January 2006
Pope Benedict XVI's general
prayer intention for January is: "That the effort to bring
about the full communion of Christians may
foster reconciliation and peace among all the peoples of the earth."
The Pope's mission intention
is:
"That Christians may know how to welcome migrants with respect and
charity, recognizing in each person the image of God."
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Mary the Mother of
God (January 1)
Scripture today:
Numbers 6:
22-27; Psalm 67: 2-3, 5,
6, 8;
Galatians 4: 4-7; Luke 2: 16-21
“The shepherds hurried away to
Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.”
(Luke 2:
16-21)
We are now at the beginning of a new year. As we look back we
surely must be grateful for the gift of time. How much more time we
shall have, we do not know. But time is precious, and it must be used
well. At the start of the new year our question ought be, what must we
do with the time we are given? We must use it to attain the end for
which we are created, which is to know, love and serve Our Lord here on
earth, and in this way to see and enjoy him forever in heaven. If this
goal is not attained, the time given to us has been wasted. The
critical question for the coming year is, how are we to find Jesus Our
Lord, and to love and serve him? Well, right at the beginning of the
year the Church places before us Mary the Mother of God.
The Church does this for a simple reason. Christ is the gift of
the Father to humanity and in sending his Son among us he entrusted him
to Mary. He was born of the Virgin Mary. In our Gospel scene today the
shepherds were directed by the angel to go to the town of Bethlehem and
there they would find the Saviour who had been born to them, Christ the
Lord. They hurried away to Bethlehem to see him, and found Mary and
Joseph and the child lying in the manger. The Child was not alone but
with Mary. Our Lord is best found by going to Mary, and by being close
to Mary.
There is a further aspect of this. While Christ is found
not alone but with Mary, Mary is not alone either. When the shepherds
went to Bethlehem they found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in
the manger. Mary is found with Joseph, reminding us that just as Christ
is found in the company of his holy mother, so she in her turn is found
in the company of her holy husband Joseph. If we stay close to Mary and
Joseph we shall be staying close to Jesus. There is a further point.
Mary and Joseph are not alone either. They were and are the first and
foremost members of the Church: Mary is the Church’s mother and model,
Joseph is the Church’s universal protector. Christ is found with Mary,
and being found with Mary he is found also with Joseph. More still, he
is found in the heart of the Church. Christ comes to us and is found by
us as head of the Church, his body.
Therefore we are reminded in today’s celebration of Mary
the mother of God that an essential element of involvement with Christ
is involvement with the Church which is his body. At times one hears
the statement, Christ yes, the Church no. Those who say this mean
that they are happy to seek and love and serve the person of
Jesus, but just Jesus. That is to say, they do not want to have much to
do with the Church. But God does not work that way in bringing us the
gift of redemption. God sent his Son to us born of a woman, and as a
child of the holy family. That holy family was the incipient Church,
gathered around Jesus who came forth to man from within its midst. That
is to say, in the plan of God Christ comes to us from within the Church
which is his body. To know Christ Jesus we must draw near to his
Church, learning to love the Church just as Christ loves her. On this
day when we think of Mary the Mother of God, we think also of her as
the mother of the Church. It is through her, mother and member of the
Church, that Christ has come to us.
This is a very important point. At times it is said that
Australia is a Christian country, though very secular as well. Well, if
it can be said that to some extent our culture is Christian, it has to
be said also that its Christianity has mainly protestant traits. A
protestant form of Christianity favours the image of the Christian life
as a matter between me and Jesus, very much a one-to-one thing, in
which there is not much real place for the Church, the sacraments, the
priesthood, the saints, and Mary and Joseph. These elements are
perceived as distractions from the person of Jesus. We must beware of
this image of the Christian life, and it is the image that our culture
will favour. Of course the Christian life is a matter between the
individual and Christ, but Christ comes to the individual not alone but
as part of a company, as it were. He comes as head of the Church which
he founded and sustains. Right from the beginning at Bethlehem he comes
from God in the arms of his mother Mary, and in the company of Joseph.
The seeker will find him in the company of his chosen ones. That is to
say, he is found in his body the Church, of which Mary is the foremost
member, and the mother and the model.
Today’s feast ought renew our resolve to make Christ
the centre of our life this coming year, but doing so in union with
Mary our mother, with Joseph our foster-father and guardian, with,
indeed, the whole Church of God. Catholic Christianity appreciates this
fundamental facet of God’s coming among us. God sanctifies us in,
through and with his Church. Let us unite ourselves to this great cloud
of witnesses surrounding us and dominated by the figure of Mary the
mother of God. Let us resolve with the help of the Church to seek the
union with our Lord that we are called to.
(E.J.Tyler)
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God is very pleased with those who recognise his goodness by reciting
the Te Deum
in thanksgiving whenever something out of the ordinary
happens, without caring whether it may have been good or bad, as the
world reckons these things. For everything comes from the hands of our
Father: so though the blow of the chisel may hurt our flesh, it is a
sign of Love, as he smooths off our rough edges and brings us closer to
perfection.
(The Forge, no.609)
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Monday
before the Epiphany
(January 2) Basil
the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, bishops and doctors of the Church. (Saints)
Basil
(330-379) was a brilliant student born of a Christian family in
Caesarea, Cappadocia (Turkey). For some years, he followed the monastic
way of life. He vigorously fought the Arian heresy. He became Bishop of
Caesarea in 370. The monks of the Eastern Churches today still follow
the monastic rule which he set down.
Gregory
(330-390) was also from Cappadocia. A friend of Basil, he too
followed the monastic way of life for some years. He was ordained
priest and in 381 became Bishop of Constantinople. It was during this
period when the Arian heresy was at its height. He was called “The
Theologian” because of his great learning and talent for oratory.
Scripture readings:
1 John 2:
22-28; Psalm 98: 1-4;
John 1: 19-28
“The man who denies that Jesus is the
Christ - he is the liar, he is Antichrist” (1 John 2: 22-28)
In religion, philosohy and in general human thought there have always
been rival claims as to what or who is the Absolute. Rather, it is
perhaps more
characteristic of man to claim that there is no single Absolute, but
that Ultimate Reality consists in the many rather than an Absolute
One. After all, outside of revealed religion and those religions
that
have been influenced by Judaeo-Christian revelation (such as Islam)
there have not been many religions testifying to one personal God. And
among those that do make such a claim, characteristically there are
rival claims.
This profound lack of consensus as to the Ultimate that is a normal feature of a pluralist
society can insidiously produce or at least favour
relativist assumptions. We can unconsciously begin to assume that it is
illegitimate to claim that Jesus Christ is God’s Truth
and the only way to the Father. After all (we can begin to reason),
others make the same claims for their god or for their prophet. That is
to say, in the face of
this phenomenon of a plurality of religions with
absolute claims we can begin to think it is illegitimate both to
make absolute claims and to think such 'absolutist' thoughts. We can be
enticed into thinking that truth is true only to
the one believing it to be true - in other words that truth is not
objective. Truth is relative to the individual. This is the danger constituted by
relativism, and the danger is real. The present Pope has spoken of the
dictatorship of
relativism. Truth is assumed to be a figment of the imagination.
Today’s Gospel reading (John 1: 19-28) makes it clear that Jesus is the
Ultimate in all
that pertains to God. St John the Baptist bore witness to him - he was
not fit to undo the very sandal straps of Jesus. St John the evangelist
was the disciple of the Baptist and the author of our first reading. In
that reading he puts it very bluntly: “The man who denies that Jesus is
the Christ - he is the liar, he is the Antichrist, and he is denying
the Father as well as the Son.” (1 John 2: 22-28). Let us this new year preserve in our
hearts a profound sense of the ultimate and absolute character of Jesus
Christ.
Jesus is Lord. He is the Lord of lords and King of kings.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“Make straight
the Lord’s path” (John 1: 19-28)
Comment by Blessed Guerric of Igny
(1080 –– 1157), Cistercian abbot (Sermon 5 for Advent)
“Prepare the way of the Lord.”
Brothers, even if you have advanced greatly on this way, you still have
to prepare it, so that from the point where you have already arrived,
you might always go forward, always stretched out towards what is
beyond. Thus, since the way has been prepared for his coming, with
every step that you take, the Lord will come to meet you, always new,
always greater. So the righteous person is right to pray thus:
“Instruct me, O Lord, in the way of your statutes, that I may exactly
observe them.” (Ps 119:33) And this way is called “the path of
eternity” (Ps 139:24) …… because the goodness of him towards whom we
are advancing is unlimited.
That is why the wise and
determined traveller, even though he has arrived at the goal, will
think of beginning. “Giving no thought to what lies behind,” (Phil
3:13), he will tell himself every day: “Now I begin (Ps 76:11 Vulgata)
…… May it please heaven that we who talk about advancing on this path
might at least have set out! To my understanding, whoever has set out
is already on the good way. However, we must really begin, find “the
way to an inhabited city” (Ps 107:4). For Truth says: “How few there
are who find it!” (Mt 7:14) And many are those “who go astray in the
desert.” (Ps 107:4) ……
And you, Lord, have prepared a
path for us, if we only agree to go on it…… Through your Law, you have
taught us the path of your will by saying: “This is the way; walk in
it, when you would turn to the right or to the left.” (Isa 30:21) It is
the path that the prophet had promised: “A highway will be there…… No
fools go astray on it.” (Isa 35:8)…… I have never seen a fool going
astray when following your path, Lord…… But woe to you who are wise in
your own sight (Isa 5:21). Your wisdom has taken you away from the path
of salvation and has not allowed you to follow the Saviour’s folly…… A
desirable folly, which at the time of God’’s judgment will be called
wisdom and which does not let us go astray, away from his path.
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When human beings have work to do they try to use the right tools for
the job. If I lived in another century, I would have written with a
quill pen: now I use a fountain pen. But when God wants to carry out
some piece of work, he uses unsuitable means, so that it can be seen
that the work is his. You have heard me say this very often. So you and
I, who are aware of the massive weight of our failings, should tell
him: “Lord, wretched as I am, I still understand that in your hands I
am a divine instrument.”
(The Forge, no.610)
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Tuesday
before the Epiphany (January 3)
Today let us
think of St. Genevieve
(Saints)
Scripture today:
1 John
2:29-3:6; Psalm 98:1, 3-6;
John 1:29-34
“Surely everyone who entertains this
hope must purify himself, must try to be pure as Christ.”
(1 John 2:29-3:6)
It is
almost self-evident that hope is necessary for life. A person whose
life is pervaded by a sense of hopelessness is close to being ruined.
He cannot continue in that condition for a long time and function
normally. Moreover, not only is it necessary to hope, it is a natural
condition that comes instinctively. In the normal course of things a
child grows up with a hopeful attitude. One wonders about so many
children in the world who experience great tragedies of one kind or
another. How much of a sense of hope can be expected to take root in
their lives?
The question is, however, not whether we ought to hope, but what we
ought to hope for. Or rather, while we all hope for the normal things
in life such as material wellbeing, success in our work in life,
friendship, and all the things that make for normal happiness, what is
it that we are ultimately hoping for in all these things? The
problem is that any one of them can fail. We can for a variety of
reasons experience failures in our work, disappointment in personal
friendships, and setbacks of a very serious nature in material
necessities. If our hope is not anchored in something more enduring
that cannot be taken away, then the whole basis of hope in ourlife will
be liable to being tragically undermined.
St John in his first letter from which our first reading today is drawn
speaks of hope. It is a glorious hope based on what we actually are. We
are children of God and because of this we can hope for a glorious
future. “My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we
are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that
when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he
really is.” (1 John 2:29-3:6)
The hope
of the Christian lies in God and in our heavenly homeland, and this is
what we should be hoping for in all the good things we hope for in
life. Furthermore, and most importantly, “everyone who entertains this
hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.”
Our hope should lead us to strive to be holy, as God is holy.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“Look! There is the Lamb of God.”
(John 1:29-34)
Commentary from Saint Theresia Benedicta of the
Cross [Edith Stein], (1891-1942), Carmelite, Martyr,
Co-patroness of Europe (The Wedding
of the Lamb, September 14, 1940)
In the Book of Revelation, the apostle John sees “a Lamb standing, a
Lamb that had been slain.” (Rev 5:6)…… On the banks of the Jordan, John
the Baptist had called Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world.” Then, the apostle John had understood this word, and now he
understood the image. The one who previously had walked on the banks of
the Jordan and who now had shown himself to him “wearing a white robe,
with eyes that blazed like fire” and with the sword of the judge, he
who is “the First and the Last” (Rev 1:13-17), had truly accomplished
everything that the rites of the Old Covenant had sketched with symbols.
When, on the holiest and most solemn day of the year, the high priest
entered into the Holy of Holies, the place that was terribly holy
because of the divine Presence, he had previously taken two rams: one
on which to lay the sins of the people so that he would take them to
the desert, the other so that his blood would be sprinkled on the tent
and the ark of the covenant (Lev 16). He was the sacrifice that was
offered for the sin of the people…… Then the high priest sacrificed a
burnt offering for himself and for all the people and burned all the
remains of the sacrifice of reconciliation…… That day of reconciliation
was a solemn and holy day……
But what had brought about the reconciliation? It was not the blood of
the sacrificed animals, nor was it the high priest who was a descendant
of Aaron, as Saint Paul said in his letter to the Hebrews (chapter
8-9). It was the ultimate sacrifice of reconciliation, the one that was
prefigured in all the sacrifices prescribed by the Law, and this was
the “high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Ps 110:4)……
He was also the true paschal Lamb because of whom the exterminating
angel passed by the houses of the Hebrews when he struck the Egyptians
(Ex 12:23). The Lord himself let his disciples understand this when he
ate the paschal lamb with them for the last time and then gave himself
to them as their food.
