live.
10 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,
    and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
    for my people who seek me.

11 “But as for you who forsake the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune
    and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;
for I called but you did not answer,
    I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,
    but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
    but you will go thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
    but you will be put to shame.

On Marian devotion

Her name was Mary. Perfectly proportioned, symmetrical, lovely to look at. She was older than him. Actually about 2036 years older. From the cross her Son had told him that she was his mother. She was the second Eve. The first Eve had sinned. The new Eve had not and attained great favour with God the Father. Her son had so wanted to please The Father that He had undergone torture. Now he was nailed with  cruelty to wooden beams set at right angles until he died. Death was probably by suffocation. The angle that the arms were pinned to the cross beam made it very difficult to breive. 

Of course seeing her only son die like this had been it's own unspeakable torment. Soon after her son was born a religious had prophecied a sword pearcing her heart. It was coming true. Mary was beside herself with grief. But like her son she had forebodings of this event. But that didn't change the reality of the moment. She knew exactly what her son had meant when he gasped in between laboured breaths to his favourite disciple John, the only one beside His mother, who had not been afraid of the Romans and remained at the foot of the cross. "Behold your son, behold your mother": he had said to them and us, it echoed down the ages.

He belonged to the authentic Church that the same Jesus, who had writhed in agony on that diabolic instrument of torture had started, and which from the first understood the true meaning of those words. He also accepted that the same Mary had been assumed into heaven, body and soul, and crowned Queen of heaven and Earth for all eternity. He knew that there was nothing peculiar about a Son and mother being respectively King and Queen. This was the way of the Hebrews from time eternal. The Queen of the King was his mother, not his wife as is common today. He also knew that both Queen and King were in their glorified bodies. He knew he would have a glorified body too; but that would be after the return of Jesus as King on Judgement day at the end of this world as we know it.

At first he had been puzzled by the devotion shown by many religious to Mary; assuming it to be driven be the need for female companionship amongst celebrate men. A kind of Greek Goddess Athena substitute. But he had heard time and time again the advice to pray the Rosary from holy men and women. And he did. Sparioducally at first. It was hard. Even Popes reported difficulty with this devotion. Repetitive and boring. The mind easily wandering.

He had courageously one evening even sat by his sick wife's bed and prayed it, expecting ridicule. None came. Soon she would be reminding him when it was time to pray the Rosary. It became a daily event. Five decades. Often she would fall asleep. But he knew it still mattered. He still remembered the first evenings. The air was electric as though the saints in heaven were listening , barracking him on. Later he would be aware of sweet scents, especially when his mind was focused. She had told us at Marjorie "I will give you an indication that I am near".

He had carried this tradition on after her death. Often now he would say two or even three rosaries a day. He liked saying them especially at the cemetery, dedicating them to all the souls in purgatory, or before Mass, where he would change seating. Two before the statue of Mary, one before Joseph, and two more before the statue of Jesus revealing his sacred heart.

One evening he decided to dedicate his heart to Jesus through Mary. He abandoned his soul this way many times in the future, often being accompanied by waves of ecstatic love. Mary was increasingly becoming the biggest part of his life now. He felt grieved when flowers on her statue were jaded and limp, as he might for his own wife and mother's graves.