Sixth Sunday of Eastertide A

The Holy Spirit, our other Advocate   (John 14:15-21)

  Many years ago when I was a student of theology it was being said that the Holy Spirit was the forgotten Person of the Blessed Trinity. That is to say, while a great deal was said and thought about God the Son and God the Father, little was said about the Holy Spirit. Now, since then a lot has been said about the Holy Spirit, but I do wonder whether the average member of the Faithful thinks much about the Holy Spirit. I tend to think he is still largely forgotten.

 Consider how in the Gospel our Lord refers explicitly to the Holy Spirit: “I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you for ever, that Spirit of truth whom the world can never receive since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you.” Now, we have been sent this wonderful person to be with us. Our Lord said he would send “another Advocate.” The first Advocate, or defender, was himself. He came to defend us, to save us from our enemy who is a deceiver and a murderer from the beginning. He came to bear witness to the truth and to defend us against the falsehood and darkness that comes from our enemy sin and the devil. He was and is our Advocate, our defender, to be with us for ever. Our Lord declared before Pontius Pilate that he had come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Now he was sending the Spirit of truth to be with us for ever.

  Every Sunday when we recite the Creed after the homily we state that we believe in the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of life, and that equally with the Father and the Son he is to be adored and glorified. He is the one God, as is the Father and the Son. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that God the Son became man. The Holy Spirit came upon our Lord in a new way at his baptism in the river Jordan and led him into the desert to begin his struggle and victory over Satan. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that our Lord fulfilled his public ministry and it was especially by the power of the Holy Spirit that he offered himself up for us on the Cross. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that he rose from the dead. It was the Holy Spirit that came upon the Church at Pentecost. It was about this same Holy Spirit that our Lord speaks to us in today’s Gospel, telling us that he would be sent to remain with us for ever.  It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the bread and wine at Mass becomes the risen body and blood of our Lord, and it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that Christ comes to us in power in the sacraments.

  The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, came to each of us at our baptism and at our confirmation. If we are in the state of grace, he is our constant guest, and it is by his power that we each of us are a temple in which dwells the Holy Trinity. The great problem is that we do not think of this. A great and wonderful reality is at work within our souls, and we do not advert to it. Day by day we are all too often oblivious to the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, there to guide and enlighten and inspire us to seek and attain truth, and to be helped on the path towards sanctity. Imagine if we were to have a guest of the highest importance in our home day by day, and we never were to greet that guest nor to engage in any conscious relationship with that person! And  imagine if that person were someone who could help us attain our true goals in life! So it is with the Holy Spirit.

  Let us then make a real point of cultivating a devotion to the Holy Spirit. He can help us attain holiness of life. He is the Sanctifier of souls. He can help us engage effectively in a daily apostolate, because he is the evangeliser of the world. Thinking of our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel, let us resolve to love, revere and listen to the Holy Spirit. He dwells within each of us, if we are in the state of grace. Let us not continue to ignore him and make him sad by our sins. Let us rather love and honour him and be led by him to holiness and to the apostolate.
                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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Little one, say to him: O Jesus, I don’t want the devil to get hold of souls!
                                                                                                           (The Forge, no.359)

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Monday of the sixth week of Eastertide

Opposition  (John 15:26-16:4)

It goes without saying that we as Christians ought resolutely oppose those things that are obviously at variance with the teachings and values of Christ. But we must also be a little careful, for it is easy to be mistaken in respect to those things that are done by others with the best of intentions. We ought weigh things carefully when it is a matter of being in disagreement with others, especially if it comes to our being in outright opposition.

In this respect, let us note with our Lord says in our Gospel passage of today. He says to his disciples that “the hour is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing a holy duty for God.” It is possible to fight against God and to think that one is doing what is right.

Conversely, we must expect the opposition of those who do not accept the Catholic Faith when we bear witness before them to Catholic teaching. There are many values in society that go clean contrary to what God has revealed, especially of course in the area of sexual morality. In such matters the Church is dubbed as being hopelessly conservative and reactionary. We as Christ’s faithful must expect fierce opposition, and opposition from those who may think they are doing the right thing.

All this is part and parcel of following the Master.
                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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If God’s Love has chosen you out and called you to follow him, you have a duty to respond to him ... and it is also your duty, an equally serious duty, to lead and help your fellow men towards sanctity and the right path.
                                           (The Forge, no.360)

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Tuesday of the sixth week of Eastertide

It is better for you that I go   (John 16:5-7)

Today is the feast of St Philip and St James. When we think of the Apostles, one thought we have is how privileged they were to have walked in his company. But during the Last Supper Our Lord made statements to them that seem to tell us that we are in a better position now than the Apostles were when they were in his company. He tells them that despite their sadness at the thought of his leaving them, “still, it is for your own good that I am going, because unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:5-7)

So we are in a better position than if we had been with our Lord physically. For some mysterious reason, it was necessary for him to return to the Father if he was to send us the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit, we are able to understand many things we would not were we not to have him - and our Lord mentions some of them in our passage.

So let us rejoice in our situation. We are temples of the Holy Trinity, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We have been given the grace to believe this on the word of Christ, and to live accordingly. One result will be the possession of joy, the joy of Christ. For good reason St Paul exhorts us, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”
                                                                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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Cheer up! Not least when the going gets hard. Doesn’t it make you happy to think that your faithfulness to your Christian commitments depends to a large extent on you? Be full of joy and freely renew your decision: “Lord, I want it too. Count on the little I have to offer.”
                                                                                                (The Forge, no.361)

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Wednesday of the sixth week of Eastertide

The gift of faith   (Acts 17:15.22-18:1)

For hundreds of years in the classical world Athens was the centre of culture and sophisticated thought. In our passage from The Acts today we read St Paul’s address to the great Athenian forum, the Areopagus.

St Paul began by finding common ground with the Athenians. He referred to their monument dedicated to the Unknown God, and moved from that point to the God who revealed that a judgment was coming, and who raised up Jesus from the dead. But for all their sophistication, their culture and their familiarity with new and foreign religious movements, the Athenians were poor material for what Paul spoke about. A few displayed an interest, but St Pul ended up moving on to Corinth.

This surely suggests to us how very fortunate we are to have received the gift of faith. Whether or not we are people of culture and education, having the gift of faith disposes us to accept the truth of what God has revealed as it comes to us from the Church. The example of the Athenians shows us how lacking in this disposition we may have been were we not to have received this gift.

Let us cherish this gift, so fundamental to the purpose of our life. Let us nourish it with the best and purest of sources, and strive to help others to receive it from above.
                                                                                                                          (E.J.Tyler)

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God is not removing you from your environment. He is not taking you away from the world, or from your condition in life, or from your noble human ambitions, or from your professional work ... But he wants you to be a saint - right there!
                                                             (The Forge, no.362)

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Thursday of the sixth week of Eastertide

Persevering work  (Acts 18:1-8)

In yesterday’s reading from The Acts of the Apostles we read how despite his ingenuity and efforts, St Paul had little success among the Athenians. So he left for Corinth. In Corinth he began resolutely trying to convince the Corinthians of the truth of the Gospel. He held debates in the synagogues, trying to convert Jews as well as Greeks.

In Athens, the Greeks had laughed at him. In Corinth it seems that most of the Jews insulted him. But some did not, and even the president of the synagogue converted. And thus began the Christian community of Corinth - and we have two of St Paul’s Letters as a result. It was due to the grace of god and Paul’s persistence despite opposition and difficulty. We are surely reminded of how Peter told the risen Christ, “Lord, we have laboured all night long, and caught nothing.” At Our Lord’s word he cast out again and had a great catch.