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We will dedicate all the exertions of our life, great and small, to the
honour of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I am
moved when I recall the work of those brilliant professionals - two
engineers and two architects - cheerfully moving furniture into a
student residence. When they had put a blackboard into a classroom, the
first thing those four artists wrote was: all the glory to God! Jesus,
I know that this pleased you greatly.
(The Forge, no.611)
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Wednesday
before the Epiphany (January 4)
Today let us
think of St. Elizabeth Ann
Seton (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 John 3:
7-10; Psalm 98: 1, 7-9;
John 1: 35-42.
“Come and see” he replied; so they
went with him and saw where he lived and stayed with him.
(John 1: 35-42)
I have
often thought that the Gospel scene of today is one of the most
beautiful in the Gospels. St John the Baptist was himself the object of
a holy adulation by the people, but here he himself watches in wonder
and admiration as Jesus passes by. Jesus is the one John the Baptist
exalts. He says to his disciples “Look, there is the lamb of God.” That
is to say, he is the Messiah who has been long promised, the one who
will take away the sin of the world and make the world acceptable to
God. One can just imagine the emotion he felt in uttering those words
as there passed by him the One who was the object of his own mission as
the precursor. So in those words of John the Baptist we have Jesus
exalted before our mind’s eye.
But then we find ourselves in the most human of scenes, with Jesus
revealed as overflowing in what we could call humanity. The two
disciples of John who heard the words uttered about Jesus immediately
began following him. “Jesus turned round, saw them following and said,
‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ - which means Teacher -
‘where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw
where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day.’”
The Messiah, on whom was pinned the hopes of the world and the
fulfilment of all God’s promises, is simple, welcoming, warm,
attractive. He is very inviting, full of hospitality. He must have been
immensely convincing because the next day one of the two, Andrew, went
to his brother and told him the one they had stayed with was the
Messiah.
Our Lord says to each one of us, “Come to me all you who labour and are
overburdened, and I will give you rest.” Let us then come to him every
day and, in the midst of our work, live in him with him in us. He said
on one occasion, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my
Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with
him.” What happened to those two disciples should be going on
constantly with us. Let us live in Jesus.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“Come and see.” (John 1: 35-42)
Commentary by Saint Romanos
the Melodious (? – 560), Composer of hymns (Hymn XVII, §
12-1)
Sin has been effaced; incorruptibility has been given us (1 Cor 15:53);
the precursor showed us that we have returned to grace by saying:
“There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He
showed the certificate of settlement to those who had incurred a heavy
debt. He who had already leapt for joy in his mother’s womb, today
proclaimed it and made known the one who has appeared to us and who has
illumined everything.
The Baptist proclaimed the mystery. He called the pastor the lamb, and
not just lamb, but the lamb that effaces all our faults. “There is the
Lamb,” he said. From now on, a scapegoat is no longer necessary (Lev
16:21). Raise your hands to him, all of you, by acknowledging your
sins, for he came to take away the sins of the whole world along with
those of the people. From the height of heaven, the Father sent us this
gift: him who has appeared and who has illumined everything.
He has scattered the harmful night; thanks to him, all is noon. The
light that never sets has shone forth on the world, Jesus our saviour.
In this abundance, the land of Zebulun imitates paradise, for the
torrent of delight irrigates it and a stream of ever living water
springs forth there… Today in Galilee, we contemplate the source of
living water, him who has appeared and who has illumined everything
(cf. Mt 4:15-16; Ps 36:9-10).
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Wherever you may happen to be, remember that the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve. Be sure that anyone who wants to
follow him cannot attempt to act in any other way.
(The
Forge, no.612)
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Thursday
before the Epiphany (January 5)
Today let us
think of St. John N. Neumann
(Saints)
Scripture today: 1 John 3:
11-21; Psalm 100: 1-5;
John 1: 43-51
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he
said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of
deceit.’ (John 1: 42-51)
There is a notable feature theat we observe in the first followers of
Our Lord. It is the speed with which they came to believe that Jesus
was the Messiah. The testimony of John the Baptist had been given about
Jesus. They met him. They believed in him. Andrew, we read in the first
chapter of St John’s Gospel, having met Jesus went to his brother Simon
and told him they had met the Messiah. He brought his brother to Jesus,
and Simon believed. In our Gospel today Our Lord meets Philip and asks
him to follow him. Philip found Nathanael and told him that “we have
found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one whom the Prophets
wrote about.” Philip, then, had quickly arrived at the true faith. Our
passage today is mainly concerned with Nathanael and how he arrived at
this faith. We are perhaps correct in regarding these narratives as
intended by the evangelist to provide normative instances of arriving
at faith in Jesus.
Let us notice that there was not in Nathanael a propensity to believe
simply anything. At Philip’s testimony he expressed surprise and
perhaps even doubt about Jesus, because Philip told him that Jesus came
from Nazareth. Perhaps that fact may have been a very good reason to
have
been surprised or doubtful. But as soon as he met Jesus he was given a
sign by Jesus that he knew him well, and that he knew what had been
happening in his life. There was something about this circumstance, and
something about the person of Jesus himself, that totally convinced
Nathanael that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, and the Son of God
too. Obviously the full sense of this initial insight would come to him
only gradually as he was taught by Jesus. But Nathanael had quickly
arrived at the true faith.
How had this happened? One very important factor was that there was
something about Nathanael’s moral character that disposed him to grasp
who Jesus really was and to accept him as such. Our Lord’s immediate
summing up of Nathanael gives us the clue: “There is an Israelite who
deserves the name, incapable of deceit’.” (John 1: 42-51) Nathanael was of a high moral
character, completely sincere and fully
given over to the truth. This disposed him to recognise Jesus for who
he was. Let us take our cue from that and strive to be
entirely upright, sincere in everything, having nothing to do with
falsehood in
any sense, wanting simply whatever God wants, and being willing to
receive from him anything he gives, offers, or disposes. This sincerity
and avoidance of falsehood is a form of purity of heart, and as our
Lord tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, Blessed are the pure of
heart, for they shall see God.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“You shall see the sky opened”
(John 1: 42-51)
Commentary by Guillaume of Saint-Thierry
(1085-1148), Benedictine, then Cistercian monk
(Meditative prayers VI, 5-7)
If it is enough to see two or three united in your name here below so
as to see you in their midst (Mt 18:20) ……, what can we say about the
place where you have united all the saints who have “made a covenant
with you by sacrifice” and who have become like “the heavens that
proclaim your justice”? (Ps 50:5-6)
Your beloved disciple was not the only one who found the path that
ascends to heaven; he was not the only one to whom an open door in
heaven was shown (Rev 4:1). For you declared it to everyone by your own
mouth: “I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be safe.” (Jn
10:9) So you are the door, and according to what you added, you open it
to everyone who wants to enter.
But of what use is it to us to see an open door in heaven while we are
on earth, if we don’t have the means to ascend there? Saint Paul gives
us the answer: “He who ascended is the very one who descended.” (Eph
4:9) Who is he? Love. For, Lord, it is love that goes up to you from
our hearts, because it is love that came down from you to us. Because
you loved us, you came down to us; by loving you, we will be able to
ascend to you. You who said: “I am the door,” in your name I beg you to
open yourself before us. Then we will see more clearly to which
dwelling you are the door and when and to whom you open it.
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God has a special right over us, his children: it is the right to our
response to his love, in spite of our failings. This inescapable truth
puts us under an obligation which we cannot shirk. But it also gives us
complete confidence: we are instruments in the hands of God,
instruments that he relies on every day. That is why, every day, we
struggle to serve him.
(The Forge, no.613)
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Friday
before the Epiphany (January 6)
Today let us
think of Blessed Andre Bessett (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 John 5:5-13;
Psalm 147: 12-15,
19-20;
Mark 1:7-11 or Luke 3: 23-38.
“And a
voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the beloved; my favour rests
on you’.”
(Mark 1:7-11)
At times it has
been said that one of the more unfortunate developments in our culture
is the growing lack of reverence for people. I do not mean a complete
lack of reverence because it is characteristic of our society that we
respect certain individuals for their attainments, be they in business,
sport, academia or whatever. The adulation certain people receive bear
witness to that. No, I refer to the growing lack of respect as a normal
feature of everyday life, respect for ordinary people, respect for
one’s fellows, one’s family members or whoever. The sign of respect is
usually good manners, genuine listening, and so forth. It is perhaps a
special hazard for Australians with their ockerism and their mateship,
and this reverence and respect is perhaps something that certain ethnic
groups and new arrivals (provided they retain their respectfulness) can
inject into our culture in a new way.
Whatever about that as an observation, we certainly need to deepen the
virtue of reverence in our spiritual life. Just as we can take others
for granted and lose respect for them, so too we can fail to reverence
Our Lord himself. We can take him and the things of God for granted.
Rather, our reverence for Our Lord ought be most profound because he is
not only man (great and unique as he is in his humanity) but because he
is God. The appropriate attitude towards him is adoration, a loving
adoration.
In this respect the Church places before us the inspiring example of St
John the Baptist, who in today’s gospel preaches that he is not fit to
kneel down and undo Our Lord’s sandal straps (Mark 1:7-11). Our attitude ought be like that, and
such an attitude is sanctioned by God our Father who at Our Lord’s
baptism exalts him with the declaration that he is his beloved Son on
whom his favour rests. It is as if God the Father could not resist
intervening to hold up his Son for unique praise. Christ Our Lord is
the greatest and holiest individual of human history. Let us then
preserve in our hearts a profound and loving respect for his person,
and never take him for granted nor those sacred things that are
connected with him in one way or another.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“Son of Abraham……, son of Adam”
(Luke 3:
23-38)
Commentary by Joseph Cardinal
Ratzinger [Pope Benedict XVI] (The God of Jesus Christ)
He became a child. What does it mean to be a child? It means first of
all: to be in submission, to be dependent, to be in need, to entrust
oneself to others. As a child, Jesus does not come only from God, but
also from other human beings. He was born from the womb of a woman from
whom he received his flesh and blood, the beating of his heart, his
gestures and language. He received life from the life of another
person. Having thus drawn from other beings what is his own, is not
something purely biological. It means that Jesus also received his ways
of thinking and ideas from human beings who existed before him and
finally from his mother, and that his human soul was imbued with these.
That is to say that with what he inherited from his ancestors, he
entered upon the entire path that they had come until that time and
which with Mary goes back to Abraham and finally to Adam. He took the
weight of that history upon himself, he lived it and bore it in order
to transform all the refusals, all the detours into an utterly pure
yes: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was not alternately ‘yes’ and ‘no’;
he was never anything but ‘yes’.” (2 Cor 1:19)
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God expects his instruments to do what they can to be fit and ready:
you should strive to make sure you are always fit and ready.
(The Forge, no.614)
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Saturday
before the Epiphany
(January 7) St
Raymond of Penyafort, priest (1175-1275). Born in Barcelona,
Spain, he was the third Superior-General of the Dominican Order. He is
famous for his work in the freeing of slaves. He wrote the five books
of the Decretals which are now a valuable part of the Canon Law of the
Church. The Summa Casuum, which is about the correct and fruitful
administration of the Sacrament of Penance, is the most notable of his
works. (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 John 5:
14-21; Psalm
149: 1-5;
John 2: 1-11
“The mother of Jesus said to him,
‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said, ‘..My hour has not yet come’”
(John 2: 1-11)
Today the
Church presents us with the beautiful Gospel scene of the wedding feast
of Cana. We meditate on it in the second luminous mystery of the Rosary
on Thursdays. It is a very human scene, and doubtlessly
Our Lord and Our Lady knew one or both of the parties being married,
because they had been invited - and Our Lord’s disciples were invited
too (John 2: 1-11). As we think of them accepting the
invitation and being there in all their genial friendliness, perhaps
the first thing we could contemplate is Our Lord’s very accessibility.
He is the eternal God, and by becoming man he makes himself immediately
accessible to us his creatures. His ready participation in the wedding
feast of Cana is but an instance of this. There we have God himself,
sitting and standing among his creatures, mingling with them as if
among
equals.
But there is more. We notice how his mother, having seen that they had
run out of wine, approached her Son to inform him of the mishap. She
knew that he had embarked on his mission, though it was not yet public
and the time had not yet arrived when he intended to display his divine
power. Nevertheless she put the need before him, and expected him to
act - and forewarned the servants accordingly. Our Lord could not
refuse her and worked the miracle that showed his glory. Our Lord not
only makes himself accessible in his very presence. He also makes his
saving power accessible to us.
In the first reading of today (1 John 5: 14-21)
St John
tells us “that if we ask the Son of God for
anything and it is in accordance with his will, he will hear us; and
knowing that whatever we may ask he hears us, we know that we have
already been granted what we ask of him.” So then, whenever we are in
need let us imagine ourselves with Jesus and Mary at the wedding feast.
And indeed, revelation informs us that our whole relationship with
Jesus is that of Bride to
Bridegroom, we being the Bride. Let us then approach Jesus with
confidence
when
we are in need, and approach him in the company of Mary, his mother and
our mother, to present our petition. Let us say to him that we have run
out of wine. He will help us in the way he knows best and at the time
he knows best. Help us he will. He did not refuse his Mother. With
her, how could he refuse?
