August 2008
Morning Offering:
O Jesus, through the most pure heart of Mary, I offer you all the
prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions
of your divine heart, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass. I
offer them especially for the Holy
Father's intentions:
Pope Benedict's general
prayer intention for August 2008 is: "That the human family
may know how to respect God's design for the world and thus become ever
more aware of the great gift of God which Creation represents for us."
His
mission intention for August 2008 is: "That the answer
of the entire people of God to the common vocation to sanctity and
mission may be promoted and fostered, with careful discernment of the
charisms and a constant commitment to spiritual and cultural formation."
(August 2 and 5 videos)
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Friday of the seventeenth week in Ordinary Time II(August 1) St
Alphonsus Ligouri (1696-1787)
Moral theology, Vatican II said, should be
more thoroughly nourished by Scripture, and show the nobility of the
Christian vocation of the faithful and their obligation to bring forth
fruit in charity for the life of the world. Alphonsus, declared patron
of moral theologians by Pius XII in 1950, would rejoice in that
statement. In his day, he fought for the liberation of moral theology
from the rigidity of Jansenism. His moral theology, which went through
60 editions in the century following him, concentrated on the practical
and concrete problems of pastors and confessors. If a certain legalism
and minimalism crept into moral theology, it should not be attributed
to this model of moderation and gentleness. At the University of Naples
he received, at the age of 16, a doctorate in both canon and civil law
by acclamation, but soon gave up the practice of law for apostolic
activity. He was ordained a priest and concentrated his pastoral
efforts on popular (parish) missions, hearing confessions, forming
Christian groups. He founded the Redemptorist congregation in 1732. It
was an association of priests and brothers living a common life,
dedicated to the imitation of Christ, and working mainly in popular
missions for peasants in rural areas. Almost as an omen of what was to
come later, he found himself deserted, after a while, by all his
original companions except one lay brother. But the congregation
managed to survive and was formally approved 17 years later, though its
troubles were not over. Alphonsus’ great pastoral reforms were in the
pulpit and confessional—replacing the pompous oratory of the time with
simplicity, and the rigorism of Jansenism with kindness. His great fame
as a writer has somewhat eclipsed the fact that for 26 years he
traveled up and down the Kingdom of Naples, preaching popular missions.
He was made bishop (after trying to reject the honour) at 66 and at
once instituted a thorough reform of his diocese. His greatest sorrow
came toward the end of his life. The Redemptorists, precariously
continuing after the suppression of the Jesuits, had difficulty in
getting their Rule approved by the Kingdom of Naples. Alphonsus acceded
to the condition that they possess no property in common, but a royal
official, with the connivance of a high Redemptorist official, changed
the Rule substantially. Alphonsus, old, crippled and with very bad
sight, signed the document, unaware that he had been betrayed. The
Redemptorists in the Papal States then put themselves under the pope,
who withdrew those in Naples from the jurisdiction of Alphonsus. It was
only after his death that the branches were united. At 71 he was
afflicted with rheumatic pains which left incurable bending of his
neck; until it was straightened a little, the pressure of his chin
caused a raw wound on his chest. He suffered a final 18 months of “dark
night” scruples, fears, temptations against every article of faith and
every virtue, interspersed with intervals of light and relief, when
ecstasies were frequent. Alphonsus is best known for his moral
theology, but he also wrote well in the field of spiritual and dogmatic
theology. His Glories of Mary is one of the great works on that
subject, and his book Visits to the Blessed Sacrament went through 40
editions in his lifetime, greatly influencing the practice of this
devotion in the Church.
St. Alphonsus was known above all as a
practical man who dealt in the concrete rather than the abstract. His
life is indeed a “practical” model for the everyday Christian who has
difficulty recognizing the dignity of Christian life amid the swirl of
problems, pain, misunderstanding and failure. Alphonsus suffered all
these things. He is a saint because he was able to maintain an intimate
sense of the presence of the suffering Christ through it all. Someone
once remarked, after a sermon by Alphonsus, "It is a pleasure to listen
to your sermons; you forget yourself and preach Jesus Christ." (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Jeremiah 26: 1-9;
Psalm 68; Matthew 13: 54-58
(click here for readings)
Coming to
his home town, Jesus began teaching the people in their synagogue, and
they were amazed. Where did this man get this wisdom and these
miraculous powers? they asked. Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't
his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon
and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get
all these things? And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them,
Only in his home town and in his own house is a prophet without honour.
And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
(Matthew 13: 54-58)
In the history of
religions there are many things the gods are portrayed as doing but
even in the times when such religions were in possession it was
accepted by many that these divine activities were 
mythical. Those who were
more educated - say, the Greek philosophers - progressively dismissed
popular religion as being the product of the imagination and nothing
more. But in the most startling of the beliefs of the Christians - that
the one only God became a man - the Christian Church insisted that
there was nothing mythical about that. It was a hard fact and occurred
at a precise date and in a very precise location. It is indeed a the
most startling of assertions which is made of a particular person in
history. Some have gone to the length of calling into question the
existence of Jesus Christ but that is so far beyond any reasonable
attitude to historical evidence that it simply does not warrant
consideration. More common (among agnostics and, of course, atheists)
is the denial of the Christian claim about Jesus, that he is divine and
that he is a Messiah. Much of this rejection seems very plausible
precisely because Jesus was so truly a man. If it was the divine plan
that the eternal Word become flesh and dwell among us as man, then
necessarily the Son of God made man was exposing himself to the risk of
not being accepted for who he was. The fact that his claim to be both
Messiah and Son of God was rejected by many and even most of his
contemporaries, and by many from generation to generation ever since,
shows how complete was the Incarnation. The man Jesus was so obviously
a man that many would not accept that he was the Messiah and God. Our
Gospel passage today is a case in point. Jesus had grown up as a member
of a very human family. He had a human mother and many relatives. The
small town where he lived for so many years knew him intimately and had
seen him at his work with Joseph his foster-father. It was as plain as
the day that he was a man. This fact is a tribute to the thorough-going
character of the Incarnation.
By taking the step
he did for our salvation, God was exposing himself to rejection on the
grand scale. He became fully man, and we see the humanity of Jesus
Christ acknowledged in the words of his townspeople in our Gospel
today. “Coming to his home town, Jesus began teaching the people in
their synagogue, and they were amazed. Where did this man get this
wisdom and these miraculous powers? they asked. Isn't this the
carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers
James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where
then did this man get all these things? And they took offence at him.” (Matthew 13: 54-58) As we gaze on the
figure of Jesus of Nazareth in our mind’s eye, a figure so very and
fully human, we ought wonder at the spectacle. The infinite divine
Being, pure Being as he is and the ongoing source of all other beings
whether visible or invisible, stands before us all as a humble man. He
was humble, meek, strong and totally good. The infinite God had taken
to himself a limited though sinless human nature and in this way made
himself totally accessible and very vulnerable. He could be insulted,
rejected, attacked and beaten to death. In fact, all this did happen to
him, and he was God himself upon whom the entire universe constantly
depended. But there is more to this consideration. In the divine plan
our salvation depends on the acceptance of Jesus Christ and his word.
Of course, Christ’s salvation reaches those who through no fault of
their own do not know or believe in Jesus Christ and who yet strive to
be good in God’s sight by sincerely following their conscience. That
granted, nevertheless faith in Jesus Christ and the acceptance of his
claims and teaching is the divinely established path to salvation. The
centrality of faith in Jesus is also hinted at in our Gospel of today.
We read that “Jesus said to them, Only in his home town and in his own
house is a prophet without honour. And he did not do many miracles
there because of their lack of faith.” This difficult act of faith in
Jesus is the path to heaven.
Yes, it is
difficult for ordinary human reason and the ordinary human heart to
believe that the man Jesus Christ is the Messiah and Son of the living
God. But it is through believing in his name that we are saved. What
then is the way ahead? It is to ask God for the gift of faith in Jesus
because it is a gift of grace. We shall not do it of ourselves. But in
that gift granted definitively at Baptism we receive a divinely given
readiness and ability to see and accept who our Lord really is. Faith
then becomes easy. Life’s work will then be to nourish that faith and
to live by it, following Christ closely.
(E.J.Tyler)
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We go to Jesus — and we 'return' to him — through Mary.