We must never allow weariness or a sense of futility to weaken our efforts on behalf of God in our daily work. We never know when God intends that our work in life will have its intended effect in his sight. The important thing is to know what God wants us to do, and to do it as well as we can out of love for him. The sanctification of our daily work is critically important for our own sanctification and for the sanctification of others.
                                                                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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Put yourself in the presence of God, and with your forehead flat against the ground, consider how (for that’s the way it is) you are more filthy and despicable than the sweepings swept up by a broom. And in spite of this, the Lord has chosen you.
                                                                (The Forge, no.263)

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Friday of the Sixth Week of Eastertide

Human respect   (Acts 18:9-18)

Many years ago when a youth I knew a priest who repeatedly spoke to us about the dangers of human respect. I did not appreciate his point at the time because I was very young, but I have since come to see that it is a very great danger indeed.

In our passage from the Acts of the Apostles Our Lord says to St Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid to speak out.” Of course, we must be prudent and weigh well the circumstances we are in. But all too often the only reason why we do not speak out in witness to our faith is because we fear what people will think, not of the faith, but of us. We fear that people will lose respect for us, or even despise us. This can even be the case within our own family circle or relations, or in our workplace environment, and certainly within circles of the Church itself.

Our Lord once said that if any man is ashamed of him before others, he will be ashamed of that man before his heavenly Father. Let us then pray for the courage and fortitude to bear daily witness to our faith, wherever there is a true opening.
                                                                                                                      (E.J.Tyler)

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When are you going to make up your mind? Many people around you live a life of sacrifice simply for human reasons. These poor people forget they are children of God and act the way they do only out of pride, or ostentation, or in order to be more comfortably off later on in life. They are willing to give up all kinds of things! You instead have many motives for which to sacrifice yourself. You have the sweet burden of the Church, of your family, your colleagues and friends. What are you doing about it? Are you ready to act with a proper sense of responsibility?
                                                                            (The Forge, no.364)

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Saturday of the Sixth Week of Eastertide

Apollos and his conversion   (Acts 18:23-28)

Our passage today introduces us to the figure of Apollos. St Paul refers to him in one of his letters. He must have been an important figure in the infant Church because St Paul says in that Letter that some (of those to whom he was writing) were saying I am for Paul, others I am for Cephas, and others again I am for Apollos.

In any case, in our passage today (Acts 18:23-28) Apollos is described as an eloquent preacher, with a sound knowledge of the Scriptures, and though he preached accurately about Jesus he did not have the fullness of the true message about him - that is to say, he did not have the fullness of the Catholic Faith and teaching. So two members of the Church took an interest in him and gave him further instruction in the Catholic Faith. He went on to do great work as a full member of the Church.

Let us learn from this. There are plenty of good people who love our Lore, who have a certain knowledge of him, who speak of him eloquently, but who do not have the fullness of Catholic faith and truth. Let us befriend them as did two who took an interest in Apollos, and endeavour to share with them our Faith. They may go on to do great good as members of the Church.
                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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“O Lord, why did you come looking for me - who am nothing - when there are so many holy, wise and rich people, so full of prestige?”  You are perfectly right. And so, thank God for having done just that. Thank him with deeds and with love.
                                                             (The Forge, no. 365)

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The Ascension of the Lord A

The exaltation of Christ   (Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23)

   Today we think of our Lord ascending into heaven, to take his seat at the right hand of his heavenly Father. His ascension crowned forty days of risen life with many wonderful appearances to his disciples. As St Luke tells us, “He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. When he had been at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised.” They would be filled with the Holy Spirit. This would happen at Pentecost.

  This whole period of forty days manifested in striking fashion the power of God. Our Lord had undergone a terrible passion and death. He had reached the utter limits of weakness and degradation. Now his disciples beheld before them the spectacle of God’s power over death, the devil, evil, and everything. In fact, our Lord told them that all power in heaven and on earth had been given to him. He was shown to be the almighty God, and when Thomas saw him at last he bowed down before him and said to him, my Lord and my God.

  But now this power was about to be manifested as having unique heights and depths. When our Lord ascended into heaven, with his disciples watching, he was showing in a visual manner that his power and his position was equal to that of almighty God. He ascended into heaven there to sit at the right hand of his heavenly Father, as St Paul says “far above every sovereignty, authority, power or domination, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age, but in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet, and made him as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.” The ascension of our Lord into heaven shows that though Jesus is man and one of us, he is the highest of the highest, equal to God the Father. It was a further manifestation of who Jesus our Redeemer really is, and where he now is. Our Brother and Redeemer is at God’s right hand as his very equal, to be our Brother still, interceding for us directly with the Father.

   And let us remember that all this happened by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord became man in the first place by the power of the Holy Spirit. He exercised his ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit. He offered himself up on the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit. He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, and he ascended to the right hand of the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. So the Ascension manifests also the activity and power of the Holy Spirit, who would be sent to the infant Church soon after on Pentecost. Our Lord had made it clear to the Apostles at the Last Supper that unless he returned to the Father, they would not receive the Holy Spirit, and for this reason it was better for them that he leave them and pass out of their sight. But once they received the Holy Spirit he would come to them and be with them in a new  way. He would be with them by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments, in the Church’s ministry and teaching. By the power of the Holy Spirit they would be able to imitate him and have their hearts transformed into the image of his sacred heart. They would become other Christs. All this would happen as a result of his sending the Holy Spirit, which would happen when he ascended to the right hand of God.

   Let us today as we think of our Lord ascending into heaven think of his unique and utterly exalted position. He is not simply a great religious founder, nor simply the greatest of them. He is our brother, our redeemer and our God, there at the right hand of the Father continually interceding for us and representing us. By the gift of his Holy Spirit we are enabled to follow him closely and to be gradually transformed into his image at the deepest level of our being. Let us then take up the work of seeking sanctity by the close following of the Master.
                                                                                                                        (E.J.Tyler)

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Jesus, may all in your Holy Church persevere in their way, following their Christian vocation, like the Wise Men who followed the star, spurning Herod’s advice - for that type of advice will not be lacking.
                                    (The Forge, no.366)

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Monday of the seventh week of Eastertide

Be brave!   (John 16:29-33)

There are many things that can get us down in life and lead us to give up difficult work. The difficult work could be work on ourselves and on serious defects. It could be the work of our profession or workplace. It could be the work entailed in being part of the family we have, or the wider family circle. If we intend to complete well the work we have been given in life, there will be difficulties.

Our Lord tells us that we are to be brave in the face of difficulties, and he assures us that mysteriously he has conquered the world. This victory was manifest in his risen condition. Nothing now could touch him, for all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him. So in taking up our tasks of each day - which should be a participation in Christ’s mission according to the vocation God has given us - we ought be filled with the awareness that Christ our Leader has won the victory.

Let us then begin again. Now I begin! Let us resolve every day and always to be brave.
                                                                                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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Let us ask Jesus Christ that the fruits of his Redemption may grow abundantly in men’s hearts; more and more, ever more abundantly - divinely abundantly! And for this to be so, may he make us good children of his Blessed Mother.
                                            (The Forge, no.367)

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 Tuesday of the seventh week of Eastertide

Being led by the Holy Spirit   (Acts 20:17-27)

When our Lord spoke to his disciples at the Last Super about the coming of the Holy Spirit, it was obvious that he meant them to expect that the Holy Spirit would deal with them as a real person. He would be their defender, their teacher, their Sanctifier, the one who would bear witness to Jesus and who would help them to bear witness to Jesus.