(E.J.Tyler)
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“What you have done is keep the choice
wine until now.” (John 2: 1-11)
Comment by St Ephrem
(306 – 373), Deacon and Doctor of the Church (Diatessaron XII, §§ 1-2)
In the desert, our Lord multiplied the loaves of bread, and in Cana, he
changed the water into wine. Thus, he got people used to his bread and
to his wine until the time when he gave them his body and his blood. He
let them taste a transitory bread and wine, so that the desire for his
life-giving body and blood might grow in them…… He attracted us by
means of these things that are pleasant to the palate, in order to lead
us even more to that which gives life in full to our souls. He hid
sweetness in the wine he made, so as to show his guests what
incomparable treasure is hidden in his life-giving blood.
As his first sign, he gave a wine that gave joy to the guests, so as to
show that his blood would give joy to all nations. For if wine plays a
part in all of earth’s joys, in the same way, every true deliverance is
linked to the mystery of his blood. He gave the guests at Cana
excellent wine, which transformed their mind, so as to let them know
that the teaching with which he would quench their thirst would
transform their heart.
This wine, which first of all was only water, was changed in jars, a
symbol of the first commandments, which he brought to perfection. The
transformed water is the Law brought to its fulfilment. The people who
were invited to the wedding drank what had been water, but without
tasting that water. In the same way, when we hear the former
commandments, we taste them not with their former savor, but with their
new one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have come to see that every Hail Mary, every greeting to Our Lady, is
a new beat of a heart in love.
(The Forge, no.615)
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The Epiphany of the
Lord
(January 8) Let
us also think of St Thorfinn
(Saints)
Scripture readings: Isaiah
60:1-6; Psalm 72: 1-2,
7-8, 10-13; Ephesians
3:2-3:5-6; Matthew 2:1-12
“Some wise men came to Jerusalem from
the east. ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews?’”
(Matthew 2:1 -12)
At the beginning of the new year let us set priorities and
ask ourselves what we shall do with the time God might grant us. We
have just finished the Christmas season during which we have
contemplated the gift to us of the Son of God. He has come among us in
order to be our
friend, our saviour and our treasure, and he will continue with us to
sanctify us and to make us his own. But today, the feast of the
Epiphany, we think of the pagan wise men coming to do homage to Jesus (Matthew 2:1 -12). With this image of the Magi in our
hearts we have
a further question to ask ourselves: What is my attitude to all those
beyond the parish, all those beyond the Church, all those who do not
have a living faith in Our Lord at all, to all those whom the Magi
represent and whom God our Father wishes to lead to Jesus?
Just before Our Lord ascended into heaven he gave his
disciples a final command. He said, Go and make disciples of all the
nations, and behold I am with you to the end of time. Yes, Our Lord
wants each of us to be faithful to him and to grow greatly in his
friendship. But friendship with Jesus involves taking part in his
mission of making all people his disciples. In a word, part and parcel
of the Christian life is being apostolic. Yet strangely, not many
Catholics have learnt to be apostolic in their everyday lives. They
have accepted the assumption that religion is a private matter, a
matter of mere personal fidelity, a matter to be kept to oneself. The
upshot of this assumption is that in their everyday life at home, at
work, among friends or wherever, the average church-going Catholic does
not draw those around him closer to the person of Our Lord, and even
less to where Christ in his full reality is to be found - namely, to
the Catholic Church. God’s revealed truth is not shared with those who
do not have it. That is not what Our Lord expects of us his disciples.
Inasmuch as the home of the lay member of the Church is the
world, then if the world is to be brought to Jesus it will be the daily
work of the lay person. In the lay faithful the Church brings Christ to
the world and the world to Christ. And Christ ought not be imagined as
somewhere out there for people to be directed to. No, he can be
located. He is with his body the Church for he is the Church’s head.
Typically he is found in and through the Church. So in the matter of
being apostolic in everyday life, let us ask ourselves, What have I
done for Christ? What am I doing for him? What will I do for him? The
focus of my spiritual life ought not simply be my own fidelity to my
spiritual and religious duties of Sunday Mass, regular Confession,
Daily Prayer, observing the Commandments, and so forth. Of course these
things are utterly essential, but if I want to be a true friend of Our
Lord, I must also include making his mission my own in my everyday
life. Have I yet made Christ’s mission the mission of my own life? Am I
raising my children in such a way that they will want to bring Christ
to the world around them too, or do I and do they look on this as the
work of priests only, or at most of those who have a bent for it? If
this issue leaves me cold, then how real is the person of Jesus to me
and how real to me are the things that he himself wants? He wants the
world to be brought to him.
Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. The Church
places before us for our contemplation the image of the pagan wise men
from the East following the star that led them to the Child Jesus. It
is an image that reminds us that Jesus came not only for the Jews, and
not only for us, but for the entire world. Those pagan men from the
East represent the world that does not yet know Jesus. We must be like
that star, leading others to Jesus where he is found, namely with Mary
and Joseph and the rest of the Church. The fact that the wise men from
the East did follow the star perseveringly, making their enquiries
along the way, ought give hope to every lay member of the Church who
wishes to be apostolic. There is something in the heart of man, just as
it was in the heart of those wise men, which will prompt them to follow
the star. There is within man something that prompts him to seek to be
good, and implicitly to seek God. Of course he must be faithful to that
prompting and very many are not. For our part, we are called to be like
stars lighting up the night and leading others to Christ whom they do
not yet know.
On this feast of the Epiphany let us prayerfully implant
in our hearts the Gospel scene of today and keep it warm and alive
there. That Gospel event plants an image in our hearts that reveals to
us our calling to be apostolic, and in the figure of the Magi it
reveals man's yearnings for the person of Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“They prostrated themselves and did
him homage.” (Matthew 2:1 -12)
Commentary by St John
Chrysostom (345 – 407), Bishop and Doctor of the Church
(Homilies on St. Matthew, 7-8)
Brothers, let us follow the magi, let us leave our pagan customs. Let
us depart! Let us make a long journey so as to see Christ. If the magi
had not left and gone a long way from their country, they would not
have seen Christ. Let us also leave earth’s interests. So long as they
remained in their country, the magi saw only the star; but when they
left their homeland, they saw the Sun of justice (Mal 3:20). Or rather,
let us say: if they had not generously set out on their journey, they
would not even have seen the star. Thus, let us also rise up, and even
if everyone in Jerusalem is troubled, let us run to where the Child is……
“On entering the house, they found the child with Mary his mother. They
prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their
coffers and presented him with gifts.” What motivated them to prostrate
themselves before this child? There was nothing remarkable in the
Virgin or in the house, no object that could have struck their eye and
attracted them. And yet, not content with prostrating themselves, they
opened their treasure, gifts that are not given to a human being but
only to God –– frankincense and myrrh symbolize divinity. What was
their reason for acting in this way? The same as that which made them
decide to leave their homeland, to depart on this long journey. It was
the star, that is to say, the light with which God had filled their
heart and which led them little by little to a more perfect knowledge.
If there hadn’t been that light, how could they have given such homage
when what they saw was so poor and humble? If there is not material
grandeur but only a crib, a stable, a mother who is lacking in
everything, it is so that you might see the magi’s wisdom more clearly,
so that you understand that they came not to a human being but to a
God, to their benefactor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our life - a Christian’s life - has to be as ordinary as this: trying
every day to do well those very things it is our duty to do; carrying
out our divine mission in the world by fulfilling the little duty of
each moment. Or rather, struggling to fulfil it. Sometimes we don’t
manage, and when night comes, in our examination, we’ll have to tell
Our Lord, “I am not offering you virtues; today I can only offer you
defects. But with your grace I will be able to count myself a victor.
(The Forge, no.616)
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The Baptism of the
Lord
(January 9) Let us also
think of St. Adrian of
Canterbury (Saints)
Scripture today:
Isaiah 42: 1-4,
6-7 or Isaiah 55: 1-11; Psalm 29: 1-4,
9-10;
Mark 1: 7-11
“It was at this time that Jesus came
from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised in the Jordan”
(Mark 1: 7-11)
Today we are
brought by the Church to the threshold of our Lord’s public ministry,
his baptism in the river Jordan by John (Mark 1: 7-11). He had spent thirty years in humble
obscurity at one with ordinary men and women of his own village. Their
lot had been his, showing that he shared our humanity completely. The
one exception was sin - that he did not share for he was God. Our Lord
was like unto us in everything except that, being divine, he was
utterly sinless.
Despite his sinlessness we see him stepping forward to be baptised by
John as if he were a member of sinful fallen humanity, a man conscious
of his sinfulness and desiring to repent of it. The washing of John’s
baptism signified both the desire of the penitent to be washed free of
his sins, and his trust that God in his goodness would indeed forgive
him his sins. What then did the desire of our Lord to be baptised by
John signify, for he was sinless. It surely signified that our Lord was
choosing to be at one with sinful humanity, and though sinless himself,
he was taking on himself in some redeeming sense the sins of mankind.
He himself would wash away the sin of the world by his obedient
sufferings, and the baptism he would institute for his Church would
bring this washing away of sin to each individual.
And so we are brought to contemplate the loving humility of Christ, and
in him, of God. The baptism of our Lord was a revelation of God’s
character, we might say. He is profoundly humble, being prepared
to be counted among sinners though utterly sinless. He is immensely
loving, being prepared out of love to take on the world’s sin and do
away with it by expiation. This is what God is like and because of what
Christ has done we are his children. Let us resolve to imitate him by
living lives united to Christ in his humility and loving commitment to
the salvation of men.
(E.J.Tyler)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit” (Mark 1: 7-11)
Commentary from St Maxime of
Turin (? –– 420), Bishop (Sermon
for the feast of the Epiphany)
Today, the Lord Jesus has come to be baptized. He wanted to wash his
body in the water of the Jordan. Someone might say: “Why did he who was
the Holy One want to be baptized?” So listen. Christ was baptized, not
in order to be sanctified by the water, but so that he himself would
sanctify the water and would purify the waves that he touched by his
personal action. Thus, we have to do with the consecration of the water
much more than with that of Christ. For the moment the Lord was washed,
all the waters became pure in view of our baptism. The spring was
purified so that grace might be obtained for the people who would come
afterwards. Thus Christ was the first to go to his baptism so that the
Christian people might follow him without hesitation.
And in this I perceive a mystery. Did not the column of fire go ahead
into the Red Sea in this way, so as to encourage the children of Israel
to walk behind it? It crossed the water first so as to break a path for
those who would follow. According to the testimony of the apostle Paul,
this event was a symbol of baptism (1 Cor 10:1f.). Without any doubt,
when the people were covered by the cloud and carried by the water, it
was a kind of baptism. And all that was fulfilled by the same Christ
our Lord, who in the column of his body now precedes the Christian
people to baptism, just as he preceded the children of Israel across
the sea in the column of fire. The same column, which in times past
enlightened the eyes of those who were walking, now gives light to the
hearts of the believers. Then it marked a solid path in the waves, now
in this bath it strengthens the steps of faith.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wish with all my heart that God, in
his mercy, in spite of your sins
(may you never offend Jesus again!), may make you constantly live that
blessed life which is to love his Will.
(The Forge, no.617)
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Tuesday
of the first week of Ordinary Time II
(January
10) Today
let us think of St Peter
Orsoelo (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 Samuel 1:
1-20; 1 Samuel 1:
1, 4-8;
Mark 1: 14-28
“Lord of hosts! If you will take
notice of the distress of your servant ... and give me a man-child”
(1 Samuel 1: 1-20)
At the beginning
of the Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Year the Church presents us with
the story of Samuel, a great and noble soul in the history of
salvation. He had a great mission in the history of God’s people which
was crowned by his anointing of David to be the future king who would
replace the unfaithful Saul. Now, the point to be noticed in today’s
first reading is that Samuel was the answer to heartfelt prayer.
His mother was Hannah, and “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 give me a man-child, I will give him to the Lord for the whole
of his life’.” In the words of explanation she gave to Eli, she “was
pouring out my soul before the Lord”. (1 Samuel 1: 1-20)
The Lord heard her prayer and gave her a very great son indeed. Our
mind passes over the centuries to Elizabeth the kinswoman of Mary and
Zechariah her husband. The angel Gabriel said to Zechariah that their
prayer had been heard and they would have a son. He was John the
Baptist the forerunner. In the case of each - Samuel and John the
Baptist - God had answered fervent and persistent prayer.
We can learn from this that the world depends on the humble, persistent
and fervent prayer of God’s chosen ones, and that God will be rich in
mercy in answering our prayers. The great problem is that we tend not
to believe in the power of prayer, which generally means that we tend
not to believe in God’s power, in his goodness and his love. At least
we tend to think that these attributes in God are, at most, limited,
and lurking behind this can lie the unconscious assumption that the God
of revelation does not really exist. It all means that we can, after
all and without clearly realizing it, be worshipping what is in fact a
false god. So a lot is involved in the prayer of petition. Our
salvation and the salvation of the world depends on it.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“On the Sabbath …… he taught in a
spirit of authority” (Mark 1: 14-28)
Commentary from St Ambrose (340 –– 397),
Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church
(Commentary on the Gospel according
to St. Luke, IV, 57)
The Lord began to heal on a Sabbath to show that the new creation
begins at the point at which the first one stopped, to mark from the
beginning that the Son of God is not under the Law, but superior to the
Law, that he does not destroy the Law, but that he fulfills it (Mt
5:17). The world was not created by the Law, but by the Word, as we
read: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.” (Ps 33:6) Thus,
the Law is not destroyed but fulfilled, in order to renew the fallen
human being. That is why the apostle Paul said: “Put aside your old
self…… and put on a new man who …… is formed anew in the image of his
Creator.” (Col 3:9)
It is right that he begin on the Sabbath so as to show that he is the
Creator…… who is continuing the work that he himself began in the past.
