Reflections

Would you rather have a boss who was fair, or generous? I think many of us, given that choice, might opt for fair. Generosity is great, and we like generous people, but when it comes down to it that’s all a bit arbitrary. We’d rather know where we stand, and what to expect. Generosity is fine within limits, but we wouldn’t want to be dependent on someone’s generosity, and it can go too far – we speak of being generous “to a fault”, or worry that people might take advantage of someone’s…

Continue Reading Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Forgiveness. Yes, but how much? Peter asks the question for all of us (Matthew 18:21-35). Eventually it’s got to run out hasn’t it? Can someone really go on hurting me and I just have to take it without end? We want to count the wrongs done to us, tally up the hurt to seek recompense. That’s only fair. We may be less keen to count our own faults but nonetheless isn’t that what we’re asked to do when we confess our sins. We may not feel the discomfort of our childhood, when…

Continue Reading Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Am I my brother’s keeper?” – one the most ancient questions asked in the Hebrew Scriptures. Despite the clear and unambiguous answer given in scripture, from the prophets to Jesus to Paul, we still struggle to take that answer on board. We want to hedge the answer around with: Who exactly is my brother – there must be degrees of connection here surely, not everyone is as much brother as everyone else. Yes, but surely within limits – I can’t be responsible for everything  Ok, but my brother also needs to be…

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The days of thinking of God as a white man with a white beard on a white cloud, staring down at us judgmentally, are gone, I hope. The gospel message that Jesus connected with God not just as a father, but as a loving “abba”, wanting a close and intimate relationship with all his children, is more widely appreciated.  There is perhaps a risk however that the comfort and familiarity that arises from this view of our relationship with our divine father makes it a little too “ordinary”, too similar to the…

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