(The Way, no.495)
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Benedict XVI's Address to Catholic
Educators, Washington, April 17 2008, Visit to USA
This same dynamic of communal identity -- to whom do I belong? --
vivifies the ethos of our Catholic institutions. A university or
school's Catholic identity is not simply a question of the number of
Catholic students. It is a question of conviction -- do we really
believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the
mystery of man truly become clear (cf. Gaudium et Spes,
22)? Are we ready to commit our entire self -- intellect and will, mind
and heart -- to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals? Is the
faith tangible in our universities and schools? Is it given fervent
expression liturgically, sacramentally, through prayer, acts of
charity, a concern for justice, and respect for God's creation? Only in
this way do we really bear witness to the meaning of who we are and
what we uphold.
From this perspective one can recognize that the contemporary "crisis
of truth" is rooted in a "crisis of faith". Only through faith can we
freely give our assent to God's testimony and acknowledge him as the
transcendent guarantor of the truth he reveals. Again, we see why
fostering personal intimacy with Jesus Christ and communal witness to
his loving truth is indispensable in Catholic institutions of learning.
Yet we all know, and observe with concern, the difficulty or reluctance
many people have today in entrusting themselves to God. It is a complex
phenomenon and one which I ponder continually. While we have sought
diligently to engage the intellect of our young, perhaps we have
neglected the will. Subsequently we observe, with distress, the notion
of freedom being distorted. Freedom is not an opting out. It is an
opting in -- a participation in Being itself. Hence authentic freedom
can never be attained by turning away from God. Such a choice would
ultimately disregard the very truth we need in order to understand
ourselves. A particular responsibility therefore for each of you, and
your colleagues, is to evoke among the young the desire for the act of
faith, encouraging them to commit themselves to the ecclesial life that
follows from this belief. It is here that freedom reaches the certainty
of truth. In choosing to live by that truth, we embrace the fullness of
the life of faith which is given to us in the Church.
(Continuing)
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Saturday of the seventeenth week in Ordinary Time II
(August 2) St. Eusebius of Vercelli (283?-371)
Someone has said that if there had been no Arian heresy it would be very difficult to write the lives of many early saints. Eusebius is another of the defenders of the Church during one of its most trying periods. Born on the isle of Sardinia, he became a member of the Roman clergy and is the first recorded bishop of Vercelli in Piedmont. He is also the first to link the monastic life with that of the clergy, establishing a community of his diocesan clergy on the principle that the best way to sanctify his people was to have them see a clergy formed in solid virtue and living in community. He was sent by Pope Liberius to persuade the emperor to call a council to settle Catholic-Arian troubles. When it was called at Milan, Eusebius went reluctantly, sensing that the Arian block would have its way, although the Catholics were more numerous. He refused to go along with the condemnation of Athanasius; instead, he laid the Nicene Creed on the table and insisted that all sign it before taking up any other matter. The emperor put pressure on him, but Eusebius insisted on Athanasius’ innocence and reminded the emperor that secular force should not be used to influence Church decisions. At first the emperor threatened to kill him, but later sent him into exile in Palestine. There the Arians dragged him through the streets and shut him up in a little room, releasing him only after his four-day hunger strike. They resumed their harassment shortly after. His exile continued in Asia Minor and Egypt, until the new emperor permitted him to be welcomed back to his see in Vercelli. He attended the Council of Alexandria with Athanasius and approved the leniency shown to bishops who had wavered. He also worked with St. Hilary of Poitiers against the Arians. He died peacefully in his own diocese at an advanced age. (AmericanCatholics.org)
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Scripture today: Jeremiah 7: 1-11; Psalm 83; Matthew 13: 24-30 (click here for readings)
Jesus
told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who
sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his
enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the
wheat sprouted and formed ears, then the weeds also appeared. The
owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed
in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 'An enemy did
this,' he replied. The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and
pull them up?' 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the
weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together
until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First
collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the
wheat and bring it into my barn.'
(Matthew 13: 24-30)
There are many ways to
God and there are many ways of trying to demonstrate his existence and
character. Many think of these ways of proving the existence of God to
be proofs and there have been in the past authors who have tried to set
out 
those
proofs in a strictly logical form. For myself, I am not sure that this
of itself will be convincing. I prefer to regard the proofs for the
existence of God as ways to him, ways to follow in one’s reflection on
the world and on oneself. But as with any way that one is following one
has to be eager to follow the way, looking out for whatever indications
there are of the goal being sought. Take the way to God by reflection
on the order that is to be observed in objective reality. Reality is
not chaotic, random and radically the fruit of chance. There is
permanence, predictability and settled patterns that are constantly
being discovered. For this reason the world is a liveable place and the
human race is able to flourish as can the rest of life. How came the
order? It bespeaks a creative Mind. But we must not be simplistic about
this because a person who is reluctant to see the imprint of Mind on
all of reality may point to the disorder in things. There are tidal
waves that destroy thousands of people, together with earthquakes,
plagues and various other catastrophes. Evil men are able to flourish
and get away with terrible injustices. How is it possible that there
can be a holy and all-powerful Mind ordering things when this happens?
In other words, a person who stresses this sees not order but disorder
and a disorder that flies in the face of morality. Now, this is not the
place to answer that very important question: it is usually called by
the theist the problem of evil because it is indeed a problem. We just
do not fully understand why God allows such evils in the world when he
is God the all-holy creator of all. But part of the answer is surely
that Order in the sense of Good will eventually come. For instance the
disorder involved in a toothache is made bearable by the thought that
"order" among one’s teeth will soon come. The dentist will fix the
tooth.
Yes, order will ultimately prevail. That order will come with the judgment of God on all. Our Lord speaks of this in very simple terms in our Gospel passage today. He draws from everyday life to show the reasonableness of what God is doing in our world. A farmer sows good seed in his field and then his enemy comes and sows weeds among the good seed (Matthew 13: 24-30). God is the farmer, Satan is the enemy. Evil comes not from God, of course, but from the evil choice of created free will - in the first instance the evil choice of certain among the angelic world, and secondly the evil choice of man. Why has God permitted this to happen? We do not know, except that in giving to created persons the gift of freedom - a necessary gift if the one created is to be a person - then there is the risk God takes of such a person doing evil within creation. And so it happened. God’s enemy sowed weeds among the wheat. Why did God not root out the weeds once the enemy had done this? We do not know, but our Lord invites us to consider the farmer. He directs his servants not to pull out the weeds because in doing this some of the wheat may come out as well. In other words, in the judgment of God more good will be done by allowing the weeds a certain existence but the time will come when those weeds will certainly be uprooted and thrown out to be burned. That will be the time of harvest when the wheat is separated from the weeds. So it will be at the end. By the "end" I mean the end of each person’s life and especially the end of the world. God will separate out the good from the bad and the bad will be like the weeds that are tied in bundles to be burned, while the wheat will be gathered into the barn, the barn of heaven. It is then that a full order will be restored. The judgment of God will set all things right forever and the so-called problem of evil will be resolved. Order will ultimately prevail. This is not the full answer to the problem of evil but it is part of it, and that answer comes from God.
However difficult life may seem, we must cleave to God and his holy will. Whatever reversals come our way, the one constant that we must hang on to is the person of Christ who endured what we might call the greatest reversals of all. They were not really reversals because it was all part of God’s hidden plan. The only true reversals are those that involve a refusal to accept the will of God. If we resolutely keep to the will of God in union with Christ, all will be righted at the judgment of God. Our reward will then come, and all will be finally and eternally well.
(E.J.Tyler)
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How people like to be reminded of their relationship with distinguished figures in literature, in politics, in the army, in the Church!... Sing to the Immaculate Virgin, reminding her: Hail Mary, daughter of God the Father: Hail Mary, Mother of God the Son: Hail Mary, Spouse of God the holy Spirit...
Greater than you, none but God!
(The Way, no.496)
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(Continuing) Benedict XVI's Address to Catholic Educators, Washington, April 17 2008, Visit to USA
Clearly, then, Catholic identity is not dependent upon statistics. Neither can it be equated simply with orthodoxy of course content. It demands and inspires much more: namely that each and every aspect of your learning communities reverberates within the ecclesial life of faith. Only in faith can truth become incarnate and reason truly human, capable of directing the will along the path of freedom (cf. Spe Salvi, 23). In this way our institutions make a vital contribution to the mission of the Church and truly serve society. They become places in which God's active presence in human affairs is recognized and in which every young person discovers the joy of entering into Christ's "being for others" (cf. ibid., 28).