Like the worker who is setting about repairing a house, he begins, not
with the foundations, but with the roof…… He first works on the point
where he had ended previously. He begins with the least, so as to come
to what is more important. Even human beings can deliver from demons –
by the word of God, certainly – but commanding the dead to rise is in
the power of God alone.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In God’s service there are no unimportant posts: all are of great
importance. The importance of a post depends on the spiritual level
reached by the person filling it.
(The Forge, no.618)
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Wednesday
of the first week of Ordinary Time II
(January 11) Today let us think of St Benet Biscop (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 Samuel 3: 1-10,
19-20; Psalm 40: 2, 5,
7-10; Mark 1: 29-39
“‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel
answered, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening’.” (1 Samuel 3)
Yesterday we began our weekday hearing of the inspired story of the
great Samuel. He was truly great, and perhaps holier than David would
ever be, whom he anointed to be king. I say that because we do not read
of any serious sins or infidelities on Samuel’s part, whereas we do
read of them in the life of David. David was great and holy too, but
holy because he was a great penitent. So then, is there a clue to
Samuel’s moral and religious greatness? Our first reading today gives
us that clue: he never let the word of God fall to the ground.
Our passage today tells us of the memorable incident in Samuel’s
childhood when he first came to know the Lord. The Lord began to call
him, “Samuel, Samuel!” and the child Samuel answered, “Here I am.” He
did not know it was the Lord calling him, rather he thought it was Eli
and so went running to Eli to ask what he wanted (1 Samuel 3:
1-10, 19-20).
The incident shows a readiness in Samuel to serve and to obey right
from his earliest years. The natural moral disposition for a faithful
service of God in the future was present. Then under Eli’s direction he
recognised that the Lord was calling him and he responded accordingly.
He heard God’s word and obeyed it. Our text tells us that “Samuel grew
up and the Lord was with him and let no word of his fall to the
ground.” Because of this Samuel came to be accredited by the people “as
a prophet of the Lord.”
The issue is clear. We must let no word of the Lord fall to the ground.
If this has not been our story from our earliest years (as it was with
Samuel) then we must repent and set ourselves on this course. Then we
must be faithful to it, constantly repenting of infidelities. As our
Lord says, “it is not those who say to me ‘Lord, Lord’, who will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father in
heaven.” Let us take our cue from Samuel who in this was a pointer to
the One who was to come, and who, as the Letter to the Hebrews tells
us, on entering the world said, “Here I am, Lord, I come to do your
will.”
(E.J.Tyler)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aren’t you glad to have the sure confidence that God is interested in
even the tiniest details of his creatures?
(The Forge, no.619)
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Thursday
of the first week of Ordinary Time II
(January 12) Let us also think of St Kentigen, and St Marguerite Bourgeoys
(1620-1700) (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 Samuel 4;
1-11; Psalm 44: 10-11,
14-15, 24-25;
Mark 1: 40-45
“Why has the Lord allowed us to be
defeated today by the Philistines?” (1 Sam 4: 1-11)
In our passage from the first book of Samuel today we are presented
with a pressing question which bewildered the Israelites, and it is a
question which has risen in the hearts of so many believers since. It
is a variation of the problem of evil: why has God allowed this to
happen? The Israelites were conscious that their God was the true and
the supreme God, and yet when they fought against the Philistines they
were defeated decisively. The elders of Israel said, ‘Why has the Lord
allowed us to be defeated today by the Philistines?’ (1 Sam 4: 1-11) They could not understand it. So they
decided to get the Ark of God from Shiloh, the Ark which was God’s gift
and the foremost sign of the covenant established by God with his
people in which he promised to be their God if they observed his laws.
When the Ark arrived it gave them immense hope, and struck fear into
the hearts of the Philistines. And yet once again they were completely
defeated and the Ark of God was captured too.
Our text does not tell us the answer to the question why God allowed
this to happen. But we notice that the Israelites failed to consider at
least one possible answer. It seems they thought that if they simply
were to have the things of God among them (for example, the Ark) all
would be well. They did not consider whether their way of life was a
factor in God not showing his presence among them by giving them the
victory. Whether this was the answer
is another matter and we have no guarantee whatever from the text that
it is, but the events surely remind us that it is not enough - though
it is certainly necessary - to have the instruments and signs of God’s
presence among us. We must also be striving to live in a way worthy of
God’s presence, in a way pleasing to him. We are reminded of our Lord’s
answer to those who asked him about the people who had been recently
killed. He said to them, Do you suppose that they were greater sinners
than the others? No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all
perish as they did. Our passage today reminds us that we must repent,
and decide to live in a way pleasing to God and not simply be satisfied
with having the assurance of God’s presence among us.
Let us resolve to live in such a way that the thought of God’s presence
actually shapes the moral course of every detail of our lives, all our
thoughts, words and actions.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Show him again that you really want to be his. “Jesus, help me. Make me
really yours; may I burn and be consumed, by dint of little things that
no one notices.”
(The Forge, no.620)
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Friday
of the first week of Ordinary Time II
(January 13) St Hilary, Bishop
and Doctor of the Church. Born in Poitiers at the beginning of
the fourth century, Hilary was consecrated bishop of that city in the
year 350. He combatted the Arians relentlessly for which reason he was
exiled by the Emperor Constantine. For the purpose of strengthening the
Catholic Faith and interpreting sacred Scripture he published works
which are outstanding in their wisdom and learning. He died in the year
367. (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 Samuel 8: 4-7,
10-22a;
Psalm 89: 16-19;
Mark
2: 1-12.
“Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the
paralytic, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven’.” (Mark 2: 1-12)
There are many reasons why people remain in the Christian faith they
have accepted from their earliest years, and there are various reasons
why people seek to meet and know our Lord. Some reasons are worthier
than others. We remember, for instance, how King Herod heard about the
miracles of Jesus and wanted to meet and to see him. But our Lord
referred to him as a fox, and when they finally met up during our
Lord’s Passion, our Lord would not so much as speak to him. That is to
say, we ought be seeking Jesus for the right reasons and wanting from
him especially what he came to give.
In our Gospel passage today our Lord was preaching the word inside a
packed house with people spilling out at the front door. Some people
came to him bringing a paralytic carried by four men. But the crowd in
front of Jesus was so dense that the newcomers could not get in. So
they climbed the roof, made an opening and lowered the paralysed man
in front of Jesus for him to cure him. They had come to Jesus for a
laudable purpose, to obtain a physical healing. There was nothing wrong
with that, and indeed they would receive what they had come for. But
what
did our Lord do when he saw the sick person in front of him? He forgave
him his sins (Mark 2: 1-12). Perhaps he saw he was conscious of
his sinfulness. In any case, the first thing our Lord wanted to do was
to take away his sins. Only then did he heal.
Many things can draw us to Jesus and lead us to hold on to our faith in
him. Those reasons can be varied in value. But we should learn to
listen to Jesus carefully in prayer, and to the Church which represents
him and teaches in
his name, and thus learn what above all he wants to give us. Great
crowds followed our Lord, but when he explained his doctrine of the
Eucharist the majority of them left, including many of his disciples.
Our Lord wants to sanctify us and to reconcile us to God. This is above
all what we ought be seeking in our striving to be with Jesus. He
brings to us
grace and truth and life in God. Let us then keep a true focus, while
asking Jesus for all our needs and those of others. It is above all
holiness and the victory over sin that is our fundamental need - and it
is above all this which God has sent his Son to bring to us and to all
mankind.
(E.J.Tyler)
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The Holy Rosary: the joys, the sorrows and the glories of the life of
Our Lady weave a crown of praises, repeated ceaselessly by the Angels
and the Saints in Heaven - and by those who love our Mother here on
earth. Practise this holy devotion every day, and spread it.
(The Forge, no.621)
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Saturday
of the first week of Ordinary Time II
(January 14) Today
let us think of St Felix of
Nola
(Saints)
Scripture today:
1 Samuel
9:1-4.17-19.10:1; Psalm 21: 2-7;
Mark 2:13-17
“When Jesus was at dinner in his
house, a number of .. sinners were also..with Jesus”
(Mark 2:13-17)
Today in
our first reading we contemplate a figure of the Old Testament
who was marked out by God for special promise and a special work in
life. He was Saul the son of Kish, the first of the anointed kings of
Israel. We are told that “when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him,
‘That is the man of whom I told you; he shall rule my people’.” (1 Samuel
9:1-4.17-19.10:1) He had a great work in life ahead of
him, a work given to him by God himself. Undoubtedly he had the
necessary qualities, and God’s help would have accompanied him. Yet he
turned out very badly. This was due to his choosing to disobey God, and
more fundamentally because he chose not to repent from his
disobedience.
Other examples in the Scriptures of disobedience and failure to repent
could also be considered. Solomon himself ended badly, and many other
kings of Israel. We think too of Judas, especially chosen by Christ to
be one of the Twelve. Now, in our Gospel scene today (Mark 2:13-17) we see our Lord with the tax collectors
and sinners. Levi the tax collector was called by our Lord to follow
him “and he got up and followed him.” Then a number of “tax collectors
and sinners” sat at the table with Jesus and his disciples. They wanted
to be with him which shows that while Jesus hates sin he loves the
sinner, especially if the sinner wishes to repent. He told his critics
the scribes of the Pharisees that he was the doctor for the sinner, and
had come to call sinners to repentance.
Let us apply all this to ourselves. Let us think of the choice God has
made of each of us. St Paul tells us that before the world was made God
chose us, chose us in Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight.
What then, we ought ask ourselves, have I done for Christ? What am I
doing for him? What shall I do for him? I have the present moment and
some time ahead. I must then repent, begin again, and give my life over
to the work God has given me to do. I must resolve to do it well, to
avoid sin, and to serve God in everything.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“The man got up and became his
follower.” (Mark 2:13-17)
Commentary by St Augustine
(354-430), Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Confessions X, 27)
Late did I love you, o ancient and new Beauty; late did I love you. You
were within me, while I was outside of myself. I sought you outside; I
flung myself disgracefully onto the beautiful things of creation. You
were with me, and I was not with you. Those things that would not exist
if they were not in you, held me back, far away from you. You called,
and your cry forced itself upon my deafness. You shone, and your
brilliance chased away my blindness. You gave forth your perfume, I
breathed it, and behold, now I long for you. I tasted you, and I am
hungry for you, I thirst for you. You touched me, and I have burned
with desire for the peace that you give.
When I am united with you with my whole being, I shall no longer feel
pain or fatigue. My life, utterly filled with you, will then be true
life. You make lighter the person whom you fill. Now, since I am not
yet filled with you, I weigh upon myself…… Lord, have mercy on me! My
bad sorrows fight with my good joys. Will I come out of this battle
victorious? Have mercy on me, Lord! Poor being that I am! Here are my
wounds. I do not hide them from you. You are the doctor, I am ill. You
are merciful, and I am wretched.
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Baptism makes us faithful.
This is a word that was used - like the
saints - by the first followers of Jesus to refer to one
another. These words are still used today: we speak of the faithful of the Church.
(The Forge, no.622)
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The Second Sunday of
Ordinary Time B
(January 15) Today let us think of St Paul, hermit (Saints)
Scripture: 1 Samuel
3:3-10.19; Psalm 40: 2, 4,
7-10; 1
Corinthians 6:13-15.17-20; John 1:35-42
“Hearing this, the two disciples
followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What
do you want?’" (John 1:35-42)
Recently we heard on the news how hundreds of Muslims were
crushed from the surging crowds gathered in Arabia to celebrate their
religious festival and to venerate their founder, Mahomet. Vast numbers
of Muslims from all over the world are there at this moment. In various
parts of Asia there are great religious festivals too. In India, for
instance, there are occasions when great numbers of Hindus gather and
come and go on pilgrimage. What are we to make of this? One thing this
religious life shows is that characteristically man is not a secular
but rather a religious being. He tends towards God not only by calling
but by his very nature. We in our Western society and culture are
accustomed to seeing people uninterested in a religious life, but this
is an aberration in human history. The normal thing is that man desires
God and wants to worship him. The problem is that he is liable to do so
in great darkness and not in light of truth. He is apt to worship false
gods.
In our Gospel today we are placed in a very beautiful scene. The
two disciples of John the Baptist, having heard his testimony about
Jesus begin to follow him. What is at the root of their doing this? It
is that they want to know and to be with God. That is why they were
disciples of John in the first place. That is why they followed Jesus
having heard the words of John about him. They sensed that to be with
Jesus and to hear from him would be to draw close to God. And so when
our Lord turned to them and asked what they were seeking, they could
have said that they were seeking God. But rather they asked him where
he lived, implying that they knew Jesus would bring them close to God.
And so he said, come and see. And they stayed with him the rest of that
day (John 1:35-42). Think of their time with Jesus! There
we have a picture of man earnestly seeking God and God coming to meet
him in his search in order to receive him into his personal friendship.
As we think of this Gospel scene let us appreciate anew the
desire for God which has been planted in our own hearts by our Creator.
We ought ask ourselves if we are cultivating this desire and keeping it
pure and focussed on its proper object. Our own Western culture of
which the Australian culture is a part strongly tempts a person to
consider God as scarcely an objective reality. Our society thinks God
is a just personal opinion, and that it does not matter much what one’s
views on God are, nor what one’s religion is, provided one is moral.
People tend to think that when it comes to public life we should get on
without God. The result of this is that the very desire for God, so
natural and instinctive to human nature and so universal among
cultures, can diminish and be replaced with the desire for other
things. So then, we must make a point of cultivating a burning desire
for God and protecting our desire for him from all that could harm or
diminish it. We must do all we can to see this desire for God grow in
society and in all men.