We who have received the Holy Spirit all too often fail to treat Him as a real person. We carry on as if he was not around, not within us. But as we read in the Acts of the Apostles he was a very active and personal force in leading the Church’s members in the work of evangelisation and in how and where to evangelise. In today’s passage from the Acts St Paul tells the Christians of Ephesus that “the Holy Spirit, in town after town, has made it clear enough that imprisonment and persecution await me.”

As a first step in being guided by the Holy Spirit we ought consciously advert to the fact that he dwells within us if we are in the state of grace. Then we ought cultivate a personal devotion to him, trying to be sensitive to his promptings, especially in our conscience.
                                                                                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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Would you like to know a secret to happiness? Give yourself to others and serve them, without waiting to be thanked.
                                      (The Forge, no.368)

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Wednesday of the seventh week of Eastertide

Be on guard   (Acts 20:28-38)

In the history of Christianity heresy has loomed very large right from the beginning. During the 2000 years of the Church’s history there have been periods when the phenomenon of heresy has absolutely dominated the life of the Church. We think of the early centuries of the Church, so wracked by the heresy of Arius for a full century outright, spawning vast sects beyond the life of the Church. Other heresies and schisms followed, and so it has been down the centuries. A sad feature of this has been that so many heresies have arisen from the rebellion of the Church’s clergy. We think of Arius himself, Luther, and many others.

St Paul speaks of this in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. He says, addressing the elders of the church of Ephesus, that “even from your own ranks there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them.” Much of the Church’s difficulty today can be traced to the same source. St Paul gives us the solution to this. He tells us: “So be on your guard.” To the elders he says, “Be on your guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you the overseers, to feel the Church of God which he bought with his own blood.”

Let us be on our guard against those professing what is a travesty of the truth, listening instead to the teaching Church, especially as personified in the successor of St Peter, the Pope. Let us love him, pray for him, and above all listen to him and be moulded by his guidance and his teaching.
                                                                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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Live and work for God, with a spirit of love and service, with a priestly soul, even though you may not be a priest. Then all your actions will take on a genuine supernatural meaning which will keep your whole life united to the source of all graces.
                                                         (The Forge, no.369)

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Thursday of the seventh week of Eastertide

May 12: Saints Nereus and Achilleus, martyrs.  They were Roman soldiers during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian. The embraced the true faith, as a result of which they were martyred.
 

The Christian sense of humour   (Acts 22:30; 23:6-11)

There is a real place for a sense of humour in the Christian life - the ability to see the funny side of things, especially in the midst of difficulty. I am sure that our Lord himself often displayed a sense of humour. On one occasion he told his hearers not to be intent on getting the splinter out of their brother’s eye when they have a plank already in their own. I am sure that metaphor brought on peals of laughter.

Luke tells us in our passage today from Acts (23:6-11) that when Paul was placed by the tribune virtually on trial before the Sanhedrin he, St Paul, saw that it was made up of Sadducees and Pharisees, who held opposite views on the matter of the resurrection. He turned this to his advantage. He announced that it was because of the hope of the resurrection that he was on trial. This provoked a heated debate between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and Paul ended up being defended by the Pharisees as having possibly received a revelation from an angel on the matter. It is quite amusing to read, and it must have caused amusement when St Paul related it to his friends over the years. It appears here in Luke’s Acts of the Apostles.

In the course of life there are countless difficulties in the path of the Christian. The Christian should cultivate a sense of humour and see the funny side of situations of difficulty - and be able thus to make light of it. The load will then be lighter, and he will be able to carry it with greater alacrity.
                                                                                                                                (E.J.Tyler)

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Looking on the immense panorama of souls who are awaiting us, and being struck by the wonderful and awesome responsibility before us, you may at times have asked yourself, as I have: “Can I contribute anything, when the task is so vast? I, who am so puny?”  It is then we have to open the Gospel and contemplate how Jesus cures the man born blind. He uses mud made from the dust of the earth and saliva. Yet this is the salve which brings light to those blind eyes! That is what you and I are. Fully aware of our weaknesses and our worthlessness, but with the grace of God and our good will, we can be the salve to give light and provide strength for others as well as for ourselves.
                                                                                                           (The Forge, no.370)

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Friday of the seventh week of Eastertide

Love for the person of Jesus   (John 21: 15-19)

Among the many distinctive things about the Christian religion is one that appears in our Lord’s words to Simon Peter in today’s Gospel passage. As far as I am aware, the great founders of the non-Christian religions did not demand of their followers then nor in perpetuity that they, their own persons, be the object of their disciples’ love. Their disciples presumably did love them, but those founders did not see that love as essential to their religions. What was essential was the acceptance of their doctrines.

Now, of course our Lord requires total acceptance of his doctrine as the truth that comes from God. But he also requires that his disciples love him personally, and with a total love. His own person is the object of his teaching, together with all that is connected with his person. As we read in our passage (John 21:15-19) Our Lord requires of Simon Peter that he love him, indeed more than the other disciples - which implies that he required of the other disciples that they love him too. Through Simon as his chief representative our Lord asks each of us to love him personally with all our heart.

This all stands to reason, for if we must love God with all our heart and being, and if Jesus is God - as he is, then we will love Jesus with all our mind, heart, soul and being. Let us then resolve to do this daily, and by the grace of God grow in the perfection of this love.
                                                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

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Said an apostolic soul: Jesus, You know what needs to be done ... you know I am not working for myself.
                       (The Forge, no.371)

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Saturday of the seventh week of Eastertide

St Matthias, Apostle

(May 14)  Saint Matthias, Apostle: After the ascension of our Lord, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, St Peter proposed that the disciples elect an apostle in the place of Judas. The choice was Matthias, who became one of the Twelve. It is said that he worked for the Faith in Palestine and was stoned to death. Today we are reminded that our Christian vocation is a gratuitous gift of God.

Today we think of the one who was chosen to replace Judas as one of the Twelve. What was his background? We know practically nothing except the very important details that St Peter gives in making his proposal to the infant Church, that they “choose someone who has been with us the whole time that the Lord Jesus was travelling round with us, someone who was with us right from the time when John was baptising until the day when he was taken up from us - and he can act with us as a witness to his resurrection.” (Acts 1:20-26). So it seems that Matthias responded to our Lord early and quickly, and was faithful to him throughout his ministry even though many of his disciples left him. There were others too like this, and two of them (Justus and Matthias) were proposed as candidates to replace Judas.

Practically nothing is known about Matthias. This is the case with several of the Twelve, and very typical of so many faithful Christians who serve our Lord till the end, and who in the process achieve sanctity. In Mathias there was something so much greater than he working and being represented by him: Christ and the Holy Spirit, and the Church of which he became one of the visible foundation stones. We too are called by our baptism, by our confirmation, and by many other means to serve and represent divine realities far greater than ourselves. We serve in humility and dedication, in the midst of ordinariness and obscurity.