The Church's primary mission of evangelization, in which educational institutions play a crucial role, is consonant with a nation's fundamental aspiration to develop a society truly worthy of the human person's dignity. At times, however, the value of the Church's contribution to the public forum is questioned. It is important therefore to recall that the truths of faith and of reason never contradict one another (cf. First Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith Dei Filius, IV: DS 3017; St. Augustine, Contra Academicos, III, 20, 43). The Church's mission, in fact, involves her in humanity's struggle to arrive at truth. In articulating revealed truth she serves all members of society by purifying reason, ensuring that it remains open to the consideration of ultimate truths. Drawing upon divine wisdom, she sheds light on the foundation of human morality and ethics, and reminds all groups in society that it is not praxis that creates truth but truth that should serve as the basis of praxis. Far from undermining the tolerance of legitimate diversity, such a contribution illuminates the very truth which makes consensus attainable, and helps to keep public debate rational, honest and accountable. Similarly the Church never tires of upholding the essential moral categories of right and wrong, without which hope could only wither, giving way to cold pragmatic calculations of utility which render the person little more than a pawn on some ideological chess-board.
(Continuing)
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Eighteenth Sunday
in Ordinary Time A
Prayers
this week: God, come to my help. Lord,
quickly give me assistance. You are the one who helps me and sets me free: Lord,
do not be long in coming.
(Psalm 69: 2. 6)
Father of everlasting goodness, our origin and guide, be close to us and hear
the prayers of all who praise you. Forgive our sins and restore us to life. Keep
us safe in your love. We ask this
through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
(August 3) St. Peter
Julian Eymard (1811-1868)
Born in La Mure d'Isčre in southeastern France, Peter Julian's faith journey
drew him from being a priest in the Diocese of Grenoble (1834) to joining the
Marists (1839) to founding the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (1856). In
addition to those changes, Peter Julian coped with poverty, his father's initial
opposition to Peter's vocation, serious illness, a Jansenistic striving for
inner perfection and the difficulties of getting diocesan and later papal
approval for his new religious community. His years as a Marist, including
service as a provincial leader, saw the deepening of his Eucharistic devotion,
especially through his preaching of Forty Hours in many parishes. Inspired at
first by the idea of reparation for indifference to the Eucharist, Peter Julian
was eventually attracted to a more positive spirituality of Christ-centred
love. Members of the men's community, which Peter founded, alternated between an
active apostolic life and contemplating Jesus in the Eucharist. He and
Marguerite Guillot founded the women's Congregation of the Servants of the
Blessed Sacrament. Peter Julian Eymard was beatified in 1925 and canonized in
1962, one day after Vatican II's first session ended.
“The Eucharist is the life of the people. The Eucharist gives them a centre of
life. All can come together without the barriers of race or language in order to
celebrate the feast days of the Church. It gives them a law of life, that of
charity, of which it is the source; thus it forges between them a common bond, a
Christian kinship” (Peter Julian Eymard). (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Isaiah 55: 1-3; Psalm 144;
Romans 8: 35.37-39; Matthew 14: 13-21
(click here for readings)
When
Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary
place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When
Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their
sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, This is a
remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so that they
can go to the villages and buy themselves some food. Jesus replied, They do not
need to go away. You give them something to eat. We have here only five loaves
of bread and two fish, they answered. Bring them here to me, he said. And he
directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two
fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave
them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate
and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken
pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand
men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:
13-21)
One of the great benefits of the gradual
spread of democracy in the world is that the average man and woman has been able
to exert an influence on the goals of government. Every government has values
and
because of these values it seeks to achieve certain goals, but the danger is
that these values and goals can lack a thoroughgoing critique. Moreover,
majorities in society also will have values and so will come to have goals.
Goals and values spread within societies and can be unthinkingly accepted by the
people of those societies especially when those values are those of the mass
media. This is one reason why a democracy is so important. In a democracy that
is truly functioning as such the values of governments or of societies or of the
media can be subjected to critique from various quarters. That critique ought
have as its aim the attainment of the truth of the matter. The abiding danger in
a democracy is that the majority view can be taken as being, in the nature of
the case, the true view. The voice of a society is unconsciously taken to be the
voice of truth. For instance, if a view prevails in a society that abortion is
to be made liberally available, then without necessarily saying as much, that is
often subconsciously regarded as objectively the true one. Many simply accept as
true the basic values of the majority around them. A democracy offers the
opportunity to maintain a critique of the view held by a Government that is in
power or of a view held by a majority in a society. A minority who can see the
truth of a matter has the opportunity to press for the acceptance in society of
the truth and matters become serious when democratic opportunities are shut down
by force or by manipulation. Now, one truth which is so important in society is
the supreme importance of the human person. Each individual person must be
respected in his basic and inalienable rights. This, probably more than
anything, is always in danger of being forgotten in society both by those in
power and by the majority. The temptation is to think that what is good and
useful to the many is the supreme value even if it is at the expense of basic
rights of the individual.
We are reminded of this in our Gospel
passage today. Our Lord “withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing
of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and
saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Our Lord is
filled with compassion for each person in need, and we read that “as evening
approached, the disciples came to him and said, This is a remote place, and it's
already getting late. Send the crowds away, so that they can go to the villages
and buy themselves some food. Jesus replied, They do not need to go away. You
give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14: 13-21)
As we contemplate the scene we are surely reminded by our Lord’s
unfailing compassion for each and every person that it is precisely the
individual who ought be at the centre of all human and social action. The
individual in his basic rights must not be set aside for the convenience of the
majority, let alone for the convenience of the ones in power. A person who holds
Christ for his example, a person who wishes to put on the mind of Christ, holds
as precious the least in need, the very least. And we have powerful incentives
for this. Our Lord in describing the General Judgment of all the nations tells
us (in Matthew 25) that the King will take his seat on his throne of glory. He
will then tell those on his right and his left that whatever they did to the
least of his brothers they did to him. That is to say, the least person even if
unborn has an absolute value in that his basic and inalienable rights must be
respected. He must not, for instance, be harmed for the convenience of the many.
This is not just a matter for society at large to remember. It is not just a
principle for the critique of public and social policy. It is a fundamental
principle for each of us in our daily life and interaction with all others.
Whether we are at home, at work or wherever, we must orientate our lives towards
the love and respect and consideration of each individual person, recognizing in
that person one whom Christ loves and for whom he died.
Christ died for each of us. He did not
simply die for a certain percentage of mankind, but for each individual person.
That alone shows how tremendously important is each person, no matter how little
in the sight of the world. Christ identifies with the least and he expects to be
recognized in the least. All this is to say that while the family and civic
community are necessary for the flourishing of the human person, the human
person is and ought to be the principle, the subject and the end of all social
institutions. It is central to the vocation and mission of the lay members of
Christ’s faithful that they implant and embed this great truth in the soul of
every society.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1877-1882, 1890-1891.
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Say to her:
Mother, my Mother — yours, because you are hers on many counts — may your love
bind me to your Son's Cross: may I not lack the Faith, nor the courage, nor the
daring, to carry out the will of our Jesus.
(The Way, no.497)
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(continuing) Benedict XVI's Address to Catholic Educators,
Washington, April 17 2008, Visit to USA
With
regard to the educational forum, the diakonia of truth takes on a heightened
significance in societies where secularist ideology drives a wedge between truth
and faith. This division has led to a tendency to equate truth with knowledge
and to adopt a positivistic mentality which, in rejecting metaphysics, denies
the foundations of faith and rejects the need for a moral vision. Truth means
more than knowledge: knowing the truth leads us to discover the good. Truth
speaks to the individual in his or her the entirety, inviting us to respond with
our whole being. This optimistic vision is found in our Christian faith because
such faith has been granted the vision of the Logos, God's creative Reason,
which in the Incarnation, is revealed as Goodness itself. Far from being just a
communication of factual data - "informative" - the loving truth of the Gospel
is creative and life-changing - "performative" (cf. Spe Salvi, 2).
