Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons 23 October 2016

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

We all have our favourite prayers, being somebody whose ability to remember word perfectly is very limited I prefer short prayers and perhaps the one that really engages me more than any other is that simple phrase, Lord have mercy, Kyrie eleison. A few years ago I took part in a BBC Radio 4 Programme that looked at the musical setting of the Kyrie in Faure's Requiem. My task was to look at what those words actually meant. I really enjoyed being part of that broadcast and found that what I researched has made a far deeper impact on me because it changed my perception of what God's mercy is really about! I have to add that it made the list as one of the top ten programmes for that year!

Why mention this? Well the hidden power of mercy flows out of our readings this Sunday, the Wisdom of Sirach points out that though God is a God of justice and has no favourites, there is a greater attention focused on the oppressed, the lowly, the orphan and widow, those people who are willing servants of the Lord, all who have little else except to trust in the merciful love and forgiveness of the Most High.
It flows through the story of the Pharisee and Tax collector in Luke 18. Here the virtuous Pharisee, though he might be doing everything the Torah requires has not yet understood what the prophet Micah (6:8) so wonderfully put as our religious quest:'To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God'. He is focussed in on himself, not on his relationship with God or neighbour and mercy is not yet his to hold! The Tax collector has nothing else except to ask for forgiveness, he is one of the 'Poor in Spirit' who are blessed and receive the gift of the Kingdom, those who are truly covered in the loving mercy of God.

But it is those statements of Paul in 2 Timothy that are most moving of all, because these are his final words to us. He is looking back over a life run for Christ, lived fully for Him. His words touch on the essence of mercy, which is taken from the image of the olive being pressed to pour out all its oil, every last drop. That is what Kyrie eleison means, the unending pouring out of the loving, healing mercy of our God. Paul shows that he has found Christ and mercy, because he, even at his end, can forgive others and himself as Christ does. May we finish our race well when our turn comes, and may we win the prize of everlasting life!

Prayers from the Great Litany of the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom

In peace let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of God and the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For peace of the whole world, for the stability of the holy churches of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Britain