There is a further point of great importance. We ought
also guard against the assumption that attaining the truth about God is
not of great importance, and thinking that any faith will do.
For, wonderful as is the very desire for God, and tragic as it is when
this desire is lost or greatly reduced, nevertheless the fact is that
error about God abounds. The objective truth about God that comes from
him is, relatively speaking, so little known. We see vast numbers of
people passionately committed to what their religion or philosophy says
about God - be it Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or whatever. Yet these
religions and philosophical views differ radically, and their claims
about God contradict one another. This contradiction among claimants
shows to any observer that many must be wrong, for statements that
contradict one
another can’t all be correct. The typical response of very many
to this religious diversity is to think that ultimate truth does not
matter and is impossible to attain truth anyway. Some views even have
it that
there is no objective truth. We must resist this resolutely. There is a
truth, and that which contradicts it is false.
We know the truth. It has been revealed by God. That truth
is Christ, his person and his teaching. It is imperative that we know
the truth, that we hold on to it, and that we bring it to others,
encouraging them to seek with determination the truth revealed by God
and adhere to it perseveringly. This means bringing them to the person
of Christ where he is to be found, in the Church his body. Let us think
of those two disciples searching for God. They were put in direct touch
with Christ by John the Baptist, and Christ took them to where he
dwelt. Where does Christ
dwell? He dwells in the Church, his Body. It is there that Christ will
be found and he, the head of the Church, is the answer to man’s quest
for God.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“We
have found the Messiah!”
(John 1:35-42)
Commentary from Basil of Seleucia (? ––
468), Bishop (Sermon in praise of St. Andrew, 4)
Taking Peter with him, Andrew led his brother according to the flesh to
the Lord, so that, like himself, he might become a disciple. That was
Andrew’s first achievement. He caused the number of disciples to grow;
he introduced Peter, in whom Christ found the head of his disciples.
That was so true that later, when Peter behaved admirably, he owed this
to what Andrew had sown. The praise given to the one is also reflected
on the other, for the goods of the one belong to the other, and the one
glories in the other’s merits.
What joy Peter obtained for all when he immediately answered the Lord’s
question, breaking the disciples’ embarrassing silence…… Peter alone
said: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” (Mt 16:16) He
spoke in the name of all; in one sentence, he proclaimed the Saviour
and his plan of salvation. How greatly does this proclamation agree
with that of Andrew! The words, which Andrew spoke to Peter when he led
him to Christ - “We have found the Messiah” – were confirmed by
the heavenly Father when he himself inspired Peter with them (Mt
16:17): “You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
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God does not let himself be outdone in generosity. Be very sure that he
grants faithfulness to those who give themselves to him.
(The Forge, no.623)
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Monday
of the second week of Ordinary Time II
(January
16) Today
let us think of St Fursey
(Saints)
Scripture today: 1 Samuel
15:16-23; Psalm 50: 8-9,
16b-17, 21 and 23;
Mark 2:18-22
“Why did you not obey the voice of the
Lord? Why did you fall on the booty...?”
(1 Samuel
15:16-23)
One of
the most insidious obstacles to growth in the Christian life is
the tendency to find excuses and reasons to commit sin. The imperious
voice of conscience is muffled by reasons chosen to justify doing what
is wrong. In our first reading today Samuel confronted Saul with his
disobedience. The Lord (Samuel says) had commanded Saul to exterminate
the Amalekites (we are not told why) and this ban included their
possessions (1 Samuel
15:16-23).
But Saul thought better of this and allowed the people to take some
booty. He replied to Samuel that he had a good reason to allow this -
it was in order to sacrifice the booty to God. But Samuel said he had
disobeyed God, and for that the kingship was to be taken away from him.
The thought of this biblical interchange ought serve to remind us that
the one thing that
ultimately matters is the will of God. Nothing ought be allowed to
replace it, least of all our own private judgment as to what would be
more fitting, more useful or more convenient. All too often in some big things and in numerous
little things we
find ourselves substituting duty for some other motive.
Especially insidious is finding excuses for deliberate venial sin.
Gradually one’s conscience is dulled and one becomes to a greater or
lesser extent morally blind, ceasing to see
anything wrong in what conscience is prohibiting. Spiritual progress is
rendered impossible because darkness envelopes one's moral and
spiritual life. As with Saul, the conscience has been ignored.
Let us then resolve to be careful to follow our conscience (enlightened
and shaped by our Catholic Faith) in the small things of everyday life
as they
present themselves. If we do not, it will catch up with us as it did
with Saul.
Sooner or later the judgment of God will come. If it comes in this life
it will be largely corrective, and will be the mercy of God forewarning
us of the judgment to come. So then, let us continuously repent,
especially of venial sin.
Now I begin!
(E.J.Tyler)
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“The Bridegroom is among them”
(Mark 2:18-22)
Commentary by Blessed Jan van Ruusbroec
(1293-1381), Canon Regular
Ornement des Noces spirituelles
[Ornament of spiritual Marriage], Prologue
“The groom is here! Come out and greet him!” (Mt 25:6) …… This groom is
Christ, and the bride is human nature created by God “in his image,
after his likeness” (Gen 1:26) and placed by God, since the beginning,
in the most worthy place, the most beautiful, the richest and most
fertile ground, which is called paradise. God submitted all creatures
to this human nature, he clothed it with grace and gave it a
commandment so that, by observing it, it might be forever assured of
stable and faithful union with its Spouse, free of all pain, of all
suffering, of every fault.
Then came the cunning one, the infernal enemy, who was filled with
jealousy of the bride and therefore took the form of a cunning serpent
and deceived the woman; together, they deceived the man, and thus the
whole of human nature. Thus, by his false advice, the enemy delighted
human nature, the bride of God, and poor and destitute, a captive and
oppressed, human nature was exiled into a foreign land……
But when God saw that the time had come, and when the suffering of his
beloved had filled him with pity, he sent his only Son to earth…… in
the womb of the Virgin Mary. There, the Son wedded his fiancée,
our nature, by uniting her to himself.
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Don’t be afraid to be demanding on yourself. Many souls do so in their
hidden inner life, so that only Jesus may shine out. I wish you and I
would react as that person did who wanted to be very close to God, on
the feast of the Holy Family. In those days it was celebrated within
the octave of the Epiphany. “I have had a number of little crosses.
There was one yesterday that hurt so much it made me weep. Today it
made me think that my Father and Lord Saint Joseph, and my Mother, Holy
Mary, won’t have left this child of theirs without its Christmas
present. The present was the light that made me see my thanklessness to
Jesus in my failing to correspond to his grace; and to see how
the most Holy Will of God, who wants me as his instrument.”
(The Forge,
no.624)
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Tuesday
of the second week of Ordinary Time II
(January 17) St
Anthony, abbot (251-356). Called the Patriarch of Monks, St
Anthony retired to the desert when he was eighteen years of age. He was
the first abbot to form a stable rule for his family of monks dedicated
to the Divine Service. He led an austere life which was always
consciously directed to the better service of God. (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 Samuel
16:1-13; Psalm 89: 20-22,
27-28;
Mark 2:23-28
“God does not see as man sees; man
looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.”
(1 Samuel 16:1-13)
Today in our first reading we have the inspired account of the
anointing of David son of Jesse to be king. Saul had disobeyed God and
in consequence had the kingship taken from him. In the choice by God of
David we see a pattern that recurs in sacred history. God often chooses
what seems weak and unpromising to the eyes of the world and which
nevertheless bears great fruit. We may ask, what is the key to this
phenomenon? It lies in what the Lord said to Samuel while he was
reviewing the sons of Jesse: “God does not see as man sees; man looks
at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:1-13) The implication of this is that David
had a heart that was given to the Lord. Once Samuel anointed him, we
are told that “the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with
him from that day on.”
Each of us has been chosen by God in Christ before the world began to
be holy and full of love in his sight. This eternal choice of us
culminated in our baptism when the Holy Spirit came upon us and has
been with us ever since. God is and will be working in our life, but
the pivotal issue will be where our own hearts lie. The heart of David
lay with the Lord, and so must our hearts too. If they are, due to God's power and grace our lives will bear the fruit God
intends for them, as was the case with David himself. Of special
importance in this is our daily work. We must commit our hearts to the
Lord in our work and in the fulfilment of our daily responsibilities.
We must aim to do our work for God, and to do it thoroughly. However
hidden and unpromising our responsibilities may appear to man who
“looks at the appearances”, “the Lord looks at the heart.” Our work
will then sanctify us, it itself will be sanctified, and through it
others will be sanctified. Thus will our lives bear fruit.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“The Sabbath was made for
man” (Mark 2:23-28)
Commentary by Joseph
Cardinal Ratzinger [Pope Benedict XVI] (Lenten Sermons 1981)
In the creation account, the Sabbath is described as the day when the
human being, in the freedom of adoration, participates in God’s
freedom, rest and peace. To celebrate the Sabbath is to celebrate the
covenant. This means that we return to our origin and discard the
blemishes that our many activities brought with them. It means setting
out towards the new world where there will no longer be slaves and
masters, but only the free children of God, towards a world in which
man, animals and the earth will take part together and fraternally in
God’s peace and in God’s freedom…
[But] the human being refused rest, the relaxation that came from God,
adoration with its peace and its freedom, and thus he ended up by
submitting to activism. He enslaved the world to its activities and
thus enslaved himself. For that reason, God had to give the human being
the Sabbath, which man did not want. By refusing the cycle of freedom
and relaxation that come from God, the human being drew away from his
condition as God’s image and thus tread the world underfoot. That is
why he had to be torn away from his enslavement to his own work. In
order to do that, God had to let him find again his authenticity, had
to free him from the domination of activism. St. Benedict wrote:
“Nothing must be preferred to the service of God” – in first place,
adoration, the freedom and the rest that comes from God. Thus, and only
thus, the human person can truly live.
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When the holy women reached the tomb they found that the stone had been
rolled aside. This is what always happens: when we make up our minds to
do what we should, the difficulties are easily overcome.
(The Forge, no.625)
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Wednesday
of the second week of Ordinary Time II
(January 18) Today
let us think of St. Priscilla (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 Samuel 17:
32-33.37.40-51; Psalm 144: 1-2,
9-10;
Mark 3: 1-6
“Grieved to find them so obstinate, he
looked angrily round at them and said to the man,..”
(Mark 3: 1-6)
At times
we hear all talk of the anger of God at sin dismissed. He is a God of
love and compassion, and therefore, we are told, to speak of God being
angry is inappropriate and demeaning to his divine nature. It is an
anthropomorphism. Well, let us consider today’s Gospel passage (Mark 3: 1-6). Our Lord was faced with the silent
hostility of the Pharisees who were watching “to see if he would cure”
on the Sabbath day. Our Lord confronted them with his question and they
refused to answer. Their sinful obstinacy was impenetrable. What was
our Lord’s response? He was angry: “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.”
His anger was an expression of his loving grief at the intractability
of sin.
Let us beware lest we too be obstinate with God, especially in
seemingly little things. This is the seriousness of deliberate venial
sin, the little sins we commit with eyes wide open and our conscience
informed. We can quietly shut out the voice of conscience and
repeatedly commit venial sins, which means we are repeatedly ignoring
the voice of the Holy Spirit. We are to that extent making ourselves
obstinate, intractable - like the Pharisees. St Paul speaks of us
making the Holy Spirit sad by our sins, and our Gospel today speaks of
the Son of God becoming angry and grieved at the sins of the Pharisees
before him. What is the answer to this? It is repentance. It is most
important that there be an ongoing pattern of repentance from venial
sin in our life. This repentance is expressed and assisted by frequent
recourse to the Sacrament of Penance. It is impossible to attain
holiness unless we become strong in the virtue of repentance,
especially repentance from venial sin.
God is love and he is holiness. Obstinate sin and the refusal to repent
will make him angry.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“When the Pharisees went outside, they
immediately began to plot with the Herodians how they might destroy
Jesus.” Comment from Meliton
of Sardes (? – 195), Bishop (Homily on Easter, 82-90)
You have not seen God; you did not recognize the Lord; you did not know
that it was he, the First-born of God, the one who was begotten before
the morning star (Ps 110:3), the one who caused light to break forth,
who caused the day to shine by separating it from the darkness, who
fixed the first limits, suspending the earth, drying up the abyss,
unfolding the firmament…, who created the angels in heaven, setting up
the thrones there, and who formed the human person on the earth. It is
he who chose Israel, who guided it from Adam to Noah, from Noah to
Abraham, from Abraham to Isaac and Jacob and to the twelve patriarchs.
It is he who led your fathers to Egypt, who protected and nourished
them there. It is he who gave them light by means of a column of fire
and who covered them with a cloud, who divided the Red Sea and made
them cross through it. It is he who gave them manna from heaven, who
gave them to drink from the rock, who gave them the Law and the
promised land, who sent them the prophets, and who raised up their
kings. It is he who came to you, caring for those who were suffering
and raising the dead… It is he whom you want to put to death, it is he
whom you will betray for money…
How much have you valued the good things that were given you? … Now
value the dried up hand that he restored to the body. Now value the
people born blind, whom he has returned to the light by a word. Now
value the dead whom he has raised from their tomb after three or four
days. The gifts he has given you are priceless. And you…, you have
given him what is bad in return for the good, and suffering in return
for joy, and death in return for life.
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Be convinced that if you do not learn to obey you will never be
effective.
