January 2004
The Baptism of our Lord to the
Fourth Sunday
of Ordinary Time C
The
Baptism of our Lord C
Scripture readings:
Isaiah
42:1-4.6-7; Psalm 28; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38; Luke 3:15-16.21-22
“Heaven opened and the Holy
Spirit
descended on him in bodily shape, like a dove.”
(Luke
3:15-16.21-22)
Our Lord spent the first thirty years of his life in
the
obscurity of Nazareth. But then a new stage began. We can scarcely
imagine him living out the whole of his life there in Nazareth as an
unknown carpenter with his foster father, and Mary his mother. In
the plan of God that stage would pass. Our Lord had a great and public
ministry ahead of him, crowned with redemptive suffering, rejection,
death. What a difference there was between life at Nazareth, and his
life thereafter!
The turning point was his baptism in the river Jordan,
which we
contemplate today. He came quietly to John asking to be baptised as if
he were just another sinner, though being without sin. Baptised with
water, as if repenting and being cleansed from sin, he was then
baptised by his heavenly Father with a new outpouring of the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit came down upon Him (Luke
3:15-16.21-22). It was this coming of the Holy Spirit that
marked the end of his hidden life and the beginning of his public
saving mission. It made all the difference to the path our Lord now
trod and the effectiveness of his efforts to save the world from sin.
Henceforth the Holy Spirit was working in him with a new power and
effect. By the power of the Holy Spirit he cast out devils, cured the
sick, forgave sinners, proclaimed and explained God’s kingdom,
instituted the Eucharist. By the power of the Holy Spirit he offered
himself as a perfect victim on the cross. By the power of the Spirit he
rose from the dead, ascended into heaven to rejoin his Father.
The Holy Spirit had been at work in various great figures
and
prophets of the Old Testament, but in the case of our Lord, his action
was without parallel in its saving effectiveness. And all this
began in earnest at our Lord’s baptism. No other person had been or
would be such a saving instrument of the Holy Spirit as our Lord was
from the moment of his baptism. His baptism signalled a new and unique
entry of the Holy Spirit as a protagonist in the world. Then when this
same Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son at Pentecost, this
marked the public entry of the Holy Spirit in the work of the
Church, Christ’s body. He then became the Church’s sanctifier and
inspiration. Christ the head was now at work in his body, reaching out
to all nations. And again, this was by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And at our Baptism, and again at our Confirmation, this same Holy
Spirit enters into our own individual lives, and works with effect on
our minds and hearts, and through our daily work and life he works on
the lives of others. He enables us to become another Christ, and to be
truly apostolic, drawing others to him.
Let us resolve always to love the Holy Spirit, and resolve
to
live constantly by His guidance.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Monday
of 1st Week of Ordinary Time, year 2
God's Kingdom
We read many references to ‘the Kingdom of God’ in the Gospels.
The Kingdom of God embodied the hopes, the promises and prophecies of
the Old Testament. Now, what does our Lord say at the beginning of his
public ministry? What is the content of his first preaching? Let us
read what St Mark reports of it.
After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he
proclaimed the Good News from God. “The time has come,” he said “and
the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good
News.” (Mark 1:14)
All the blessings promised from heaven were near at hand. Where
would they be found? They were
found in Jesus. As St Paul says, every heavenly blessing is in
Christ. For this reason we next read in St Mark our Lord’s invitation:
“Follow me, and I will make you into fishers of men.” To follow him, to
have him, to give oneself to him, to belong to him, is to have all that
God has promised.
However, all that Jesus himself has to offer us was near,
but not yet given.
It was given when he gave the Holy Spirit, the Gift of the
Father and of the Son.
Come, Holy Spirit! Come!
(E.J.Tyler)
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Tuesday
of 1st Week, year 2
Prayer
Time and again people are in very desperate situations. No one can
seem to be able to help them, except God. We are surely reminded of the
feelings of Hanna the mother of Samuel in the Old Testament. She
desperately wanted a child. Let us listen to what she said of herself
in the first book of Samuel (1:9-20):
"..Hanna rose and took her stand before the Lord, while Eli the
priest was sitting on his seat by the
doorpost of the temple of the Lord. In the bitterness of her soul
she prayed to the Lord with many tears and made a vow, saying, 'Lord of
hosts! If you will take notice of the distress of your servant, and
bear me in mind and not forget your servant and give her a man-child, I
will give him to the Lord'...."
No one could help her, only God. But that help of God is what
ultimately matters and it is available
through prayer. When a person is desperate - you, if ever you are
- pray, and pray repeatedly, never
losing heart. The prayer will be answered unless you give up on
God should he in his wisdom delay. He will know how best to answer the
prayer, and what the answer should be. It may come unnoticed, and when
looking back, surprisingly. Hanna's prayer was heard, and wonderfully.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Wednesday
of 1st Week, year 2
Being disposed to obey God's call
What dispositions do we need to come to know the Lord, and for
God's plan for our sanctification to
come to effect in our life? Consider the famous event in the Old
Testament, when Samuel in his childhood had his first experience of God.
"The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of
Eli; it was rare for the Lord to speak in those days; visions were
uncommon. .... The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was
lying in the sanctuary of the Lord where the ark of God was, when the
Lord called, 'Samuel! Samuel!' He answered, 'Here I am.' Then he ran to
Eli and said, 'Here I am, since you called me.'(1Sam 3:1-20).
I invite you to read the whole of this passage.
What was there in the boy Samuel's disposition that opened the way
to a personal knowledge of God and His word? It was his readiness to
obey. Hearing the call, he said, 'Here I am, since you called me.' This
disposition to obey was part and parcel of a readiness to believe and
to trust the One who had authority over him. This disposition of
readiness would appear to have been the hidden starting point of his
whole life and of all he did.
'The Lord then came and stood by, calling as he had done before,
'Samuel! Samuel!' Samuel answered, 'Speak, Lord, your servant is
listening.' Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him and let no word of
his fall to the ground.'
St Thomas Aquinas says somewhere that the holy person is always
ready (disposed) to do God's will. Our Lord tells of the seed falling
into good soil, and that good soil is the one who hears the word of God
and accepts it. That disposition or readiness to hear and obey God is
the starting point of sanctity.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Thursday
of 1st Week, year 2
The problem of Evil
'A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: "If you want to"
he said "you can cure me." Feeling
sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. "Of
course I want to!" he said. "Be cured!" And the leprosy left him..'
