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
March 2008 is: "That the importance of forgiveness and
reconciliation between persons and people may be understood and that
the Church, through her testimony, may spread Christ's love, the source
of new humanity".
Pope Benedict's missionary intention for March
2008 is: "That Christians, who are persecuted in many parts of the world and in various manners because of the Gospel, may
continue, sustained by the strength of the Holy Spirit, to bear witness
courageously and openly to the Word of God".
(March 1) St. David of Wales (d. 589?)
David is the patron saint of Wales and perhaps the most famous of
British saints. Ironically, we have little reliable information about
him. It is known that he became a priest, engaged in missionary work
and founded many monasteries, including his principal abbey in
southwestern Wales. Many stories and legends sprang up about David and
his Welsh monks. Their austerity was extreme. They worked in silence
without the help of animals to till the soil. Their food was limited to
bread, vegetables and water. In about the year 550, David attended a
synod where his eloquence impressed his fellow monks to such a degree
that he was elected primate of the region. The episcopal see was moved
to Mynyw, where he had his monastery (now called St. David's). He ruled
his diocese until he had reached a very old age. His last words to his
monks and subjects were: "Be joyful, brothers and sisters. Keep your
faith, and do the little things that you have seen and heard with me."
St. David is pictured standing on a mound with a dove on his shoulder.
The legend is that once while he was preaching a dove descended to his
shoulder and the earth rose to lift him high above the people so that
he could be heard. Over 50 churches in South Wales were dedicated to
him in pre-Reformation days.
Were
we restricted to hard manual labour and a diet of bread, vegetables and
water, most of us would find little reason to rejoice. Yet joy is what
David urged on his brothers as he lay dying. Perhaps he could say that
to them—and to us—because he lived in and nurtured a constant awareness
of God’s nearness. For, as someone once said, “Joy is the infallible
sign of God’s presence.” May his intercession bless us with the same
awareness! (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today: Hosea
6:1-6; Psalm 50; Luke 18:9-14
Jesus told the
following parable to those who trusted in themselves as being just
while despising others. “Two men went into the
temple to pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The
Pharisee standing, prayed thus to himself: ‘O God, I give you thanks
that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as
is this publican. I fast twice a week: I give tithes of all that I
possess.’ The publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up
his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: ‘O God, be
merciful to me a sinner.’ I say to you, this man went home justified
whereas the other did not. Every one who exalts himself will be
humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
As we think of the
sea of activity that marks the life of mankind we think also of the
various goals of this human activity. Man strives to eat, to clothe and
protect himself, to produce works of culture and art, and to achieve a
host of other worthy things. But his greatest goal is
surely to establish a right relationship with God. The purpose of
religion is to be made right with God. If his conscience is enlightened
as to his own true condition man is aware that he is a sinner, which is
to say that he does not have this right relationship. How, then, is he
to be made right with God? God has revealed the answer to this question
and in our Gospel passage today our Lord tells of the Publican going
home right with God after his prayer, while the Pharisee does not. Well
then, what did the Publican do that reconciled him with God and which
the Pharisee did not do and which in consequence left him unreconciled?
Both were sinners, the one acknowledging his sinfulness, the other
blind to his sins. This is the most obvious difference between the two
and our Lord’s introduction to his parable gives us the indicator as to
what was behind this difference. He told the parable to those who
trusted in themselves as being just before God. It was not simply a
question of whether they were just - which, as we know from our Lord’s
strictures on them elsewhere, they were not - but that they “trusted in
themselves.” There are others mentioned in the Gospels who were just
and who trusted entirely in God. The example of this par excellence is
Mary the mother of Jesus who was “full of grace”. The Lord was with
her. She was blessed among women. Yet she trusted entirely in the Lord
and regarded herself as his lowly handmaid. Joseph the husband of Mary
was eminently just, as was Simeon who spoke of the child in the Temple.
They trusted not in themselves but in the Lord. The Publican of our
Lord’s parable was not just but he acknowledged his sinfulness and
trusted in the Lord for mercy. All he could do was entrust himself to
the mercy of God. This constituted his faith in God and it made him
right with God.
The Publican
acknowledged his sinfulness before God and all he could do was to
entrust himself to the God of mercy. In this he is the model for sinful
man. Mary the mother of the Lord was, as the angel Gabriel said, full
of grace and the Lord was with her. Still, she lived by faith in God
and not by any faith in herself. Sinful man too must trust in God and
this he begins to do by acknowledging his sins and appealing to God for
pardon. The Pharisee was blind to his sins and so trusted in himself.
He had no faith, for his faith was in himself. The faith in God of the
Publican saved and justified him, and the Pharisee’s faith in himself
kept him in his sins. What this tells us is that for sinful man the
lack of a sense of his personal sinfulness will lead him to trust in
himself. Blind to his sins, he will feel no need for God and his
salvation. The publicans and the sinners came seeking our Lord and
longed to be in his company. The scribes and the Pharisees resented our
Lord and were filled with jealousy at his manifest holiness and
authority. They felt no need for him for they trusted in themselves as
being just. Throughout our Lord’s public ministry he sought faith. Do
you believe I can do this for you, he kept asking. He required trust in
himself, in his word, in his teaching, in his love and power. Faith
in him was required for justification. Before he ascended into
heaven he commanded his disciples to go to the whole world and make
disciples of all the nations. All the nations were to be called to
belief, belief in him. Faith in him was necessary for salvation. He
said to them that the one who believes will be saved, and the one who
refuses to believe will be condemned. If we are to be delivered from
our sins and endowed with the gift of holiness in Christ, we must be
able to acknowledge our sins and trust in his grace. In one form or
another the danger lies in being like the Pharisee. The goal ought be
to have the faith of the Publican. It will make us right with God.
We would do very
well to make our life-long prayer that of the Publican: “O God, be
merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke
18:9-14) That most worthy prayer
will cultivate a sense of sin and deepen our faith. At the end of every
day let us make a sincere examination of conscience and then pray to
God for mercy, trusting in his goodness as we prepare to serve him the
next day. If we lack a sense of personal sin then in the depths of our
heart more and more we shall be trusting in ourselves.
(E.J.Tyler)
You worry only about building up your knowledge. And what you have to
build up is your soul. Then you will work as you ought — for Christ. In
order that he may reign in the world, there must be some people who,
with their eyes fixed on heaven, seek to acquire prestige in all human
activities, so that they can carry out quietly — and effectively — an
apostolate within their professions.
(The Way, no.347)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn
Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
III. Judgement as a setting for learning and practising hope
41. At the conclusion of the central section of the Church's great
Credo—the part that recounts the mystery of Christ, from his eternal
birth of the Father and his temporal birth of the Virgin Mary, through
his Cross and Resurrection to the second coming—we find the phrase: “he
will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”. From the
earliest times, the prospect of the Judgement has influenced Christians
in their daily living as a criterion by which to order their present
life, as a summons to their conscience, and at the same time as hope in
God's justice. Faith in Christ has never looked merely backwards or
merely upwards, but always also forwards to the hour of justice that
the Lord repeatedly proclaimed. This looking ahead has given
Christianity its importance for the present moment. In the arrangement
of Christian sacred buildings, which were intended to make visible the
historic and cosmic breadth of faith in Christ, it became customary to
depict the Lord returning as a king—the symbol of hope—at the east end;
while the west wall normally portrayed the Last Judgement as a symbol
of our responsibility for our lives—a scene which followed and
accompanied the faithful as they went out to resume their daily
routine. As the iconography of the Last Judgement developed, however,
more and more prominence was given to its ominous and frightening
aspects, which obviously held more fascination for artists than the
splendour of hope, often all too well concealed beneath the horrors.
(Continuing)
Prayers
this week:
Rejoice, Jerusalem!
Be glad for her, you who love her; rejoice with her, you who mourned
for her, and you will find contentment at her consoling breasts.(Isaiah
66:10-11) Father
of peace, we are joyful in your Word, your Son Jesus Christ, who
reconciles us to you. Let us hasten toward Easter with the eagerness of
faith and love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in
the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
(March 2, 2008)
St. Agnes of Bohemia (1205-1282)
Agnes had no children of her own but was
certainly life-giving for all who knew her. Agnes was the daughter of
Queen Constance and King Ottokar I of Bohemia. At the age of three, she
was betrothed to the Duke of Silesia, who died three years later. As
she grew up, she decided she wanted to enter the religious life. After
declining marriages to King Henry VII of Germany and Henry III of
England, Agnes was faced with a proposal from Frederick II, the Holy
Roman Emperor. She appealed to Pope Gregory IX for help. The pope was
persuasive; Frederick magnanimously said that he could not be offended
if Agnes preferred the King of Heaven to him.
After Agnes built a hospital for
the poor and a residence for the friars, she financed the construction
of a Poor Clare monastery in Prague. In 1236, she and seven other
noblewomen entered this monastery. Saint Clare sent five sisters from
San Damiano to join them, and wrote Agnes four letters advising her on
the beauty of her vocation and her duties as abbess. Agnes became known
for prayer, obedience and mortification. Papal pressure forced her to
accept her election as abbess; nevertheless, the title she preferred
was "senior sister." Her position did not prevent her from cooking for
the other sisters and mending the clothes of lepers. The sisters found
her kind but very strict regarding the observance of poverty; she
declined her royal brother’s offer to set up an endowment for the
monastery. Devotion to Agnes arose soon after her death on March 6,
1282. She was canonized in 1989.
Agnes spent at least 45 years in a Poor Clare monastery. Such a life
requires a great deal of patience and charity. The temptation to
selfishness certainly didn’t vanish when Agnes walked into the
monastery. It is perhaps easy for us to think that cloistered nuns
"have it made" regarding holiness. Their route is the same as ours:
gradual exchange of our standards (inclination to selfishness) for
God’s standard of generosity. "Have nothing to do with anyone who would
stand in your way and would seek to turn you aside from fulfilling the
vows which you have made to the Most High (Psalm 49:14) and from living
in that perfection to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you"
(Clare to Agnes, Letter II in Murray Bodo, O.F.M., Clare: A Light in
the Garden, p. 118).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture:
1 Samuel 16:1.6-7.10-13; Psalm 22;
Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
As he went along,
he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who
sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Neither this
man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the
work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we
must do the work of him who sent me.
Night is coming, when no-one can work. While I am in the world, I am
the light of the world. Having said this, he spat on the ground, made
some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. Go, he told
him, wash in the Pool of Siloam (this word means Sent). So the man went
and washed, and came home seeing. His neighbours and those who had
formerly seen him begging asked, Isn't this the same man who used to
sit and beg? Some claimed that he was. Others said, No, he only looks
like him. But he himself insisted, I am the man. How then were your
eyes opened? they demanded. He replied, The man they call Jesus made
some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So
I went and washed, and then I could see. Where is this man? they asked
him. I don't know, he said. They brought to the Pharisees the man who
had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened
the man's eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him
how he had received his sight. He put mud on my eyes, the man replied,
and I washed, and now I see. Some of the Pharisees said, This man is
not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. But others asked, How
can a sinner do such miraculous signs? So they were divided. Finally
they turned again to the blind man, What have you to say about him? It
was your eyes he opened. The man replied, He is a prophet. The Jews
still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight
until they sent for the man's parents. Is this your son? they asked. Is
this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see? We
know he is our son, the parents answered, and we know he was born
blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know.
Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself. His parents said this
because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided
that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out
of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, He is of age; ask him.
A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. Give glory to
God, they said. We know this man is a sinner. He replied, Whether he is
a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now
I see! Then they asked him, What did he do to you? How did he open your
eyes? He answered, I have told you already and you did not listen. Why
do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?
Then they hurled insults at him and said, You are this fellow's
disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses,
but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from. The man
answered, Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from,
yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He
listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of
opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he
could do nothing. To this they replied, You were steeped in sin at
birth; how dare you lecture us! And they threw him out. Jesus heard
that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, Do you
believe in the Son of Man? Who is he, sir? the man asked. Tell me so
that I may believe in him. Jesus said, You have now seen him; in fact,
he is the one speaking with you. Then the man said, Lord, I believe,
and he worshipped him. Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this
world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.
Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, What?
Are we blind too? Jesus said, If you were blind, you would not be
guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.(John 9:1-41)
Our Gospel passage
today is a long one from the Gospel of St John. It is universally
appreciated among readers of Scripture that in his Gospel St John
understands the miracles of our Lord as signs. They reveal who our Lord
is and the nature of his mission not only then but above all now in the
life of his body the Church. The
sacraments of the Church are actions of Christ signifying and revealing
what he is doing now for us who by faith and baptism live in him. The
word and preaching of the Church is the word of Christ who continues to
speak to us his brothers and sisters. Christ is not a past religious
teacher who from the grave speaks through written documents which have
their own contemporary masters. No, he lives now with us. He is real.
He abides in his body the Church. He is God with us now. He acts just
as much now as he did then. What he did then is a sign of what he does
now. St John was with the Master when he spoke and worked his miracles,
and during the years of his long life St John pondered the words he
reports and the events he narrates. The living person of Jesus now
risen would have been at the forefront of his mind and heart all his
long and apostolic life. I suspect that the events portrayed in his
Gospel and the words of our Lord as recorded there are those that
impressed themselves particularly on his loving memory. He may have
written them down with more and more ample detail as he remembered and
preached on them. He would have constantly and prayerfully returned to
his own text as it gradually developed, sensing (like the prophets)
that both in his recall and in his understanding he was guided by the
Holy Spirit. All he remembered related to the great Person who lived
now and who was constantly at hand. What he wrote he knew was the
written word of the living Jesus who was the Love of his life. That
Love, the living and risen Jesus who had showed such special love for
him, he communed with as he preached the word and especially as
celebrated the Holy Eucharist and the Sacraments.
All this is to say
that as we read our Gospel passage today (John 9:1-41), as with any Gospel
passage, our sense of the present reality of Jesus ought deepen. Very
many people think of Jesus as if he is a mere thought, an image before
them, an historical religious figure that had great impact, a memory,
an example for us, a sign, the source of a body of teaching, all of
these and more but not as a living person. Well then, let his words
speak to us as coming from him now. In our passage today our Lord is
questioned about the blindness afflicting a person nearby. Whose was
the moral fault that brought this punishment? Our Lord said that the
blindness of the man was allowed by God in order that God’s action
might be displayed in his life. We ought, incidentally, remember those
words whenever we see any handicapped person. His debility is allowed
by God in order that God’s work may be done. Time and again I have seen
film clips showing the extraordinary love and dedication of parents of
profoundly handicapped persons. God is at work in and through them and
the handicapped person is being touched and sustained by God through
them, and they themselves are being made more and more like unto God
due to their loving dedication. In our Gospel scene today the blindness
of the man was the occasion for our Lord’s teaching about his own
unique and absolute status as the Light of the world. Present in the
Church is this Light that is Christ - not just one among many lights,
but as the Light, the one Light that enlightens and is meant to
enlighten every man coming into the world. What a wonderful figure to
explain Christ! I remember years ago when I was in Peru I was coming
home on horseback from being out celebrating Mass in a village.
Darkness fell, and how dark it was! I had no light. We need light for
our life and far more so for our spiritual life. Christ is that Light
and not just for those who happen to choose for him. He is the Light of
the World. Without him we are like that blind man prior to his cure by
Christ.
Perhaps most people
in the world have at least heard of Christ. They would look on him as a
light, a light among many lights, but not the Light. I wonder if even
many Christians look on Christ as merely a light and not the Light,
which is to say as one light among many. As we think of our Lord
stating categorically that he is the light of the world and then going
on to demonstrate this by a sign, let us resolve to live by his light.