With confidence, Christian educators can liberate the young from the limits of
positivism and awaken receptivity to the truth, to God and his goodness. In this
way you will also help to form their conscience which, enriched by faith, opens
a sure path to inner peace and to respect for others.
It comes as no surprise, then, that not just our own ecclesial communities but
society in general has high expectations of Catholic educators. This places upon
you a responsibility and offers an opportunity. More and more people - parents
in particular - recognize the need for excellence in the human formation of
their children. As Mater et Magistra, the Church shares their concern. When
nothing beyond the individual is recognized as definitive, the ultimate
criterion of judgment becomes the self and the satisfaction of the individual's
immediate wishes. The objectivity and perspective, which can only come through a
recognition of the essential transcendent dimension of the human person, can be
lost. Within such a relativistic horizon the goals of education are inevitably
curtailed. Slowly, a lowering of standards occurs. We observe today a timidity
in the face of the category of the good and an aimless pursuit of novelty
parading as the realization of freedom. We witness an assumption that every
experience is of equal worth and a reluctance to admit imperfection and
mistakes. And particularly disturbing, is the reduction of the precious and
delicate area of education in sexuality to management of 'risk', bereft of any
reference to the beauty of conjugal love.
(Continuing)
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Monday
of the eighteenth week in Ordinary Time II
(August 4) St. John
Vianney (1786-1859)
A
man with vision overcomes obstacles and performs deeds that seem impossible.
John Vianney was a man with vision: He wanted to become a priest. But he had to
overcome his meagre formal schooling, which inadequately prepared him for
seminary studies. His failure to comprehend Latin lectures forced him to
discontinue. But his vision of being a priest urged him to seek private
tutoring. After a lengthy battle with the books, John was ordained. Situations
calling for “impossible” deeds followed him everywhere. As pastor of the parish
at Ars, John encountered people who were indifferent and quite comfortable with
their style of living. His vision led him through severe fasts and short nights
of sleep. (Some devils can only be cast out by prayer and fasting.) With
Catherine Lassagne and Benedicta Lardet, he established La Providence, a home
for girls. Only a man of vision could have such trust that God would provide for
the spiritual and material needs of all those who came to make La Providence
their home. His work as a confessor is John Vianney’s most remarkable
accomplishment. In the winter months he was to spend 11 to 12 hours daily
reconciling people with God. In the summer months this time was increased to 16
hours. Unless a man was dedicated to his vision of a priestly vocation, he could
not have endured this giving of self day after day. Many people look forward to
retirement and taking it easy, doing the things they always wanted to do but
never had the time. But John Vianney had no thoughts of retirement. As his fame
spread, more hours were consumed in serving God’s people. Even the few hours he
would allow himself for sleep were disturbed frequently by the devil. Who, but a
man with vision, could keep going with ever-increasing strength? Recommending
liturgical prayer, John Vianney would say, “Private prayer is like straw
scattered here and there: If you set it on fire it makes a lot of little flames.
But gather these straws into a bundle and light them, and you get a mighty fire,
rising like a column into the sky; public prayer is like that.”
(AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today: Jeremiah 28: 1-17; Psalm 118;
Matthew 14: 13-21
(click here for readings)
When
Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary
place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When
Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their
sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, This is a
remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so that they
can go to the villages and buy themselves some food. Jesus replied, They do not
need to go away. You give them something to eat. We have here only five loaves
of bread and two fish, they answered. Bring them here to me, he said. And he
directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two
fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave
them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate
and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken
pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand
men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:
13-21)
If we think of the sweep of human
history it is obvious that religion is essential to the human story. Historians,
anthropologists and archeologists who themselves might be agnostic or only
minimally religious
would presumably readily allow that religion has played an important part in the
shaping of civilizations, even if some reduce religion to some other function of
human life. As has often been said, while man is a rational animal, he is also a
religious one. All this is to say that even an empirical study of man - an
empirical study in the broadest sense - shows that he yearns for the divine, for
the numinous, for the world beyond this one. But there has been a persistent
attack on religion coming from many who are not impressed by what they see as
the result of this. They see a yearning for the Above and at the same time a
tragic forgetfulness of the Below. They see prayers and ceremonies in the midst
of material degradation. They see monasteries with squalor in the immediate
surrounds. That is, they do not see anything like a sufficient concern for the
welfare of man where they see the dominance of a concern for God. This sort of
objection has many forms and comes from many sources. It was one reason for the
anti-religious and atheistic character of Marxist and Leninist and Maoist
communism. Or again, a person who does not observe the Sabbath Day at all
criticises those who do and justifies his own non-observance by saying that
those who go to Church on Sundays live a life lacking concern for and justice to
others during the rest of the week. Let us set aside the obvious answer that
this ignores the striking material and social benefits that so many of those
motivated by religion have actually brought to the poor and needy in society.
Let us admit that all too often many who are religious have not been
sufficiently humane. What are we to say about this? What should be the character
of religion in relation to human need?
Our Gospel passage today
(Matthew 14: 13-21) gives us a very clear
answer to this in the figure of the great archetype of the religion of man. The
Christian position is that when we think of religion we ought in the first
instance think of the person of Jesus Christ. We ought not think firstly of this
or that indigenous religion, or this or that great founder such as Zoroaster,
Buddha, Mahomet or whoever. We ought not think in the first instance of this or
that religious period or this or that religious institution such as a particular
grouping or series of monasteries or religious revivals such as the Evangelical
Revival in eighteenth century England. We ought think of the person of Jesus
Christ. He is the perfect Man in history and the exemplar of what it is to be
religious. What do we see in him? We see compassion for those in need and a
great impulse to meet the need. His mission was more than anything to answer the
problem of sin which is the root of all man’s problems. But in our passage today
we see him filled with compassion. We read that “When Jesus landed and saw a
large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening
approached, the disciples came to him and said, This is a remote place, and it's
already getting late. Send the crowds away, so that they can go to the villages
and buy themselves some food. Jesus replied, They do not need to go away. You
give them something to eat.” Our Lord’s many miracles were precisely in answer
to human need. St James in his Letter speaks of religion “pure and undefiled” as
being keeping oneself pure from sin and coming to the aid of those in need. So
great has been the commitment of the Christian religion to the practice of
justice and charity that in much of popular thinking to be a Christian simply
means being truly benevolent. The notion of the Christian religion in their
minds has lost its central element which is the love of God because all they
think they see is love of neighbour. But it does show that the mind of Christ is
that an absolutely central component of true religion is the service of
neighbour.
So much is this so that there is a
terrible divine sanction hanging on those who neglect this in life. In Matthew
chapter 25 Christ describes the General Judgment on all of mankind, a Judgment
each of us will see in the fullness of time. The King will say to those on his
right, come you who are blessed for I was hungry and you gave me food. Whenever
you did this to the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me. Then he
will say to those on his left, depart from me to the everlasting fire because
when I was hungry you did not assist me. God is a God of mercy and he requires
of us that we be merciful. If we are not, to that measure will mercy be refused
us.
(E.J.Tyler)
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All the
sins of your life seem to rise up against you. Don't lose confidence. Rather,
call on your holy Mother Mary, with the faith and abandonment of a child. She
will bring peace to your soul.
(The Way, no.498)
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Benedict XVI's Address to Catholic Educators,
Washington, April 17 2008, Visit to USA (cont)
How
might Christian educators respond? These harmful developments point to the
particular urgency of what we might call "intellectual charity". This aspect of
charity calls the educator to recognize that the profound responsibility to lead
the young to truth is nothing less than an act of love. Indeed, the dignity of
education lies in fostering the true perfection and happiness of those to be
educated. In practice "intellectual charity" upholds the essential unity of
knowledge against the fragmentation which ensues when reason is detached from
the pursuit of truth. It guides the young towards the deep satisfaction of
exercising freedom in relation to truth, and it strives to articulate the
relationship between faith and all aspects of family and civic life. Once their
passion for the fullness and unity of truth has been awakened, young people will
surely relish the discovery that the question of what they can know opens up the
vast adventure of what they ought to do. Here they will experience "in what" and
"in whom" it is possible to hope, and be inspired to contribute to society in a
way that engenders hope in others.