(Mark 1:40)
Cardinal Newman wrote in his Apologia of the immense scale of evil
and suffering in the world. If God is present (if he exists, that is),
does he want to do anything about this? If he does want to do
something, it would seem that he cannot - he does not have the power,
and so he is not God. If he does not want to do something, he is not
God. "If you want to, you can cure me."
So why does not God our Lord speak and act in the same way
with all suffering and evil as he spoke and acted with respect to this
leper who appealed to him? We do not know. But he has revealed that all
he does in inspired by an infinite holy love. If he permits evil, it is
so that somehow, mysteriously, God will be glorified the more by what
he will do.
And consider this. If you are suffering without respite, and if
your faith in God's power and love remains unabaited, what glory and
honour this gives to God. The test to one's faith involved in enduring
evil offers the opportunity for a magnificent manifestation of
faith in God, an opportunity greater than if there were no suffering.
Suffering is the time to show to God our faith in his power and love,
and it is the time to bear witness to it before others.
There have been countless heroic Christians in the past century
who have borne witness to their belief in an all loving and all
powerful God precisely in their unabaited and continued sufferings unto
death.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Friday
of 1st Week, year 2
Bringing others into the presence
of Jesus
It is a wonderful act of charity to bring others into the presence
of Jesus, in whom, as St Paul says, there dwells the fulness of the
Godhead bodily. Consider the event described in Mark 2: 1-12
'..He was preaching the word to them when some people came
bringing him a paralytic carried by four men, but as th e crowd made it
impossible to get the man to him, they stripped the roof over the place
wheere Jesus was; and when they had made an opening, they lowered the
stretcher on which the paralytic lay. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to
the paralytic, "My child, your sins are forgiven." ....- he said
to the paralytic - "I order you: get up, pick up your stretcher and go
off home." And the man got up'
Those who brought the paralytic to Jesus went to considerable
trouble to present their sick friend before the Lord. They had faith in
Jesus ('seeing their faith'), and Jesus knew it and proceeded to reward
it. The first surprise they and the sick person received was the
forgiveness of the paralytic's sins, followed up by the miracle of the
physical healing. But clearly our Lord regarded the forgiveness of sins
as the greater gift, though unasked.
We are called to bring others constantly into the presence of
Jesus. We do so in our prayer, and the more people we bring before the
Lord in our prayer, the more good we will do for them. We will be
surprised by what Jesus will do for them as a result of our faith and
our concern. We do so also by exercising a daily apostolate in the
midst of our life, trying in discreet yet effective ways to bring
others into the presence of Jesus such that they themselves will tell
Jesus their needs, and Jesus will gradually reveal to them what he
plans for them.
Let us resolve to be like those people in the Gospel who brought
their friend into the presence of Jesus.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Saturday
of 1st Week, year 2
Now I begin!
Each of us has real promise, promise springing from the calling
from God inherent in our baptism. There are many figures in Scripture
that showed real promise, a promise stemming from their calling from
God. But in the case of some, it had a tragic sequel. Consider the Old
Testament figure of Saul, chosen by God to be king of the chosen
people. Everything about him as described in 1 Samuel chapter 9 shows a
man full of promise, one chosen by God and anointed to save his people
from their enemies. He could have become a type of the future Messiah,
as his successor King David would be.
'Among the men of Benjamin there was a man named Kish... He had a
son named Saul, a handsome man in the prime of life. Of all the
Israelites there was no one more handsome than he; he stood head and
shoulders taller than the rest of the people..... When Samuel saw Saul,
the Lord told him, "That is the man of whom I told you; he shall rule
my people.' .... Samuel took a phial of oil and poured it on Saul's
head; then he kissed him, saying, "Has not the Lord anointed you prince
over his people Israel? You are the man who must rule the Lord's
people, and who must save them from the power of the enemies
surrounding them." (1 Samuel 9:1-10:1).
Samuel had immense promise, but he failed miserably due to sin.
Each of us has great promise in the sight of God. Let us not fail due
to sin. Let us fight sin daily, ever repenting and seeking the grace of
God in the sacraments, always starting again.
Now I begin!
(E.J.Tyler)
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2nd
Sunday of Ordinary Time C
Scripture today:
Isaiah
62:1-5; Psalm 95;
1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11
“There was a wedding at Cana in
Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had
also been invited.” (John 2:1-11)
One of the many benefits of studying the religions of man is that
by
comparing the religions of man with revealed religion one
can appreciate the distinctive character of the religion that God has
revealed, and
what he has told us of himself and his plans. The biggest surprise is
that our great and infinite God intends to be our loving friend,
sharing his life with us. God defines himself as love. To convey this
central point, God repeatedly uses the image of marriage. He wishes to
wed us. In the first reading today (Isaiah 62:1-5)
speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God says to his people, “You shall
be called ‘My Delight’ and your land shall be called ‘The Wedded’.” God
is using the language of marriage. He continues, “Like a young man
marrying a virgin, so with the one who built you wed you, and as the
bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in
you.” In the mind and plan of God, the married love between a
husband and wife is a sign of the relationship God intends to have with
us. This is the teaching of many of the prophets: God is the bridegroom
and we are his bride - and often an unfaithful bride. Marriage in God’s
plan is meant to remind us of our vocation to be unfailingly united to
God, faithful to him as he is faithful to us. Those who are married
should be aware of their vocation to be this sign, and strive daily to
fulfill it for the good of the Church.
In today’s Gospel (John 2:1-11) our
Lord is present precisely at a wedding, reminding us of his constant
presence in every marriage of those who live in his grace by baptism.
He is in them, they are in him - and this not only by virtue of
baptism, but in a special way by virtue of their marriage. Why? Because
the marriage of two who are baptised is not simply a mutual agreement
ratified and witnessed by society. It has been raised by God to be a
sacrament. It is a human reality, yes, but it manifests and conveys
something higher, something divine which is present and at work in it.
This divine reality present in the marriage is Christ himself who as
the bridegroom is wedded to us his Church. We are his ‘delight.’ By his
presence at the wedding feast of Cana Christ shows his presence in
every Christian marriage. And by his miracle changing the water into
wine he reminds us of his action in each Christian marriage, changing
the water of human love into the wine of a share in divine love. The
married love of Christians, imbued with the love which Christ has for
them and for us, is a sign conveying this greater and higher love to
themselves and to others.