(The
Forge, no.626)
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Thursday
of the second week of Ordinary Time II
(January 19) Today let us think of St Wulfstan (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 Samuel
18:6-9. 19:1-7; Psalm 56: 2-3,
9-13;
Mark 3:7-12
“Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, held David
in great affection” (1 Samuel
18:6-9.19:1-7)
One of the beautiful figures of the Old Testament is that of Jonathan
the son of Saul and the beloved friend of David. He was noble in his
character, he respected his father and was unswervingly loyal in his
friendship with David. Especially impressive is his filial respect for
his wayward father and his upright friendship with David, and in our
first reading today we see an instance of this (1 Samuel
18:6-9.19:1-7). His friendship with David leads him
to warn David of the harm to him that his father was contemplating, and
his loving respect for his father Saul leads him to convince his father
not to commit the sin of attempting to murder David.
Jonathan is surely an inspiring figure that teaches us the beauty, the
value, and the nature of true friendship. As his example indicates,
friendship is a great good in life and it is a gift from God. But is
ought be shaped by the will of God and his laws, and all that is done
in the name of friendship or to increase it should be such as to please
God and not to offend him. It is obvious that a friendship can lead a
person away from the obedience due to God (and we merely have to think
of how Eve tempted Adam to sin) but Jonathan shows how a friendship can
lead to a good and higher path. All this is to say that friendship
ought be a holy friendship rather than a sinful one.
An immense amount of good can be done
precisely through the cultivation of good and holy friendships.
Consider how Jonathan warns David of danger. Through our friendships we
can warn others of dangers we see are ahead of them. Consider how
Jonathan reasoned with his father and convinced him not to sin. We an
do this with our relatives friends, and often it will be only through a
respectful friendship with them that this can be done at all. In turn
we can be warned and wholesomely corrected to better ways by our
friends. Furthermore, our friendship with others can prompt us to
intercede for them in our prayers to God and to have masses said for
them, be they living or dead. The spread and cultivation of good and
holy friendships is itself a most important apostolate in life.
Let us commit ourselves to the work of cultivating such friendships as
are pleasing to God.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“A great multitude came to him ……
because they had heard what he had done”
Comment by St Ephrem
(306 –– 373), Deacon and Doctor of the Church (Diatesseron, Final Prayer)
O mercy, sent and poured out over all human beings! In you, Lord, this
mercy dwells, you who in your compassion for all human beings, went out
to meet them. By your death you opened for them the treasures of your
mercy…… For your profound being is hidden from the sight of man, but it
is sketched in his least movements. Your work gives us an outline of
their Author, and the creatures point out to us their Creator (Wis
13:1; Rom 1:20), so that we might touch him who shies away from
intellectual seeking, but who shows himself in his gifts. It is
difficult to succeed in being present to him face to face, but it is
easy to draw near to him.
Our thanksgiving is insufficient, but we adore you in all things for
your love of all human beings. You distinguish each one of us by the
deepest of our invisible being, we who are all basically connected by
Adam’’s one nature…… We adore you, you who placed each one of us into
this world, who entrusted to us everything that is here, and who will
take us out of this world at an hour that we do not know. We adore you,
you who placed speech into our mouths so that we might tell you our
requests. Adam acclaims you, he who rests in peace, and we, his
posterity, with him, for we all benefit from your grace. The winds
praise you……, the earth praises you……, the seas praise you……, the trees
praise you……, the plants and the flowers also bless you…… May all
things come together and unite their voice in praising you, competing
with one another in thanksgiving for all your kindnesses, and united in
peace to bless you. May all things join together in raising up a work
of praise for you.
It is up to us to stretch out towards you with all our will, and it is
up to you to pour out on us a little of your fullness, so that your
truth might convert us and that thus our weakness might disappear, in
which without your grace, we cannot reach you, the Master of gifts.
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When you are told what to do, let no one show more alacrity than you in
obeying; whether it is hot or cold, whether you feel keen or are tired,
whether you are young or less so, it makes no odds. Someone who “does
not know how to obey” will never learn to command.
(The Forge,
no.627)
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Friday
of the second week of Ordinary Time II
(January 20) St
Fabian, pope and martyr (died 240). St Fabian was Pope frm 236
to 250 AD. He promoted the consolidation and development 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 ire of the Emperor Decius. (Saints)
St. Sebastian
He suffered martyrdom in Rome at the beginning of the persecution
of Diocletian. His tomb in the place named Ad Catacumbas on the Via
Appia has been venerated by the faithful from earliest times. (Saints)
Scripture today:
1 Samuel 24:
3-21; Psalm 57: 2-4, 6
and 11;
Mark 3: 13-19
“Afterwards David reproached himself
for having cut off the border of Saul’s cloak.”
(1 Samuel 24:
3-21)
At the end of December 2005 Sydney witnessed the so-called race riots,
beginning at Cronulla. Many were wondering how, in Sydney of all
places, this ever came to pass. News of it went all over the world. One
person who was interviewed said that the gradual loss of respect in
Australian society was a factor. Whatever about that, a comment such as
that can prompt us to reflect on the importance of mutual reverence and
respect for others in social life, for it is clear that some people are
habitually
respectful and others habitually lack respect. Most, I suppose, lie
somewhere in between. It is obvious that the virtue of respect is
pivotal in social life, a respect showing itself in good manners,
justice, and many other virtues.
In our first reading today from the first book of Samuel (1 Samuel 24:
3-21) Saul is pursuing David but unknowingly
falls into his power. David could have easily killed him, but refused
to harm him. He cut off the border of Saul’s cloak and even
reproached himself for doing that. Later from a distance he revealed
himself to Saul and showed him that he could have harmed him but
refrained from doing so. All of this he did with reverence and respect
for the person of Saul. David reverenced Saul’s person as the anointed
king of Israel, even though the king was wrongly seeking to harm him.
In this David is an example to us.
We have so many reasons to manifest and to grow in the virtue of
reverence and respect for others. Each person we deal with is a
creature of God, God’s handiwork made in his image. God constantly
holds each person in being. We are all in this sense God’s children and
he is our common Father. This gives to each human being an immense
dignity worthy of reverence. Our Lord has told us that at our judgment
whatever we have done to the least he will count as having been done to
him. Over and above this, each baptised person in the state of grace is
a temple of God, in which the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
constantly dwell. Due to baptism each member of the Church is an
adopted child of God, sharing in the sonship of the Son not by nature
of course but by grace.
We have so many reasons to show constant reverence towards others. And
consider what respect God showed towards us in sending his Son to
become one of us, and then laying down his life for each of us!
(E.J.Tyler)
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"That he might send them forth to
preach” (Mark 3: 13-19)
Commentary from The Letter of Diognetes
XI (around 200)
I am not saying anything strange, I am not seeking what is paradoxical.
Rather, docile to the teaching of the apostles, I in turn want to teach
the nations. I want to pass on the tradition exactly to those who also
want to become disciples of the Truth. Who…… would not hasten to learn
entirely all that the Word of God clearly taught his disciples? For in
manifesting itself, that Word, which was not understood by those who
did not believe in him, showed the truth to his disciples; speaking
openly, he told his disciples everything. He recognized them to be his
faithful ones, and they received from him knowledge of the mysteries of
the Father.
That is why the Word was sent into the world. And so that he might be
shown to the whole world, …… he was proclaimed by the apostles, so that
the nations might believe in him. He who was from the beginning (1 Jn
1:1), manifested himself in newness, and his disciples recognized in
him what was old. In the heart of his saints, he is always born anew
young …… Through him, the Church is filled with richness. Grace opens
up, is multiplied in the saints. It gives the understanding of faith,
uncovers the mysteries of the Father; it gives understanding of the
times…… It is offered to those who seek it and who respect the rule of
faith and faithfully keep the tradition of the Fathers.
Here the fear of the Law is sung; here the grace of the prophets is
acknowledged, the faith of the Gospels is strengthened, the tradition
of the apostles is kept; the grace of the Church leaps for joy. Do not
sadden this grace. Then you will know the secrets, which the Word of
God reveals through whom he wishes, when it pleases him. Draw near,
listen, and you will know all that God entrusts to those who truly love
him.
(E.J.Tyler)
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It’s remarkably stupid for a Director to be content with a soul
rendering four when it could be rendering twelve.
(The Forge, no.628)
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Saturday
of the second week of Ordinary Time II
(January 21) St
Agnes, virgin and martyr (died 304) St Agnes came from a noble
Roman family. She was about thirteen years old when she suffered
martyrdom. She was tortured and beheaded. Her name is included in the
Roman Canon. Pope Damasus wrote a celebrated epitaph about her. (Saints)
Scripture today:
2 Samuel
1:1-4.11-12.19.23-27; Psalm
79; Mark 3:20-21
“Jesus went home, and such a crowd
collected that they could not even have a meal.” (Mk 3:20)
Our Gospel scene today is brief but very revealing in what it presents
about Jesus. Our Lord and his disciples are besieged by the crowds
pressing around him and making their demands on him. They could not
even have a meal, we are told (Mark 3:20-21). There we have a picture of our Lord
giving himself over to the service of others without respite and
drawing his disciples into that constant and overflowing zeal. We may
ask ourselves, what would our Lord be doing were he to be physically
and visibly in our midst now? He would be given over to his mission of
service and drawing his disciples - depending on their vocation - into
this work too. Our Lord was a man of work. On one occasion our Lord was
attacked for healing on the Sabbath. He said: my Father is working, so
I work too. We then who are made in God’s image are made to work, which
is to serve by means of work. Our vocation is to serve, to serve God
and others and we do this in our work, by working for them. Even our
life of prayer can be understood as part of our work for God. We are
here on earth to serve and not to be served, just as, our Lord tells
us, the Son of man came not to be serve but to serve and to give his
life as a ransom for the many.
There is a second detail in our Gospel passage today. Our Lord’s
relatives, seeing how utterly given over to his mission he was, thought
he was out of his mind and set out "to take charge of him." This
implies that during those years at Nazareth he fitted in completely. He
was a true and unobtrusive member of his family making himself subject
to the limitations of the Incarnation. St Luke specifically mentions
how after being found in the Temple as a child he returned to Nazareth
with his parents and was subject to them. Our Gospel passage today
implies that he made himself subject to his family and the local
situation humbly and fully. The Incarnation was very real. That itself
is a further sign of how fully the Son of God came to serve and not to
be served, and to give his life as a ransom for the many. Let us
resolve to follow the example of our Lord and to fill up our life with
the work of service, service of God and of our fellow man.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Jesus: a man eaten, a gift of
God (On the Eucharist)
Comment by Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle (1575 ––
1629), Theologian, Founder of the Oratory
Jesus Christ is God’s gift to humankind and humankind’s gift to God. He
is God’s gift to humankind; he puts himself into the hands of human
beings through the effectiveness of his word, and he must be received
as such by human beings. In the Eucharist, he is given to human beings,
and given in the fullness of all his reality and all his mysteries, and
he is given as life and food for eternal life.
Jesus Christ is humankind’s gift to God, as he is God’s gift to
humankind. He is the one as sacrament; he is the other as sacrifice. In
times past, people offered the fruit of the earth that was given us to
God; and now we offer a fruit from God himself to God, a fruit [that
grew] in her own womb, a fruit that the virginal ground of Mary,
clothed with the power of the Most High, produced and that for this
reason the prophet Isaiah called both “the fruit of the earth” and
“God’s seed” (4:2).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You have to obey - and you have to command - always with great love.
(The
Forge, no.629)
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Third
Sunday of Ordinary Time B
(January 22) St
Vincent, deacon and martyr (died 304). St Vincent of Saragossa,
Spain, one of the greatest deacons of the Church, suffered martyrdom in
Valencia in the persecution under Diocletian. He was born in Huesca,
Spain. (Saints)
Scripture today: Jonah
3:1-5.10; Psalm 25: 4-9;
1 Corinthians
7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
“‘The time has come’, he said ‘and the
kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.’”
(Mark
1:14-20)
It is a very good idea to reflect frequently on what thoughts,
what beliefs and what goals drive us in our daily life. What is it that
will make life worthwhile to us? I was speaking recently to a young
university graduate, and asked her what work she wanted to do in life.
She said she wasn’t interested in work as such - she looked on her work
as simply something she had to do. I had the impression that she had
not worked out what she really believed to be important. In our
Gospel passage today our Lord presents us in simple terms with what we
ought believe in: “The time has come and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe the Good News.” We have it there in a nutshell: the
Gospel in its totality ought have our full assent. The Good News is
Jesus and his
teaching and grace, and as God made man he moves among
us addressing us as friends and inviting us to live in his friendship.
Our response has to be one of faith in his person and in his teaching,
a full assent coming from our whole being.
This introduces us to the question of what it is to
believe, what it is to have faith. Our Lord in the Gospel invites his
hearers to
believe: repent and believe, he says. By faith a man with his whole
being assents to God and to what he reveals. Scripture calls this the
obedience of faith. Years ago I remember being in a religious
discussion group made up of about five doctors. I was surprised at how
poor an understanding they had of their Catholic Faith. But even worse,
I noticed how some of them seemed to think that in all matters of
religion one basically makes up one’s own mind as to what to believe,
instead of relying on a higher authority. Of course, in higher studies
a person is encouraged to decide for himself, and not to go on
authority. But in respect to our Christian belief, once the Christian
accepts that Christ is God and our redeemer, he then accepts whatever
Christ has revealed. He bases himself on Christ’s authority. He does so
not because he happens to agree with it, but because it is Christ who
has revealed it. And so when our Lord in today’s Gospel invites us to
believe in the Good News he is inviting us to submit our intellect and
will to him with our whole being. Faith is obedience to God. We believe
on God’s authority.