Dear friends, I wish to conclude by focussing our attention specifically on the
paramount importance of your own professionalism and witness within our Catholic
universities and schools. First, let me thank you for your dedication and
generosity. I know from my own days as a professor, and I have heard from your
Bishops and officials of the Congregation for Catholic Education, that the
reputation of Catholic institutes of learning in this country is largely due to
yourselves and your predecessors. Your selfless contributions - from outstanding
research to the dedication of those working in inner-city schools - serve both
your country and the Church. For this I express my profound gratitude.
(Continuing)
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Tuesday of the eighteenth week in Ordinary Time II
click on centre arrow
Scripture today: Jeremiah 30: 1-2.12-15.18-22; Psalm 101; Matthew 14: 22-36 (click here for readings)
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead
of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had
dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When
evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a
considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves
because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night
Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him
walking on the lake, they were terrified. It's a ghost, they said, and
cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: Take courage! It
is I. Don't be afraid. Lord, if it's you, Peter replied, tell me to
come to you on the water. Come, he said. Then Peter got down out of the
boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. But when he saw the
wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me!
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. You of little
faith, he said, why did you doubt? And when they climbed into the boat,
the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him,
saying, Truly you are the Son of God. When they had crossed over, they
landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognised Jesus,
they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their
sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his
cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
(Matthew 14: 22-36)
Our Gospel scene today
places right at the forefront of our considerations the act of faith.
We read that when evening came, Jesus was there on the hill alone where
he had gone to pray, and the boat containing the disciples "was already
a
considerable distance
from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on
the lake." It was a remarkable miracle and threw the disciples, already
stressed by their difficult situation in the storm, into a tremendous
consternation. Then Jesus announced to them from the midst of the
pounding sea that it was he, telling them not to be afraid. He was
calling on them to have faith, for he was there. Simon asked him from
the boat to bid him to step into the sea and approach him across the
water, which Christ did - again, calling on him to have faith. In a
spirit of immediate faith, Simon did so but then at the sight of what
he was up against his faith faltered. He sank and was immediately saved
by Christ who said to him, "You of little faith, he said, why did you
doubt?" At that he and Simon entered the boat, the wind dropped, they
reached land and our Lord proceeded to assist with his divine power
numerous others who were in need and who came to him in faith. The
heart of our Gospel passage today is the acknowledgment by his
disciples that he, Jesus, is the Son of God and the lesson of the
passage is that when Jesus Christ the Son of God makes known his
presence the one essential act that is called for from us is faith. God
asks of us faith in who Jesus has revealed himself to be, and faith in
his love and saving power. This in effect means the acceptance of the
witness and proclamation of the Church about the living Jesus. Christ
is in our midst and is to be found in his body the Church. By means of
life in the Church we can live in Jesus and grow in his life and in
this way attain that union with God to which we are called.
There are, however, some notable obstacles facing the modern man and woman when the Church invites to faith. Modern man is typically secular, which is to say he does not begin with the expectation that God is there in the midst. He assumes that all that is there is what he sees around him. He assumes that the Church is deluded in thinking that there is anything more than the hard and palpable facts of nature, and in a sense this is one of the things we must expect of a civilization that has learned to exercise a critique on traditional positions. But such is the situation, and while the Church must take this into account, modern man, if he is to attain the truth of things, must himself take into account what he might come to see as a tremendous intellectual blind spot. That is to say, if we notice in ourselves an instinctive and habitual suspicion that faith in realities beyond what can be seen and felt are illusory, then we should critique not only this call to faith but our very selves. If Christ is indeed the Son of God then our fundamental indisposition to believe in him is an unfortunate obstacle we should strive to remove. It is an indisposition arising from assumed starting points, unproven first principles. If that lack of readiness to believe is not dealt with then we shall never arrive at the blessing of life in Christ. We shall never find ourselves actively in Christ’s company because it depends on faith. We shall never take that step that Simon Peter took of leaving the boat to go towards Christ, let alone actually reaching him. Our lives will be too full of suspicion and doubt, and Christ will have to say to us, "You of little faith, he said, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14: 22-36) In actual fact, there are even deeper issues for modern man. He tends to doubt that there is any absolutely objective moral obligation. The call to duty itself seems doubtful except as a working hypothesis because he is doubtful and suspicious about the possibility of objective truth itself. A vague scepticism about truth, about duty and about faith tends to cloud the mind and heart of modern man.
What to do? If there is something of this in us, we ought begin by resolving to take seriously the claims of the Church about Christ for, we must surely accept, they just might be true. Then we should ask for light from Above. We must ask for help from God. Indeed, we all must ask for this including all who are blessed with faith and who are disciples of Christ. We ought continually pray for help from the Holy Spirit that he will sustain and nourish our faith in Jesus and lead us to live in him and follow him in his constant obedience to the will of the Father.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Mary, the most holy Mother of God, passes unnoticed, as just one more among the women of her town.
Learn from her how to live with 'naturalness'.
(The Way, no.499)
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(Continuing) Benedict XVI's Address to Catholic Educators, Washington, April 17 2008, Visit to USA
In regard to faculty members at Catholic colleges universities, I wish to reaffirm the great value of academic freedom. In virtue of this freedom you are called to search for the truth wherever careful analysis of evidence leads you. Yet it is also the case that any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission; a mission at the heart of the Church's munus docendi and not somehow autonomous or independent of it.
Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church's Magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution's life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual.
(Continuing)
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Wednesday of the eighteenth week in Ordinary Time II
(August 6)
Transfiguration of the Lord
All three Synoptic Gospels tell the story of the Transfiguration (Matthew
17:1-8; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-36). With remarkable agreement, all three place
the event shortly after Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah
and Jesus’ first prediction of his passion and death. Peter’s eagerness to erect
tents or booths on the spot suggests it occurred during the Jewish weeklong,
fall Feast of Booths. In spite of the texts’ agreement, it is difficult to
reconstruct the disciples’ experience, according to Scripture scholars, because
the Gospels draw heavily on Old Testament descriptions of the Sinai encounter
with God and prophetic visions of the Son of Man. Certainly Peter, James and
John had a glimpse of Jesus’ divinity strong enough to strike fear into their
hearts. Such an experience defies description, so they drew on familiar
religious language to describe it. And certainly Jesus warned them that his
glory and his suffering were to be inextricably connected—a theme John
highlights throughout his Gospel. Tradition names Mt. Tabor as the site of the
revelation. A church first raised there in the fourth century was dedicated on
August 6. A feast in honour of the Transfiguration was celebrated in the Eastern
Church from about that time. Western observance began in some localities about
the eighth century. On July 22, 1456, Crusaders defeated the Turks at Belgrade.
News of the victory reached Rome on August 6, and Pope Callistus III placed the
feast on the Roman calendar the following year.
“At his Transfiguration Christ showed his disciples the splendour of his beauty,
to which he will shape and color those who are his: ‘He will reform our lowness
configured to the body of his glory’” (Philippians 3:21) (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologiae). (AmericanCatholic.org)
August 6: Anniversary of the death in 1978 of the
Servant of God Pope Paul VI (Giovanni B. Montini)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today:
Jeremiah 31: 1-7; Psalm Jeremiah 31; Matthew 15: 21-28
(click here for
readings)
Leaving
that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman
from that vicinity came to him, crying out, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on
me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession. Jesus did not
answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, Send her away, for
she keeps crying out after us. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of
Israel. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord, help me! she said. He
replied, It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs.