In this age, let all married Christians live this vocation to show
forth and to convey the spousal love of Christ for his Church. Let them
know that by doing this their faithful love contributes greatly to the
salvation of mankind.
(E.J.Tyler)
A second
comment on the readings of the second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Scripture
today:
Isaiah
62:1-5; Psalm 95;
1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11
“There was a wedding at Cana in
Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had
also been invited.” (John 2:1-11)
Scripture scholars agree that when St John wrote his Gospel
he
saw in the events he reported a deep significance. They were signs. An
example of this is our Lord's presence and action at the wedding feast
of Cana, narrated in the Gospel of today (John 2:1-11).
In the New Testament our Lord is described as the Bridegroom of the
Church. The Bridegroom of the Church blessed the wedding at Cana with
his presence and actively helped and supported it by miraculously
providing wine for the guests. In Christ God manifested his profound
concern for and interest in marriage.
Marriage and its enduring character has lost much of the
protection and esteem of society. The great danger lies in spouses
silently and unconsciously embracing the values of
society and allowing them to affect adversely their marriage. To
counter this danger the married couple ought reflect long and
prayerfully on marriage as God intended it to be and as taught by the
Catholic Faith. The married couple witness to God before their
children, and psychological studies show how much children learn about
God through their parents. Loving parents awaken their children to
faith in God, while parents who fail to do so undermine trust in Him.
When the members of a family are one in love and faith, their faith and
love help their marriage to be a sign of God to others, especially to
their children.
Marriage is also, as Isaiah describes (Isaiah
62:1-5), an image of the bond between God and his
people. A good marriage manifests undying love and joy, ongoing
devotion, forgiveness and perpetual renewal, and a caring for one
another. Couples who forgive when a partner fails make us hope God will
forgive us when we fail. Married love tells us something of God’s love
for His people. If a Christian aspires to bear witness to the world on
behalf of God, let him build up his marriage.
The young St. Therese of Lisieux used to meditate on
her
relationship to Jesus in the light of her married sister’s love. How
sad for us all when broken marriages fail to witness to Christ’s
enduring
love for his Church. The Christ-like quality of marriage comes from
the grace of the sacrament of matrimony. A sacrament is a sign
instituted by Christ
to signify and to give grace. It is a visible religious mystery.
The sacrament of matrimony enables the couple to show forth that which
is beyond and
greater than themselves, and makes their marriage participate in and
share the blessing of that greater reality.
That greater reality is Jesus and his mystical body
of
which the couple are both a part and an image. As an image of it, they
show
forth what is present in part, what is to come in full, and what they
and all of us await. Christian marriage will find the fulfullment
of what
it signifies in the eternal riches of heaven. The Christian marriage,
then, points beyond this world to a higher fulfillment hereafter. For
the couple who hope to find all happiness here on earth, marriage will
be a disappointment which could threaten the future of their marriage.
The Mass is a kind of marriage feast between
God
and his people. As a husband and wife make endless sacrifices of love
for one another, so Christ perpetually renews in the Mass his sacrifice
on
Calvary. At Cana Mary showed her concern for marriage in all its
details, and is eager to help every faimily. So let those who are
married rely constantly on her
intercession.
(E.J.Tyler)
A
third
comment on the readings of the second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Scripture
today:
Isaiah
62:1-5; Psalm 95;
1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11
“There was a wedding at Cana in
Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had
also been invited.” (John 2:1-11)
In today’s Gospel scene (John 2:1-11)
our Lord participates in a wedding celebration, surely reminding us of
how in the Old Testament God describes himself as the husband of his
people Israel. It reminds us to of John the Baptist’s reference to our
Lord as the bridegroom, and himself as th e friend of the bridegroom.
Elsewhere in the Gospel our Lord describes himself as the bridegroom of
the Church, and in today’s Gospel this great bridegroom of the Church
graces with his presence a married couple at the wedding feast of Cana.
And so we are led to think of marriage.
The bond between husband and wife is a sacred one for it is
established by God. Many agreements are made in life, and marriage is
one of them. The husband and wife formally agree to belong to one
another as husband and wife till death. But this bond is no ordinary
agreement which they themselves create and which they are entitled to
agree to neglect or even terminate. For God himself has established
this bond for his purposes, and it is to be governed by his laws. God’s
laws are not to be disobeyed, and if they are, the results are terrible
for the happiness of the couple depends on those laws being respected.
We just have to observe the suffering resulting from divorce,
separation, and contraception to appreciate this. Furthermore, if a
married couple respects the laws of God and the sacredness of their
marital bond with one another, they will go a long way towards doing
the work in life which God intends for them.
The couple will bear witness to the reality and the nature of a
loving
and good God, the God who created their marriage bond, a bond which
they constantly try to respect. In a religiously sceptical world,
their marriage will bear witness to God. Furthermore, in God’s plan
marriage is an image of the bond between God and his people. A good
marriage involves and manifests undying love and devotion, and in this
it is an image of God’s love and devotion to us his children. Couples
who forgive when a partner fails leads us to trust that God will
forgive us. We Christians know that marriage is an image of the bond
between Christ and his Church. This dimension of a Christian marriage
comes from its being a sacrament, which is to say a sign instituted by
Christ to give grace. It is a means whereby Christ makes himself
present and active. In a Christian marriage Christ is present and
active in the home. The sacrament of matrimony makes of the Christian
husband and wife a sacrament or channel of Christ’s love and grace for
one another, for the parish, and for the Church. The home should be a
domestic church.
The ideal Christian marriage, then, involves something out
of
this world, because it involves God himself. He is present in the
married life and love of the couple. One of the very greatest things a
married couple can do for the Church and for society and for the parish
is to live their married life as something sacred and involving
obedience to God and his will. Their love for one another is the pearl
of great price to be sought and obtained and cherished, not only for
their own sake but for the sake of many others, including the parish.
At the beginning of each new year, let every married couple resolve to
make the year a year of growth in their married love and life. Let
their task be to make of their marriage a great sign symbolizing and
making present the love of God in Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Monday
of Second Week of Ordinary Time II
(January 20) St Fabian, pope and
martyr.
St Fabian was Pope from 236 to 250 AD. He promoted the consolidation
and advancement of the Church. He divided Rome into seven diaconates
for the purpose of extending aid to the poor. The papacy acquired such
prestige during this time that he incurred the anger of the Emperor
Decius, and so he was martyred.