He is the true and living light of the world. Let us bring it to others.
(E.J.Tyler)
Your indolence, your carelessness, your laziness, are easygoing
cowardice — so your conscience tells you continually, — but they are
not 'the way'.
(The Way, no.348)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn
Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
III. Judgement as a setting for learning and practising hope
(cont.)
42. In the modern era, the idea of the Last Judgement has faded into
the background: Christian faith has been individualized and primarily
oriented towards the salvation of the believer's own soul, while
reflection on world history is largely dominated by the idea of
progress. The fundamental content of awaiting a final Judgement,
however, has not disappeared: it has simply taken on a totally
different form. The atheism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
is—in its origins and aims—a type of moralism: a protest against the
injustices of the world and of world history. A world marked by so much
injustice, innocent suffering, and cynicism of power cannot be the work
of a good God. A God with responsibility for such a world would not be
a just God, much less a good God. It is for the sake of morality that
this God has to be contested. Since there is no God to create justice,
it seems man himself is now called to establish justice. If in the face
of this world's suffering, protest against God is understandable, the
claim that humanity can and must do what no God actually does or is
able to do is both presumptuous and intrinsically false. It is no
accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and
violations of justice; rather, it is grounded in the intrinsic falsity
of the claim. A world which has to create its own justice is a world
without hope. No one and nothing can answer for centuries of suffering.
No one and nothing can guarantee that the cynicism of power—whatever
beguiling ideological mask it adopts—will cease to dominate the world.
This is why the great thinkers of the Frankfurt School, Max Horkheimer
and Theodor W. Adorno, were equally critical of atheism and theism.
Horkheimer radically excluded the possibility of ever finding a
this-worldly substitute for God, while at the same time he rejected the
image of a good and just God. In an extreme radicalization of the Old
Testament prohibition of images, he speaks of a “longing for the
totally Other” that remains inaccessible—a cry of yearning directed at
world history. Adorno also firmly upheld this total rejection of
images, which naturally meant the exclusion of any “image” of a loving
God. On the other hand, he also constantly emphasized this “negative”
dialectic and asserted that justice —true justice—would require a world
“where not only present suffering would be wiped out, but also that
which is irrevocably past would be undone.”(30) This, would mean,
however—to express it with positive and hence, for him, inadequate
symbols—that there can be no justice without a resurrection of the
dead. Yet this would have to involve “the resurrection of the flesh,
something that is totally foreign to idealism and the realm of Absolute
spirit.”(31)
(Continuing)
(March 3, 2008)
St. Katharine Drexel (1858-1955)
If your father is an
international banker and you ride in a private railroad car, you are
not likely to be drawn into a life of voluntary poverty. But if your
mother opens your home to the poor three days each week and your father
spends half an hour each evening in prayer, it is not impossible that
you will devote your life to the poor and give away millions of
dollars. Katharine Drexel did that. She was born in Philadelphia in
1858. She had an excellent education and travelled widely. As a rich
girl, she had a grand debut into society. But when she nursed her
stepmother through a three-year terminal illness, she saw that all the
Drexel money could not buy safety from pain or death, and her life took
a profound turn. She had always been interested in the plight of the
Indians, having been appalled by reading Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonor. While on a European tour, she met
Pope Leo XIII and asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for
her friend Bishop James O’Connor. The pope replied, “Why don’t you
become a missionary?” His answer shocked her into considering new
possibilities. Back home, she visited the Dakotas, met the Sioux leader
Red Cloud and began her systematic aid to Indian missions. She could
easily have married. But after much discussion with Bishop O’Connor,
she wrote in 1889, “The feast of St. Joseph brought me the grace to
give the remainder of my life to the Indians and the Colored.”
Newspaper headlines screamed “Gives Up Seven Million!” After three and
a half years of training, she and her first band of nuns (Sisters of
the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored) opened a boarding school
in Santa Fe. A string of foundations followed. By 1942 she had a system
of black Catholic schools in 13 states, plus 40 mission centres and 23
rural schools. Segregationists harassed her work, even burning a school
in Pennsylvania. In all, she established 50 missions for Indians in 16
states. Two saints met when she was advised by Mother Cabrini about the
“politics” of getting her Order’s Rule approved in Rome. Her crowning
achievement was the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans, the
first university in the United States for blacks. At 77, she suffered a
heart attack and was forced to retire. Apparently her life was over.
But now came almost 20 years of quiet, intense prayer from a small room
overlooking the sanctuary. Small notebooks and slips of paper record
her various prayers, ceaseless aspirations and meditation. She died at
96 and was canonized in 2000
Saints
have always said the same thing: Pray, be humble, accept the cross,
love and forgive. But it is good to hear these things in the American
idiom from one who, for instance, had her ears pierced as a teenager,
who resolved to have “no cake, no preserves,” who wore a watch, was
interviewed by the press, travelled by train and could concern herself
with the proper size of pipe for a new mission. These are obvious
reminders that holiness can be lived in today’s culture as well as in
that of Jerusalem or Rome. “The patient and humble endurance of the
cross—whatever nature it may be—is the highest work we have to do.”
“Oh, how far I am at 84 years of age from being an image of Jesus in
his sacred life on earth!” (Saint Katharine Drexel)
(AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today:
Isaiah 65:17-21; Psalm 29;
John 4:43-54
After two days
Jesus left for Galilee. Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet
has no honour in his own country. When he arrived in Galilee, the
Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the
Passover Feast, for they also had been there. Once more he visited Cana
in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a
certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man
heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and
begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless
you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will
never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my
child dies.” Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.” The man
took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his
servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he
enquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The
fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.” Then the father realised
that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, Your son
will live. So he and all his household believed. This was the second
miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.(John 4:43-54)
At times one gets
the impression from certain commentators on the life of Jesus that he
was all for the poor and downtrodden and had no time for the rich and
those of social position. But in no way was that the case. The blessing
which was his very person was available to all who had faith. Consider
our Gospel scene today (John 4: 43-54). The locale is once
again “Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine” (John
2). On that previous occasion at Cana when he worked his first miracle
our Lord and his disciples, we are told, had been invited to the
wedding. Imagine our Lord there among the guests during the actual
wedding! Then following the wedding, there was the wedding feast. In
all of this, our Lord is mixing with ordinary folk. But now, on this
second visit to Cana it is a “royal official whose son lay sick at
Capernaum” who approached him. He may have been an official at the
court of King Herod - who knows! He is, though, a person of social
position and probably some wealth. He had the faith to believe in the
word of Jesus and his request was granted. And what do we then see? As
a result of the healing of his son at the word of Jesus “he and all his
household believed.” They became believers and in view of the fact that
John wrote this many years later, we can presume that the household of
the royal official did not fall away from Christ. He was not the only
one of position. We read that one of the women who followed our Lord
and ministered to the apostolic band was the wife of one of Herod’s
stewards. On another occasion a centurion no less sent a group of
Jewish friends to ask Jesus to come to heal his servant. Our Lord
unhesitatingly got up and followed them. On the way he received a
message from the centurion and then turned around to those with him,
saying in amazement that nowhere had he found faith like that of the
centurion. Christ is open to all and wishes to save all by drawing them
into his friendship. We even find him accepting invitations to dine at
the homes of his critics, the Pharisees.
Christ came for
all, high and low, rich and poor alike. He came to call sinners to
repentance, and to offer to all access to the Kingdom of God which was
to be found in him. The basic prerequisite was faith in his person, a
faith manifested in obedience to his teaching. We notice in our passage
today that when the royal official approached, our Lord’s initial
response appears abrupt: “Unless you people see miraculous signs and
wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” Perhaps our Lord
uttered these words with a smile, showing that he was looking for more
than the mere request for a wondrous miracle. He was looking for that
faith in his person that did not depend on miracles. He knew how
ephemeral was the attitude of so many who followed him because of his
miracles. When the test of faith in his word came - such as when he
unambiguously taught the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist at Capernaum -
very many of his disciples left him. What he said about eating his
flesh and drinking his blood was too much for them. They had not learnt
to believe in his word alone. Unless they saw signs and wonders they
would not believe. Our Lord was looking for more than this from the
royal official, and he got it. All this is to say that we are all
invited to place our faith in the person of Jesus and in his word. Our
faith in his person is expressed and is nourished by our full and
hearty acceptance of his teaching. If we do not accept what he says, we
do not have faith in his person. Well now, where do we hear the word of
Christ? We hear it where Christ actually abides, and he abides in his
body the Church. Christ abides in the Church he founded on the Apostles
with Peter at their head. Each generation he speaks his word in the
Church’s inspired book which is the Scriptures and he speaks his word
in the Church’s official teaching and preaching. Just as the living
Jesus taught during his public ministry and asked for faith in him, so
too he does so now in the life and ministry of the Church.
Let us gaze on the
person of Jesus in our gospel passage today as he speaks to the royal
official. He gently challenges the official to have genuine faith in
him and not to be dependent on mere signs and wonders. He asks the
official to accept his word on the authority of his very person. The
same Jesus lives now and asks each of us this same faith and
acceptance. This we do when we hear and accept the word and teaching of
his body the Church, uttered in his name.
(E.J.Tyler)
As long as the opinion you expressed was orthodox there is no reason to
be upset, even though the malice of whoever heard you caused him to be
scandalized. For his scandal is pharisaical.
(The Way, no.349)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn
Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
III. Judgement as a setting for learning and practising hope
(cont.)
43. Christians likewise can and must constantly learn from the strict
rejection of images that is contained in God's first commandment (cf.
Ex 20:4). The truth of negative theology was highlighted by the Fourth
Lateran Council, which explicitly stated that however great the
similarity that may be established between Creator and creature, the
dissimilarity between them is always greater.(32) In any case, for the
believer the rejection of images cannot be carried so far that one ends
up, as Horkheimer and Adorno would like, by saying “no” to both
theses—theism and atheism. God has given himself an “image”: in Christ
who was made man. In him who was crucified, the denial of false images
of God is taken to an extreme. God now reveals his true face in the
figure of the sufferer who shares man's God-forsaken condition by
taking it upon himself. This innocent sufferer has attained the
certitude of hope: there is a God, and God can create justice in a way
that we cannot conceive, yet we can begin to grasp it through faith.
Yes, there is a resurrection of the flesh.(33) There is justice.(34)
There is an “undoing” of past suffering, a reparation that sets things
aright. For this reason, faith in the Last Judgement is first and
foremost hope—the need for which was made abundantly clear in the
upheavals of recent centuries. I am convinced that the question of
justice constitutes the essential argument, or in any case the
strongest argument, in favour of faith in eternal life. The purely
individual need for a fulfilment that is denied to us in this life, for
an everlasting love that we await, is certainly an important motive for
believing that man was made for eternity; but only in connection with
the impossibility that the injustice of history should be the final
word does the necessity for Christ's return and for new life become
fully convincing.
(Continuing)
(March 4,
2008) St. Casimir (1458-1483)
Casimir, born of kings and in line (third among 13 children) to
be a king himself, was filled with exceptional values and learning by a
great teacher, John Dlugosz. Even his critics could not say that his
conscientious objection indicated softness. Even as a teenager, Casimir
lived a highly disciplined, even severe life, sleeping on the ground,
spending a great part of the night in prayer and dedicating himself to
lifelong celibacy. When nobles in Hungary became dissatisfied with
their king, they prevailed upon Casimir’s father, the king of Poland,
to send his son to take over the country. Casimir obeyed his father, as
many young men over the centuries have obeyed their government. The
army he was supposed to lead was clearly outnumbered by the “enemy”;
some of his troops were deserting because they were not paid. At the
advice of his officers, Casimir decided to return home. His father was
irked at the failure of his plans, and confined his 15-year-old son for
three months. The lad made up his mind never again to become involved
in the wars of his day, and no amount of persuasion could change his
mind. He returned to prayer and study, maintaining his decision to
remain celibate even under pressure to marry the emperor’s daughter. He
reigned briefly as king of Poland during his father’s absence. He died
of lung trouble at 23 while visiting Lithuania, of which he was also
Grand Duke. He was buried in Vilnius, Lithuania.
For many years Poland and Lithuania
faded into the gray prison on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
Despite repression, the Poles and Lithuanians remained firm in the
faith which has become synonymous with their name. Their youthful
patron reminds us: Peace is not won by war; sometimes a comfortable
peace is not even won by virtue, but Christ’s peace can penetrate every
government repression of religion. (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today:
Ezechiel
47:1-9.12; Psalm 45; John 5:1-16
Some time
later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is
in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Hebrew is called
Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.
Here a great number of disabled people used to lie— the blind, the
lame, the paralysed. One who was there had been an invalid for
thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had
been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, Do you want to
get well? Sir, the invalid replied, I have no-one to help me into the
pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone
else goes down ahead of me. Then Jesus said to him, Get up! Pick up
your mat and walk. At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and
walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews
said to the man who had been healed, It is the Sabbath; the law forbids
you to carry your mat. But he replied, The man who made me well said to
me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' So they asked him, Who is this fellow
who told you to pick it up and walk? The man who was healed had no idea
who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, See, you are well
again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. The man went
away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. So,
because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews
persecuted him. (John 5:1-16)
It is clear
from the Gospels that our Lord appeared on the scene with a world-wide
mission. This mission had its roots in the distant past when God
promised Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth would be
blessed. The inspired author of the book of Genesis discerned the
origins of this promise
to lie at the dawn of human history when upon the Fall of man God
promised that the seed of the woman would crush the Serpent’s head.
With his mission completed the risen Jesus sent his Apostles out to
make disciples of all the nations. But now, while Christ aimed not only
at the children of Israel but at the whole world, we must always
appreciate that each individual counts. Each single person matters to
him. Each of us matters, and we see an instance of this in our Gospel
passage today. Our Lord is not with the crowds but is alone, perhaps
with a few of his close disciples - maybe with John who reports the
incident. He could have left the invalid alone as he knew he had been
here in this condition for a long time. Presumably he had at various
times seen him perhaps even from his hidden years at Nazareth when he
would come up for the annual feasts. Whatever of that, there was no
obvious advantage to his wider mission to stop so as to dramatically
assist this invalid. But he did so. He stopped and “asked him, Do you
want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied, I have no-one to help me
into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in,
someone else goes down ahead of me. Then Jesus said to him, Get up!
Pick up your mat and walk. At once the man was cured; he picked up his
mat and walked.”
(John 5:1-16). At once Jesus merged
with the crowd as it celebrated the feast. There was no fanfare. All
that it did was to bring on our Lord more persecution from the leaders.
It was an act of pure compassion directed at a lone individual with a
subsequent brief meeting directing him to repent of his sins or else
worse would befall him.
This same
Jesus lives. The risen Jesus abides with us still, but unseen. He is
present in his body the Church, and continually acts as the Church’s
invisible head. The Church brings him to those to whom she ministers by
means of her inspired Scriptures, and by means of her preaching,
teaching, Sacraments and works of mercy. The point, though, is that
Jesus looks on each person now, gazing with compassion on everyone who
is afflicted with suffering of one kind or another. Just as he stopped
to look at and to speak to this invalid in our Gospel passage today, a
person who had been in this condition for a long time, so he gazes with
compassion on every person who is burdened with suffering. He has a
predilection for the poor and the suffering, without meaning to imply
that he loves any the less the one who happens not at that point to be
suffering. Indeed, this is Christianity. Christianity is not simply a
teaching about God and the moral life. Nor is it simply a teaching
about redemption from sin and the acquisition of holiness of life. It
is above all a relationship with a living person, the person of Jesus.
