Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 19th November 2017

Rheims Ange au Sourire

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

It takes a brave person to openly stand up for the truth, often because the weight of divergent public opinion and criticism that follows their decision can be overwhelming and not always welcomed. It's not that people hate the truth, it just seems that whenever light shines into dark corners it catches the darker edges of other things that we would rather not look at, such as our own prejudices or fixed ideas, it makes us uneasy. In the case of big corporations or institutions, those in authority do not like the uncertainty of such revelations and will often collude in trying to bury issues amongst other things, distracting attention away from the truth.

I'm afraid truth is not a commodity seen to be held in great esteem by many in power in the present age, people like to fashion things in their own way creating their world view, this term fake news is a great example of distracting talk, it is itself fake, untrue, because it has not been tried and tested and we would be right not to trust such utterances as they create a climate of deception.

We who follow Christ do not have that option of hiding behind other issues; we cannot point the blame away from ourselves! Why? Because we are called to be children of the light, people of truth, who will reconcile and forgive, but particularly who will live in the light of God's revelation of the light from light, Christ Jesus himself, our true God. Maybe we feel that we cannot handle the responsibility of being a messenger of the Gospel, perhaps our own faith is a bit shaky, maybe faced with a complex world we shrug our shoulders and say 'let them get on with it'. But we can't, we have been called out by the Creator, redeemed and joined to Christ, anointed by the Spirit, given gifts to use.

It does not matter how great or how small others perceive your talent or gift, to God it is a gift beyond all gifts because it is used and shared by you. Being faithful to our Christian calling, planting the seed of truth that it may grow bigger in our lives is one of the greatest and hardest things we can do, yet if we try the voice of God will say "'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.' (Mt 25:21)

Lectio Divina

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil. (1Thess 5: 17-22)

Fr Robin is an Eastern Rite Catholic Chaplain for Melkites in the UK. He is also an Ecumenical Canon of Christ Church, Oxford