St Sebastian,
martyr.
St Sebastian, a native of Milan, was an officer in Diocletian's
imperial guard. He became a Christian and suffered martyrdom upon
orders of the Emperor.
(1 Samuel:
1-13)
It is a commonplace observation to say that the path to goodness lies
in genuinely following the dictates of the conscience, and not avoiding
them. The path to Christian holiness lies in following the guidance of
the Holy Spirit, who works in and through the conscience - which itself
must be properly guided. Now, what can thwart this process of following
the promptings of the conscience? Many things, but one is the tendency
to explain away what the conscience dictates by trying to justify what
we want to do. We provide ourselves with reasons for avoiding what the
conscience imposes, and these reasons ‘justify’ what we then do. It is
a rationalisation of what we want to do. This happens so often, and
gradually the voice of conscience is dimmed because ignored. However,
it does not lessen the guilt, nor the consequences.
Consider the tragic example of Saul in today’s first reading. “Samuel
said to Saul, .... ‘Why then did you not obey the voice of the
Lord? Why did you fall on the booty and do what is displeasing to the
Lord?’ Saul replied to Samuel, ‘But I did obey the voice of the Lord. I
went on the mission which the Lord gave me ... From the booty the
people tood the best sheep and oxen of what was under the ban to
sacrifice them to the Lord your God in Gilgal.’..” Saul knew that the
booty too was under the ban. But he wanted it, and rationalised away
his disobedience. Then came the terrible consequence from Samuel:
‘Since you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as
king.’
We must be ever on the alert for the tendency to avoid what our
conscience dictates to us in the presence of God. There is the tendency
in little matters to justify to ourselves what in our heart of hearts
we know is disobedience. We must strive never to commit a deliberate
venial sin, and never justify such a course to ourselves. The
consequences will be serious. And whenever we commit a deliberate
venial sin, we must repent of it in the full light of conscience.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Tuesday
of 2nd Week of Ordinary Time Year
2
The Son of Man is master of the Sabbath
(Mark
2:23-28)
Of course the Pharisees were appealing to the received rules of
observance of the Sabbath as a challenge to what Christ was permitting
in his disciples. Our Lord said in response that he was the lord
(kurios, dominus) of the Sabbath, with full authority over it as over
all (‘the Son of Man is lord also of the Sabbath’ - kai (Greek), etiam
(Latin)). He
also pointed out in the process his own conformity with the Scriptures
(‘Have you never read what David did..’).
But taking the point a step further, is Jesus the Son of Man the Lord
of the Sabbath as we observe it? Do we make of the Sunday the Day of
the Lord Jesus, the Day of Jesus who is the Lord of the Sabbath? Or do
we take a very perfunctory attitude to Sunday, being content with
Sunday Mass and little else? Yes, perhaps we participate in our Sunday
Mass devoutly (but do we?), but what happens after that during the rest
of the day? Perhaps we live out the day in much the same way as we do
every other day of the week. Perhaps we even carry on our
salary-earning work without it being absolutely necessary. We ought ask
ourselves if we are making of our Sunday the Day of the Lord, if we are
allowing Jesus to be the Lord of the Sabbath in our lives. If we do
this our Sundays will bring us great spiritual blessings.
The Church means us and our family to make a point of ensuring that
Sunday is the Lord’s Day.
(E.J.Tyler)
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We are children of God, bearers of the
only flame that can light up the paths of the earth for souls, of the
only brightness which can never be darkened, dimmed or
overshadowed. The Lord uses us as torches, to make that light
shine out. Much depends on us; if we respond many people will remain in
darkness no longer, but will walk instead along paths that lead to
eternal life.
(The Forge,
no.1)
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Wednesday
of the second week of Ordinary Time II
(January 21) St Agnes, virgin and
martyr. St
Agnes came from a noble Roman family. She was about thirteen years old
when she suffered martyrdom (about 304 AD). She was tortured. Her name
is included in the Roman (first) Eucharistic Prayer. Pope Damasus wrote
a celebrated epitaph about her.
"Then, grieved to find them so
obstinate, he looked angrily round at them" (Mark 3:1-6)
At times one gets the impression that people think that God, being love
(as he is), has an accepting and benevolent attitude to us no matter
what we do. After all, he is a loving Father. We hear a strong contrast
made between the angry and punishing God of the Old Testament and the
God of love of the New. The result is that sin is not taken seriously,
and the thought of offending God by it makes little enduring
impression. Indeed, the sense of sin can be gradually lost, and behind
it can be a certain image of God, a God who is not profoundly offended
by sin.
But in fact, it is clear from the inspired Scriptures that while God
goes lovingly after the sinner, it is to reclaim him from his sin, for
God hates deliberate sin. It grieves and angers him. It offends him.
This is abundantly clear in the Gospels. Our Lord said that he who has
seen him has seen the Father (John 14:9). Well, what do we see of Jesus
in the face of obstinate sin?
‘Jesus went into a synagogue, and there was a man there who had a
withered hand. And they were watching him to see if he would cure him
on the sabbath day, hoping for something to use against him. He said to
the man with the withered hand, “Stand up out in the middle!” Then he
said to them, “Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good or
to do evil; to save life, or to kill?” But they said nothing. Then,
grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and
said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his
hand was better.’
In the face of such wilful and sinful obstinacy, our Lord was grieved,
a grief that showed itself in a holy anger. St Paul tells us in one of
his letters not to make the Holy Spirit sad by sin, and here we see
Christ grieved and angry in the face of obstinate, unrepentant sin. Let
us beware lest due to secret obstinacy in the face of grace, we cause
sadness to the Holy Spirit, grief and anger in the Son, and wrath in
God.
Let us strive daily to repent, to repent of venial sin. Repentance is
the delight of God.
(E.J.Tyler)
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God is my Father! If you meditate on it, you will never let go of this
consoling thought.
Jesus is my dear Friend who loves me with all the divine madness of His
Heart.
(The Forge,
no 2).
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Thursday
of 2nd Week of ordinary time II
(January 22) St Vincent, deacon
and martyr.
Vincent, born in Huesca, Spain, was a deacon of the Church of
Saragossa. He suffered terrible tortures and died the death of a martyr
at Valencia, in Spain, during the persecution of Diocletian. Veneration
for him spread quickly throughout the Church. He was one of the
greatest deacons of the Church.