Like Mathias the apostle, let us resolve so to live that God will be honoured and glorified.
                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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If you persevere in your prayer, with “personal perseverence”, God Our Lord will give you all the means you need to be more effective and to spread his kingdom in the world. But you have to keep faithful: asking, asking, asking ....Are you really behaving this way?
                                                                                              (The Forge, no.372)

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Pentecost Sunday A

The Coming of the Spirit of God

  Today we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the infant Church, and through the Church to each of us the Church’s members. Pentecost was a great coming of God, God the Holy Spirit. Over thirty three years earlier there had been a previous coming of God when God the Son became man at Bethlehem. Now there was another divine coming, not of God the Son, but of God the Holy Spirit.

  Just as the prophets and holy men of the Old Testament had promised the coming of Jesus the Messiah, so Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit. At the Last Supper he called him the Advocate or defender. He was the Spirit of truth. “When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness.” Our Lord had taught them many things about himself, about the Father, and about the saving plan of God. But his disciples were very slow, very weak, poor in spiritual understanding. They were fearful, lacking strength. They needed life and light and power from God. They needed a transformation if the word of Christ was to be grasped and to have its effect in them. Our Lord had said to them, “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.”

  So important was this coming of the Holy Spirit, that our Lord told his disciples that unless he went from them back to the Father, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, would not come to them. Our Lord was saying in effect that it was critically important that the Spirit of truth come, or nothing much would get off the ground. If there was to be any life in what he had planted in his disciples and in the foundation he had laid, it would depend on the activity of the Holy Spirit. So that is what came to the Church with the coming of the Holy Spirit. Life came to the Church. The Church was born to a new life. The infant Church was born. It came to life. Conviction and understanding filled the hearts of the Apostles and of her members, and they immediately began to exercise their share in Christ’s mission with obvious effect.

  The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost shows to us what he brings when he comes. He brings life. He is the Lord God, and the giver of Life. He gives the life of God. St John at the beginning of the Gospel says that in the Word made flesh was life, and that life was the light of men. Now, that life which was in the Word made flesh, the Son of God made man, was the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to give him to us, and with him comes life and light.

  Long before, the prophet Ezechiel had seen a vision of a valley full of bones, a vision of death so to say. Then suddenly breath entered the bones and they began to be covered with skin and flesh and sinews, and they stood up, an immense army. They had come to life through the power of God’s Spirit. This is what we ought pray for constantly from the Holy Spirit, for life, for the power to grow and act and move in our spiritual life. We know we have received the same Holy Spirit who came to the Church at Pentecost and empowered it with life. We have that same Spirit.

   We must learn to recognise his action in our life so as to be able to cooperate with him. The problem is that we scarcely ever advert to his presence in our minds and hearts. He is all too often a very neglected guest. We must start remembering that he is there with us. He is there as our friend, teacher, counsellor, guide, defender, and above all our sanctifier. Remembering him, we must cultivate a love for him. He is our God. Then we must learn to notice his activity within us, so as to be alert to his promptings. He will enlighten us about Jesus, and inspire us to follow him generously, and give us the strength to do so more and more heroically.

  So let us pray daily, Come Holy Spirit. Let us make him our friend and guide.
                                                                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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The Lord wants his children in all the honest pathways of this earth, sowing the seeds of understanding and forgiveness, of harmony, charity and peace. How about you? What are you doing?
                                                                                                                (The Forge, no.373)

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Monday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time 1

The full meaning of the Scriptures   (Mark 9:14-29)

One of the things that Martin Luther taught was that faith alone justifies. He was relying on what he imagined was the teaching of St Paul in his Letter to the Romans, and chose to virtually reject the teaching of St James who insisted that faith without works is dead. The memory of Luther’s mistake (condemned by the Council of Trent) reminds us that we should always try to keep in mind the whole teaching of Scripture, all of Revelation, when reading any part of Scripture.

In our Gospel passage today our Lord adds something to what he teaches in other parts of the Gospel. In those other parts Our Lord tells us that if we seek we shall find, if we ask we shall receive, and if we knock we shall have the door opened to us. Here, though, when it came to casting out the devil from the boy and his disciples being unable to cast it out, our Lord told them that it required both prayer and fasting.

With the Church’s teaching and guidance in mind, let us all our lives be endeavouring to understand the full meaning of the Scriptures, especially the full meaning of our Lord’s words in the Gospels, so as to know Christ Jesus himself and his mind as fully as possible Knowing his mind, let us strive to put it on, as St Paul tells us: let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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The Redemption is still being accomplished, even now, and you are - you have to be - a co-redeemer.
                                        (The Forge, no.374)

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Tuesday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time 1

Prepare yourself for an ordeal   (Sirach 2:1-13)

Just the other day there was on television an hour-long documentary on the life of the great Mongolian conqueror, Genghis Khan. As with so many conquerors in history, his life was marked by the loss of countless lives. I could not help thinking of how so many lives in human history have come and gone without their knowing the true purpose of their existence.

We are so very blessed to know the true purpose of our lives. It is to know, love and serve the true God. It is this goal that God has revealed for us and which we ought set ourselves to attain, and it is the goal which we ought open up for others.

But there is a fundamental aspect of this very goal which we are very prone to overlook, and which we are prone to conceal from others. It is what the first reading from the Old Testament Book of Sirach  plainly reminds us of: “My son, if you aspire to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for an ordeal” (Sirach. 2:1). In the light of this warning, the passage goes on to provide further reflections.

Let us gaze on the figure of our Lord, and how he fulfilled the teaching of the Scriptures in this as in everything.
                                                                                                                          (E.J.Tyler)

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To be a Christian in the world doesn’t mean isolating oneself - on the contrary! It means loving all mankind and burning with a desire to enkindle in everyone the fire of the love of God.
                                            (The Forge, no.375)

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Wednesday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time 1

Our separated brethren   (Mark 9:38-40)

One of the very great features of the modern Church is its ecumenical outreach. The Church regards the faithful of non-Catholic Christian Churches and Communions as brethren. They are separated brethren and we join with them in a common search for Christian unity. We are exhorted to love our separated brothers and sisters and to recognise all that is positive in them.

This attitude we surely see in Our Lord himself in today’s brief Gospel passage (Mark 9:40). It was John - the disciple who in his Letters places so much stress on brotherly love - who said to Jesus that they had tried to stop someone casting out devils in his name. Our Lord told them not to stop the person who is doing good things in his name. Such a person is to be regarded not as some kind of enemy but as an ally. He is for us, not against us.

Let us in our limited daily sphere of influence endeavour to build bonds of love and communion with believers in the name of Christ who are separated from us. Let us be genuinely ecumenical.
                                                                                                                          (E.J.Tyler)

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Dear Lady, Mother of God and my Mother, not in the remotest way do I wish that you may ever be anything less than Mistress and Empress of the whole of creation.
                                                                                                    (The Forge, no.376)

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Thursday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time 1

On our image of God   (Sirach 5:1-10)

There are so many illusions and excuses that can lead us into sin, or that can delay our repentance. Our first reading today from the Old Testament book of Sirach 5:1-10 gives us some of them. But one in particular is perhaps especially worth noticing, for it is one we in our day are prone to succumb to. It relates to our image of God.

God has revealed himself to be a God of love and mercy. St Thomas Aquinas writes somewhere that God reveals or manifests his power in his mercy. Now, Cardinal Newman used to insist that we in our day are prone to think that God is merciful and compassionate in the sense that he will overlook sin. This is because we tend to think that sin does not matter much - and perhaps it relates to our tendency to think that truth is relative, and that ultimately speaking there is no such thing as ultimate and absolute truth. This tendency, the tendency of modern relativism, is something the present Pope Benedict had been commenting on before his election. All this will affect our image of God and his holiness.
 