Yes, Lord, she said, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their
masters' table. Then Jesus answered, Woman, you have great faith! Your request
is granted. And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
(Matthew 15: 21-28)
As is the case with so many scenes of
the Gospel, our passage today gives rise to many reflections especially on the
central personage, our Lord Jesus Christ. An immediate thing to be noticed is
that, when pressed by his disciples to accede to the request of the
importunate
pagan woman so as to be rid of her, our Lord defines his mission. The specific
mission he had been given by his heavenly Father was “to the lost sheep of
Israel.” We remember how at the beginning of his public ministry and after he
had been baptized by John our Lord was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. One
of the temptations was to be lord of the world. All these kingdoms I will give
to you, Satan alluringly promised, if you but worship me. The temptation was
rejected out of hand for it was utterly preposterous. But that event too serves
to remind us that our Lord’s specific mission was not to the kingdoms of the
world but to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” All the nations would come
then. Just before his ascension into heaven he told his disciples that all
authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him. So having entered into
his glory the man Jesus had been constituted Lord of the world. They were to go,
then, to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. Here in our
scene today (Matthew 15: 21-28) our Lord
tells his disciples that his mission prior to his being glorified was to “the
lost sheep of Israel.” But again, let us notice how our Lord formulates his
mission here. It is especially to “the lost sheep” of Israel. It is to man as
having fallen that God has sent his divine Son. He has come to save, to redeem,
to raise up from the degradation and misery of sin, and his personal work was to
begin with the house of Israel. The assistance he extends to the pagan Canaanite
woman is a pointer to what is to come after he had risen from the dead. In that
woman so desperate for divine help we are reminded of all mankind. In assisting
her Christ is acting as Saviour of the world.
In portraying Christ responding to the
prayer of the pagan woman, St Matthew is not only presenting Christ himself as
Saviour of Israel and Saviour of the world, but he is presenting the example of
the Canaanite woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon. She did not know much
about our Lord, enough to know his famed title as Son of David and to know his
holiness and power before God. But she knew little else, we must presume. Yet
she came to Christ and would not give up on her prayer. She had faith in him and
that faith is manifest in her persistence. Her persistence in the face of
silence and seeming rebuff, not only from the disciples but from our Lord
himself, won the day. She would not give up. Our Lord did not tell her to be
gone, he just remained silent. He was obviously testing her. Her faith was being
tested by the silence of God. Our own experience is often comparable to the
experience of that pagan woman in her prayer. It may seem that God is often, all
too often, silent in the face of our entreaties. But what do we do? Do we give
up and go away, thinking that God is not there, or he is uninterested, or he is
not able to help? Do we fail in our faith when God does not answer immediately
or very soon after, or perhaps does not accede to the specifics we have asked of
him? Is this what happens all too often in life? If so, we ought contemplate the
example of the woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon. She was discouraged by
our Lord’s disciples, and received no response from our Lord initially. When I
say she received no response from him, I mean that she saw no response. But our
Lord was indeed responding and was testing her faith so as to reward it. It is
clear that he was delighted with the persistent faith of the pagan woman and he
rewarded it accordingly. Let us do likewise. Let our prayer be earnest and
persistent, especially for those things that do matter in the sight of God,
which is to say those things that will help us to be truly pleasing to God our
Father.
There are many things that cause us to
be weary and overburdened. On one occasion our Lord said, Come to me all you who
are weary and overburdened and I will give your rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. The greatest grace we ought ask for is precisely to be able to come to
our Lord with faith and love and find our rest in his love and company. We ought
ask for the grace to take his yoke upon our shoulders and to learn from him, for
man’s salvation is found in Jesus Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Wear on
your breast the holy scapular of Carmel. There are many excellent Marian
devotions, but few are so deep— rooted among the faithful, and have received so
many blessings from the Popes. Besides, how maternal this sabbatine privilege
is!
(The Way, no.500)
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(Continuing) Benedict XVI's Address to Catholic
Educators, Washington, April 17 2008, Visit to USA
I wish also to express a
particular word of encouragement to both lay and Religious teachers of
catechesis who strive to ensure that young people become daily more appreciative
of the gift of faith. Religious education is a challenging apostolate, yet there
are many signs of a desire among young people to learn about the faith and
practice it with vigour. If this awakening is to grow, teachers require a clear
and precise understanding of the specific nature and role of Catholic education.
They must also be ready to lead the commitment made by the entire school
community to assist our young people, and their families, to experience the
harmony between faith, life and culture.
Here I wish to make a special appeal to Religious Brothers, Sisters and Priests:
do not abandon the school apostolate; indeed, renew your commitment to schools
especially those in poorer areas. In places where there are many hollow promises
which lure young people away from the path of truth and genuine freedom, the
consecrated person's witness to the evangelical counsels is an irreplaceable
gift. I encourage the Religious present to bring renewed enthusiasm to the
promotion of vocations. Know that your witness to the ideal of consecration and
mission among the young is a source of great inspiration in faith for them and
their families.
To all of you I say: bear witness to hope. Nourish your witness with prayer.
Account for the hope that characterizes your lives (cf. 1 Pet 3:15) by living
the truth which you propose to your students. Help them to know and love the One
you have encountered, whose truth and goodness you have experienced with joy.
With Saint Augustine, let us say: "we who speak and you who listen acknowledge
ourselves as fellow disciples of a single teacher" (Sermons, 23:2). With these
sentiments of communion, I gladly impart to you, your colleagues and students,
and to your families, my Apostolic Blessing.
(Concluded)
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Thursday
of the eighteenth week in Ordinary Time II
(August 7) St.
Cajetan (1480-1557)
Like most of us, Cajetan seemed headed for an “ordinary” life—first as a lawyer,
then as a priest engaged in the work of the Roman Curia. His life took a
characteristic turn when he joined the Oratory of Divine Love in Rome, a group
devoted to piety and charity, shortly after his ordination at 36. When he was 42
he founded a hospital for incurables at Venice. At Vicenza, he entered a
“disreputable” religious community that consisted only of men of the lowest
stations of life—and was roundly censured by his friends, who thought his action
was a reflection on his family. He sought out the sick and poor of the town and
served them. The greatest need of the time was the reformation of a Church that
was “sick in head and members.” Cajetan and three friends decided that the best
road to reformation lay in reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy. (One of
them later became Paul IV.) Together they founded a congregation known as the
Theatines (from Teate [Chieti] where their first superior-bishop had his see).
They managed to escape to Venice after their house in Rome was wrecked when
Charles V’s troops sacked Rome in 1527. The Theatines were outstanding among the
Catholic reform movements that took shape before the Protestant Reformation. He
founded a monte de pieta (“mountain [or fund] of piety”) in Naples—one of many
charitable, nonprofit credit organizations that lent money on the security of
pawned objects. The purpose was to help the poor and protect them against
usurers. Cajetan’s little organization ultimately became the Bank of Naples,
with great changes in policy. (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today:
Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Psalm 50; Matthew 16: 13-23
(click here for
readings)
When Jesus came to the region of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say the Son of Man is?
They replied, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others,
Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But what about you? he asked. Who do you say I
am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus
replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you
by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will
be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. From
that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and
teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised
to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Never, Lord! he said.
This shall never happen to you! Jesus turned and said to Peter, Get behind me,
Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; you do not have in mind the things of
God, but the things of men. (Matthew 16: 13-23)
By any standards this must be regarded
as a tremendous text of the Gospels. There are twenty eight chapters in the
Gospel of St Matthew and so we can regard this passage as being more or less in
the heart of his account. Christ’s preaching was filled with references to the
Kingdom of heaven and what is required in order to enter it. Here, away from the
crowds and alone with his disciples he begins with a critical question: who he
himself is. It implies that he himself is at the centre of the Kingdom of heaven
and entry into this Kingdom is inextricably tied to one’s belief in and
acknowledgment of him. In fact, Christ himself is the embodiment of this Kingdom
because the Kingdom is nothing other than the lordship and rule of God and that
rule is present in its fullness in Jesus. Entry into the Kingdom is entry into
union with him. And so he elicits from Simon a magnificent profession of faith,
that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of the living God, a profession which
Christ not only accepted but stated as having its origin in the action of the
Father. It was Christ’s Father in heaven who revealed this to Simon. Simon had
received the gift of faith. But now, our Lord introduces a new thing. To this
point he had been preaching and instructing about the promised Kingdom of God.
Now he speaks of his Church. He has received Simon’s profession of faith, a
profession he gives on behalf of the Apostles. Our Lord now proceeds to formally
lay the foundations of his Church and to indicate the connection between his
Church and the Kingdom he had been preaching. Simon now receives the title of
the Rock, Peter. It is on this Rock which is Simon that he will build his Church
and his Church will not be overcome by the forces of Hell. There will be a new
people built on and developed from the old. The Apostles will be its twelve
patriarchs and Simon Peter at their head. Simon will be the visible rock and
foundation of the building that Christ will create and it will be entirely
secure despite the human failings and limitations embodied in Simon himself.