He is present to every man and woman, just as during his public
ministry he made himself present to this invalid. Now he is present to
all, and each and all may call upon him as their friend. He is the
unseen friend of every man and woman, especially one who is
overburdened. He said on another occasion, “Come to me all you who
labour and are overburdened and I will give you 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. My yoke is easy and my burden light.” This
invitation is lovingly directed to each individual, and these words
ought be heard as being meant for each. Soren Kierkegaard once wrote
that we ought read the Scriptures as one would read a letter from a
dear friend. The point there is that Christ loves me, me, and gave
himself up for me, for me - as St Paul writes in one of his Letters.
As we place
ourselves in our Gospel scene today let us remember that the encounter
between Jesus and this afflicted individual is constantly occurring in
cases beyond number from generation to generation in the history of the
Church. The living unseen Jesus is with us still and he is gazing on
each of us with love. Let us turn to him for help in all our needs, but
especially for our greatest need which is to be liberated from sin and
to be made holy in God’s sight.
(E.J.Tyler)
It's not enough to be learned, in addition to being a good
Christian. If you don't correct the brusqueness of your character, if
you make your zeal and your knowledge incompatible with good manners, I
can't see you ever becoming a saint. And despite your learning —
because of it — you should be tied in a stall, like a mule.
(The Way, no.350)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
III. Judgement as a setting for learning and practising hope
(cont.)
44. To protest against God in the name of justice is not helpful.
A world without God is a world without hope (cf. Eph 2:12). Only God
can create justice. And faith gives us the certainty that he does so.
The image of the Last Judgement is not primarily an image of terror,
but an image of hope; for us it may even be the decisive image of hope.
Is it not also a frightening image? I would say: it is an image that
evokes responsibility, an image, therefore, of that fear of which Saint
Hilary spoke when he said that all our fear has its place in love.(35)
God is justice and creates justice. This is our consolation and our
hope. And in his justice there is also grace. This we know by turning
our gaze to the crucified and risen Christ. Both these things—justice
and grace—must be seen in their correct inner relationship. Grace does
not cancel out justice. It does not make wrong into right. It is not a
sponge which wipes everything away, so that whatever someone has done
on earth ends up being of equal value. Dostoevsky, for example, was
right to protest against this kind of Heaven and this kind of grace in
his novel The Brothers Karamazov. Evildoers, in the end, do not sit at
table at the eternal banquet beside their victims without distinction,
as though nothing had happened. Here I would like to quote a passage
from Plato which expresses a premonition of just judgement that in many
respects remains true and salutary for Christians too. Albeit using
mythological images, he expresses the truth with an unambiguous
clarity, saying that in the end souls will stand naked before the
judge. It no longer matters what they once were in history, but only
what they are in truth: “Often, when it is the king or some other
monarch or potentate that he (the judge) has to deal with, he finds
that there is no soundness in the soul whatever; he finds it scourged
and scarred by the various acts of perjury and wrong-doing ...; it is
twisted and warped by lies and vanity, and nothing is straight because
truth has had no part in its development. Power, luxury, pride, and
debauchery have left it so full of disproportion and ugliness that when
he has inspected it (he) sends it straight to prison, where on its
arrival it will undergo the appropriate punishment ... Sometimes,
though, the eye of the judge lights on a different soul which has lived
in purity and truth ... then he is struck with admiration and sends him
to the isles of the blessed.”(36) In the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus (cf. Lk 16:19-31), Jesus admonishes us through the image of a
soul destroyed by arrogance and opulence, who has created an impassable
chasm between himself and the poor man; the chasm of being trapped
within material pleasures; the chasm of forgetting the other, of
incapacity to love, which then becomes a burning and unquenchable
thirst. We must note that in this parable Jesus is not referring to the
final destiny after the Last Judgement, but is taking up a notion
found, inter alia, in early Judaism, namely that of an intermediate
state between death and resurrection, a state in which the final
sentence is yet to be pronounced.
(Continuing)
(March 5, 2008) St.
John Joseph of the Cross (1654-1734)
Self-denial is never an end
in itself but is only a help toward greater charity—as the life of
Saint John Joseph shows. John Joseph was very ascetic even as a young
man. At 16 he joined the Franciscans in Naples; he was the first
Italian to follow the reform movement of Saint Peter Alcantara. John’s
reputation for holiness prompted his superiors to put him in charge of
establishing a new friary even before he was ordained. Obedience moved
John to accept appointments as novice master, guardian and, finally,
provincial. His years of mortification enabled him to offer these
services to the friars with great charity. As guardian he was not above
working in the kitchen or carrying the wood and water needed by the
friars. When his term as provincial expired, John Joseph dedicated
himself to hearing confessions and practicing mortification, two
concerns contrary to the spirit of the dawning Age of Enlightenment.
John Joseph was canonized in 1839.
John Joseph’s mortification
allowed him to be the kind of forgiving superior intended by St.
Francis. Self-denial should lead us to charity—not to bitterness; it
should help us clarify our priorities and make us more loving. John
Joseph is living proof of Chesterton’s observation: "It is always easy
to let the age have its head; the difficult thing is to keep one’s own"
(G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, page 101). "And by this I
wish to know if you love the Lord God and me, his servant and yours—if
you have acted in this manner: that is, there should not be any brother
in the world who has sinned, however much he may have possibly sinned,
who, after he has looked into your eyes, would go away without having
received your mercy, if he is looking for mercy. And if he were not to
seek mercy, you should ask him if he wants mercy. And if he should sin
thereafter a thousand times before your very eyes, love him more than
me so that you may draw him back to the Lord. Always be merciful to
[brothers] such as these" (St. Francis, Letter to a Minister). (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today: Isaiah 49:8-15; Psalm
144; John 5:17-30
Jesus said to
them,” My Father is always working and I, too, am working.” For this
reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; for not only was he
breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father,
making himself equal to God. Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you
the truth, the Son can do
nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing,
because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father
loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will
show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises
the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is
pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no-one, but has
entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as
they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour
the Father, who sent him. I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be
condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the
truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the
voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father
has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in
their graves will hear his voice and come out— those who have done good
will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be
condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my
judgment is just for I seek not my own will but the will of the one who
sent me.” (John 5:17-30)
There have been
rulers in the past (such as, it seems, Alexander the Great and some of
the Caesars) who strove to be eventually acknowledged as divine. Of
course, the ancient and classical notion of the gods was entirely
different from that of the God of historical revelation. Those who
claimed to be gods were
seeking to be counted among those heavenly powers that exercised
various levels of influence on the world and which were supplicated and
worshipped by men. But as far as I am aware no one of any consequence
claimed to be equal to the one only and infinite God. Of course
monotheism was rare in the ancient world and outside the revelation
stemming from Abraham it has always been rare. Hence the claims of
Jesus Christ are stunning, and stunned the leaders of the Jews. The
authority with which he preached and taught was mesmerizing. He
supported this authority with miracles of great power. If one accepts
the historicity of the Gospels it is clear that no prophet before
Christ was in any way his equal, and his unique standing was made clear
by the almighty Father himself on certain specific occasions (such as
at his Baptism and Transfiguration). But the most striking thing about
Jesus of Nazareth was his serene claim to be divine, divine in the
sense of being his heavenly Father’s equal. Our Lord’s enemies quickly
saw this implication in what he was saying. He was not claiming that he
himself was the Father. Nor was he claiming to be in some sense another
god. No, there was only one God, and that one and only God was his own
Father. His Father was distinct from himself as a person for he himself
was the Son. But being the Father’s very own Son, he shared with the
Father the divine nature. All that the Father does, the Son has been
given to do. As his enemies immediately saw, “not only was he breaking
the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself
equal to God.”
(John 5:17-30).
Our Lord
immediately proceeded to explain. He did not deny that he was making
himself equal to God, but as a person he gave full precedence to the
Father. He would only do what he saw the Father doing, and all that the
Father does, the Son does too. Just as the Father gives life to
whomever he wishes, so does the Son. Indeed, the Father has left all
judgment over men to the Son so “that all may honour the Son just as
they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour
the Father, who sent him.” Christ is placing himself on a par with the
Father in terms of the honour due to him. All of this is by disposition
of the Father. Moreover, so great is Christ’s word that the one who
hears and accepts it will have life, for the Father has granted to the
Son to have life in himself. As I said, no other prophet made such
extraordinary claims. John the Baptist, the greatest of those before
him, said that he was not worthy to bend down to undo Christ’s very
sandal straps. Nor did any other great religious leader or founder ever
make such claims either. Mahomet’s claims cannot compare with them, nor
can those of Zoroaster, Buddha, or any other. Moreover, the leaders saw
exactly what was being implied and they resolved to do away with him.
Together with this, Christ manifested marvellous judgment, holiness and
power over the elements of the natural world and over the underworld.
If ever there was a natural lord and king, it was he, and when he rose
from the dead and showed himself to the doubting Thomas, Thomas
excelled himself with his profession of faith. “My Lord and my God,” he
cried. Jesus was Yahweh of the Old Testament, as was his heavenly
Father. Before he ascended into heaven he told his disciples that
indeed all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him, and
that they were to go to the whole world and make disciples of all the
nations. The message of Christianity is Christ himself, and its call is
a call to union with Jesus Christ who is Lord.
Our Gospel passage
today invites us to contemplate the person of Jesus Christ and to go
beyond mere wonder. The Governor-General of Australia once said that
the greatest leader in the world was Jesus Christ. Of course he was,
but that praise in no way fully encompasses the grandeur of his person.
Jesus Christ is a divine person possessed of two distinct natures. His
divine nature is his from all eternity as God. His human nature he took
to himself when he became man. Let us with Thomas adore him and place
ourselves in his keeping, resolving to love and serve him totally.
(E.J.Tyler)
With that self-satisfied air you are becoming an objectionable and
repellent type, you are making a fool of yourself, and, what is worse,
you are harming your apostolic work.
Don't forget that even mediocrities can sin by being pompous.
(The Way, no.351)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn
Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
III. Judgement as a setting for learning and practising hope
(cont.)
45. This early Jewish idea of an intermediate state includes the view
that these souls are not simply in a sort of temporary custody but, as
the parable of the rich man illustrates, are already being punished or
are experiencing a provisional form of bliss. There is also the idea
that this state can involve purification and healing which mature the
soul for communion with God. The early Church took up these concepts,
and in the Western Church they gradually developed into the doctrine of
Purgatory. We do not need to examine here the complex historical paths
of this development; it is enough to ask what it actually means. With
death, our life-choice becomes definitive—our life stands before the
judge. Our choice, which in the course of an entire life takes on a
certain shape, can have a variety of forms. There can be people who
have totally destroyed their desire for truth and readiness to love,
people for whom everything has become a lie, people who have lived for
hatred and have suppressed all love within themselves. This is a
terrifying thought, but alarming profiles of this type can be seen in
certain figures of our own history. In such people all would be beyond
remedy and the destruction of good would be irrevocable: this is what
we mean by the word Hell.(37) On the other hand there can be people who
are utterly pure, completely permeated by God, and thus fully open to
their neighbours—people for whom communion with God even now gives
direction to their entire being and whose journey towards God only
brings to fulfillment what they already are.(38)
(Continuing)
(March 6, 2008) Servant of God Sylvester of
Assisi (d. 1240)
Sylvester was one of
the first 12 followers of St. Francis of Assisi and was the first
priest in the Franciscan Order. A descendant of a noble family,
Sylvester once sold Francis stones which were to be used to rebuild a
church. When, a short while later, he saw Francis and Bernard of
Quintavalle distributing Bernard's wealth to the poor, Sylvester
complained that he had been poorly paid for the stones and asked for
more money. Though Francis obliged, the handful of money he gave
Sylvester soon filled him with guilt. He sold all of his goods, began a
life of penance and joined Francis and the others. Sylvester became a
holy and prayerful man, and a favorite of Francis—a companion on his
journeys, the one Francis went to for advice. It was Sylvester and
Clare who answered Francis' query with the response that he should
serve God by going out to preach rather than by devoting himself to
prayer. Once in a city where civil war was raging, Sylvester was
commanded by Francis to drive the devils out. At the city gate
Sylvester cried out: "In the name of almighty God and by virtue of the
command of his servant Francis, depart from here, all you evil
spirits." The devils departed and peace returned to the city. Sylvester
lived 14 more years after the death of Francis and is buried near him
in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.
Sylvester probably would
have asked a higher price for his stones if he had thought Francis had
the money. In today’s world he might have written the difference off on
his taxes as a charitable contribution, but that wasn’t an option in
his day. Quite understandably, he asked for payment from the money
Francis was handing out so freely. So why did he later feel guilty?
Perhaps he realized that, like many of us, he placed a higher value on
lesser things.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today:
Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 105; John 5:31-47
Jesus said, “If I
testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who
testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is
valid. You sent to John and he testified to the truth. Not that I
accept human testimony; but I refer to it in order that you may be
saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave
light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. I have testimony
weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has
given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has
sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning
me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word
dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently
study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal
life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to
come to me to have life. I do not accept praise from men, but I know
you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have
come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else
comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you
accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise
that comes from the one God? But do not think I will accuse you before
the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you
believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since
you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I
say?”(John 5:31-47)
In our passage
today our Lord confronts his critics and answers their demand for
support for his claims and actions. They refuse to accept his testimony
about himself as valid if unsupported by other testimonies. Christ
answers that he himself does not depend on human testimony, but he will
refer to it so that
his interlocutors may be saved. John’s was the most obvious testimony.
Our Lord’s reference to John indicates that the fulsome words of John
about Jesus as reported in the Gospels and as given especially in the
Gospel of St John was a very public testimony. Reading the first
chapter of St John may give one the impression that it was to his own
disciples that John testified specifically about Jesus. But our Lord’s
challenge to the leaders as given in our passage today indicates that
they were well aware that the prophet John had testified to Jesus
himself. All the people had accepted John as a prophet, and the leaders
too - our Lord says here - “chose for a time to enjoy his light.” John
had declared that he himself was not worthy to kneel down to undo
Christ’s sandal straps. Jesus was the promised One, he had declared.
But our Lord points out that there had been a weightier testimony than
that of John: his own works and ministry. Even without the testimony of
John, his teaching and his works would have been sufficient. When John
himself, from prison, sent disciples to Christ for further confirmation
that he was indeed the one who was to come, Christ pointed to his
works. Tell John, he said, that the blind see, the lame walk, the dead
rise again. Look at what I am doing and see how it vindicates the truth
of what you said about me. His critics could not deny the power of his
words and deeds, and because of them the people held him high. Our Lord
pointed to his works even with his own disciples: at least believe
because of the works I am doing, he said, even if it is difficult to
believe simply on my word.
But there is more
still. Beyond John’s testimony and beyond his own words and actions,
the heavenly Father himself has testified too: “And the Father who sent
me has himself testified concerning me.” Our Lord may have been
referring here to the voice of the Father at his baptism which was to
some extent public and may have been spoken of by various people.
Certainly John himself spoke of the testimony the Father himself had
given of Jesus. And then, our Lord said, there is the testimony of
Scripture itself, that Scripture to which the leaders his critics were
always referring. “You diligently study the Scriptures because you
think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures
that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life....If
you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But
since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe
what I say?”
(John 5:31-47). Our Lord says that their refusal to come to
him shows that they lack faith in their very reading of the Scriptures.