Our passage from Sirach tells us “Do not say, ‘His compassion is great, he will forgive my many sins”; for with Him are both mercy and wrath, and his rage bears heavy on sinners.” So let us not delay our repentance. We ought repent daily, making a full return to the Lord.
                                                                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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Follow St Paul’s advice: Now is the hour for us to rise from sleep! - it is time to get down to work. Both on the inside, building up your soul; and on the outside, building up the Kingdom of God, right where you are.
                                            (The Forge, no.377)

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Friday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time 1

May 20: St Bernadine of Sienna (1380-1444). He entered the Franciscan Order and preached the name of Jesus to the people of Italy with great fervour. He won the conversion of many souls.
 

The light of Christ and the natural law   (Mark 10:1-12)

I have heard it said that the ultimate basis of the prosecutions for crimes against humanity carried out at the Nuremberg trials at the end of World War II was the natural law. It was recognised that in effect nature manifested to the moral perception of man inviolable moral laws. The question, though, is whether man is equal to the perception of these laws.

Our Lord in our Gospel passage today (Mark 10:1-12) is telling us of one of these natural laws. It is the law that marriage involves an unbreakable union between a man and a woman. This unbreakable union, our Lord tells us, is founded on their very being as male and female. “From the very beginning of creation God made them male and female. This is why a man must leave father and mother and the two become one body.” It is clear that our Lord is saying that there is a natural law here, a law which man’s moral perception imposes on him in view of the natural constitution of the human couple and its manifest meaning.

But to see this (and probably some other natural laws) may well require the light of Christ. After all, the moral obligations of marriage have ever been controverted. It is Christ himself who in this instance reveals the natural law of marriage, and without his light we  may or may not have perceived it. Let us then resolve to fill our minds with the light of Christ as it comes to us through the Church his representative, and thus be all the more equipped to perceive the manifold obligations imposed by the natural law.
                                                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

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All contrite you told me: “How much wretchedness I see in myself! I am so stupid and I am carting around such a weight of concupiscence that it is as though I had never really done anything to get closer to God. Lord, here I am beginning, beginning, always just beginning! I will try, however, to push forward each day with all my heart.” May he bless those efforts of yours.
                                                                                              (The Forge, no.378)

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Saturday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time 1

Jesus and children   (Mark 10:13-16)

It is a commonplace in Christian thought that all things and all persons are to be viewed in hte light of Christ. Today’s Gospel presents us with Christ’s dealings with children. Parents were bringing their children to Jesus for him to touch them, and our Lord welcomed them.

This reminds us that a most serious responsibility lies on every parent to bring his or her children into contact with the person of Jesus. This contact will be the source of innumerable blessings. And this does not only concern parents - represented in our Gospel passage by the parents there mentioned - because Our Lord rebuked others who were making this contact difficult. It is those “others” who are also involved, and whom we are reminded of. All who are associated with Jesus and who wish to be his disciples ought be making it easy for each and every child (and parent) to have contact with our Lord.

Just think of our Lord doing what he is described as doing in the Gospel passage - “he put his arms around them, laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing”. This is what he wants to do with every child who meets him in prayer, in the sacraments, in the priest, and in the life of the Church. Let us endeavour to make this happen in the life of every child.
                                                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

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Father, you told me, I have committed many errors. I have make so many mistakes. I know, I replied. But God Our Lord, who also knows all that and has taken it into account, only asks you to be humble enough to admit it and asks that you struggle to make amends, so as to serve him better each day with more interior life, with continual prayer and with piety, and making use of the proper means to sanctify yourself.
                                         (The Forge, no.379)

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Feast of the Most Holy Trinity (Year A)

The indwelling of the Trinity

  Today the whole Church celebrates the revelation that God has made of himself as one God in three persons. There are various religions in the world which have sprung from the minds and hearts of great religious leaders, be they Mahomet, Buddha, Confucius or whoever. Our religion is based rather on what God himself has revealed. He revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and the prophets as the one only God on whom all that exists depends. He revealed that he has a saving plan for us, a plan to draw us into his friendship now in this life and in the life to come. Then his Son came to reveal  more about this. This friendship with God planned for us involves being drawn into his own personal life, and his personal life involves not just one divine person, but three. Prior to the coming of Jesus, God had shown he was a great divine person, but Jesus told us that this great God has a Son who is also the same one God as is his Father. He also revealed to us that there is a third person involved, the Spirit of love and truth of both the Father and the Son.

   So God has revealed to us two great things about himself. Firstly, there is one only God on whom everything depends and from whom everything has come. He is the creator and lord of all that exists. The second thing is that this one only God is in three persons, each of whom is the one only God. The one divine substance is in three divine persons. The Father is God and is the ultimate origin of all. The Son is his only begotten, and is God just as the Father is God. He is equal to the Father in everything, except that he is not the Father and ultimate origin. The Son is our redeemer and our Lord. Now, the life of love between the two is a third divine person, who is the same one only God as is the Father and the Son. This third divine person is the Holy Spirit. He is the gift of the Father and the Son to the Church. As God’s gift the Holy Spirit is the life of the Church and of every member of the Church, just as he is the life of the Father and of the Son. So we adore one only God who is three divine persons, each of whom is the one only God.

  Imagine the inner life of God, the love between the three divine persons from all eternity and now. Imagine being part of that! Imagine its ultimate happiness in heaven! Well, we are each of us called to be part of it, part of it now, and fully in heaven. We are called to share in the life of God now, and we do share in it by the gift of the Holy Spirit. We share in it as long as we are in the state of grace. This share in the life of God means that God the Holy Trinity is present to us in our very souls. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell within us if we are in the state of grace, just as they are in heaven with the angels and saints. This is the bearing of the mystery of the most Holy Trinity, that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit who dwell in the highest heaven before all the angels and saints, dwell also within the soul of each one of us who are in the state of grace. This is a wonderful privilege, and it should be a tremendous incentive to remain in the friendship of God by always doing his will, and repenting of it whenever we fail in obedience to him. We ought live day by day in the thought of the indwelling in our souls of God the holy Trinity. He abides within us, loving us and imparting to us his grace to enable us to grow in this friendship.

  The problem is that we do not think of this fact, the fact of the indwelling within us of the Blessed Trinity. We do not take advantage of it. The three divine persons are neglected guests in our souls. They are neglected, ignored, forgotten. We ought live daily in their presence, frequently communing with them, living consciously and subconsciously in their presence and their company. We ought pray to God asking that they make of our souls another heaven, which is to say a fit abode for the three divine persons. The holy Trinity comes to us to set up his abode in our souls especially through the sacraments, and on a regular basis in and through the Mass. Jesus comes to us at Mass, bringing with him the Father and the Spirit. Let us then resolve today to turn our minds to this wonderful mystery, the mystery of God the Holy Trinity, and of his indwelling within us to sanctify us and to help us be united with him now and forever in heaven.
                                                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

Would that you could acquire, as I know you would like to, the virtues of the donkey. Donkeys are humble, hardworking, persevering - stubborn - and faithful, with a sure step, tough and - if they have a good master - also grateful and obedient.
                                                                    (The Forge, no.380)

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Monday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time 1

Loving Christ without reserve   (Mark 10:17-27)

The story of the rich young man is a very sad one. Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him. Imagine that! Imagine being the object of the special love and gaze of Jesus and being invited to make him, Jesus, the object of one’s life. This was a wonderful privilege offered to a good and generous young man. But he turned it down because he preferred his own possessions.