(Matthew 16: 13-23)
There is more in this surprising
revelation of Christ’s intentions. The Kingdom that Christ has to this point
been preaching will have an entry and keys to that entry. Those keys would be
entrusted to a specific person. Christ says he will give to Simon the keys to
the Kingdom of heaven - the action is future in tense and so it speaks of what
Christ will do with Peter. Simon Peter will have in his hands the keys to give
access to the lordship and rule of God together with the blessings this
contains. The keys will be held by him. So Simon will be the chief minister of
the Kingdom, and Christ its King. Simon will represent the King and will make
his presence visible in his own limited and all-too faulty person. Simon will be
Christ’s vicar and whatever he chooses to bind up or loosen would be ratified in
heaven. So Simon’s authority will be great. Those seeking entry into the Kingdom
of heaven which is union with Jesus and all that this brings and requires will
have the singular advantage of knowing to whom they are to go. A specific person
is to be constituted by Christ to represent him, clearly after he has gone. That
person is Simon Peter and the Twelve must live out their mission in communion
with him. Our Lord is pointing to his death and departure from the scene and he
is making permanent provision for this until he returns again at the end of the
age. That provision is contained in his Church which he is to build, at the head
of which is his appointee, Simon Peter, who is to hold the keys. Having
announced his momentous step in the establishment of the Kingdom, Christ speaks
of his Passion, his Death and his Resurrection. Immediately Simon, having been
told of his exalted calling, shows his all-too limited grasp and brings down on
himself a sharp rebuke from Christ. The way to glory and to the fullness of the
Kingdom is through suffering and death. It is to be, then, the way Simon and the
Apostles must follow as must all who wish to be in Christ.
Let us strive to appreciate the wonder
of the Church which Christ has built. Peter is at its head and he holds the keys
to the kingdom of heaven. To access the kingdom, in Christ’s plan we must turn
to the Church and gain entry by her. The Church which is nothing other than the
body of Christ - his visible presence and dwelling place here on earth - is the
divinely established means of entry into the Kingdom of God. That Kingdom is
found in the person of Christ and so the goal of life is union with him. Peter
holds the keys. Let us then ponder this dramatic text and let us pray for the
grace to love the Church which brings to us the salvation that is union with
Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)
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When you
were asked which picture of our Lady aroused your devotion most, and you
answered — with the air of long experience — 'all of them', I realized that you
were a good son: that is why you are equally moved — 'they make me fall in
love', you said — by all the pictures of your Mother.
(The Way, no.501)
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Benedict XVI's Address to Interreligious Leaders during his visit to the USA
(April 17, 2008)
Pope John Paul II Cultural Centre. "A United Society Can Indeed Arise From a
Plurality of Peoples"
My dear friends,
I am pleased to have this occasion to meet with you today. I thank Bishop Sklba
for his words of welcome, and I cordially greet all those in attendance
representing various religions in the United States of America. Several of you
kindly accepted the invitation to compose the reflections contained in today's
program. For your thoughtful words on how each of your traditions bears witness
to peace, I am particularly grateful. Thank you all.
This country has a long history of cooperation between different religions in
many spheres of public life. Interreligious prayer services during the national
feast of Thanksgiving, joint initiatives in charitable activities, a shared
voice on important public issues: these are some ways in which members of
different religions come together to enhance mutual understanding and promote
the common good. I encourage all religious groups in America to persevere in
their collaboration and thus enrich public life with the spiritual values that
motivate your action in the world.
(Continuing)
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Friday of the eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
II
(August 8) Blessed Mary MacKillop 1842 - 1909
(Australia)
On January 15, 1842 Mary MacKillop was born of Scottish parents, Alexander
MacKillop and Flora MacDonald in Fitzroy, Victoria. This was less than seven
years after Faulkner sailed up the Yarra, when Elizabeth Street was a deep gully
and Lonsdale Street was still virgin bush. A plaque in the
footpath now marks
the place of her birth in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Mary, the eldest of eight
children, was well educated by her father who spent some years studying for the
priesthood in Rome but through ill health had returned to his native Scotland
until 1835 when he migrated to Australia with his parents. Unfortunately, he
lacked financial awareness, so the family was often without a home of their own,
depending on friends and relatives and frequently separated from one another.
From the age of sixteen, Mary earned her living and greatly supported her
family, as a governess, as a clerk for Sands and Kenny (now Sands and
MacDougall), and as a teacher at the Portland school. While acting as a
governess to her uncle's children at Penola, Mary met Father Julian Tenison
Woods who, with a parish of 22,000 square miles/56,000 square kilometres, needed
help in the religious education of children in the outback. At the time Mary's
family depended on her income so she was not free to follow her dream. However,
in 1866, greatly inspired and encouraged by Father Woods, Mary opened the first
Saint Joseph's School in a disused stable in Penola. Young women came to join
Mary, and so the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph was begun. In 1867,
Mary was asked by Bishop Shiel to come to Adelaide to start a school. From
there, the Sisters spread, in groups to small outback settlements and large
cities around Australia, New Zealand, and now in Peru, Brazil and refugee camps
of Uganda and Thailand. Mary and these early Sisters, together with other
Religious Orders and Lay Teachers of the time, had a profound influence on the
forming of Catholic Education as we have come to know and experience it today.
She also opened Orphanages, Providences to care for the homeless and destitute
both young and old, and Refuges for ex-prisoners and ex-prostitutes who wished
to make a fresh start in life. Throughout her life, Mary met with opposition
from people outside the Church and even from some of those within it. In the
most difficult of times she consistently refused to attack those who wrongly
accused her and undermined her work, but continued in the way she believed God
was calling her and was always ready to forgive those who wronged her.
Throughout her life Mary suffered ill health. She died on August 8, 1909 in the
convent in Mount Street, North Sydney where her tomb is now enshrined. Since
then the Congregation has grown and now numbers about 1200, working mainly in
Australia and New Zealand but also scattered singly or in small groups around
the world. The "Brown Joeys" may be seen in big city schools, on dusty bush
tracks, in modern hospitals, in caravans, working with the "little ones" of God
- the homeless, the new migrant, the Aboriginal, the lonely and the unwanted, in
direct care and in advocacy, in standing with and in speaking with. In their
endeavours to reverence the human dignity of others and to change unjust
structures, the Sisters and those many others who also share the Mary MacKillop
spirit continue the work which she began. This great Australian woman inspired
great dedication to God's work in the then new colonies. In today's world, she
stands as an example of great courage and trust in her living out of God's
loving and compassionate care of those in need.
(click here for more)
(Universal calendar:) Saint Dominic (Turn to
August 5, August page of this website)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today: Nahum 2: 1.3; 3:1-3.6-7; Deuteronomy 32; Matthew 16: 24-28
(click here
for readings)
Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it
be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a
man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his
Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to
what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not
taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
(Matthew 16:
24-28)
I have known people who when they heard that a young person they knew wished to
be a priest
thought it was crazy. It was a waste of a life. That young person was foregoing
marriage, a career in the
world, success in life and a variety of other things
besides. But take it a step further and consider the person who hears the call
of Christ to be his disciple - whatever may be the particular vocation in life
that is his or hers. A careful reading of the Gospel and the words of the Church
about the Christian life reveal to him new demands that at first sight seem
crazy. For instance, consider the young man in the Gospel who came in haste to
our Lord and asked in all sincerity what he must do to inherit eternal life. He
had kept God’s commandments from his earliest years. He wanted to know what
further God was expecting of him. Our Lord, we are told, looked on him and loved
him. He then took a risk. He said to the young man that if he wanted to be
perfect, he ought sell all he had and give it to the poor. Then he ought come
and follow him. Our Lord was asking him to deny himself very radically. A change
came over the young man’s face. It fell. What our Lord just said to him seemed
crazy and unnecessary, and he went away sad for he had many possessions. In our
Gospel passage today (Matthew 16:
24-28) our Lord says to his disciples that if anyone would come
after him he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow him. It is a
variation of what he told the rich young man, only this time it is even more
general. The Christian is to choose the path of self-denial. He is to take up
his cross. Let us notice our Lord’s specific mention of “the cross”. In the
previous passage Christ had made it plain to his disciples that his path was to
be that of suffering and death, and he had sharply rebuked Simon for attempting
to dissuade him from this path. It had seemed crazy to Simon. I suspect that the
active choice by Christ of the path of suffering and death would basically seem
meaningless to most of the non-Christian religions of the world, including to
Mahomet and Islam.