Sam 18:6-9;
19:1-7 Mark 3: 7-12
Great crowds followed Jesus from a wide area. The devils knew who he
was, but he forbad them to make him known. Why was this? Because people
would seek him for the wrong reasons, and never come to know not only
his true mission, but who he really was. They would look on him simply
as a wonder worker who would bring them the material benefits they
needed and wanted. But our Lord came to take away the sin of the world,
to give men the power to be children of God, to give them the gift of
holiness.
“....... For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any
way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits,
whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are
the Son of God!” But he warned them strongly not to make him known.’
Mark 3: 7-12.
The problem with the vast crowds seeking out our Lord was that they
desired not freedom from sin and sanctity, but other things. Our Lord
could provide those other things - he healed, cast out devils, raised
the dead - but these miracles were a sign of something far greater he
wished to give. He had to bring them to desire the far greater and to
work for it.
Do we wish to be freed and cleansed from sin? Do we wish to be good? Do
we wish to be holy? Are we prepared to take the means to attain
holiness, and to put the effort in? If we are not, then we do not
really desire it. If we desire it, Christ will enable us to attain it
with the gift of his grace which comes with the presence and action of
the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray for a great desire for holiness, and for the guidance of
the Holy Spirit in attaining it.
(E.J.Tyler)
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The Holy Spirit is my Consoler, who guides my every step along the
road. Consider this often: you are God’s - and God is yours.
(The Forge, no.2)
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Friday of Second Week of ordinary
Time II
Samuel
24:
3-21 Mark 3: 13-19
David was one of the very greatest of the Old Testament figures, and in
so many respects as a father and king of his people, a forerunner of
his descendant the Messiah. His kingdom in some sense would never have
an end. But let us ask, in what did his greatness consist - do we have
some key to it? There are many aspects to his greatness, but clearly a
central feature of the grandeur of David was his reverence and
submission to God. Now this reverence and submission to God was
manifested in his reverence and submission towards God’s
representatives, even if they were unworthy. David could recognise
where the hand of God was present, and he knew that when God had
anointed an individual as prophet or king, to reverence that person and
to submit to him in matters due to him was to reverence and to submit
to God.
“David’s men said to him, ‘Today is the day of which the Lord said to
you, “I will deliver your enemy into your power, do what you like with
him.” David stood up and, unobserved, cut off the border of Saul’s
cloak. Afterwards David reproached himself for having cut off the
border of Saul’s cloak. He said to his men, “The Lord preserve me from
doing such a thing to my lord and raising my hand against him, for he
is the anointed of the Lord.” David gave his men strict instructions,
forbidding them to attack Saul.’
David reverenced and obeyed God, and extended this religious submission
to the ones who represented him. He also was disposed to repent, and
this we see in him on other occasions. It also accounts for his
greatness. In both these outstanding qualities we have a model. Our
submission to Christ our Lord is to be shown - if it is real at all -
in our attitude to those who represent him, the pastors of the Church -
particularly the chief pastor. If we fail in this (as did David here)
we should repent.
(E.J.Tyler)
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My Father - talk to him like that, confidently - who art in heaven,
look upon me with compassionate Love, and make me respond to your love.
Melt and enkindle my hardened heart, burn and purify my unmortified
flesh, fill my mind with supernatural light, make my tongue proclaim
the Love and Glory of Christ.
(The Forge, no.3)
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Saturday
of the second week of Ordinary time II.
January 24) St
Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor of the Church
(1567-1622) Born in Thorens, Savoy (France). With
apostolic zeal, St Francis de
Sales fought Calvinism. He was Bishop of Geneva. With St Frances de
Chantal, he founded the Order of the Visitation. He wrote the
Introduction to the Devout Life, a classic of spiritual direction. He
died in Lyons and was canonised in 1655. In 1877 Blessed Pius IX
proclaimed him Doctor of the Church. He also declared him Patron Saint
of Journalists and Other Writers. St John Bosco named his Order after
him (the Salesians).
(Mark
3: 20-21)
A striking feature of God’s plan to save us was the very extent of the
Incarnation. God became man and accepted the limitations inherent in
being one of us and in sharing our lot. We see an instance of this in
today’s Gospel. “Jesus went home, and such a crowd collected that they
could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set
out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind” (Mark 3: 20-21).
Our Lord’s wider family beyond Mary and Joseph included many who hardly
realised who they were dealing with. They tried to push him around and
treated him as if he were deluded. And our Lord accepted this treatment
(without being governed by it) with meekness and humility. Learn from
me, he would say, for I am meek and humble of heart. Perhaps this
humility and meekness of Christ is especially to be learnt and
practised within the family. It is there that we are especially called
to be Christ to others.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Christ ascended the Cross with his arms wide open, with the
all-embracing gesture of the Eternal Priest. Now he counts on us - who
are nothing! - to bring the fruits of his Redemption to all men.
(The Forge, no.4)
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3rd
Sunday of Ordinary Time C
Scripture today: Nehemiah
8:2-4.5-6.8-10; Psalm 18; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
“Then he began to speak to them.
‘This
text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.”(Lk 1:21)
Today’s Gospel describes our Lord beginning the great work of his
life,
which would be his public ministry culminating in his Passion and
Death, and the inauguration of his Church. “Jesus, with the power of
the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread
throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone
praised him.” (Luke 1:1-4;
4:14-21) The work of the redemption of the world from its
deepest and worst bonds had begun. In the synagogue at Nazareth our
Lord quoted the prophet Isaiah, “The spirit of the Lord has been given
to me for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the
poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight, to
set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.” Our
Lord says he was sent, sent by God, and filled with the Spirit who
empowered and worked in him to bring fruitfulness to His work. Let us
contemplate the Lord Jesus! He looks at each one of us, and says,
follow me, and share in my work of redeeming the world, redeeming your
world, the world of your family, your everyday work, acquaintances,
your parish.
At our Baptism he endowed us with a share in his Holy Spirit, the
same
divine Spirit who utterly filled him. He thus placed us in his company,
calling each of us his friend, giving us a share in his own divine life
and making us children of God his Father. At our Confirmation he
endowed us again with his Spirit, associating us this time in his
mission. So every day each of us, whatever be our vocation, has a great
share in his work ahead of us. We will actively share in his work by
doing well and for him and his glory the work he in his providence has
given us to do. And consider this. If all in the Church share in the
mission of our Lord to redeem the world; and if the majority of the
Church is made up of the laity, we must assume then that the fulfilment
of Christ’s mission to the world depends greatly on the laity and on
the work that is characteristic of the laity.