If they had divine faith they would, on hearing John’s testimony and on
seeing Christ and his works, recognize that it was of him that Moses
and the Scriptures had spoken. Our Lord during his public ministry and
teaching often referred to the Scriptures and to how he was their
fulfilment. He himself was profoundly steeped in the Scriptures and
knew that they were to be fulfilled and that he would fulfil them. When
he rose from the dead he walked with his two disciples on the way to
Emmaus and went through the Scriptures with them showing how the
Messiah had to suffer and die, then rise and so enter his glory. All of
these indicators bear testimony to the grandeur and uniqueness of
Jesus: the words about him of the great prophet John, his own teaching
and works that filled his public ministry, the testimony of the Father
himself, and the fulfilment of the Scriptures in his own person.
The Christian is
one who can see that Jesus is all that he claimed to be. There is ample
support for all he said he was and all he said he could and would do
for us. In view of this, Christ is the yardstick that tests the truth
of all other claims. To the extent that any other claim contradicts the
claims and the teaching of Christ, to that extent must those other
claims be rejected as not being in accord with the truth. Let us take
our stand with Jesus and bring his person and his truth to our daily
life.
(E.J.Tyler)
Your very inexperience leads you to that
presumption, to that vanity, to all that you imagine gives you an air
of importance.
Correct yourself, please. Foolish and all, you might come to occupy a
position of responsibility (it has happened more than once) and, if you
are not convinced of your lack of ability, you will refuse to listen to
those who have the gift of counsel. And it frightens me to think of the
harm your mismanagement will do.
(The Way, no.352)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn
Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
III. Judgement as a setting for learning and practising hope
(cont.)
46. Yet we know from experience that neither case is normal in human
life. For the great majority of people—we may suppose—there remains in
the depths of their being an ultimate interior openness to truth, to
love, to God. In the concrete choices of life, however, it is covered
over by ever new compromises with evil —much filth covers purity, but
the thirst for purity remains and it still constantly re-emerges from
all that is base and remains present in the soul. What happens to such
individuals when they appear before the Judge? Will all the impurity
they have amassed through life suddenly cease to matter? What else
might occur? Saint Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, gives
us an idea of the differing impact of God's judgement according to each
person's particular circumstances. He does this using images which in
some way try to express the invisible, without it being possible for us
to conceptualize these images—simply because we can neither see into
the world beyond death nor do we have any experience of it. Paul begins
by saying that Christian life is built upon a common foundation: Jesus
Christ. This foundation endures. If we have stood firm on this
foundation and built our life upon it, we know that it cannot be taken
away from us even in death. Then Paul continues: “Now if any one builds
on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
straw—each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose
it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what
sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on
the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is
burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but
only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:12-15). In this text, it is in any case
evident that our salvation can take different forms, that some of what
is built may be burned down, that in order to be saved we personally
have to pass through “fire” so as to become fully open to receiving God
and able to take our place at the table of the eternal marriage-feast.
(Continuing)
(March 7) Saints
Perpetua and Felicity (d. 203?)
“When my father in his
affection for me was trying to turn me from my purpose by arguments and
thus weaken my faith, I said to him, ‘Do you see this vessel—waterpot
or whatever it may be? Can it be called by any other name than what it
is?’ ‘No,’ he replied. ‘So also I cannot call myself by any other name
than what I am—a Christian.’” So writes Perpetua, young, beautiful,
well-educated, a noblewoman of Carthage, mother of an infant son and
chronicler of the persecution of the Christians by Emperor Septimius
Severus. Despite threats of persecution and death, Perpetua, Felicity
(a slavewoman and expectant mother) and three companions, Revocatus,
Secundulus and Saturninus, refused to renounce their Christian faith.
For their unwillingness, all were sent to the public games in the
amphitheater. There, Perpetua and Felicity were beheaded, and the
others killed by beasts. Perpetua’s mother was a Christian and her
father a pagan. He continually pleaded with her to deny her faith. She
refused and was imprisoned at 22. In her diary, Perpetua describes her
period of captivity: “What a day of horror! Terrible heat, owing to the
crowds! Rough treatment by the soldiers! To crown all, I was tormented
with anxiety for my baby.... Such anxieties I suffered for many days,
but I obtained leave for my baby to remain in the prison with me, and
being relieved of my trouble and anxiety for him, I at once recovered
my health, and my prison became a palace to me and I would rather have
been there than anywhere else.” Felicity gave birth to a girl a few
days before the games commenced. Perpetua’s record of her trial and
imprisonment ends the day before the games. “Of what was done in the
games themselves, let him write who will.” The diary was finished by an
eyewitness.
Persecution for religious
beliefs is not confined to Christians in ancient times. Consider Anne
Frank, the Jewish girl who, with her family, was forced into hiding and
later died in Bergen-Belsen, one of Hitler’s death camps during World
War II. Anne, like Perpetua and Felicity, endured hardship and
suffering and finally death because she committed herself to God. In
her diary Anne writes, “It’s twice as hard for us young ones to hold
our ground, and maintain our opinions, in a time when all ideals are
being shattered and destroyed, when people are showing their worst
side, and do not know whether to believe in truth and right and God."
Perpetua, unwilling to renounce Christianity, comforted her father in
his grief over her decision, “It shall happen as God shall choose, for
assuredly we depend not on our own power but on the power of God.“ (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today: Wisdom 2: 1.12-22;
Psalm 33; John 7:1-2.10.25-30
After this, Jesus
went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the
Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of
Tabernacles was near, after his brothers had left for
the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. At that point
some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, Isn't this the man they
are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not
saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is
the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes,
no-one will know where he is from. Then Jesus, teaching in the temple
courts, cried out, Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am
not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him,
but I know him because I am from him and he sent me. At this they tried
to seize him, but no-one laid a hand on him, because his time had not
yet come.(John 7:1-2.10.25-30)
One of the very
intriguing things in human history are patterns of success and failure.
We see certain persons who are able and good, and yet who humanly
speaking seem to fail. That is to say, they do not gain
status, social influence and the praise of the many. They even end
their lives in oblivion. Others perhaps of less ability, fewer human
and moral qualities and much less possession of the truth do well in
society and end their days with the praise of men. Now, some who
observe this phenomenon go on to imagine that ultimate success is
indicated and defined in terms of social influence, status and the
praise of men. Some even see the very truth of a person’s position to
be tested and manifested by the extent of its acceptance by those
around him. For instance, some have been of the view that Mahomet’s
social, political and military success vindicated the truth of his
religious message. He ended his days having attained a remarkable
ascendancy in his own region, and the Muslim armies extended it at a
stunning rate after his death. It showed - so Islam thinks - that Allah
was with him, confirming the truth of his utterances. Of course, if
this were all that there was to the case for Islam a serious thinker
could not be persuaded. After all, Genghis Khan had extraordinary
success. At a spiritual level, the Arians and the Nestorians had great
success over various centuries. I introduce this issue not to discuss
it at length, but simply to set forth the pattern that marked the life
of Christ. Who can deny his greatness? Who can question the loftiness
of his message nor the holiness of his person, nor the remarkable
powers he had to work miracles? These are facts which even Mahomet
himself accepted, even if he got no further than looking on Christ (as
did so many in his own day) as but a prophet like the others before him
- and not even to be rated on a level with himself. So then, Christ our
Lord was great, but my point here is, look at how different was the
pattern of his life, as alluded to in our Gospel today(John 7:1-2.10.25-30).
Within the
parameters of his life Christ did not have much success, if we define
success in terms of status, influence upon those who matter, and the
praise and adulation of the many. Consider the death of Christ on the
cross and consider by contrast the death of Mahomet. The one involved
tremendous rejection, the other was marked by widespread adulation. Of
course, as already mentioned, the Christian would say that acceptance
and adulation is no necessary indicator of truth, and to assume that it
is, is just that - it is an assumption. But what I am doing here is
setting in relief a striking pattern in the life of Christ, namely that
his path was one of rejection and it went against the ways of the
world. He did not seek adulation, and indeed he knew it was not the
path of God. In our Gospel today we read that “Jesus went around in
Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were
waiting to take his life.” Then when our Lord did go to Jerusalem, we
read that “at that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask,
Isn't this the man they are trying to kill?” Our Lord did not gain the
acceptance of those who mattered. Indeed, the more he announced the
central features of his doctrine, the more he lost his own disciples.
We read in St John’s Gospel - in chapter 6, preceding the chapter of
our passage today - that when our Lord taught the doctrine of the
Eucharist, that he was to give his flesh to eat and his blood to drink,
very many of his disciples left him. But so it had to be, for our Lord
immediately turned to the Twelve and asked if they were going to leave
him too. There was to be no turning back from the Truth he had come to
reveal. He even lost one of the Twelve who at a subsequent point went
off to betray him. In our Gospel today we read that his enemies “tried
to seize him, but no-one laid a hand on him for his time had not yet
come.” But the time did eventually come when he allowed himself to be
seized, totally rejected, and condemned to death on a cross. The
surprise is that in the plan of God this is how true success was to be
gained.
Success in the
sight of God comes from bearing witness to the truth in the midst of
suffering. Christ’s way is not the way of the world. Simon Peter tried
to dissuade our from the path of suffering and the cross. “Get behind
me, you Satan!” was our Lord’s reply. “The way you think is the way of
man, and not of God.” Let us take our stand with Jesus, bearing in mind
constantly his teaching that anyone who wishes to be his disciple must
renounce himself, take up his cross every day and follow in his
footsteps. Christ reveals the Cross as the path to true success, as God
sees it.
(E.J.Tyler)
Nonsectarianism. Neutrality. Old myths that always try to seem new.
Have you ever stopped to think how absurd it is to leave one's
Catholicism aside on entering a university, a professional association,
a cultural society, or Parliament, like a man leaving his hat at the
door?
(The Way, no.353)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn
Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
III. Judgement as a setting for learning and practising hope
(cont.)
47. Some recent theologians are of the opinion that the fire which both
burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Saviour. The encounter
with him is the decisive act of judgement. Before his gaze all
falsehood melts away. This encounter with him, as it burns us,
transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves. All
that we build during our lives can prove to be mere straw, pure
bluster, and it collapses. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the
impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies
salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an
undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a
blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like
a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of
God. In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also
becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our
defilement does not stain us for ever if we have at least continued to
reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love. Indeed, it
has already been burned away through Christ's Passion. At the moment of
judgement we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of his
love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves. The pain of love
becomes our salvation and our joy. It is clear that we cannot calculate
the “duration” of this transforming burning in terms of the
chronological measurements of this world. The transforming “moment” of
this encounter eludes earthly time-reckoning—it is the heart's time, it
is the time of “passage” to communion with God in the Body of
Christ.(39) The judgement of God is hope, both because it is justice
and because it is grace. If it were merely grace, making all earthly
things cease to matter, God would still owe us an answer to the
question about justice—the crucial question that we ask of history and
of God. If it were merely justice, in the end it could bring only fear
to us all. The incarnation of God in Christ has so closely linked the
two together—judgement and grace—that justice is firmly established: we
all work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12).
Nevertheless grace allows us all to hope, and to go trustfully to meet
the Judge whom we know as our “advocate”, or parakletos (cf. 1 Jn 2:1).
(Continuing)
(March 8,
2008) St. John of God (1495-1550)
Having given up active Christian belief while a soldier, John was 40
before the depth of his sinfulness began to dawn on him. He decided to
give the rest of his life to God’s service, and headed at once for
Africa, where he hoped to free captive Christians and, possibly, be
martyred. He was soon advised that his desire for martyrdom was not
spiritually well based, and returned to Spain and the relatively
prosaic activity of a religious goods store. Yet he was still not
settled. Moved initially by a sermon of Blessed John of Avila, he one
day engaged in a public beating of himself, begging mercy and wildly
repenting for his past life. Committed to a mental hospital for these
actions, John was visited by Blessed John, who advised him to be more
actively involved in tending to the needs of others rather than in
enduring personal hardships. John gained peace of heart, and shortly
after left the hospital to begin work among the poor. He established a
house where he wisely tended to the needs of the sick poor, at first
doing his own begging. But excited by the saint’s great work and
inspired by his devotion, many people began to back him up with money
and provisions. Among them were the archbishop and marquis of Tarifa.
Behind John’s outward acts of total concern and love for Christ’s sick
poor was a deep interior prayer life which was reflected in his spirit
of humility. These qualities attracted helpers who, 20 years after
John’s death, formed the Brothers Hospitallers, now a worldwide
religious order. John became ill after 10 years of service but tried to
disguise his ill health. He began to put the hospital’s administrative
work into order and appointed a leader for his helpers. He died under
the care of a spiritual friend and admirer, Lady Anne Ossorio.
The utter humility of
John of God, which led to a totally selfless dedication to others, is
most impressive. Here is a man who realized his nothingness in the face
of God. The Lord blessed him with the gifts of prudence, patience,
courage, enthusiasm and the ability to influence and inspire others. He
saw that in his early life he had turned away from the Lord, and, moved
to receive his mercy, John began his new commitment to love others in
openness to God’s love. The archbishop called John of God to him in
response to a complaint that he was keeping tramps and immoral women in
his hospital. In submission John fell on his knees and said: “The Son
of Man came for sinners, and we are bound to seek their conversion. I
am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this, but I confess that
I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself alone, who am
indeed unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.” The archbishop could
only trust in John’s sincerity and humility, and dismissed him with
deep respect.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today:
Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 7; John 7:40-53
On hearing his
words, some of the people said, Surely this man is the Prophet. Others
said, He is the Christ. Still others asked, How can the Christ come
from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ
will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David
lived? Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to
seize him, but no-one laid a hand on him. Finally the temple guards
went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, Why
didn't you bring him in? No-one ever spoke the way this man does, the
guards declared. You mean he has deceived you also? the Pharisees
retorted. Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?
No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law— there is a curse on
them. Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their
own number, asked, Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him
to find out what he is doing? They replied, Are you from Galilee, too?
Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of
Galilee. Then each went to his own home.(John
7:40-53)
It has been said
that the time of youth is a time of dreams, and the time of late middle
age is a time of regrets. This, like many one-liners, is too simple,
but one point that it makes is that it is all too easy to go through
life failing to make good the important chances that come our way.
Great opportunities come and
they can, for a lack of appreciation and effort, be lost forever. In
our Gospel passage today we have a glimpse of the unique and astounding
impression Christ made on many persons. “On hearing his words, some of
the people said, Surely this man is the Prophet. Others said, He is the
Christ.” A little later in the passage we are told that the temple
guard who had been sent to arrest our Lord returned without their man,
saying “Noone ever spoke the way this man does”. Despite this impact
our Lord had, nevertheless some demurred. We read, “Still others asked,
How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that
the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town
where David lived? Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.” They
held back as did many others who are mentioned in the Gospels. On one
occasion a young man of great religious promise came to our Lord and
our Lord having heard him loved him. He then invited him to leave all
and follow him. But the young man turned away. A golden opportunity had
been forever missed. On another occasion our Lord announced his
doctrine of the Eucharist, and many of his disciples left him. A golden
opportunity had been lost. The issue is expressed in stark relief in
our Gospel passage today when the reaction of the chief priests and the
Pharisees is recounted. The report of the temple guard made no
impression on their hostile prejudice and they threw back their paltry
objections, namely that Jesus had no following among the leaders
(which, actually, was wrong - for Nicodemus was a secret disciple) and
that he came from Galilee.