Our Lord has chosen each of us - God has chosen each of us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and full of love in his sight. Christ has looked on each of us and loved us and has asked us to follow him unreservedly according to the particular vocation he has given us. The danger is that we shall follow our Lord, but with reservations. We will reserve to ourselves certain things that prevent us from giving our hearts totally to the Master.

Let us resolve then to make the work of our lives loving god with all our heart, and not just with part of it. Let us begin by praying for the genuine desire to do this, and the wisdom to know how to do it.
                                                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

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  Continue thinking about the donkey’s good qualities and notice how in order to do anything worth while, it has to allow itself to be ruled by the will of whoever is leading it. On its own the donkey would only ... make an ass of itself. Probably the brightest thing that would occur to it to do would be to roll on the ground, trot to the manger and start braying.
  Dear Jesus, you too should say to him, you have made me your little donkey. Please don’t leave me - and I’ll try to stay with you always. Lead me, tightly harnessed by your grace: lead me by the halter; make me do your Will. And so I will love you for ever and ever.
                                                                                                 (The Forge, no.381)

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May 24: Our Lady Help of Christians

In 1844 at the First Provincial Synod of Sydney, Our Lady Help of Christians was chosen as the patroness of Australia. In her maternal love Mary cares for the brethren of her Son who still journey of earth amidst trials and dangers until they reach their heavenly homeland.

She is our Mother  (John 19:25-27)

Consider those last moments of Our Lord’s life at Calvary. John his beloved disciple had followed him to the last, in the company of the Mother of Jesus and some of his disciples among the women. St John was amply rewarded, for he received as a gift from the Lord his blessed mother to be his own mother: “This is your mother.” What a treasure he received!

The Church has the profound conviction that Jesus’ gift to John was Jesus’ gift to his Church, and to each of the Church’s members. Thus Mary became at the foot of the Cross the Mother of the Church and the mother of each one of us: “Woman, this is your son.” How much she must gradually have taught John! How much she must gradually have taught the Church from that day to this, and how much she must have taught each one of us. Even if we on our part have not sufficiently acknowledged her, like the wonderful mother she is, she would have been caring for us all along.

Let us then take her into our own home as did John, the home of our souls and of our daily lives. Let us, if we can, introduce others of all religious faiths to her, for she is their mother too.
                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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You make a big tragedy out of the most insignificant mortifications. Sometimes Jesus makes use of your peculiarities and silly little fads, to help you mortify yourself, by turning something you ought to be doing anyway into a virtue.
                                                     (The Forge, no.382)

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Wednesday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time

May 25: St Bede the Venerable (673-735); Pope St. Gregory VII (died 1085); St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi (1566-1607).
 

The path to glory (Mark 10:32-45)

Our Gospel of today presents us with the sharp contrast of what our Lord was expecting and what his disciples were expecting. Our Lord was steadily making his way to Jerusalem where he would bear witness to the truth about himself and suffer unto death as a result. He instructed his disciples accordingly: “Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death..” Our Lord was on his way back to the Father to share his glory, but he had to pass through his ordeal.

By contrast, the disciples were thinking just of the glory. And so James and John asked him “Allow us to sin one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.” They had no sense that it was necessary to drink first the cup that Jesus had to drink. The other disciples were indignant with the two brothers because it seemed that they were seeking to gain an advantage over them in terms of glory. They too had no idea that it was necessary to drink first of the cup.

Let us endeavour to appreciate that in the long run paradoxically suffering is the means to glory and happiness, if we suffer in union with Christ and with his dispositions. The Old Testament book of Sirach tells us that if we aspire to serve the Lord, we must prepare ourselves for an ordeal. Our Lord is the great exemplar of this. Let us think then all through life of the glory that is coming, the glory that will be ours. But let us keep before us equally that the cross provides the path to this glory.
                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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Dear Jesus, I do want to correspond to your Love, but I am so feeble. With your grace, I will know how to.
                           (The Forge, no.383)

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Thursday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time 1

May 26: St Philip Neri  (1515-1595). Founded the Congregation of the Oratory.

The gift of Faith   (Mark 10:46-52)

The blind beggar received his sight (Mark 10:46-52). How did this happen? It was not simply because he came into contact with Jesus, even though it was Jesus and Jesus alone who gave him his sight. It was because he had faith in Jesus. Our Lord told him so. And it would appear that it was a genuine faith that he had because St Mark tells us that having received his sight he followed him along the road, hinting that this following of Jesus became a fully permanent following of the Master. His name is even given - Bar Timaeus - suggesting that he was known in the Christian community, like Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.

Now how did Bar Timaeus receive this precious gift of faith? We are not told. He was a blind beggar, but he received the gift from God. On another occasion Our Lord praised a centurion  for his faith, saying that he had not seen its like in Israel. This all implies that the gift of faith can be given to anyone in any circumstances. We ought be grateful that we have received the gift and treasure it accordingly. We ought also have a constant optimism in respect to what is possible for others, encouraging us to bear witness to Jesus in our daily lives, knowing that God can use our witness to help anyone attain faith, if he so chooses.
                                                                                                                         (E.J.Tyler)

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Spiritual life is - and I repeat this again and again, on purpose - a constant beginning and beginning again. Beginning again? Yes. Every time you make an act of contrition - and you should make many every day - you begin again, because you offer a new love to God.
                                                                                  (The Forge, no.384)

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Friday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time

27 May:  St Augustine of Canturbury, bishop  (died 605). Sent by Pope St Gregory the Great to convert the English people to Christianity. One of Augustine's companions was consecrated Bishop of London.

The Christ of strength   (Mark 11:11-26)

Every scene of the Gospel presents us with a facet of the figure of Jesus. What do we see in our passage today? We surely see Jesus in his power, Jesus in his strength. He condemns the fig tree to barrenness, as a sign of the condemnation by God of those who are unfaithful. He drives out those who were demeaning the Temple with their selling and buying, and he commands the admiration of the people by his teaching.

It is proverbial that people admire and wish to see in their leaders strength. But of course they do not want to see just strength. They want to see it combined with goodness and all the other qualities that are necessary if good is to prevail. All of this we know we have in the person of Jesus to a perfect degree. Our Lord is absolutely and utterly admirable, and he lives with us now. He is ever near, to aid us always.

Let us lean on Christ the good and strong One, who by his strength is able to lead us gradually to goodness and holiness. If there is one thing the human person who is in touch with his real condition will inevitably come to appreciate, it is that he is weak. He needs the help of one who is good and strong. This One is God, and the fullness of the godhead dwells bodily in Jesus. Let us then depend on Jesus constantly.
                                                                                                                         (E.J.Tyler)

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We can never be content with what we are doing to serve our God, just as an artist is never satisfied with the painting or statue he is working on. Everyone tells him how marvellous it is, but he thinks: “No. It isn’t quite right. I wanted it to be better.” This is how we should feel. Moreover, the Lord has given us so much. He has a right to the very best from us - and we must go at his pace.
                                                                                                                 (The Forge, no.385)

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Saturday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time

The authority of Christ   (Mark 11:27-33)

In our Gospel passage today (Mark 11:27-33) the chief priests and scribes challenge our Lord’s authority for acting the way he did. And so we are led to consider our Lord’s authority. Cardinal Newman once wrote that authority and obedience are of the essence of religion, which is to say that it is of the essence of religion that we recognise the authority of God and obey him. But what does this mean in the concrete?