Furthermore, insofar as the laity’s role is mainly, though not
exclusively, in the temporal order, and being engaged in temporal and
secular tasks, then this means that, mysteriously, the fulfilment of
our Lord’s redemptive mission here and now depends very much on the
laity fulfilling well and in union with Christ their work in the world.
Their everyday work in the world of family and workplace and of every
day life is the arena in which our Lord will be working, and working of
course in them, and with the power of the Spirit in them. The lay
faithful should bring excellence into their everyday work, doing it in
union with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, doing it as a constant service to
God, while looking for opportunities to bear witness to Jesus and his
will before others. Thus does our Lord bring redemption to the world -
very much through the laity and their lay work. But they must become
acutely aware of this responsibility of theirs. To be witnesses to
Jesus and to his love, the lay person ought assiduously seek and
receive from the Church grace and instruction so as to be spiritually
equipped to bring Christ to the world.
Let us resolve every day to take part in the mission of Jesus, the
beginning of which is portrayed in our Gospel scene today.
(E.J.Tyler)
A
further
reflection on the Gospel of the third Sunday of Ordinary Time C
Scripture today: Nehemiah
8:2-4.5-6.8-10; Psalm 18; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke
1:1-4;4:14-21
"He came to Nazareth, where he
had
been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he
usually did. He stood up to read, ..."(Luke
1:1-4;4:14-21)
A question which often recurs in the living of one’s
Christian
life, and in the life of a parish relates to Sunday Mass and every
Mass. The Eucharist is the high point of our Christian life and its
source. It ought be, then, a time of peace, joy, and real devotion. How
can we attain this? Perhaps we can learn the way to participate in our
Sunday Mass with real joy and devotion, by thinking of the example of
our Lord in Scripture such as we have just heard.
Consider the Gospel of today. St Luke records that Jesus
entered
the Nazareth synagogue “As he usually did” (Luke
1:1-4;4:14-21). More than anyone else in Israel, our
Lord kept the ten commandments to perfection, and so we can scarcely
imagine how well he would have kept the third commandment, which is to
“Keep holy the Sabbath Day. He would have revered the Sabbath Day as
the Day given over to God his heavenly Father, as would Mary and
Joseph. Especially central to his week and that of the holy family
would have been going to the synagogue at Nazareth, as he usually did.
So when we are coming to Mass each Sunday, and better still, perhaps
each day, we ought think of Jesus, Mary and Joseph going to the
Synagogue. We could think of how prayerful they would have been in the
Synagogue during the reading from the Scriptures, during the homily,
and during the other prayers that would have been part of the Synagogue
service. We ought have Christ as our model in everything, including in
the way we participate at Mass.
And so we are reminded of the teaching of the Church
regarding our observance of the Lord’s Day, Sunday. We are seriously
obliged to participate in Sunday Mass, and to make the Sunday a day of
rest from our daily programme of work so that we can recuperate our
resources and give proper worship to God. We can be sure that this is
just what our Lord and the holy family would have done. It should be
the spirit of every Sunday. Sunday should be the Lord’s Day.
What should be our approach, our spiritual approach,
when
we come to Mass to worship God? First of all, it should involve a
prayerful and attentive reverence. Consider the attitude of the people
in the First Reading as they listened to the Scriptures being read by
the priest. They assembled together and listened while the priest Ezra
read and interpreted the Scriptures from dawn to midday. When he began,
the people gave a happy “Amen”, but when he read the laws and
requirements of God, they broke into weeping. Then Ezra reminded them
of their chosen status and calling and privilege, and told them that
the day was holy and so they should be joyful. They responded to all
that they heard because they listened with prayerful and attentive
reverence.
We too when we come to Mass should come with the
resolution to attend with deep reverence, taking to heart everything we
hear, and meaning everything we say. Imagine the deep and attentive
reverence with which our Lord and the holy family would have listened
to the word of God being read out in the Synagogue: it was the word of
his heavenly Father. Very wonderful things will happen in our lives if
we bring this attitude with us into Mass. We shall gain light and
strength. Time and again the Holy Spirit will enlighten our minds with
understanding and give us the spiritual impulse to live according to
that light. But we must give ourselves over in a reverent and prayerful
attention to the Word of God as it comes to us in the readings from
Scripture and in the Homily.
But then there is the other and more important part of the
Mass.
The Mass consists of the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the
Eucharist made up of the preparation at the Offertory, the Eucharistic
Prayer, and then there is the Communion rite. In the Liturgy of the
Word our Lord is present speaking to us, just as he spoke to the
Synagogue congregation in the Gospel we have just heard. But in the
Liturgy of the Eucharist he makes himself present what he did at
Calvary. Calvary is made present during the Liturgy of the Eucharist,
only in different circumstances. We are granted the gift of being able
to be present at Calvary in a sacramental manner. Just as Mary was
present at Calvary offering herself in union with her Son for the
redemption of the world, so we are able to unite ourselves with Jesus
too. We ought do so in union with Mary, as it were next to her side as
was the beloved disciple. What a privilege and an extraordinary
opportunity this is.
Our Lord’s public life was divided into two great
parts.
There was his public teaching ministry, and there was his Passion and
Death and Resurrection. At Mass the risen Jesus, in his full human and
divine reality, body, blood, soul and divinity, makes himself present
doing what he did then: teaching us in the Liturgy of the Word, and
offering himself for us as he did at Calvary during the Liturgy of the
Eucharist.
There is nothing that happens in the world that is as
important
as the Mass, for it is the moment when the same Jesus is present doing
in our midst what he once did and which we read of in the Gospels. We
ought strive to realize as vividly as we can that it is a living acting
person, the person of Jesus, who is the protagonist at Mass. He is
there among us, in the person of the priest, in his word, and in the
Eucharist. We must enter into Mass with a truly lively faith in the
real presence of Jesus, open to the gifts of the Spirit He wishes to
give to us to help us on our path to holiness and heaven.
So let us resolve to entrust ourselves to Jesus at
Mass,
to make of it the great event of the Sunday and of the week, and to
ensure that it is ever the summit and source of our life.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Monday
of the Third Week of Ordinary Time year 2.