Nicodemus’s
objection asking his colleagues for openness of mind and the
willingness at least to give Jesus a hearing is significant for the
modern reader. Modern secular man ranges between hostility to Christ
and indifference. Perhaps it is indifference which is more
characteristic of him and the effect of this indifference is the kind
of closed mind that refuses to seek the truth about Christ with real
earnestness. It is summed up in the final remark in the Gospel passage
that the chief priests and the Pharisees “then each went to his own
home.” (John 7:40-53) There they
stayed, in spirit, and did not venture out to seek Christ and his
truth. Modern secular man is very prone to go “to his own home” as it
were, and to stay there. He doubts Christ and his claims. He lacks the
certainty of a disciple. He is sceptical. He is hostile to this or that
aspect of the Christian Fact. But he does not care sufficiently to seek
out with an open mind and heart the truth of the matter. Christ passes
by and he does not care. He stays in “his own home”, as it were. So
life passes and the pearl of great price is not gained. To gain the
pearl one must act with vigour and seek out the truth about it -
meaning that if one is in doubt about Christ or indifferent to him then
the attainment of the truth must be one’s uppermost goal. A kind of
conversion to the truth is needed. Think of the various reactions to
Christ as reported in our Gospel passage today and ask yourself where
you fit in? Am I in the company of those who could see Jesus was the
long-awaited Prophet, the long-promised Messiah, or am I among those
who settled for various objections, or indeed among the chief priests
and Pharisees who went back each to his own home? Whatever be category
of person I must at this point place myself in, I have the freedom to
do something about it. I can resolve to seek the truth with an open
heart, praying for the help of God to dispose me to love the truth and
to seek it earnestly even if it goes clean contrary to my prejudices.
Plenty of persons
have begun with strong prejudices against Christ - although most
prejudices are against his body the Church. But with the help of God
they come to Christ where he is to be found, namely in his body the
Church which he founded on the Apostles. Let us resolve to be earnest
in our search for the truth about Christ, and when we have found him to
resolve never to fall away from him. He is our Lord, our joy for all
ages. No one has ever spoken as he speaks.
(E.J.Tyler)
Make good use of your time. Don't forget the fig tree cursed by our
Lord. And it was doing something: sprouting leaves. Like you...
Don't tell me you have excuses. It availed the fig tree little, relates
the Evangelist. that it was not the season for figs when our Lord came
to it to look for them.
And barren it remained for ever.
(The Way, no.354)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn
Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
III. Judgement as a setting for learning and practising hope
(cont.)
48. A further point must be mentioned here, because it is important for
the practice of Christian hope. Early Jewish thought includes the idea
that one can help the deceased in their intermediate state through
prayer (see for example 2 Macc 12:38-45; first century BC). The
equivalent practice was readily adopted by Christians and is common to
the Eastern and Western Church. The East does not recognize the
purifying and expiatory suffering of souls in the afterlife, but it
does acknowledge various levels of beatitude and of suffering in the
intermediate state. The souls of the departed can, however, receive
“solace and refreshment” through the Eucharist, prayer and almsgiving.
The belief that love can reach into the afterlife, that reciprocal
giving and receiving is possible, in which our affection for one
another continues beyond the limits of death—this has been a
fundamental conviction of Christianity throughout the ages and it
remains a source of comfort today. Who would not feel the need to
convey to their departed loved ones a sign of kindness, a gesture of
gratitude or even a request for pardon? Now a further question arises:
if “Purgatory” is simply purification through fire in the encounter
with the Lord, Judge and Saviour, how can a third person intervene,
even if he or she is particularly close to the other? When we ask such
a question, we should recall that no man is an island, entire of
itself. Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable
interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins
alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill
over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely,
my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. So
my prayer for another is not something extraneous to that person,
something external, not even after death. In the interconnectedness of
Being, my gratitude to the other—my prayer for him—can play a small
part in his purification. And for that there is no need to convert
earthly time into God's time: in the communion of souls simple
terrestrial time is superseded. It is never too late to touch the heart
of another, nor is it ever in vain. In this way we further clarify an
important element of the Christian concept of hope. Our hope is always
essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me
too.(40) As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how
can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that
others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise?
Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well.
(Continuing)
Prayers
this week: Sing to the Lord a new
song, for he has done marvellous deeds; he has revealed to the
nations his saving power, alleluia.(Isaiah
66:10-11) God
our Father, look upon us with love. You redeem us and make us your
children in Christ. Give us true freedom and bring us to the
inheritance you promised. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ
your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
(March 9) St. Frances of Rome (1384-1440)
Frances’s life
combines aspects of secular and religious life. A devoted and loving
wife, she longed for a lifestyle of prayer and service, so she
organized a group of women to minister to the needs of Rome’s poor.
Born of wealthy parents, Frances found herself attracted to the
religious life during her youth. But her parents objected and a young
nobleman was selected to be her husband. As she became acquainted with
her new relatives, Frances soon discovered that the wife of her
husband’s brother also wished to live a life of service and prayer. So
the two, Frances and Vannozza, set out together—with their husbands’
blessings—to help the poor. Frances fell ill for a time, but this
apparently only deepened her commitment to the suffering people she
met. The years passed, and Frances gave birth to two sons and a
daughter. With the new responsibilities of family life, the young
mother turned her attention more to the needs of her own household. The
family flourished under Frances’s care, but within a few years a great
plague began to sweep across Italy. It struck Rome with devastating
cruelty and left Frances’s second son dead. In an effort to help
alleviate some of the suffering, Frances used all her money and sold
her possessions to buy whatever the sick might possibly need. When all
the resources had been exhausted, Frances and Vannozza went door to
door begging. Later, Frances’s daughter died, and the saint opened a
section of her house as a hospital. Frances became more and more
convinced that this way of life was so necessary for the world, and it
was not long before she requested and was given permission to found a
society of women bound by no vows. They simply offered themselves to
God and to the service of the poor. Once the society was established,
Frances chose not to live at the community residence, but rather at
home with her husband. She did this for seven years, until her husband
passed away, and then came to live the remainder of her life with the
society—serving the poorest of the poor.
Looking at the exemplary life of
fidelity to God and devotion to her fellow human beings which Frances
of Rome was blessed to lead, one cannot help but be reminded of Mother
Teresa of Calcutta, who loved Jesus Christ in prayer and also in the
poor. The life of Frances of Rome calls each of us not only to look
deeply for God in prayer, but also to carry our devotion to Jesus
living in the suffering of our world. Frances shows us that this life
need not be restricted to those bound by vows. In Something Beautiful
for God, Mother Teresa said of the sisters in her community: “Let
Christ radiate and live his life in her and through her in the slums.
Let the poor seeing her be drawn to Christ and invite him to enter
their homes and lives.” Says Frances of Rome: “It is most laudable in a
married woman to be devout, but she must never forget that she is a
housewife. And sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in
her housekeeping” (Butler’s Lives of the Saints).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today: Ezechiel 37:12-14;
Romans 8: 8-11; John 11:1-45
Now a man named
Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her
sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the
same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her
hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is
sick." When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in
death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified
through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he
heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then
he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." "But Rabbi," they
said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to
stone you, and yet you are going back there?" Jesus answered, "Are
there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not
stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by
night that he stumbles, for he has no light." After he had said this,
he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I
am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he
sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but
his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them
plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there,
so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Then Thomas (called
Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we
may die with him." On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already
been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from
Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in
the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she
went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord," Martha said to
Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I
know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus said to
her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will
rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I
am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even
though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do
you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are
the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." And after
she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The
Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." When Mary heard
this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered
the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When
the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed
how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she
was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where
Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had
been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping,
and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply
moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said,
"See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened
the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" Jesus, once
more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid
across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said
Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odour,
for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you
that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took
away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you
that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this
for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that
you sent me." When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice,
"Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped
with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them,
"Take off the grave clothes and let him go." Therefore many of the Jews
who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their
faith in him.(John 11:1-45)
There have been
many great and wonderful men in the world, and they have appeared
across the ages and in various professions. There have been
extraordinary military men such as Alexander the Great. There have been
extraordinary rulers. There have been extraordinary religious leaders
such as Mahomet. But outside the few cases
mentioned
in the Old and New Testaments (such as Elisha in 2 Kings 4, and Peter
in Acts 9), who has done what Christ did in our Gospel passage today?
At a simple word he raised a man who had been dead for four days and
commanded him to come forth from the grave, which he immediately did.
Is there anything that could be remotely compared with this in the
activities of Mahomet, or Buddha, or Socrates, or Alexander the Great?
Our Lord gave a wonderful teaching and supported it by numerous and
striking miracles of which his raising of Lazarus from the dead in our
Gospel passage today is a dramatic specimen
(John 11:1-45). Christ showed a
sovereign and effortless power over nature and over life itself and he
displayed this same power when it came to his own personal course. His
greatest miracle of all was his own rising from the dead. Let us put it
this way. Imagine if Mahomet had during his life told his disciples
that three days after he died he would rise again. Then imagine if that
had actually happened. But of course, nothing of the kind occurred at
all. Mahomet, surrounded by his sorrowing wives and grieving friends
and followers, breathed his last in 632 in the room of his favourite
wife Ayeshah at Medina. There he was buried, and there his tomb remains
close to the great mosque of Medina. Mahomet never had any thought that
he could raise himself from the dead in his body, and no one else ever
thought he could. Death conquered him just as it conquers all the great
and the small of this world. But not so Christ. Christ conquered death
and the good news is that by means of union with him we too will not be
overcome by death. The great sign of this is the virgin Mary his
mother, who because of her being full of grace and in union with her
risen Son was taken by God body and soul to heaven at the end of her
life, presumably after her death.
Whatever else a man
may do in life he cannot overcome death. Death will come, and when it
does a person cannot win in the encounter. But Christ did. He overcame
death in his public ministry when at a word he raise from the dead the
son of the widow of Nain, when at a word he raised to life the little
girl, and when at a word he raised Lazarus from being four days in the
grave. It all showed that there was nothing our Lord could not do had
he wished, and the proof of this was his own rising from the dead. No
one raised him from the dead - as he said, he freely laid down his
life, and he freely took it up again. Our Lord’s resurrection confirms
his claim to be divine just as it confirms all the things he did and
taught. Had Buddha done the same, it would have been a signal
confirmation of his teaching and his works - but of course he did not
rise from the dead. Christ rose from the dead and this time death in no
sense had the slightest hold on him. His resurrection from the dead
confirms all the divine promises made about our Lord himself and about
the blessings offered to man in and through him. He, the same Jesus,
lives now by a new and eternal life and it is this eternal life which
he imparts to his disciples who with faith are baptized into him. So
the resurrection of Christ not only reveals and confirms who Christ our
Saviour really is, but it is the source or principle of our being made
right with God. This new life which Christ lives and which he shares
with us who believe and are baptized makes us adopted children of God
his heavenly Father. Moreover and most significantly, if we live in
union with the risen Jesus we shall not only rise from death in our
spirits, but we shall rise from death at the end in our bodies too.
There will be a complete and entire resurrection from the dead when at
the end of time following the final and general judgment we are filled
with the life of God in our bodies too. We shall be glorious in body
and soul just as Mary our heavenly mother is already glorious in body
and soul, through the merits and the resurrection of her divine Son.
Buddha is dead.
Socrates and Aristotle are dead. Mahomet is dead. All the great ones of
human history are dead. But Christ rose from the dead and lives body
and soul glorious at the right hand of his heavenly Father. To him has
been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He is the Lord of
lords and King of kings. He lives and is present in his body the Church
and he gives himself to us in the Sacraments especially in the
Eucharist, and in these sacramental encounters he gives us a share in
his risen divine life. Let us resolve to live in union with him so as
to rise with him.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
nos.651-655
Those who are engaged in business say that time is money. That seems
little to me: for us who are engaged in affairs of souls, time is...
glory!
(The Way, no.355)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn
Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
Mary, Star of Hope
49. With a hymn composed in the eighth or ninth century, thus for over
a thousand years, the Church has greeted Mary, the Mother of God, as
“Star of the Sea”: Ave maris stella. Human life is a journey. Towards
what destination? How do we find the way? Life is like a voyage on the
sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for
the stars that indicate the route. The true stars of our life are the
people who have lived good lives. They are lights of hope. Certainly,
Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the
shadows of history. But to reach him we also need lights close
by—people who shine with his light and so guide us along our way. Who
more than Mary could be a star of hope for us? With her “yes” she
opened the door of our world to God himself; she became the living Ark
of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and pitched
his tent among us (cf. Jn 1:14).
(Continuing tomorrow)
(March 10) St.
Dominic Savio (1842-1857)
So many holy persons
seem to die young. Among them was Dominic Savio, the patron of
choirboys. Born into a peasant family at Riva, Italy, young Dominic
joined
St.
John Bosco as a student at the Oratory in Turin at the age of 12. He
impressed John with his desire to be a priest and to help him in his
work with neglected boys. A peacemaker and an organizer, young Dominic
founded a group he called the Company of the Immaculate Conception
which, besides being devotional, aided John Bosco with the boys and
with manual work. All the members save one, Dominic, would in 1859 join
John in the beginnings of his Salesian congregation. By that time,
Dominic had been called home to heaven. As a youth, Dominic spent hours
rapt in prayer. His raptures he called "my distractions." Even in play,
he said that at times "It seems heaven is opening just above me. I am
afraid I may say or do something that will make the other boys laugh."
Dominic would say, "I can't do big things. But I want all I do, even
the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God." Dominic's
health, always frail, led to lung problems and he was sent home to
recuperate. As was the custom of the day, he was bled in the thought
that this would help, but it only worsened his condition. He died on
March 9, 1857, after receiving the Last Sacraments. St. John Bosco
himself wrote the account of his life. Some thought that Dominic was
too young to be considered a saint. St. Pius X declared that just the
opposite was true, and went ahead with his cause. Dominic was canonized
in 1954.
Like many a youngster, Dominic was painfully aware that he was
different from his peers. He tried to keep his piety from his friends
lest he have to endure their laughter. Even after his death, his youth
marked him as a misfit among the saints and some argued that he was too
young to be canonized. Pius X wisely disagreed. For no one is too
young—or too old or too anything else—to achieve the holiness to which
we are all called.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Daniel
13:1-9.15-17.19-30.33-62; Psalm 22; John 8:1-11
Jesus went to the
Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where
all the people gathered round him, and he sat down to teach them. The
teachers of the
law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made
her stand before the group and said to Jesus, Teacher, this woman was
caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone
such women. Now what do you say? They were using this question as a
trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down
and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on
questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, If any one of you
is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Again he
stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to
go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left,
with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked
her, Woman, where are they? Has no-one condemned you? No-one, sir, she
said. Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave
your life of sin.(John 8:1-11)
It has often been
said that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and
condemnation while the God of the New is a God of love and forgiveness.
Like every quip or one-liner, such a statement is an
over-simplification and a caricature. The God of both Testaments is the
same God, but the revelation of him in both Testaments manifests
his nature in different ways and at different degrees. That is to say,
if we are to interpret adequately this revelation by God of himself
over many centuries and finally in his incarnate Son, we must grasp the
idea of development. Up to Christ there was a developing revelation,
and there is a development in the Church’s understanding of this
revelation since Christ. As the Christian Faith teaches it, God
gradually revealed more and more of himself and his plan until he
revealed himself definitively in Christ his Son. Christ is his final
and definitive word. Even so, the Church gradually understands more and
more of this revelation and so the Church’s doctrine itself develops.