There is a further step in all this. The Catholic grasps
that Christ dwells in his body the Church as her Head and through the
power and action of the Holy Spirit guides the Church to teach in his
name. Therefore the Church’s teaching is the teaching of Christ. This
is one thing a young person must learn when it comes to religion,
because many adults have never learnt it and it is possible to go right
through life without appreciating it. Many adults go through life
thinking that in matters of religious belief ultimately it is right and
proper to be making up one’s
own mind, that is to say without recourse to and dependence on a
higher authority. The result is that one’s religion is a religion based
simply on one’s private judgment rather than on the divine authority of
God revealing. Christ, dwelling in his Church, makes the Church his
living oracle. The Church is the Oracle of God. If what one believes is
simply what one works out for oneself, then one’s religion is a
religion of man and not the religion revealed by God by which he
means to redeem and sanctify us.
There is a further point which our Lord makes clear in the
Gospel today. Before we can hope to give to Christ and his Church the
assent of mind and heart which we call faith, we must repent. Our Lord
tells us to repent and believe the Gospel. That is to say, in order to
embrace fully and with our whole being the person and divine teaching
of
Christ, we must submit to him. We must submit our mind and our will to
him. To submit to our Lord and to his teaching as it comes to us in the
teaching of the Church requires that we be prepared to put aside our
own will and preferences. It requires submission and obedience, which
goes against our pride and inclinations. Cardinal Newman once said that
the essence of religion is authority and obedience. He was referring to
the authority of God and the obedience of faith. To give this obedience
of faith we have to repent of pride and independence of mind. On the
basis of this repentance we can enter into an authentically religious
relationship with Christ and his teaching Church.
Let us then resolve to renounce anything within us that might
lead to resist accepting and living our Catholic Faith. That is
to say, let us resolve to do what our Lord says: repent and believe the
Good News.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further Reading:
The Catechism of
the Catholic Church No. 144-165
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“They left and became his
followers” (Mark
1:14-20)
Commentary by St Jerome (347––420),
Priest, Translator of the Bible, Doctor of the Church
(Homilies on the Gospel of Mark)
“Jesus said to them, ‘Come after me; I will make you fishers of men.’”
Happy transformation of fishing! Simon and Andrew are what Jesus caught
fishing…… These men are made similar to fish, caught by Christ, before
going themselves to catch other people. “They immediately abandoned
their nets and became his followers.” True faith knows no delay. As
soon as they heard him, they believed, they followed him, and they
became fishers. “They immediately abandoned their nets.” I think that
with those nets, they abandoned all the vices of the life of this
world……
“Proceeding a little farther along, he caught sight of James, Zebedee’s
son, and his brother John…… He summoned them on the spot. They
abandoned their father Zebedee, who was in the boat with the hired men,
and went off in his company.” You will tell me: faith is daring. What
indication did they have, what sublime characteristic had they noted
that made them follow him as soon as he called them? We realize that
evidently something divine came forth from Jesus’ gaze, from the
expression on his face, which incited those who looked at Jesus to turn
towards him…… Why am I saying all this? It is to show you that the
Lord’s word was active, and that through the least of his words, he was
working on his task: “He commanded and they were made.” (Ps 148:5) With
the same simplicity, he called and they followed……: “Hear, O daughter,
and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’’s house. So
shall the king desire your beauty.” (Ps 45:11-12)
Listen well, brother, and follow the path of the apostles; listen to
the Saviour’s voice, ignore your father according to the flesh and see
the true Father of your soul and your mind…… The apostles left their
father, left their boat, left all their riches of that time; they
abandoned the world and its countless riches; they renounced all that
they owned. However, God does not consider the mass of riches, but
rather the soul of the person who renounces them. Those people who left
only a few things would also have renounced a large fortune if the need
had arisen.
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Help me with your prayer. I want all of us within Holy Church to feel
that we are members of the same body, as the Apostle asks of us. I want
us to be vividly and profoundly aware, without any lack of interest, of
the joys, the troubles, the progress of our Mother who is one, holy,
catholic, apostolic, Roman. I want us to live as one, each of us
identified with the cares of the others, and all identified with Christ.
(The Forge, no.630)
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Monday
of the third week of Ordinary Time II
(January 23)
St Timothy
(died 97) 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
evangelization 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. (Saints)
St Titus
was also a friend and disciple of St Paul who ordained him Bishop of
Crete. (Saints)
St Paul wrote to these two disciples
three pastoral letters, which spoke of the structure of the Church.
Today let us
also think of St John the
Almsgiver (Saints)
Scripture today:
2 Samuel 5: 1-7,
10; Psalm 89: 20-22,
25-26; Mark 3: 22-30
“The scribes who had come down from
Jerusalem were saying, ‘Beelzebul is in him’" (Mk 3:22)
In our Gospel passage today we are confronted with a strange
phenomenon. There in the midst of the people and the scribes from
Jerusalem was the all-holy Christ, God himself, in whom there was, of
course, not a trace of sin. Moreover he was casting out demons. But
what do we see some of the observers do? They accuse him not merely of
sin, but of being in active league with Satan! (Mark 3: 22-30) How could such a thing come to pass? It
was because of sin, the sin that in this case reigned in the minds of
Christ’s accusers. It shows not only the real presence of sin, but its
great
power.
We not only see sin at work in Christ’s accusers. Our passage also
presents us
with Christ's words about Satan, in whom sin and pride and hatred of
God
reigns without any possibility of diminution or repentance.
It is as well to wonder at the terrible phenomenon of Satan and his
angelic minions. Our Lord refers to them in this passage as a kingdom
and a household. Words such as these imply that Satan and his fellow
demons are organized in their hostile campaign against the kingdom and
the household of God. To think that God’s creatures could thus rebel
against him!
But of course we should recognise that every time we deliberately sin
we are taking some part with the scribes of this passage on the one
hand and with Satan on the other. That is to say, we must resolutely
renounce sin and intrepidly renew that renunciation daily and regularly
in Confession. Sin is what Christ came to overcome. He has overcome it
and broken its power. By prayer and the grace of the Holy Spirit we
must make the results of Christ’s work our own. Let us then commit
ourselves to taking part with Christ and having nothing to do with
Satan and with sin.
This is the will of God, St Paul writes, your
sanctification. So then, now I begin!
(E.J.Tyler)
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His kingdom is indivisible and eternal
(Treatise on the
Gospel of Luke, 7, 91-92)
Commentary from St Ambrose (340-397),
Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church
“If a kingdom is torn by civil strife, that kingdom cannot last.” Since
people said that he was expelling the demons with the help of
Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he wanted to show by this word that
his kingdom is indivisible and eternal. It was with good reason that he
also answered Pilate: “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” (Jn
18:36) Thus Jesus says of those who do not put their hope in Christ but
who think that the demons are expelled by the prince of demons, that
theirs is not an eternal kingdom… When faith is torn, how can the
divided kingdom survive? … If the kingdom of the Church must survive
eternally, it is because its faith is undivided, because it is one
body: “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of
all, who is over all, and works through all, and is in all.” (Eph 4:5-6)
What a crazy sacrilege! Whereas the Son of God became flesh in order to
crush the impure spirits and to tear his booty away from the prince of
the world, and whereas, by sharing his spoils – which is the mark of
the conqueror – he also gave to human beings the power to destroy the
spirit of evil, some call the power of the devil to their aid. And yet
[as Luke says], it is “the finger of God” (Lk 11:20) or, as Matthew
says, “the Spirit of God” who expels the demons. By this, we understand
that the Kingdom of God is indivisible, just as a body is indivisible,
since Christ is the right hand of God and the Spirit seems to be
comparable to God’s finger.
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Convince yourself, my child, that lack of unity within the Church is
death.
(The Forge, no.631)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday
of the third 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
Fremyot de Chantal, he formed the Order of the Visitation. He wrote the
Introduction to the Devout Life,
a classic of spiritual direction, together with other works such as On the Love of God. He died in
Lyons and was canonized in 1655. In 1877 Pius IX proclaimed him Doctor
of the Church. Pius XI declared him to be Patron Saint of Journalists
and Other Writers. (Saints)
Scripture today:
2 Samuel
6:12-15.17-19; Psalm 23;
Mark 3:31-35
“Anyone who does the will of God, that
person is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mk 3:35)
As we think of the great passage of human history, we think also of the
ongoing passage of human thought as expressed especially in literature,
philosophy and religion. Great efforts have been made into
understanding life and its meaning. Many of these efforts have had a
greater or lesser success, some have been a dismal failure. Ultimately,
though, we notice in human thought profound differences of opinion in the fundamental issues. The history of philosophy is a case
in point. Consider, for instance, the difference between the philosophy
of Aristotle and that of Nietsche. Again, consider the differences in
religion, such as that between Islam and Buddhism. What does all this
profound diversity and disagreement point to? It surely points to man’s
need of a divine Revelation, man's need for light from God. This light
has come and
is present in the person and teaching of Christ who is the light of the
world.
Now the surprising thing is that while great mysteries are included in
this Revelation (as is to be expected, since it is divine),
astonishingly simple teaching is also included. Consider today’s Gospel
reading in which our Lord receives a message to the effect that his
mother and his relatives were outside asking for him. He looked around
at those sitting before him and 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) We have in those simple words coming
from the Son of God himself the key to ultimate success in life. If
only we do the will of God we will be close to God and God will look
upon us as his own.
Let us then everyday make that the one thing necessary. In the company
of Jesus and, as it were, part of his circle gathered around him, let
us endeavour to do the will of God in the ordinary things of daily life no matter what might be the cost.
(E.J.Tyler)
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His mother’s faith, his brothers’
faith: learning
from Mary, the “eucharistic” woman
Comment by Pope John Paul II (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, VI, 55)
In a certain sense Mary lived her Eucharistic faith even before the
institution of the Eucharist, by the very fact that she offered her
virginal womb for the Incarnation of God's Word. The Eucharist, while
commemorating the passion and resurrection, is also in continuity with
the incarnation. At the Annunciation Mary conceived the Son of God in
the physical reality of his body and blood, thus anticipating within
herself what to some degree happens sacramentally in every believer who
receives, under the signs of bread and wine, the Lord's body and blood.
As a result, there is a profound analogy between the Fiat which Mary
said in reply to the angel, and the Amen which every believer says when
receiving the body of the Lord. Mary was asked to believe that the One
whom she conceived “through the Holy Spirit” was “the Son of God” (Lk
1:30-35). In continuity with the Virgin's faith, in the Eucharistic
mystery we are asked to believe that the same Jesus Christ, Son of God
and Son of Mary, becomes present in his full humanity and divinity
under the signs of bread and wine. “Blessed is she who believed” (Lk
1:45).
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Pray to God that in the Holy Church, our Mother, the hearts of all may
be one heart, as they were in the earliest times of Christianity; so
that the words of Scripture may be truly fulfilled until the end of the
ages: the company of the faithful were all of one heart and one soul. I
am saying this to you in all seriousness: may this holy unity not come
to any harm through you. Take it to your prayer.
(The Forge, no.632)
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(January 25) The Conversion of St Paul, Apostle.
The conversion of Saul of
Tarsus, while he was on his way to Damascus, is one of the most
touching miracles in the history of the early Church. It shows us how
faith comes from grace and from man’s free cooperation. The doctrine of
the Mystical Body of Christ receives proof and a clear illustration
when Christ says, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” We should
realize that the best way to hasten the unity of all Christians is to
foster our own daily personal conversion. (Saints)
Scripture today:
Acts
22:3-16 or Acts
9:1-22; Psalm 117: 1bc,
2; Mark 16: 15-18.
“Who are you Lord? And he said to me, I am
Jesus the Nazarene, and you are persecuting me.”
(Acts
22:3-16 or Acts
9:1-22)
Conversion is
often considered simply as a turning away from sin. It is this, of
course, but the sense of conversion as a turning away from falsehood to
the truth is often completely forgotten. When we speak of the
conversion of St Paul (Acts
22:3-16 or Acts
9:1-22) we do
not think primarily of his turning away from the darkness of sin as
from the darkness of error. He regarded Jesus as an imposter and
rejected the claim that he was the Messiah, let alone the Lord (God).
Accordingly he fought the Church and its claims about Jesus. His
conversion was a triumph of the truth due to the power of grace, and it
shows the priority of the truth in God’s action and in human endeavour.
It also shows what havoc error brings because it was due to his errors
that St Paul was doing such damage to the Church. We ought pray not
only that we will constantly turn away from sin but also that we will
know how constantly to shun doctrinal error.
The conversion of St Paul also bears witness to a very specific truth
to which St Paul was converted. For many years now we have heard in one
form or another the cry: Christ yes, the Church no! That is to say,
many are quite prepared to accept Christ but wish to reject the Church.
In the conversion of St Paul Christ identifies himself with the Church
and asks Saul why he is persecuting him. “I am Jesus of Nazareth, and
you are persecuting me.” Saul’s rejection of and attack on the Church
are actions directed against the person of Jesus. The truth is that the
Church has a mysterious identification with the divine person of Jesus
while remaining a very human community. The Church is the spouse of
Christ, and is one Body with him. The Church is his creation.
Furthermore, if the Church is rejected then its teaching about Christ
is rejected to a greater or lesser extent. All too often the result of
the cry: the Church, no! is that the truth of Christ is in effect
rejected, abandoned, lost. If we wish to give our yes to Christ, we
must give it to the Church, for the revealed truth about Christ comes
from what is uttered and taught by the Church.
Let us use the conversion of St Paul as an opportunity to give truth
the priority in our life.
(E.J.Tyler)
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“Isn’t this the man who was
persecuting us?” (Acts
9:1-22)
Commentary from St Cyril of
Jerusalem (313-350), Bishop of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church
(Baptismal Catechesis 10)
“It is not ourselves we preach but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves
as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor 4:5) So who is this witness
who is preaching Christ? The one who previously was persecuting him.