(26 January) St Timothy
was the son of a pagan father and a
Hebrew-Christian mother, Eunice. He was a disciple of St Paul and
accompanied him in the evangelisation of many cities. St Paul
consecrated him bishop of Ephesus. According to a fourth century story,
he was beaten to death by a mob when he opposed the observance of a
pagan festival. St Titus was also a friend and disciple of St Paul who
ordained him bishop of Crete. St Paul wrote to these two disciples
three pastoral letters which gave glimpses of the future structure of
the Church.
Samuel 5:
1-7.10; Mark 3:22-30
Among the many keys to understanding the ultimate issues of life and
reality, one is that there is an ultimate conflict going on. Many
philosophers and thinkers have resorted to the category of conflict to
understand reality. For instance, Karl Marx said that conflict was the
ultimate dynamic, and it was a conflict between classes in society, to
be resolved with the victory of one. Christ has revealed the true
conflict that is going on. It is the conflict between Good - and God is
the Good - and Evil.
From the first in his public ministry, Christ was at war with Satan,
and Satan at war with him. Christ drove out devils, and the Devil
marshaled all forces for the destruction of Christ. When misrepresented
by his enemies as being in league with Satan, our Lord described Satan
in an interesting way. He described him as being a kingdom and a
household, and one that is not divided.
“So Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can
Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that
kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that
household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself
and is divided, he cannot stand either - it is the end of him. But no
one can make his way into a strong man’s house and burgle his property
unless he has tied up the strong man first. Only then can he burgle his
house.’ Mark:3:24
Inasmuch as our Lord was proclaiming and establishing the Kingdom of
God (as found in him), there are, then, two kingdoms, each with its own
standard and weapons. Let us make a choice and renew it daily. Let us
fight with Christ to gain dominion over Evil, using the weapon of
Christ, the Cross.
(E.J.Tyler)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Do not be afraid. Do not be alarmed or surprised. Do not allow
yourself to be overcome by false prudence. The call to fulfil God’s
will - this goes for vocation too - is sudden, as it was for the
Apostles: a meeting with Christ and his call is followed. None of them
doubted. Meeting Christ and following him was all one.
(The
Forge, no.6)
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Tuesday
of the Third Week year 2.
Today's
Scripture readings: 2 Samuel 6:
12-19; Psalm 23; Mark 3:
31-35
(January 27) St Angela Merici,
virgin (1470-1540). St Angela was
born in northern Italy. In 1516 she founded the Order of Ursulines, the
first teaching order for women approved by the Church. Italy then was
rife with violence and immorality. St Angela believed that the
formation of Christian women is society's greatest need.
Being
a true brother or sister of Jesus
One of the great dangers in the spiritual life is complacency. We are
Christians, Catholics, members of the Church who live (perhaps) fairly
good lives by comparison with many others. We are members of God's
family and of his household. But consider that event in the Gospel in
which our Lord, while speaking to a circle of his disciples, was
informed that his mother and relatives were asking for him.
"The mother and brothers of Jesus arrived and, standing outside, sent
in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the
time the message was passed to him. 'Your mother and brothers and
sisters are outside asking for you.' He replied, 'Who are my mother and
my brothers?' And looking round at those sitting in a circle about
him, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who
does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.'
" (Mark 3: 31-35)
Our Lord is making it clear that those closest to his heart are not
those who are simply and solely
members of his family and household - and we are such by virtue of our
baptism - but those who like him strive actively to do the will of his
Father in heaven. Jesus loved the Father and wished to see him
glorified in the fulfilment of his will. Those who do this are most
dear to him - they are his true brothers.
We are indeed privileged to be children of God, and we are that by his
free gift. But we must not be
complacent. More than anything we must live in a manner consistent with
this privileged status. In this we have the sweet and powerful example
of the mother of Jesus - his mother in the flesh, yes, yet even more
his mother in the spirit. For like her son and in imitation of him she
always did what pleased God.
(E.J.Tyler)
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The day of salvation, of eternity, has come for us. Once again the call
of the Divine Shepherd can be heard, those affectionate words: I have
called you by your name. Just like our mother, he calls us by our name,
by the name we're fondly called at home, by our nickname. There, in the
depths of our soul, he calls us and we just have to answer: here I am,
for you have called me, and this time I'm determined not to let time
flow by like water over the pebbly bed of a stream, leaving no trace
behind.
(The Forge,
no.7)
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Wednesday
of Third Week, year 2
(January 28) St Thomas Aquinas,
priest and doctor of the Church
(1224-1274). He was educated at the Abbey fo Monte Cassino and
at the
University of Naples. About the year 1244 he joined the Dominicans.
Considered one of the greatest philosophers and theologians of all
times, St Thomas gained the title of ‘Angelic Doctor.’ He had an
undisputed mastery of scholastic theology and a profound holiness of
life. Pope Leo XIII declared him Patron of Catholic Schools. His
monumental work, the Summa Theologica, was still unfinished when he
died.
2 Samuel 7: 4-17 Mark 4: 1-20
Cardinal Newman once made the point that generally people are fairly
logical. The decisive matter in their thinking is not so much their
logic as their starting points. It is a person’s starting points, often
very hidden to himself even, that account for mistaken thinking and for
the profound differences between people. Now one of these starting
points, a fundamental one, in our religious life, is our image or
impression of God’s nature or character: what he is like. So important
is it that God intervened in history to reveal to man what he is like.
Read what God says to David in the second book of Samuel, 7: 4-17. The
context of these words is that David wished to build God a house more
worthy of him. But through the prophet Nathan, God refused, saying that
all along He himself had been the source of blessings and gifts to
David, and that is how it would be in David’s lifetime. David was one
of the greatest figures of the Old Testament, and despite serious
lapses, a worthy forerunner of the Messiah who was to come, his
ancestor. The words of God in this passage make it clear that the whole
of his personal history was the product of God’s free initiative. It
was the result of God’s power and love. David’s own history showed what
God is like, and that is how God intended it to remain.
“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man
to build me a house to live in? .... I took you from the pasture, from
following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with
you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before
you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on
earth.... The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House.
.... Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me
and your throne be established for ever.’..” (2 Samuel 7: 4-16)
What is God like? He is love, and he is power and might, a might that
shows itself in mercy.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Live your life close to Christ. You should be another character in the
Gospel, side by side with Peter, and John, and Andrew. For Christ is
also living now: Jesus Christ lives! Today, as yesterday, he is the
same, for ever and ever.