Indeed, the lack of a notion of development helps us to understand, I
suggest, the nature and the error of fundamentalism. I believe
fundamentalism in religion involves the exclusion of any possibility of
development. By way of aside, there is much talk of Islamic
fundamentalism. I suspect that a way through this impasse for Islam is
to become open to the notion of development in interpreting what it
takes to be revelation. Even if Islam insists that, say, the Koran just
as it stands came from the highest heavens and was revealed to Mahomet
by the Angel Gabriel in instalments, it is surely acceptable to Islam
to allow for a development in the understanding of it. The
fundamentalist refuses to allow this. Well now, all that speculation
aside, let us consider our Gospel passage today in which the scribes
and Pharisees confront our Lord with what they claimed the Law of Moses
required, that the sinful woman before him be stoned.
The prescription in
the Old Testament that the adulterer should be stoned is what many
would claim to be a typical manifestation of a God of holy wrath, while
by sharp contrast our Lord’s response is an example of a God of love.
But no. In the Old Testament there are diverse elements revealing a
richly faceted God dealing with his people at various stages of their
development. His progressive revelation of himself contains both
severity with sin and a remarkable mercy and compassion for the sinner.
A dynamic of development must be taken into account. The prophets
affirm God’s hatred of sin and warn of punishment to come, but more and
more they insist on his love and mercy. On one occasion our Lord
himself quotes against his critics the words of Yahweh in the Old
Testament requiring mercy: “Go and learn the meaning of the words,
‘what I want is mercy, not sacrifice’, and you would not have condemned
the blameless.”. In our Gospel passage today
(John 8:1-11) our Lord’s calm
challenge to his critics that those without sin ought cast the first
stone implies that sin will bring punishment. But this means that the
woman’s accusers too will be punished. Christ does not contradict the
divine hatred of sin which was behind the particular historical
prescription of death for adultery. However, by his eloquent and
powerful silence he brings forward into greater prominence another
feature of the religion revealed by Yahweh: that of mercy and
compassion. He looks on the sinful woman with love and compassion and
commands her to go and not to sin again. God is giving her time to
repent and to live in a way that is pleasing to him. God’s prohibition
of sin which distinguishes historical revelation from the very
beginning still stands in Christ’s words to the woman. They are a
warning to us all and they remind us of our Lord’s numerous references
to God’s judgment and to hell fire. But what dominates our Gospel scene
is the revelation of the divine mercy. God is merciful and
compassionate, and he gives us the opportunity and the grace to
renounce sin and live in his love.
Christ came to save
mankind from sin and to reveal to him the mercy of God. It is this
which is so eloquently revealed in our Gospel passage today. The
scribes and the Pharisees pointed to the Law of Moses and goaded our
Lord to decide according to it. In response, he set forth in sharp
relief the other great aspect of God’s revelation of himself, his
compassion towards sinners. God is a God of mercy, so let us while life
lasts always turn from our sins confident that if we do, he will be
merciful. And let us be merciful ourselves. If we do not, then indeed
he will judge and condemn.
(E.J.Tyler)
I don't understand how you can call yourself a Christian and lead such
an idle, useless life. Have you forgotten Christ's life of toil?
(The Way, no.356)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIOn
Christian Hope (30 Nov. ‘07)
Mary, Star of Hope (cont)
50. So we cry to her: Holy Mary, you belonged to the humble and great
souls of Israel who, like Simeon, were “looking for the consolation of
Israel” (Lk 2:25) and hoping, like Anna, “for the redemption of
Jerusalem” (Lk 2:38). Your life was thoroughly imbued with the sacred
scriptures of Israel which spoke of hope, of the promise made to
Abraham and his descendants (cf. Lk 1:55). In this way we can
appreciate the holy fear that overcame you when the angel of the Lord
appeared to you and told you that you would give birth to the One who
was the hope of Israel, the One awaited by the world. Through you,
through your “yes”, the hope of the ages became reality, entering this
world and its history. You bowed low before the greatness of this task
and gave your consent: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it
be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). When you hastened with holy
joy across the mountains of Judea to see your cousin Elizabeth, you
became the image of the Church to come, which carries the hope of the
world in her womb across the mountains of history. But alongside the
joy which, with your Magnificat, you proclaimed in word and song for
all the centuries to hear, you also knew the dark sayings of the
prophets about the suffering of the servant of God in this world.
Shining over his birth in the stable at Bethlehem, there were angels in
splendour who brought the good news to the shepherds, but at the same
time the lowliness of God in this world was all too palpable. The old
man Simeon spoke to you of the sword which would pierce your soul (cf.
Lk 2:35), of the sign of contradiction that your Son would be in this
world. Then, when Jesus began his public ministry, you had to step
aside, so that a new family could grow, the family which it was his
mission to establish and which would be made up of those who heard his
word and kept it (cf. Lk 11:27f). Notwithstanding the great joy that
marked the beginning of Jesus's ministry, in the synagogue of Nazareth
you must already have experienced the truth of the saying about the
“sign of contradiction” (cf. Lk 4:28ff). In this way you saw the
growing power of hostility and rejection which built up around Jesus
until the hour of the Cross, when you had to look upon the Saviour of
the world, the heir of David, the Son of God dying like a failure,
exposed to mockery, between criminals. Then you received the word of
Jesus: “Woman, behold, your Son!” (Jn 19:26). From the Cross you
received a new mission. From the Cross you became a mother in a new
way: the mother of all those who believe in your Son Jesus and wish to
follow him. The sword of sorrow pierced your heart. Did hope die? Did
the world remain definitively without light, and life without purpose?
At that moment, deep down, you probably listened again to the word
spoken by the angel in answer to your fear at the time of the
Annunciation: “Do not be afraid, Mary!” (Lk 1:30). How many times had
the Lord, your Son, said the same thing to his disciples: do not be
afraid! In your heart, you heard this word again during the night of
Golgotha. Before the hour of his betrayal he had said to his disciples:
“Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). “Let not your
hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (Jn 14:27). “Do not be
afraid, Mary!” In that hour at Nazareth the angel had also said to you:
“Of his kingdom there will be no end” (Lk 1:33). Could it have ended
before it began? No, at the foot of the Cross, on the strength of
Jesus's own word, you became the mother of believers. In this faith,
which even in the darkness of Holy Saturday bore the certitude of hope,
you made your way towards Easter morning. The joy of the Resurrection
touched your heart and united you in a new way to the disciples,
destined to become the family of Jesus through faith. In this way you
were in the midst of the community of believers, who in the days
following the Ascension prayed with one voice for the gift of the Holy
Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14) and then received that gift on the day of
Pentecost. The “Kingdom” of Jesus was not as might have been imagined.
It began in that hour, and of this “Kingdom” there will be no end. Thus
you remain in the midst of the disciples as their Mother, as the Mother
of hope. Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother, teach us to believe, to
hope, to love with you. Show us the way to his Kingdom! Star of the
Sea, shine upon us and guide us on our way!
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, on 30 November, the Feast of Saint
Andrew the Apostle, in the year 2007, the third of my Pontificate.
John Ogilvie's noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and partly
Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to the
continent to be educated. There John became interested in the popular
debates going on between Catholic and Calvinist scholars. Confused by
the arguments of Catholic scholars whom he sought out, he turned to
Scripture. Two texts particularly struck him: "God wills all men to be
saved and come to the knowledge of the truth," and "Come to me all you
who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you."
Slowly, John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all
kinds of people. Among these, he noted, were many martyrs. He decided
to become Catholic and was received into the Church at Louvain,
Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17. John continued his studies, first
with the Benedictines, then as a student at the Jesuit College at
Olmutz. He joined the Jesuits and for the next 10 years underwent their
rigorous intellectual and spiritual training. Ordained a priest in
France in 1610, he met two Jesuits who had just returned from Scotland
after suffering arrest and imprisonment. They saw little hope for any
successful work there in view of the tightening of the penal laws. But
a fire had been lit within John. For the next two and a half years he
pleaded to be missioned there. Sent by his superiors, he secretly
entered Scotland posing as a horse trader or a soldier returning from
the wars in Europe. Unable to do significant work among the relatively
few Catholics in Scotland, John made his way back to Paris to consult
his superiors. Rebuked for having left his assignment in Scotland, he
was sent back. He warmed to the task before him and had some success in
making converts and in secretly serving Scottish Catholics. But he was
soon betrayed, arrested and brought before the court. His trial dragged
on until he had been without food for 26 hours. He was imprisoned and
deprived of sleep. For eight days and nights he was dragged around,
prodded with sharp sticks, his hair pulled out. Still, he refused to
reveal the names of Catholics or to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the
king in spiritual affairs. He underwent a second and third trial but
held firm. At his final trial he assured his judges: "In all that
concerns the king, I will be slavishly obedient; if any attack his
temporal power, I will shed my last drop of blood for him. But in the
things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king unjustly seizes I cannot
and must not obey." Condemned to death as a traitor, he was faithful to
the end, even when on the scaffold he was offered his freedom and a
fine living if he would deny his faith. His courage in prison and in
his martyrdom was reported throughout Scotland. John Ogilvie was
canonized in 1976, becoming the first Scottish saint since 1250. John
came of age when neither Catholics nor Protestants were willing to
tolerate one another. Turning to Scripture, he found words that
enlarged his vision. Although he became a Catholic and died for his
faith, he understood the meaning of "small-c catholic," the wide range
of believers who embrace Christianity. Even now he undoubtedly rejoices
in the ecumenical spirit fostered by the Second Vatican Council and
joins us in our prayer for unity with all believers.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today:
Numbers 21: 4-9; Psalm 101; John 8: 21-30
Once more Jesus
said to them, I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will
die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot
come. This made the Jews ask, Will he kill himself? Is that why he
says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'? But he continued, You are from
below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that
I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins. Who are
you? they asked. Just what I have been claiming all along, Jesus
replied. I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is
reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world. They did not
understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said,
When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am
the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just
what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has
not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. Even as he spoke,
many put their faith in him. (John 8:
21-30)
There has been a
strong current of opinion ever since the Enlightenment that cannot
accept that one’s salvation depends on "one’s opinions." By this is
meant that if one chooses not to believe in Christ and that he is the
Son of God and the Redeemer, then so be it. That just
happens to be one’s honest "opinion" and it is unacceptable to insist
that this "opinion" places one’s salvation in danger. It is thought to
be a dogmatism that imposes sanctions on freedom in one’s own thoughts.
Well, while on the face of it such a view of things might seem somewhat
reasonable, Christ makes statements in our Gospel passage today that
are of very serious import for modern secular and sceptical man. What
immediately leaps out from the passage are our Lord’s claims about
himself. He is not simply, like any great prophet, speaking of God and
his will as it has been revealed to him. He is also and very
importantly speaking of himself. But most seriously, he states that if
what he claims about himself is not accepted, then his hearers will die
in their sins. So it is a matter ultimately of life and death that he,
Jesus Christ, be accepted for who he claims to be. In this sense one’s
"opinion" about him, as we might call it, is indeed of enormous import
for one’s very salvation. We read that Jesus continued, "You are of
this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in
your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you
will indeed die in your sins." (John 8: 21-30). Our Lord continues to
stress his claims. "Who are you? they asked. Just what I have been
claiming all along, Jesus replied. When you have lifted up the Son of
Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do
nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one
who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what
pleases him. Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him." (John 8: 21-30). He is the Son of the
Father who has sent him to announce his word, and he is sinless, always
doing what pleases him.
The necessity of
accepting Christ’s claims means that in God’s plan - as our Lord told
his disciples on another occasion - the only way to the Father is
through him. As Peter told the Sanhedrin (in the Acts of the Apostles)
Jesus is the only name by which we can be saved. We must approach him,
listen to him, accept him for who and what he claims to be together
with his teaching, and then follow in his way. It is not sufficient to
be simply a good person in the normal sense of the word and then to
allow a liberal approach to the matter of one’s acceptance of Christ’s
claims. While the fundamental requirement is to follow the voice of
one’s conscience (which is the most one can do anyway), nevertheless
our Gospel text is clear that, having in some sense seen and heard
Christ, one’s salvation is threatened by not accepting his claims. Our
Lord did not say to those who were listening to him that if they
genuinely refused to believe his claims, then all would be well because
they were sincere. No, he simply said that "if you do not believe that
I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." It
suggests that the very indicator of a right conscience in the one who
in some sense sees and hears Christ is the acceptance of his claims.
Our Lord is saying that if this acceptance is deliberately refused then
normally a serious moral and spiritual failure has been involved, a
failure for which one is responsible. What is at issue here is a
fundamental duty which Christ reveals as being necessary for salvation.
That duty is to believe in him. Our Lord is addressing those who are
seeing and hearing him, and we are told that "even as he spoke, many
put their faith in him." He is saying that if in some sense one sees
and hears him then one’s duty is to believe, and if having somehow seen
and heard him one refuses to believe then an immensely important duty
has been neglected. Belief is an indicator of moral disposition and
salvation hangs in the balance of the fulfilment of this duty to
believe.
The further
question is, where and how is the living Jesus seen and heard from
generation to generation? This is a further issue, but the short answer
is that the living Jesus is encountered in and through the witness and
life of the Church his body. Let us place ourselves in the scene of
today’s Gospel as our Lord reaffirms his unique claims as to his person
and mission. Let us take our stand with him and believe. Let us live
out that belief by bearing witness to him as the one and only Saviour
of the world, the one in whom all are called to believe.
'It seems' — so you say — 'as if
every imaginable sin were awaiting the first idle moment. Why, idleness
itself must be a sin!'
He who pledges himself to work for
Christ should never have a free moment, because to rest is not to do
nothing: it is to relax in activities which demand less effort.
10 Jean Giono, Les vraies richesses
(1936), Preface, Paris 1992, pp.18-20; quoted in Henri de Lubac,
Catholicisme. Aspects sociaux du dogme, Paris 1983, p.VII.
11 Ep. 130 Ad Probam 13, 24: CSEL 44,
67.
12 Sententiae III, 118: CCL 6/2, 215.
13 Cf. ibid. III, 71: CCL 6/2,
107-108.
14 Novum Organum I, 117.
15 Cf. ibid. I, 129.
16 Cf. New Atlantis.
17 In Werke IV, ed. W. Weischedel
(1956), p.777.
18 I. Kant, Das Ende aller Dinge, in
Werke VI, ed. W.Weischedel (1964), p.190.
(March 12) Blessed
Angela Salawa (1881-1922)
Angela served Christ and Christ’s little ones with all her strength.
Born in Siepraw, near Kraków, Poland, she was the 11th child of
Bartlomiej and Ewa Salawa. In 1897, she moved to Kraków where her older
sister Therese lived. Angela immediately began to gather together and
instruct young women domestic workers. During World War I, she helped
prisoners of war without regard for their nationality or religion. The
writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross were a great comfort
to her. Angela gave great service in caring for soldiers wounded in
World War I. After 1918 her health did not permit her to exercise her
customary apostolate. Addressing herself to Christ, she wrote in her
diary, "I want you to be adored as much as you were destroyed." In
another place, she wrote, "Lord, I live by your will. I shall die when
you desire; save me because you can." At her 1991 beatification in
Kraków, Pope John Paul II said: "It is in this city that she worked,
that she suffered and that her holiness came to maturity. While
connected to the spirituality of St. Francis, she showed an
extraordinary responsiveness to the action of the Holy Spirit"
(L'Osservatore Romano, volume 34, number 4, 1991).