Christ foresaw his own death on the cross, but the point to notice here in our
passage today is that our Lord uses the cross in reference to the following of
him. Just as his own path involved a denial of himself unto death, so too his
disciple must deny himself and take up his cross. With the Roman occupation
every Jew would be familiar with execution by crucifixion. Criminals were
crucified publicly and this was meant to serve as a powerful deterrent. All
would be familiar with the condemned person taking up his cross and being forced
to make his way to the place of his death. Our Lord uses this striking metaphor
to describe the path of his disciples. But there is also this. The disciple must
do this willingly for love of Jesus. He is to “take up his cross” on his own
initiative and not as something forced upon him. So the acceptance and choice of
the cross is part of a loving following of Jesus. This may seem crazy even to
many who count themselves as Christ’s disciples but who have not taken to heart
these words in our Gospel today. It is the choice of the path of self denial out
of love for Jesus, precisely because Jesus chose that path. What constitutes
this cross? Well of course, there are the difficulties in doing God’s will.
There are all the difficulties that are allowed by the providence of God such as
bad health, lack of opportunities in one’s career, the fact that others are
better positioned gain those opportunities, the lack of recognition by others
that comes with very limited talents and capacities, one’s own mistakes that
lead to various sufferings, and so it goes on. Life brings many difficulties and
these are allowed by God. That constitutes a “cross” that ought be accepted for
love of Jesus. There is also the suffering that comes with injustices and
humiliations perpetrated by others. That “cross” is to be taken up. But there is
more still. There is the active choice of things that will involve the denial of
oneself, the choosing of the lower place, the choosing of a more mortified
practice, the choosing to be more meek and humble of heart, the acceptance of
humiliations, and all for love of Jesus.
Inasmuch as Christ’s path of suffering and death is one of the most mysterious
features of the Atonement by him for sin, the following of Christ in this same
path is one of the most difficult things to accept and embrace in the Christian
life. It requires a grace from God that illuminates the mind and brings a change
of heart. Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, St Paul writes. We
ought pray for the grace to understand the contents of our Gospel passage today,
and for the desire to live it out in the way God intends.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Mary, teacher of prayer. See how she asks her Son, at Cana. And how she insists,
confidently, with perseverance. And how she succeeds.
Learn from her.
(The Way, no.502)
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(Continuing) Benedict XVI's Address to Interreligious Leaders, USA (April 2008)
The place where we are now gathered was founded specifically for promoting this
type of collaboration. Indeed, the Pope John Paul II Cultural Centre seeks to
offer a Christian voice to the "human search for meaning and purpose in life" in
a world of "varied religious, ethnic and cultural communities" (Mission
Statement). This institution reminds us of this nation's conviction that all
people should be free to
pursue happiness in a way consonant with their nature
as creatures endowed with reason and free will.
Americans have always valued the ability to worship freely and in accordance
with their conscience. Alexis de Tocqueville, the French historian and observer
of American affairs, was fascinated with this aspect of the nation. He remarked
that this is a country in which religion and freedom are "intimately linked" in
contributing to a stable democracy that fosters social virtues and participation
in the communal life of all its citizens. In urban areas, it is common for
individuals from different cultural backgrounds and religions to engage with one
another daily in commercial, social and educational settings. Today, in
classrooms throughout the country, young Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus,
Buddhists, and indeed children of all religions sit side-by-side, learning with
one another and from one another. This diversity gives rise to new challenges
that spark a deeper reflection on the core principles of a democratic society.
May others take heart from your experience, realizing that a united society can
indeed arise from a plurality of peoples -- "E pluribus unum": "out of many,
one" -- provided that all recognize religious liberty as a basic civil right
(cf. Dignitatis Humanae, 2).
(Continuing)
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Saturday
of the eighteenth week in Ordinary Time II
(August 9)
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) (1891-1942)
A brilliant philosopher who stopped
believing in God when she was 14, Edith Stein was so
captivated by reading the
autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a spiritual journey that led to
her Baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Teresa by becoming a
Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Born into a prominent
Jewish family in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) Edith abandoned Judaism in her
teens. As a student at the University of Göttingen, she became fascinated by
phenomenology, an approach to philosophy. Excelling as a protégé of Edmund
Husserl, one of the leading phenomenologists, Edith earned a doctorate in
philosophy in 1916. She continued as a university teacher until 1922 when she
moved to a Dominican school in Speyer; her appointment as lecturer at the
Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure from the Nazis. After
living in the Cologne Carmel (1934-38), she moved to the Carmelite monastery in
Echt, Netherlands. The Nazis occupied that country in 1940. In retaliation for
being denounced by the Dutch bishops, the Nazis arrested all Dutch Jews who had
become Christians. Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, died
in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on August 9, 1942. Pope John Paul II beatified
Teresa Benedicta in 1987 and canonized her in 1998. The writings of Edith Stein
fill 17 volumes, many of which have been translated into English. A woman of
integrity, she followed the truth wherever it led her. After becoming a
Catholic, Edith continued to honour her mother’s Jewish faith. Sister Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D. , translator of several of Edith’s books, sums up this saint
with the phrase, “Learn to live at God’s hands.”
In his homily at the
canonization Mass, Pope John Paul II said: “Because she was Jewish, Edith Stein
was taken with her sister Rosa and many other Catholics and Jews from the
Netherlands to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, where she died with them in
the gas chambers. Today we remember them all with deep respect. A few days
before her deportation, the woman religious had dismissed the question about a
possible rescue: ‘Do not do it! Why should I be spared? Is it not right that I
should gain no advantage from my Baptism? If I cannot share the lot of my
brothers and sisters, my life, in a certain sense, is destroyed.’” Addressing
himself to the young people gathered for the canonization, the pope said: “Your
life is not an endless series of open doors! Listen to your heart! Do not stay
on the surface but go to the heart of things! And when the time is right, have
the courage to decide! The Lord is waiting for you to put your freedom in his
good hands.” (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today: Habakkuk 1:12-2:4; Psalm 9;
Matthew 17: 14-20 (click
here for readings)
When they came to the crowd, a man
approached Jesus and knelt before him. Lord, have mercy on my son, he said. He
has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the
water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him. O
unbelieving and perverse generation, Jesus replied, how long shall I stay with
you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me. Jesus rebuked
the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. Then
the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, Why couldn't we drive it out?
He replied, Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have
faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here
to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
(Matthew 17: 14-20)
Most people accept the importance of the
study of history. History is studied in schools and it is an important subject
in Arts faculties at University level. However, it is interesting to notice the
fields of history that are given most emphasis. Economic and political history
is largely assumed to be of most importance, whereas a case could easily be made
for an emphasis on other fields that often do not even get a look-in. I am
thinking of, for instance, the history of ideas and especially the history of
philosophy and perhaps too the history of man’s religions. Be all that as it
may, when it comes to the history of philosophy it is of value to notice what
have been the concerns of philosophers. They have been the nature of morality,
the world of our experience, the nature of history, human knowledge, and a host
of other basic questions. Within the Anglo-Saxon philosophical world human
knowledge has been at the forefront of interest. How can we be certain of
anything and what are the means of attaining the truth, if there be any
objective truth? Now, over the past couple of centuries the assumption has grown
that the criterion of truth is its demonstrability. That is to say, if a truth
can be demonstrated mathematically or scientifically - meaning in the main,
empirically - then it can be accepted as true. Now, of course, if a truth can be
demonstrated in this way, then it can be accepted as true. The problem is that
this is taken to be a total criterion of truth, which is to say that it is a
test to be applied to all truths. It is part of the naturalist assumption of
much of modern thought: the only reality that can be admitted is that which lies
within the boundaries of our sense-experience. Hence it is that there is a
strong suspicion against any truths which rely for their apprehension and
acceptance on faith. Typically we are not disposed to accept assertions which
rely on faith in another. That is our contemporary bias, and we need to come to
grips with it if we find it in ourselves because it will make us slow to accept
immensely important truths that come from entirely reliable sources.
Let us take our Gospel passage today,
for example. Our Lord is presented with a boy who is in