(The Forge, no.8)
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Thursday
of the third week year 2
2
Samuel 7: 18-29 Mark 4: 21-25
There is much in life that we take notice of : it depends
largely on what our interest is. If we are interested we will take
notice of what we are seeing and hearing. And there is much in life
that we see and hear which we take little notice of. If we take little
notice of something, we will scarcely remember much of it, nor will it
play much part in our life. Our having seen or heard will bring little
profit. Our Lord has told us that we are to take notice of what we hear
from him. We can hear his words and see him (as it were) by means
of the teaching and preaching of the Church, but do we take notice?
“He also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing...
for the man who has will be given more; from the man who has not, even
what he has will be taken away.’..” (Mark 4: 24-25)
On another occasion our Lord told the parable of the sower going out to
sow. The seed that fell on the good soil are those who hear the word of
God and accept it (Mark 4: 20). But to accept it, one must take notice
of it. If we are to take notice of it, we must be genuinely interested,
committed to God and his word.
This is a crucial matter because our Lord says that ‘the man who
has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will
be taken away.’
(E.J.Tyler)
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Lord, may your children be like red hot coals, but without flames to be
seen from afar. Let them be burning embers that will set alight each
heart they come into contact with. You will make that first spark turn
into a burning fire, for your angels are very skilled at blowing on the
embers in our hearts. I know, I have seen it. And a heart cleared of
dead ashes cannot but be yours.
(The Forge, no. 9)
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Friday
of the third week of Ordinary Time Year 2
2 Samuel 11:
1-17 Psalm 50 Mark 4:
26-34
Hope in God's power
One of the most persistent problems for any one who wishes to live an
earnest Christian life is recurring discouragement. All too often it
seems to such a one that there is little progress, despite all his
efforts. Nor does there seem to be much progress in the lives of
others, despite his efforts to do good and to advance God's Kingdom.
Putting it differently, one of the greatest needs is for hope, undying
hope. What does this hope have to depend on, if it is to endure? It has
to be hope in the power of God, based on faith, faith in God’s word and
in his promises.
Now, our Lord tells us that God's kingdom has its own inner dynamism
and power for growth.
Jesus said to the crowds: ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A
man throws seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is
awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know. Of its
own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the
full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, he loses no time: he
starts to reap because the harvest has come.’ (Mark 4: 26-29)
Christ mysteriously depends on us to put all our energy to the task of
extending God’s reign in our own life and in the lives of others. At
the same time, and much more importantly, we can confidently depend on
the inherent power of God’s grace. In respect to the Kingdom of God,
which our Lord said is within us, we are dealing with a divine reality
that has its own life and growth - like the seed a man throws on the
ground, or again like a small mustard seed that grows to something
great.
We work hard to promote the growth of God's kingdom, but our hope is in
its own inner dynamism.
"The Lord is not a remote sovereign, enclosed in his golden world, but
a vigilant Presence aligned on the side of good and justice," Pope John
Paul II has said. "He sees and provides, intervening with his word and
action."
(E.J.Tyler)
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“Think about what the Holy Spirit says, and let yourself be filled with
awe and gratitude: God chose us before the foundation of the world that
we might be holy in his presence. To be holy isn’t easy, but it isn’t
difficult either. To be holy is to be a good Christian, to resemble
Christ. The more closely a person resembles Christ, the more Christian
he is, the more he belongs to Christ, the holier he is.
And what means do we have? The same means the early faithful
had, when they saw Jesus directly or caught a glimpse of him in the
accounts the Apostles and Evangelists gave of him.”
(The Forge, no.10)
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Saturday
of the third week, year 2.
(January 31) St John Bosco,
priest (1815-1888) St John Bosco
founded the Salesian Order, named in honour of St Francis de Sales, and
the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. His lifework was the welfare
of young boys and girls, hence his title “Apostle of Youth”. He had no
formal system or theory of education. His methods centred on
persuasion, authentic religiosity, and love of young people. He was a
very great educator and innovator, and marvelous teacher of sanctity to
the young
2
Samuel 12: 1-17 Psalm 50 Mark
4: 35-41 The presence of God in suffering
There can be a tendency in persons with a conscience, and so with a
sense of personal sinfulness, to think that if things go wrong, it is
their fault and that perhaps they are being punished. Also, when
suffering or some evil persists, persons can imagine that they are
abandoned by God, and that God does not care. Conversely, a person who
is suffering or in some peril can wonder why they are suffering if in
fact they are not at fault. It is the problem of evil: does not the
fact of evil indicate that God is not a reality?
Let us consider that passage in the Gospel in which our Lord and
his disciples were caught in the storm. “With the coming of evening
that same day, Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Let us cross over to the
other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he
was, in the boat, and there were other boats with him. Then it began to
blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was
almost swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion,
asleep. They woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are
going down!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea,
‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again.
Then he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you
have no faith?’ They were filled with awe and said to one another, ‘Who
can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’ (Mark 4: 35-41)
The plight of our Lord’s disciples was very great: they were almost
swamped. But notice why they were in this situation. It was because our
Lord himself had asked them to go across the lake. They had been doing
what God wanted them to do, and this was why they were in this
frightening peril. They were suffering because they were doing Christ's
will. Moreover, they felt abandoned (‘Master, do you not care?’). But
they were not, for though our Lord was asleep he was there. He rebuked
them for their lack of faith. So despite appearances, they were indeed
in his care. Jesus was silent, but present.
Their situation was not due to their fault. On the contrary, it was due
to their fulfilling Christ's directive. Nor did it involve being
abandoned. Moreover, many benefits flowed from their being in this
peril. They were led to appeal to Jesus, and seeing his power in
response to their petition, they came to know our Lord better than
before.
As a result of their suffering and peril, God was glorified.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“You owe such a great debt to your Father-God! He has given you life,
intelligence, will.. He has given you his grace - the Holy Spirit;
Jesus, in the Sacred Host; divine sonship; the Blessed Virgin, the
Mother of God and our Mother. He has given you the possibility of
taking part in the Holy Mass; and he grants you forgiveness for your
sins. He forgives you so many times. He has given you countless gifts,
some of them quite extraordinary....... Tell me, how have you
corresponded so far to this generosity? How are you corresponding now?”
(The Forge, no.11)
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