Humility should never be mistaken for lack of conviction, insight or
energy. Angela brought the Good News and material assistance to some of
Christ’s "least ones." Her self-sacrifice inspired others to do the
same. Henri de Lubac, S.J., wrote: "The best Christians and the most
vital are by no means to be found either inevitably or even generally
among the wise or the clever, the intelligentsia or the
politically-minded, or those of social consequence. And consequently
what they say does not make the headlines; what they do does not come
to the public eye. Their lives are hidden from the eyes of the world,
and if they do come to some degree of notoriety, that is usually late
in the day, and exceptional, and always attended by the risk of
distortion" (The Splendour of the Church, p. 187).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today:
Daniel 3:14-20. 91-92. 95. (Psalm:) Daniel 3; John 8:31-42
To the Jews who had
believed him, Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free. They answered
him, We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone.
How can you say that we shall be set free? Jesus replied, I tell you
the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no
permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it for ever. So if
the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are
Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have
no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's
presence, and you do what you have heard from your father. Abraham is
our father, they answered. If you were Abraham's children, said Jesus,
then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined
to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.
Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own
father does. We are not illegitimate children, they protested. The only
Father we have is God himself. Jesus said to them, If God were your
Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have
not come on my own; but he sent me.
(John 8:31-42)
One of the
distinguishing values of the modern age is that of freedom. Each age
and culture has its distinctive values and ever since the French
Revolution the cry of Liberty has been heard from culture to culture
and it continues to raise its clamour across the globe. Some oppose
liberty, but more commonly the question is, what exactly is demanded
in the insistence on liberty. If we go back to the French Revolution,
we could say that in theory the word meant freedom from unjust
restraint and its meaning is made fairly clear in its companion
captions: Equality and Fraternity. Liberty, Equality and Fraternity is
what modern man has wanted in his life in society. The problem is that
Liberty has tended to mean License, involving not just freedom from
unjust restraint but from all restraint. The French Revolution itself
revealed this tendency, collapsing into a rampage of terror and mayhem
with revealed religion being the first casualty. All this is to say
that the story of liberty in society has shown that the exercise of
freedom must be governed not by any value arbitrarily chosen but by
objective truth. In this sense both reason and experience indicates
that the freedom to choose must mean the freedom to seek and to subject
oneself to the objective truth. If Freedom is in fact License from all
that may restrain then great harm will result. Of course, if there is
to be any liberty at all to some extent there has to be the freedom to
be wrong. But the freedom to be wrong cannot be absolute for this
results in a morass of slavery and ultimately death. The modern danger
is to disconnect truth from freedom and to regard it as a secondary and
optional issue. Ordinary reflection shows that if freedom is to bring
happiness to man it has to be exercised in the pursuit of truth and in
accord with it. The problem is, though, that mere License can claim to
have attained the truth. The question is, then, where is the truth to
be found, the truth which if freely attained and accepted will make a
person and a society free?
Jesus Christ sets
forth with unambiguous clarity the answer to this question. The truth
that will make a person and a society free is that truth which comes
from him. “Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free.” His teaching is the truth. He reveals the truth and his truth
when accepted shows up truth and falsehood in the thought of man.
Consider the history of philosophy and the vagaries of the thought of
some of the greatest of the philosophers. I have often thought that if
anyone wishes to have a sense of the darkness of the human mind then
consider much of the history of philosophy and much of religion. For
instance, on all counts one would have to rank German philosophers as
among the most able, and yet the absurdity of the thought of many of
them is clear. But once orthodox Christian truth becomes the
fundamental perspective then philosophy is redeemed and placed on the
right track, and it thereupon becomes a boon to human culture. The same
applies to much of the religion of man. Christ said that if we hold to
his teaching we shall know the truth and the truth will set us free.
Not only does this apply to human thought, it applies to human life and
conduct. Consider what happens when the truth revealed by Christ in
respect to marriage and sexuality - as expounded authoritatively by the
Church - is gradually abandoned. Society becomes awash with sexual
license and death itself looms on the horizon. In our Gospel passage
today (John 8:31-42)
our Lord sets forth the issue in respect to freedom. The issue is to
avoid sin and to live according to his teaching. If one chooses sin, to
that extent one is enslaved. If one chooses to hold to his teaching and
to live according to it, to that extent one is free. So the true
liberator of the world is the person of Jesus, and the world will be
liberated if it holds to the truth of his word. The true freedom for
which man yearns is to be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let us draw near to
Christ and place ourselves in his company, knowing that he, the Lord of
lords, welcomes us with love. Let us listen to his teaching as it comes
to us in the teaching, the preaching, the life and the ministry of the
Church. Let us listen and accept it with all our heart, resolving to
live by it. It brings us freedom, true freedom from the only lasting
form of slavery, which is sin. Holiness in Christ is man’s true
liberation, so let us make that the project of life.
(E.J.Tyler)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
ON CHRISTIAN LOVE
INTRODUCTION
1. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God
abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). These words from the First Letter of John
express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the
Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its
destiny. In the same verse, Saint John also offers a kind of summary of
the Christian life: “We have come to know and to believe in the love
God has for us”.
We have come to believe in God's love: in these words the Christian can
express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not
the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with
an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive
direction. Saint John's Gospel describes that event in these words:
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should ... have eternal life” (3:16). In acknowledging
the centrality of love, Christian faith has retained the core of
Israel's faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth.
The pious Jew prayed daily the words of the Book of Deuteronomy which
expressed the heart of his existence: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God
is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul and with all your might” (6:4-5). Jesus united
into a single precept this commandment of love for God and the
commandment of love for neighbour found in the Book of Leviticus: “You
shall love your neighbour as yourself” (19:18; cf. Mk 12:29-31). Since
God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere
“command”; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws
near to us.
In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance
or even a duty of hatred and violence, this message is both timely and
significant. For this reason, I wish in my first Encyclical to speak of
the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share
with others. That, in essence, is what the two main parts of this
Letter are about, and they are profoundly interconnected. The first
part is more speculative, since I wanted here—at the beginning of my
Pontificate—to clarify some essential facts concerning the love which
God mysteriously and gratuitously offers to man, together with the
intrinsic link between that Love and the reality of human love. The
second part is more concrete, since it treats the ecclesial exercise of
the commandment of love of neighbour. The argument has vast
implications, but a lengthy treatment would go beyond the scope of the
present Encyclical. I wish to emphasize some basic elements, so as to
call forth in the world renewed energy and commitment in the human
response to God's love.
(Continuing)
(March 13) St.
Leander of Seville (c. 550-600)
The next time you recite the Nicene Creed at Mass, think of today’s
saint. For it was Leander of Seville who, as bishop, introduced the
practice in the sixth century. He saw it as a way to help reinforce the
faith of his people and as an antidote against the heresy of Arianism,
which denied the divinity of Christ. By the end of his life, Leander
had helped Christianity flourish in Spain at a time of political and
religious upheaval. Leander’s own family was heavily influenced by
Arianism, but he himself grew up to be a fervent Christian. He entered
a monastery as a young man and spent three years in prayer and study.
At the end of that tranquil period he was made a bishop. For the rest
of his life he worked strenuously to fight against heresy. The death of
the anti-Christian king in 586 helped Leander’s cause. He and the new
king worked hand in hand to restore orthodoxy and a renewed sense of
morality. Leander succeeded in persuading many Arian bishops to change
their loyalties. Leander died around 600. In Spain he is honoured as a
Doctor of the Church. (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Genesis 12: 3-9;
Psalm 104; John 8: 51-59
Jesus said, I tell
you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. At
this the Jews exclaimed, Now we know that you are demon-possessed!
Abraham died and so
did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will
never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died,
and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are? Jesus replied, If I
glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as
your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I
know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do
know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad. You are not yet fifty years old, the Jews said
to him, and you have seen Abraham! I tell you the truth, Jesus
answered, before Abraham was born, I am! At this, they picked up stones
to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple
grounds.(John 8: 51-59)
This is a
tremendous passage in the Gospel, and we can imagine how John the
Evangelist treasured these words of Christ over the decades of his life
and relished his recording them in his Gospel. At their heart they
speak of the very person of Jesus and who he is. Christ lays it down
that if anyone keeps his word, he will never see death.
Let us note that here
our Lord is not saying, precisely, that whoever keeps the word of God
will never see death - although that is what is implied. No prophet had
said that his own word gives life to the one who keeps it. The prophets
had time and again stressed that life comes from keeping the word of
God. Man lives from every word that comes from the mouth of God. But
our Lord applies the life-giving prerogative of God’s word to his own
word. That is to say, what has been repeatedly said of God the source
of life, our Lord is saying of himself. In response to this seemingly
daring utterance “the Jews exclaimed, Now we know that you are
demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that
if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. Are you greater
than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you
think you are?”
(John 8: 51-59) That is the
question man directs to Jesus of Nazareth from generation to
generation, who do you think you are? Jesus replies, In what I say of
myself I do not seek my own glory for I leave that to my heavenly
Father. He is the one who glorifies me. Jesus in bearing witness to the
truth about himself is not seeking personal glory. He is humble. The
truth is, our Lord continues, that I am the very Son of the Father whom
you claim as your God. I know him personally and were I not to say this
I would be a liar. I do know him, and I keep his word. That is to say,
I know my heavenly Father utterly and I am entirely sinless before him.
In all that I do I please him. We remember this is what the Father
himself said of his Son at his baptism: This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased.
But then, observe
what our Lord then says. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.” What did he mean by these words? Their exact
meaning is, of course, a little obscure but they immediately conveyed
to “the Jews” that Jesus, who was still a young man, had actually seen
Abraham. He, then, pre-existed his own human birth and Abraham and he
had gazed on one another. Our Lord did not deny their interpretation of
his words. It was given to Abraham to see him. Perhaps our Lord is also
saying that Abraham saw - whether in this life or in the next - his
“day” as the Messiah and Redeemer. But then he went on to make a much
bolder claim in respect to Abraham. Before Abraham was even born, he
himself was! To quote him more exactly, I am! Christ, in the presence
of his enemies and critics, in the presence of incomprehension and very
likely rejection, serenely and unambiguously places himself in the
position of Yahweh God of the Old Testament. He is the one who revealed
to Moses his own name, Yahweh, I am. He is the God who existed before
Abraham ever was. No prophet had spoken like this, nor has anyone of
any consequence in the history of the world. Jesus of Nazareth, who
could challenge his critics to attempt to convict him of any sin, who
claimed always, always, to do what pleased the Father, was here
claiming to be the one and only God, Yahweh of the Old Testament. He
was not claiming to be a god, but the one and only God who had revealed
himself to Abraham and Moses. His critics immediately saw what was
being said, and prepared to execute him by stoning. All through his
public ministry our Lord was reserved as to the nature of his own
person, but the time came during his public ministry and would reach
its apogee during his trial before the high priest and the Sanhedrin,
when he would with the utmost clarity state who he was, the Messiah and
the Son of God, equal to the Father. Our Gospel passage today records
one such occasion when he bore this witness.
There is no one who
can be compared with Jesus of Nazareth. He is the jewel of our race,
the blessing beyond all blessings. In him is to be found the fullness
of the godhead. He is the Second divine Person of the Blessed Trinity.
He revealed that the one God is three divine persons, each of whom is
the one divine and infinite being. He, the second divine Person, became
man for our salvation, and in doing so while retaining his own divine
nature took unto himself a human nature. Thus he was able to die for us
all. As St Paul writes, Christ loved me and delivered himself up for
me. Let us take our stand with him and give our lives to him.
(E.J.Tyler)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
PART I THE UNITY OF LOVE IN CREATION AND IN SALVATION HISTORY
A problem of language
2. God's love for us is fundamental for our lives, and it raises
important questions about who God is and who we are. In considering
this, we immediately find ourselves hampered by a problem of language.
Today, the term “love” has become one of the most frequently used and
misused of words, a word to which we attach quite different meanings.
Even though this Encyclical will deal primarily with the understanding
and practice of love in sacred Scripture and in the Church's Tradition,
we cannot simply prescind from the meaning of the word in the different
cultures and in present-day usage.
Let us first of all bring to mind the
vast semantic range of the word “love”: we speak of love of country,
love of one's profession, love between friends, love of work, love
between parents and children, love between family members, love of
neighbour and love of God. Amid this multiplicity of meanings, however,
one in particular stands out: love between man and woman, where body
and soul are inseparably joined and human beings glimpse an apparently
irresistible promise of happiness. This would seem to be the very
epitome of love; all other kinds of love immediately seem to fade in
comparison. So we need to ask: are all these forms of love basically
one, so that love, in its many and varied manifestations, is ultimately
a single reality, or are we merely using the same word to designate
totally different realities?
(Continuing)
Feast of
St Patrick (Normally March 17. In Australia - with its
own Scripture readings) Friday of the fifth week of Lent A
(March 14) St
Patrick, Bishop, Apostle of Ireland (373-464)
If the
virtue of children reflects honour on their parents, much more justly
is the name of Saint Patrick rendered illustrious by the innumerable
lights of sanctity which shone in the Church of Ireland during
many
ages, and by the colonies of Saints with which it peopled many foreign
countries. The Apostle of Ireland was born in Scotland towards the
close of the fourth century, in a village which seems to be the
present-day Scotch town of Kilpatrick, between Dumbarton and Glasgow.
He calls himself both a Briton and a Roman, that is, of mixed
extraction, and says his father was of a good family named Calphurnius.
Some writers call his mother Conchessa, and say she was the niece of
Saint Martin of Tours. In his sixteenth year he was carried into
captivity in Ireland by barbarians. There he was obliged to shepherd
cattle on the mountains and in the forests, in hunger and nakedness,
amid snow, rain, and ice. The young man had recourse to God with his
whole heart, in fervent prayer and fasting, and from that time faith
and the love of God acquired a constantly renewed strength in his
tender soul. After six months spent in slavery, Saint Patrick was
admonished by God in a dream to return to his own country, and was
informed that a ship was then ready to sail there. He went at once to
the seacoast, though at a great distance, and found the vessel, but he
could not obtain his passage — probably for want of money. Patrick was
returning to his hut, praying as he went, when the sailors, though
pagans, called him back and took him on board. Some years afterwards he
was again taken captive, but recovered his liberty after two months.