Our Lord said after he had risen from the dead that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him. For that reason his apostles and disciples were to go and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe all that he had commanded them. Obedience to Christ out of love for him is at the foundation of hte Christian religion, and this obedience is to pervade our entire life. The Catholic recognises, further, that Christ entrusted his authority to bind and to loose, and to use the keys of the kingdom, to his Church. So the Catholic accepts the authority of the Church as the concrete expression of the authority of the Church.

Let us then have no part with the mentality of the scribes ad priests who challenged and refused Christ his authority. In the concrete, let us be docile children of the Church our Mother who teaches in his name.
                                                                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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You lack faith - and you lack love. Were it not so you would go immediately and much more often to Jesus, asking for this thing and that. Don’t delay any further; call out to him and you will hear Christ speaking to you: “What do you want me to do for you?” Just as when he stopped for that poor blind man by the roadside who kept on crying out, undeterred.
                                                                                  (The Forge, no.386)

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The Body and Blood of Christ  (Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time A)

  Today we celebrate what the Church teaches to be the centrepiece of our Catholic Faith, the most holy Eucharist. There is the greatest danger that in practical terms we will fail to give to the holy Eucharist the importance it must have in our lives. For the Eucharist is none other than Jesus himself. We hear this time and again, and if we were ever to be asked, we would of course state that this is what the Eucharist is. But the danger is that in effect we will treat the Eucharist and think of it not for what it is, namely the person of Christ, but virtually as a wafer of bread in which our Lord is somehow present in some way.

   So then, let us remember what happens in respect to Mass and the Holy Eucharist. At Mass the bread and wine cease to be bread and wine when the priest says “This is my body,” and “This is my Blood.” There is no longer bread there, but only Jesus, the risen Jesus, body, blood, soul and divinity. The appearances and qualities of bread and wine remain, but not the reality or substance of bread and wine. The only objective reality there is the person of the risen Jesus. Moreover, our Lord makes present the offering of himself on our behalf at Calvary. The same sacrifice of himself to the Father made then becomes present now. But it is done sacramentally, which is to say in the form of words and actions that signify what is made present. The Eucharist is a sacrament, the greatest of the seven sacraments, because of what is signified and made present. The person of Jesus offering himself at Calvary is made present, and we have the wonderful opportunity in Holy Communion of uniting ourselves with Jesus in his self-offering. Then outside Mass the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in our tabernacle so as to enable us to unite ourselves to our Lord there, by a personal visit to the Church, and by making spiritual communions with the Eucharistic Jesus often during the day.

   The problem is that we tend to ignore and neglect all this. This is probably due to the fact that we depend so much on visual appearances. If someone is dressed in high class clothes, or drives a magnificent car, or lives in a grand house, or does things that appear to be special and important, we give to that person more importance and respect. We tend to judge the reality of things simply by their appearances. People did the same with our Lord himself when he walked the earth. He was a man, and obviously so. So many did not rise above those appearances. They failed to recognise and accept that he was God, the Son of God. Now this can be very much the case with the way we treat the Holy Eucharist. Because all we see is the appearance of a wafer of bread, we unconsciously go just on the appearances, even though we may not explicitly assert that it is just a wafer. Because all we see in the church is the small tabernacle, we tend to act as if it were just that, just a tabernacle and nothing more. We tend to be slaves to appearances.

  So what we must do is take active steps to protect and nourish our faith in what the Eucharist really is, despite the appearances. We have to take steps to focus our minds on the reality before us during Mass, and outside of Mass, and what is really before us in the tabernacle. What steps are these? Well, to start thinking of what will really be happening at Mass as we come to Mass. It will be Jesus speaking to us in the readings and the homily - not just the words of the priest who is preaching. It will be Jesus making Calvary present in the Eucharistic Prayer. It will be Jesus coming to us in Holy Communion. It is Jesus in the tabernacle. And so on. So when we enter the church we will immediately look at the tabernacle thinking of who is there. We will genuflect reverently, and kneel in prayer, and keep focussed on prayer before Mass. We will resist the tendency to talk before and after Mass, and during Mass too. We ought adopt practices that we know will nourish our faith in this most central of mysteries of our Catholic Faith.

  The main thing in our daily life the Holy Eucharist, because the Eucharist is Jesus.
                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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That good friend of ours wrote: “I have asked the Lord many times to forgive me my very great sins. Kissing the Crucifix, I have told him that I love him and I have thanked him for his fatherly providence during these days. I was rather surprised, as I have been years ago, when I found myself saying (I didn’t realize it until later): all the works of God are perfect. At the same time I was left with the complete certainty, without the slightest doubt, that this reply to his sinful yet loving creature came from my God. All my hope is in him. May he be blessed forever.”
   I hastened to reply: “The Lord always acts as the good Father he is, and gives us continual proofs of his Love. Place all your hope in him - and keep up your struggle.”
                                                                                           (The Forge, no.387)

Monday of the ninth week of Ordinary Time A

Love of neighbour   (Tobit 1:3.2:1-8)

In our passage from the book of Tobit (1:3.2:1-8) we are introduced to a typical day in the life of the charitable Tobit. He was one of the Jewish exiles living in the pagan land to which with so many others he had been deported. He is shown carefully observing one of the feast days of the Jewish calender. He is profoundly charitable, wanting to have a poor fellow-Jewish exile brought to share his good dinner. He is then brought news of another unfortunate Jewish exile who has just been murdered and left in the streets. He immediately rises and goes to help.

What comes through in these inspired lines is that any one who truly embodies the religion revealed by God is both deeply religious and deeply charitable. He loves God and loves his neighbour. Now, our Lord in his teaching confirms all this and raises it to a new level by pointing to himself as the fulfilment of the Law, and our model in all that God requires. We are to love one another as Jesus loves us. Our Lord gives us the Holy Spirit to make this possible. Tobit in his way is a type of Christ, Christ who is our daily model, Christ who is our life.
                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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O Jesus! If in spite of the poor way I have behaved, you have done for me what you have done, what would you do if I were to respond well?
   This truth will lead you to be generous without measure. Weep and show with sorrow and love how much it pains you, for Our Lord and his Blessed Mother deserve different treatment from you.
                                                    (The Forge, no.388)

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May 31: Feast of the Visitation   (Tuesday of the ninth week of Ordinary Time 1)

Mary of the Visitation     (Luke 1:39-56)

On this Feast of the Visitation we think of the meeting between Mary and her kinswoman Elizabeth in which Mary is praised by Elizabeth, and God is praised by Mary.

Our primary thought on this day goes to Mary, and we have the prayer she offered to God on this occasion, commonly called the Magnificat. It provides us with an insight into her soul, which the angel Gabriel had said was full of grace. Mary proclaims the greatness of God her Saviour for the great things he had done for her. Out of gratitude and wonder, Mary’s prayer rises to praise God. God is her Saviour, he is great. He is holy and merciful from age to age. He is all powerful and his power is shown in resistance tot he proud and in mercy for the humble and lowly. It is God’s power, shown in his mercy, which Mary above all proclaims.