How marvellous! The former persecutor is now here preaching Christ.
Why? Was he bought? But there is nobody who could have persuaded him in
this way. Did the sight of Christ on this earth blind him? Jesus had
already been raised up to heaven. Saul had gone out from Jerusalem to
persecute the Church of Christ, and three days later, in Damascus, the
persecutor had been transformed into a preacher. What had influenced
him? Other people quote members of their party as witnesses for their
friends. But I, on the contrary, have brought you a former enemy as a
witness.
Do you still doubt? The testimony of Peter and of John is great, but ……
they were people from the house. When the witness is a former enemy, a
man who later will die for Christ’s sake, who could still doubt the
value of his testimony? I admire the Holy Spirit’s plan……: he lets
Paul, the former persecutor, write his fourteen letters…… Since his
teaching could not be contested, the Holy Spirit had him who was
previously the enemy and the persecutor write more than Peter and John.
That is how our faith can be strengthened for all of us. For concerning
Paul, everyone was stupefied: “Isn’t this the man we was persecuting
us? Did he not come here purposely to apprehend us?” (cf. Acts 9:21)
Don’t be stupefied, Paul says. I know very well for myself that “it is
hard to kick against the goad.” (Acts 26:14) “Because I persecuted the
church of God, I do not deserve the name apostle.” (1 Cor 15:9)
“Because I did not know what I was doing in my unbelief, I have been
treated mercifully, and the grace of our Lord has been granted me in
overflowing measure.” (1 Tim 1:13-14)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faithfulness to the Pope includes a clear and definite duty: that of
knowing his thoughts, which he tells us in Encyclicals or other
documents. We have to do our part to help all Catholics pay attention
to the teaching of the Holy Father and bring their everyday behaviour
into line with it.
(The Forge, no.633)
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Thursday
of the third week of Ordinary Time II
(August 26) Australia Day
Thursday of the third week:
2 Samuel
7:18-19.24-29; ;
Mark
4:21-25
“Who am I, Lord, and what is my House,
that you have led me as far as this?”
(2 Samuel
7:18-19.24-29)
In the
first reading for Thursday of the third week (2 Samuel
7:18-19.24-29) David responds in praise and
thanksgiving to the
astounding revelation of God’s promise to him and to his House. God had
promised him that his throne and his House would last forever. It was a
prospect far beyond David’s wildest dreams, and all he can do in our
passage is humbly ask that God will keep to his promise. Little did David know the true extent
and greatness of what God intended for his throne and his House. From
him and from his House would come the Saviour of the world, the
Incarnate God. But let us learn from David’s words and sentiments. Just
as David marvelled at what God planned to do for him, we ought learn to
appreciate what God has done for us. Just as David did, let us ask for
the grace to submit to God’s plan and let us pray that it be fulfilled
in us.
To begin with, in Christ God has taken us out of the realm of darkness
and placed us in his kingdom of light. Our Lord said of John the
Baptist that no one born of woman was greater than he, but the least in
the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he - Our Lord is making the point
about the greatness of the Kingdom, and we are privileged to be
children of this Kingdom. We each of us who are baptized and are
members of the Catholic Church which Christ founded could easily have
passed our entire lives not sharing in this inestimable blessing. So
many millions have not this blessing, do not, and will not have it. The
blessing is to be in Christ and to have Christ in us, our hope of
glory. We share in the life of grace, which is the life of God here on
earth, preparing us to be engulfed in it for eternity.
Let us then fill our minds with all that God has done for us, just as
David did. He did not receive in his lifetime what we have received. As
our Lord told his disciples, many kings and prophets longed to see what
you see and never saw it! However, let us learn from his sentiments as
expressed in our passage today. Let us also resolve to live up to our
high vocation of being in Christ. Our calling is to be another Christ.
As St Paul writes, It is not I who live but Christ who lives in me.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Being a lamp on the lamp
stand (Mark
4:21-25)
Commentary from Paul VI,
Pope 1963 –– 1978 (Evangelii Nuntiandi,
70)
Lay people, whose particular vocation places them in the midst of the
world and in charge of the most varied temporal tasks, must for this
very reason exercise a very special form of evangelization.
Their primary and immediate task is not to establish and develop the
ecclesial community — this is the specific role of the pastors — but to
put to use every Christian and evangelical possibility latent but
already present and active in the affairs of the world. Their own field
of evangelizing activity is the vast and complicated world of politics,
society and economics, but also the world of culture, of the sciences
and the arts, of international life, of the mass media. It also
includes other realities which are open to evangelization, such as
human love, the family, the education of children and adolescents,
professional work, suffering. The more Gospel-inspired lay people there
are engaged in these realities, clearly involved in them, competent to
promote them and conscious that they must exercise to the full their
Christian powers which are often buried and suffocated, the more these
realities will be at the service of the kingdom of God and therefore of
salvation in Jesus Christ, without in any way losing or sacrificing
their human content but rather pointing to a transcendent dimension
which is often disregarded.
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I pray every day with all my heart that God may give us the gift of
tongues. Such a gift of tongues does not mean knowing a number of
languages, but knowing how to adapt oneself to the capacities of one’s
hearers. It’s not a question of “simplifying the message to get through
to the masses”, but of speaking words of wisdom in clear Christian
speech that all can understand. This is the gift of tongues that I ask
of Our Lord and of his Holy Mother for all their children.
(The Forge, no.634)
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Friday
of the third week of Ordinary Time II
(January 27) St
Angela Merici, virgin (1470-1540). St Angela was born in
northern Italy. In 1516, she founded the Order of the Ursulines, the
first teaching order for women approved by the Church. Italy then was
rife with violence and open immorality. St Angela believed that the
formation of Christian women is society’s greatest need. (Saints)
Scripture today:
2 Samuel
11:1-4.5-10.13-17; Psalm 51: 3-7,
10-11;
Mark 4:26-30.
“Of its own accord the land produces
first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”
(Mark 4:26-30)
Our Lord
constantly stressed faith and looked for it. Now, there are various
appearances that can tempt one to abandon one’s faith. One type of
temptation is the appearance of divine inactivity. One hopes in God and
hopes that he will act, and yet all the while God can appear to be
silent and doing nothing about the problem or the evil one is enduring.
St John the Baptist pointed Our Lord out to his disciples as the Lamb
of God who would take away the sin of the world. Yet we read in the
Gospel how some little while after our Lord began his public ministry
John sent his disciples to ask him if he really was the One who was to
come. Clearly, John saw nothing that pointed to this. There was not the
divine activity that he expected. Our Lord in reply pointed to what he
was doing, and sent the message that the one who did not stumble at
what they saw in him would be blessed.
Our Lord in our Gospel passage today (Mark 4:26-30) uses parables to show that just as in
nature growth is real, constant, and yet imperceptible, so too the same
pattern is present with the Kingdom of God. The seed is
constantly sprouting and growing - how, the sower does not know. So too
with the mustard
seed, the smallest of the seeds. It grows to become the biggest shrub
of them all. God’s
reign (in the person of Jesus) is like that. Our Lord is speaking of the action of
God in human hearts
and in the course of the world drawing man and creation to him.
Christ’s message and his gift is that of grace and its work. Our hope
lies in the hidden action of God’s grace, whatever be the appearances.
Whatever be the apparent lack fruit in our efforts to serve God, if we
truly serve him in union with our Lord, those efforts will bear fruit.
If our efforts do not have the apparent results we would like, let us
leave the appearances to God. Our hope lies in the power and presence
of God's grace.
Let us resolve to believe in God’s reality - that he is present and
that he is God. That is to say, let us resolve to be persons of
unfailing faith in the almighty power and loving mercy of God. He is
always present and active in our humble efforts for him, whatever be
the appearances.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Sown into the ground (Mark 4:26-30) Comment from The Letter of Diogenet
(around 200) VI
Christians are in the world what the soul is in the body. The soul is
spread forth in all the members of the body just as the Christians are
in the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body and yet it is
not the body, just as the Christians dwell in the world but are not of
the world (Jn 17:16). Invisible, the soul is kept as a prisoner in a
visible body. The same is true of the Christians. It can be seen that
they are in the world, but the worship they give God remains invisible.
Although the soul has not harmed the body, the flesh detests the soul
and wages war on it, because the soul prevents the body from enjoying
pleasures. In the same way, the world detests the Christians, though
they do it no harm, because they are opposed to its pleasures. The soul
loves this flesh, which detests it, as well as its members, just as the
Christians love those who detest them.
The soul is enclosed in the body; yet it is the soul that upholds the
body. The Christians are like people held in the prison of the world;
yet it is they who uphold the world. Immortal, the soul dwells in a
mortal tent. Thus, the Christians camp in what is corruptible, while
waiting for the celestial incorruptibility (1 Cor 15:50)…… The post God
has assigned them is so noble that they are not permitted to desert.
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A few are wicked, and many are ignorant: that is how the enemy of God
and of the Church reigns. Let us confound the wicked, and enlighten the
minds of the ignorant. With the help of God, and with our effort, we
will save the world.
(The Forge, no.635)
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Saturday
of the third week of Ordinary Time II
(January 28) St
Thomas Aquinas, Dominican priest and doctor of the Church
(1224-1274). He was educated at the Abbey of Monte Cassino and at the
University of Naples. In about 1244 he joined the Dominican Order.
Considered one of the greatest philosophers and theologians of all
time, 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 Theologiae, was still unfinished when he
died. (Saints)
Scripture today:
2 Samuel 12:1-7.10-17; Psalm 51: 12-17;
Mark 4:35-41
“David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned
against the Lord.’ Then Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord, for his part,
forgives your sin;...yet..the child that is born to you is to die’.”
(2 Sam.
12:1-7.10-17)
In yesterday’s reading from the Second Book of Samuel (2 Samuel
11:1-10.13-17) we were presented with the account of a terrible crime
perpetrated by David. He committed adultery on the one hand and then on
the other proceeded to orchestrate in secret the murder of Uriah, the
woman’s husband. He then married the woman. It brought down on him the
condemnation of Nathan the prophet, and the punishment of God. (2 Sam.
12:1-7.10-17) There was no excuse. It was an
enormity, though done in secret. Let us remember that God sees all, and
even if in the eyes of the world a person’s serious sins are unknown,
God’s judgment and punishment will come. That, perhaps, is the
immediate lesson to be drawn from the incident the inspired text
describes.
But there is another extremely important detail. We remember how when
Samuel confronted Saul for disobeying the directive of God, Saul
initially denied he had disobeyed God. He evaded the acknowledgment of
his sin and one gets the impression that Saul was very slow to repent,
if he ever truly repented at all. But in David’s case, we see an
immediate and full repentance on being accused of sin by Nathan the
prophet: “David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord’.” That
it was a genuine and heartfelt repentance even if immediate is
indicated by Nathan’s answer, speaking on behalf of God: “The Lord, for
his part, forgives your sin; you are not to die. ...Yet ... the child
that is born to you is to die.” (2 Samuel
12:1-7.10-17) It is this immediate readiness humbly
to acknowledge his sin and to repent that deserves our attention and
emulation. It is one of David’s distinguishing characteristics, and it
is one of the distinguishing deficiencies of our age. It has often been
pointed out that the sin of our age is the lack of a sense of sin.
Characteristically we moderns find it hard to acknowledge in God's
presence our sins.
The words of Nathan reveal God’s hatred of sin, but they also reveal
God’s readiness to forgive if we repent. Let us resolve then to
cultivate the virtue of repentance by a regular and humble recognition
of our sins, acknowledging them sincerely in the presence of God, and
seeking his pardon in prayerful acts of Contrition and in sacramental
Confession.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Beaten by the wind and the waves
(Mark 4:35-41)
Comment by St Augustine
(354-430), Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Sermon 63, 1-3)
With the Lord’s grace, I am going to talk to you about today’s gospel.
With God’s help, I also want to encourage you not to let faith sleep in
your hearts in the midst of the storms and swells of this world.
Without any doubt, the Lord Jesus Christ exercised his power over sleep
no less than over death, and when he was sailing on the lake, the
Almighty could not succumb to sleep if he did not want to do so. If you
think he did not have this power, it is because Christ is asleep in
you. If on the contrary, Christ is awake in you, your faith is also
awake. The apostle Paul said: “May Christ dwell in your hearts through
faith.” (Eph 3:17)
So Christ’s sleep is the sign of a mystery. The people in the boat
represent the souls that go through the life of this world on the wood
of the cross. Furthermore, the boat is a figure of the Church. Yes,
truly, all the faithful are temples where God dwells, and the heart of
each one of them is a boat sailing on the sea. It cannot go down if the
mind maintains good thoughts. You have been insulted: it is the wind
that is whipping you. You became angry: it is the rising tide. Thus,
when the wind is whistling and the tide is rising, the boat is in
danger. Your heart is in danger, it is shaken by the waves. The insult
aroused in you the desire for vengeance. And you took vengeance, thus
giving way to the fault of another, and you were shipwrecked. Why?
Because Christ went to sleep in you, that is to say, you forgot Christ.
So awaken Christ, remember Christ, may Christ awaken in you. Think of
him.
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We have to try to ensure that in all fields of intellectual activity
there are upright people, people with a true Christian conscience, who
are consistent in their lives, who can use the weapons of knowledge in
the service of humanity and of the Church. Their presence will be
necessary because in the world there will always be, as there were when
Jesus came on earth, new Herods who try to make use of knowledge - even
if they have to falsify it - to persecute Christ and those who belong
to him. What a great task we have ahead of us!
(The Forge, no.636)
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