She, as mother of the Lord, is powerful and the power of her prayer is directed especially towards  those who acknowledge gtheir weakness and need of mercy. Let us ask Mary to teach us the mercy of God and to imitate it. She, the Mother of mercy, can do this for us.
                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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Even though at times you don’t feel like praying and you think you are only saying things with your lips, nevertheless keep up your acts of faith and hope and love. Don’t fall asleep. Otherwise, when things are going fine, an ill wind will come and it will drag you off.
                                                                                     (The Forge, no.389)

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Wednesday of the ninth week of Ordinary Time

June 1: St Justin, martyr (died 165). St Justin was a philosopher born in Samaria. A convert to Christianity, he was a passionate searcher for truth which he found in Christ. He then defended the Christian faith with his writings, notably the Apologies and Dialogue. He was martyred in Rome during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.

In the midst of suffering   (Tobit 3:1-11a, 16-17a)

Tobit was a very good Jew indeed. He was scrupulously observant of the revealed Law of God, and was full of charity and justice towards his neighbour. Yet a personal catastrophe befell him. He was blinded.

I have known people who have turned away from God because of painful things that have happened to them. I am not sure at all that before those painful things occurred they were notably religious and notably charitable. Whatever of that, this turning away from God as a result of suffering and forms of evil certainly occurs. As with any turning away from God it can be very difficult to undo, once done. However understandable it may be, it is always a tragedy and never justified.

Tobit did not do that. His wife in her frustration poured scorn on the value of his good works, in view of his misfortunes. But Tobit did not turn away from God, though he had no explanation for what had befallen him. He was ultimately rewarded, as the book of Tobit shows. God will reward those who trust him and who are faithful to him, whatever life may bring. We are reminded of St Thomas More who said (or words to this effect) on the way to the scaffold, I may lose my head, but I shall come to no harm.
                                                                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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This is how you should pray: if I am to do anything worthwhile, Jesus, you will have to do it for me. May your Will be done. I do love it, even if your Will should permit that I be always as I am now, falling dismally only to be lifted up by you!
                                                              (The Forge, no.390)

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Thursday of the ninth week of Ordinary Time A

The task of life  (Mark 12:28-34)

At times one gets the impression that a lot of people pass much of their lives killing time. Others use up the time of their lives attaining goals that do not last. The meaning they thus give to their lives is ephemeral. In fact everyone, no matter who he is or what his circumstances ahs a task in life of the greatest moment, requiring the fullest concentration of forces. It is a task given to each and all by the Creator.

The task is to attain the perfection of love, the love of God first and foremost, followed by love of neighbour. Everyone, from the highest to the lowest, is under this law which we are freely to make the law of our being, to love God with all our heart, and our neighbour as ourself.. Our Lord gives us a higher goal still: we are to love one another as he loves us.

This goal we are to aim at daily, and within and by means of whatever circumstances the providence of God disposes or permits. There is no excuse if we disregard it. We will be the only ones responsible for our neglect.
                                                                                                                          (E.J.Tyler)

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Make me into a saint, my God, even if you have to beat me into it. I don’t want to be a hindrance to your Will. I want to respond, I want to be generous ... But what sort of wanting is mine?
                                                                                                                        (The Forge, no.391)

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Friday of the ninth week of Ordinary Time

Our guardian angel   (Tobit 11:5-17)

Our scene from the book of Tobit today describes Tobias and Raphael his companion returning to Tobit with their journey having been a success. Tobias had obtained his wife under the guidance of Raphael, and under the guidance of Raphael, Tobias was to bring healing to his father Tobit.

The whole of the book of Tobit is very largely the story of what Raphael did for both Tobit and his son Tobias. Raphael was the angel of God sent to guide them and to bring them to happiness.  In him we are surely reminded of our guardian angels, of which the Church teaches us that each of us has one. We must ask ourselves, do we make any attempt to be devoted to our guardian angel, to pray to him, and to be guided by him? It is surely a wonderful thought that what Tobias had to guide him on his journey - an angel of God - we too have to guide us on our journey.

Let us take up the practice of praying daily to our guardian angel, and to the guardian angels of those persons we wish to serve in our daily life.
                                                                                                                          (E.J.Tyler)

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You are full of concern because you do not love as you ought. Everything annoys you. And the enemy does all he can to make you show your bad temper. I realise you feel very humiliated. Precisely because of this you must take measures to react without delay.
                                                                                        (The Forge, no.392)

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Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus   (Matthew 11:25-30)

It is often pointed out that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is at the centre of the Christian religion. That is to say, the utterly transcendent God has revealed his very heart to us and has invited us to enter deeply into his mind and heart, and to make his sentiments our own.

Our Lord in our Gospel passage prays to his heavenly Father proclaiming that true knowledge of  both the Father and the Son has to be revealed to us - and it is revealed to the one who humbly asks for it. Our life’s work is to come to know Jesus intimately, and knowing him intimately to make his our model. Our Lord says to us in today’s Gospel passage, come to me and learn of me. He tells us the characteristics of his heart. He is meek and humble. We are to learn of this. Making his sentiments our own will bring peace to our souls.

Let us resolve to be devoted to the heart of Christ. As St Paul puts it, let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. It requires a life of deep Christo-centric prayer.
                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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The holiness which makes people say that “to put up with a saint you need two saints” is not true holiness.  At best, it would only be its caricature.
                                                                                    (The Forge, no.393)

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Saturday of the ninth week of Ordinary Time 1

The archangel Raphael   (Tobit 12:1.5-15.20)

We have in our passage from the book of Tobit today the beautiful, simple, and moving words of the archangel Raphael. His words breathe forth simply and attainable goodness. Praise and thank God. Do what is good. Pray and fast and give alms. Avoid sin. It is all very simple and straightforward, and they come from an archangel. The beauty of goodness is manifest.

What we are also reminded of is the very reality of angels. They are powerful and they dwell in the presence of God himself. He sends them to aid us by bringing our prayers to God, by testing our faith and making it strong, and by healing and helping us. Our guardian angel is our fellow traveller, our companion in our search for holiness. What a companion Tobias had in Raphael!

Thinking of Raphael as narrated in the book of Tobias can help us appreciate anew our heavenly companions. Let us pray to our guardian angel daily and grow in gratitude for his friendship, his protection and his guidance. Let us learn to notice how he helps us on our way.
                                                                                                                          (E.J.Tyler)

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The devil tries to draw us away from God, and if you allow him to dominate you, good people will draw away from you, because they draw away from the devil’s friends and from those possessed by him.
                                           (The Forge, no.394)

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The Immaculate Heart of Mary   (Luke 2:41-51)

As we think of the Gospel text for today, the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we think of Mary as one immersed in all the ordinary circumstances of an everyday life. She lived the kind of life the ordinary human being can easily identify with together with all its common worries. Here we see Our Lady and St Joseph filled with anxiety over what might have happened to her Son missing for three days, and bewildered at his having allowed this to happen.

She lived an ordinary life, but today’s feast reminds us that she did so in an utterly sinless manner. She was conceived free of sin, and she lived out her life free from sin. Her heart was immaculate, untouched by the slightest trace of sin. In this she was a perfect reflection of the heart of her divine Son. He was a divine person, she a human person. She then is our wonderful model of the Christian life.

Let us resolve to know more and more intimately the mind and heart of Jesus and Mary so as to be able to make their thoughts, attitudes and sentiments our own.
                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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When you speak to God, even if you think yours are just empty words, ask him for a greater dedication, for a more determined progress towards Christian perfection. Ask him to put more fire into you.
                                                 (The Forge, no.395)

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