While he was at home with his parents, God manifested to him, by divers
visions, that He destined him for the great work of the conversion of
Ireland. His biographers say that after his second captivity he
travelled into Gaul and Italy, and saw Saint Martin, Saint Germanus of
Auxerre, and Pope Saint Celestine, and that he received his mission and
the apostolical benediction from this Pope, who died in 432. It is
certain that he spent many years in preparing himself for his sacred
calling. Great opposition was raised to his episcopal consecration and
mission, both by his own relatives and by the clergy. They made him
great offers in order to detain him among them, and endeavoured to
affright him by exaggerating the dangers to which he exposed himself
amid the enemies of the Romans and Britons, who did not know God. All
these temptations cast the Saint into great perplexity; but the Lord,
whose Will he consulted by earnest prayer, supported him and he
persevered in his resolution. He therefore left his family, sold his
birthright and dignity, and consecrated his soul to God, to serve
strangers and carry His name to the ends of the earth. In this
disposition he passed into Ireland, to preach the Gospel where the
worship of idols still generally reigned. He travelled over the island,
penetrating into the remotest corners, and such was the fruit of his
preaching and sufferings that he baptized an infinite number of
persons. Everywhere he ordained clergymen, induced women to live in
holy widowhood and continence, consecrated virgins to Christ, and
founded monasteries, not without many persecutions. Saint Patrick held
several councils to regulate the discipline of the Church he had
planted. Saint Bernard and the tradition of the country testify that he
fixed his metropolitan see at Armagh. He established other bishops, as
appears by the acts of a council and various other documents. He not
only converted the whole country by his preaching and wonderful
miracles, but also cultivated this vineyard with so fruitful a
benediction from heaven as to render Ireland a flourishing garden in
the Church of God, and a land of Saints. He converted and baptized the
kings of Dublin and Munster and the seven sons of the king of
Connaught, with the majority of their subjects, and before his death
almost the whole island. He founded three monasteries and filled the
countryside with churches and schools of piety and learning. He died
and was buried at Down in Ulster. His body was found there in a church
of his name in 1185, and moved to another part of the same
church. (Magnificat.ca)
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Scripture today
(for St Patrick): Jeremiah 1: 4-9; Psalm 116;
Acts 13: 46-49; Luke 10: 1-12.17-20
After this the Lord
appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to
every town and place
where he was about to go. He told them, The harvest is plentiful, but
the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send
out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs
among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet
anyone on the road. When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this
house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if
not, it will return to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them,
'The kingdom of God is near you.' I have given you authority to trample
on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy;
nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit
to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.(Luke 10: 1-12.17-20)
Many decades ago
that great and saintly pope, Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli) wrote that
an essential element of the Christian life is a sense of mission. That
is to say, a Christian life fails if it is not engaged in bearing
witness before others to Christ and his revelation. Let us take our
Gospel scene today and consider
its implications. Our Lord was not like some distinguished philosopher
who because of his fame finds students and disciples gathering around
him to learn from his wisdom and, if they so wish, to disseminate his
teaching to others. No, Christ actively seeks out disciples and invites
many to join him in the prosecution of his mission to the House of
Israel and then to the world. There is a harvest to be worked, and a
lot of labourers are needed. “He told them, The harvest is plentiful,
but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to
send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like
lambs among wolves.” If we consider the prophets of the Old Testament,
such as Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezechiel and the minor
prophets such as Joel or Hosea, while they gathered some disciples,
none of them sent their disciples out on a nation-wide mission, let
alone on a world-wide mission. This great missionary thrust is one of
the many distinguishing features of the life and work of Jesus Christ.
He appeared on the scene of mankind with a great mission which was to
establish God’s Lordship in the hearts of men. That Lordship, that
Kingdom of God was embodied in his very person, and the announcement of
the presence of the Kingdom was the announcement of the presence of
Jesus himself. Entering that Kingdom meant being truly his disciple and
on his terms. Salvation comes from union with him because God and his
Lordship are found in him. Were we there and part of his company as his
disciples, an essential part of our life in him and with him would be
to do all we could, under his guidance, to bring his person and his
revelation to others.
The next thing we
notice is that Jesus sends his disciples on mission with very little to
help them. There is no sword to wield, no wallet of gold coins to hold,
no horse or camel to ride. That is to say, what Christ offers the
average disciple to assist him in his daily mission is his very calling
to be his disciple. His very union with him is all that the disciple
needs and is given. He has what the providence of God has given him by
way of natural gifts and other endowments, but the special means Christ
gives to be used is Christ’s own truth, the word about Christ, the word
of authentic witness. “Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do
not greet anyone on the road. When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace
to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on
him; if not, it will return to you.” All this is to say that any of
Christ’s disciples can engage in the work of witnessing to Jesus in his
everyday life or in some apostolate of choice, however ordinary he may
deem himself to be. Every disciple of Christ is able in one way or
another to point to the person of Jesus and his word. He does this by
personal example and by taking whatever opportunities daily life
presents, discreetly, prudently, charitably and yet courageously, to
introduce others to Jesus who is the embodiment and the presence of the
Kingdom of God. As St Paul writes, in Christ is to be found every
heavenly blessing. As our Lord said to his disciples on one occasion,
no one can come to the Father except through him. That is to say, if
any person at all attains access to the Father it has only been
through, and can only be through, Jesus Christ. The Christian
proclamation is that salvation is possible through one name only, that
of Jesus Christ. An essential duty for the Christian is to engage in
this proclamation and it is done in his ordinary everyday life. He
shares in a great mission and does so in and under Christ who is
present in his body the Church, of which he is the Head.
In all the joys and
difficulties, in all the successes and disappointments of bearing
witness to Jesus in everyday life, there is a constant consolation to
which our Lord refers in our passage today. It is that the name of each
of Christ’s disciples is “written in heaven” - “do not rejoice that the
spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in
heaven” (Luke 10: 1-12.17-20), our
Lord says. Let us then ask our Lord for a truly missionary impulse, one
that will inspire us to do what we can to introduce others to Christ,
and Christ to them.
(E.J.Tyler)
How frankly you laughed when I advised you to put the years of your
youth under the protection of Saint Raphael: 'so that he'll lead you,
like young Tobias, to a holy marriage, with a girl who is good and
pretty and rich', I told you, jokingly.
And then, how thoughtful you became!... when I went on to advise you to
put yourself also under the patronage of that young apostle John; in
case God were to ask more of you.
(The Way, no.360)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
“Eros” and “Agape” –– difference and unity
3. That love between man and woman which is neither planned nor willed,
but somehow imposes itself upon human beings, was called eros by
the ancient Greeks. Let us note straight away that the Greek Old
Testament uses the word eros only twice, while the New
Testament does not use it at all: of the three Greek words for love, eros,
philia (the love of friendship) and agape,
New Testament writers prefer the last, which occurs rather infrequently
in Greek usage. As for the term philia, the love of friendship, it is used with added depth
of meaning in Saint John's Gospel in order to express the relationship
between Jesus and his disciples. The tendency to avoid the word eros,
together with the new vision of love expressed through the word agape,
clearly point to something new and distinct about the Christian
understanding of love. In the critique of Christianity which began with
the Enlightenment and grew progressively more radical, this new element
was seen as something thoroughly negative. According to Friedrich
Nietzsche, Christianity had poisoned
eros, which for its part, while not completely
succumbing, gradually degenerated into vice.[1] Here the German
philosopher was expressing a widely-held perception: doesn't the
Church, with all her commandments and prohibitions, turn to bitterness
the most precious thing in life? Doesn't she blow the whistle just when
the joy which is the Creator's gift offers us a happiness which is
itself a certain foretaste of the Divine?
(Continuing)
St
Joseph the husband of Mary (Saturday of the fifth week of
Lent A)
(March 15) SAINT JOSEPH Spouse of the
Blessed Virgin, Virginal Father of Jesus († ca. 30)
Saint Joseph was by birth of the royal family of David, but was living
in humble obscurity as a carpenter, until God raised him to the highest
office ever accorded a mortal man, by choosing him to be
the
spouse of the Virgin Mother, the virginal father and guardian of the
Incarnate Word. Joseph, says Holy Scripture, was a just man. He was
innocent and pure, as became the husband of Mary; he was gentle and
tender, as one worthy to be named the father of Jesus; he was prudent
and a lover of silence, as became the master of the holy house; above
all, he was faithful and obedient to divine calls. His conversation was
with Angels rather than with men. When he learned that Mary bore within
Her womb the Lord of heaven, he feared to take Her as his wife; but an
Angel bade him put his fear aside, and all doubts vanished. When Herod
sought the life of the divine Infant, an Angel told Joseph in a dream
to fly with the Child and His Mother into Egypt. Joseph at once arose
and obeyed. This sudden and unexpected flight must have exposed both
him and his little Family to many inconveniences and sufferings; the
journey with a newborn infant and a tender virgin was long, and the
greater part of the way led through deserts and among strangers. Yet
Saint Joseph alleges no excuses, nor inquires at what time they were to
return. Saint Chrysostom observes that God treats in this way all His
servants, sending them frequent trials to clear their hearts from the
rust of self-love, but intermixing with afflictions, seasons of
consolation. It is the opinion of the Fathers that when the Holy Family
entered Egypt, at the presence of the Child Jesus all the oracles of
that superstitious country were struck dumb, and the statues of their
gods trembled, and in many places fell to the ground. The Fathers also
attribute to this holy visit the spiritual benediction poured on that
country, which made it for many ages fruitful in Saints. After the
death of King Herod, of which Saint Joseph was informed in another
vision, God ordered him to return with the Child and His Mother into
the land of Israel, which our Saint readily accomplished. But when he
arrived in Judea, hearing that Archelaus had succeeded Herod in that
part of the land, and apprehensive that the son might be infected with
his father’s vices, he feared to settle there, as he would otherwise
probably have done, for the education of the Child. Therefore, directed
by God through still another angelic visit, he retired into the
dominions of Herod Antipas in Galilee, and to his former habitation in
Nazareth. Saint Joseph, a strict observer of the Mosaic law, journeyed
each year at the time of the Passover to Jerusalem. Our Saviour, in the
twelfth year of His age, accompanied His parents. Having participated
in the usual ceremonies of the feast, the parents were returning with
many of their neighbours and acquaintances towards Galilee, and never
doubted that Jesus was with some of the company. They travelled on for
a whole day’s journey before they discovered that He was not with them.
But when night came on and they could find no trace of Him among their
kindred and acquaintances, they, in the deepest affliction, returned
with the utmost haste to Jerusalem. We are left to imagine their tears
and their efforts to find Him. After an anxious search of three days
they discovered Him in the Temple, discoursing with the learned doctors
of the law, and asking them such questions as aroused the admiration of
all who heard Him. His Mother told Him with what grief and earnestness
they had sought Him and asked, “Son, why have You dealt with us in this
way? Behold, Your Father and I have searched for You in great
affliction of mind.” The young Saviour answered, “How is it that You
sought Me? Did You not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
In this way Jesus encourages all young persons who are called to serve
God to persevere in that high vocation, whatever the cost. But we are
told that although He had remained in the Temple unknown to His
parents, in all other things He was obedient to them, returning with
them to Nazareth, and living there in all dutiful subjection to them.
As no further mention is made of Saint Joseph, he must have died before
the marriage feast of Cana and the beginning of our divine Saviour’s
ministry. We cannot doubt that he had the happiness of the presence of
Jesus and Mary at his death, praying beside him, assisting and
comforting him in his last moments; therefore he is invoked for the
great grace of a happy death and the spiritual presence of Jesus in
that hour. The words of the Pharaoh to those who applied to him for
aid, “Go to Joseph” are fitting for the second great Joseph of sacred
history. (Magnificat.ca)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today: 2 Samuel 7:
4-5.12-14.16; Romans 4:13.16-18.22; Luke 2: 41-51
Every year his
parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was
twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.
After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning
home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware
of it. Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day.
Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When
they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the
teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who
heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his
parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, Son, why
have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously
searching for you. Why were you searching for me? he asked. Didn't you
know I had to be in my Father's house? But they did not understand what
he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was
obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her
heart.(Luke 2: 41-51)
Some years back I
was told that the great Evangelical preacher, Billy Graham, called into
question the typical Protestant prejudice against a place for Mary in
the Christian life. He said to his audience, let us remember that Mary
is the mother of the Saviour! Very true. Consider the passages in the
Gospel narratives of our Lord’s
infancy and youth. Consider the years Jesus spent at Nazareth, the
overwhelming portion of his life. Thirty of his thirty three years were
spent in the household of Nazareth and in the confined scene of the
town. Imagine the communion between Jesus and his mother, between him
who was the divine fount of grace and her who was full of grace. But
there is another person in the scene and that is the foster father of
Jesus - Joseph, whom the Gospel describes as a just man. The Church
celebrates him as a great saint twice during the year under different
titles. In March he is honoured as the husband of Mary and so we think
of his life as husband and head of the household, and in May we think
of Joseph the worker, toiling side by side with his divine foster-son.
Inasmuch as so many years of Christ’s life were lived in this domestic
and very local situation, and inasmuch as so much of his time was spent
in the company of this one man Joseph, the person of Joseph the husband
of Mary warrants our consideration. He is regarded by the Church as a
great saint and how he must have been! If sanctity involves a profound
communion with and love for Christ, how great must have been his
communion with and love for Christ! He held him in his arms as an
infant and helped him with his first steps. He took him with Mary to
the synagogue and instructed him in so many ways. Imagine Joseph
training his young apprentice in the skills of a carpenter-builder and
imagine them working together all those years. They would have built
homes, furniture and implements together.
All this is to say
that the most profound union must have developed between Joseph and
Mary and Jesus. If the angel addressed Mary as full of grace, a gift
undoubtedly bestowed in view of her vocation as mother of the Son of
God made man, we must assume great gifts of grace in Joseph and an
immense fidelity to them - but all lived out in an obscure and hidden
scene. Like Mary and like Jesus himself, Joseph’s great holiness was
hidden and scarcely realized by the community in which they lived. It
was the holiest family in all of human history, living a moral and
religious life without equal, incomparably beautiful in the sight of
God and yet ever so hidden amid the ordinariness of everyday life. They
had their meals together, they prayed together, they conversed
together, they fulfilled their daily duties, with Mary cooking and
keeping house and Joseph and Jesus assisting her and earning the family
living through their trade. Today’s feast of St Joseph invites us to
consider Joseph as family man, as husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and of course as foster father of Jesus Christ. The years passed,
beautiful years, toilsome years but years of profound communion which
Mary would ever look back on with gratitude and admiration for her holy
husband. By the time Jesus began his public ministry Joseph had died.
Imagine Jesus and Mary at his side as he breathed his last. Imagine the
funeral procession as it made its way to the cemetery of Nazareth and
as the body of Joseph was lowered into the grave. Imagine as mother and
son returned to the home to take up again without their beloved Joseph.
He had been the head of the home, humble, strong, loving. Now he was
gone. Over the past two millennia devotion to St Joseph the husband of
Mary and foster father of Jesus has grown in the life of the Church.
Just as Mary and Jesus loved Joseph, so does the Christian. The Church
exhorts us to turn to him in our prayers and to ask for his
intercession.
Indeed, the Church
has declared St Joseph to the universal protector of the Church. That
is to say, all members of the Church are invited to turn to him for his
intercession. How could Christ our Lord refuse a petition on our behalf
from his foster-father Joseph? Well then, go to Joseph! Go to him for
your needs and ask for his prayers before God. His prayers are
powerful. Indeed, go to both Mary and Joseph and ask for whatever you
need. Their prayers cannot fail to be heard.
(E.J.Tyler)
For you, who complain to yourself because you are treated severely and
feel the contrast between this harshness and the conduct of those back
home, I copy these lines from the letter of an army doctor: 'There are
two ways of approaching each case: the conscientious professional
attitude — cold and calculating, but objective and useful to the
patient: or the tearful fussing of the family. At the height of a
battle, when the stream of casualties begins to arrive and to
accumulate because they can't be dealt with fast enough, what would
become of a first-aid post if a family stood around each stretcher? One
might just as well go over to the enemy.'
(The Way, no.361)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
“Eros” and “Agape” –– difference and unity (cont)
4. But is this the case? Did Christianity really destroy eros?
Let us take a look at the pre- Christian world. The Greeks—not unlike
other cultures—considered eros principally as a kind of
intoxication, the overpowering of reason by a “divine madness” which
tears man away from his finite existence and enables him, in the very
process of being overwhelmed by divine power, to experience supreme
happiness. All other powers in heaven and on earth thus appear
secondary: “Omnia vincit amor” says Virgil in the
Bucolics—love conquers all—and he adds: “et nos cedamus amori”—let
us, too, yield to love.[2] In the religions, this attitude found
expression in fertility cults, part of which was the “sacred”
prostitution which flourished in many temples. Eros was
thus celebrated as divine power, as fellowship with the Divine. The Old
Testament firmly opposed this form of religion, which represents a
powerful temptation against monotheistic faith, combating it as a
perversion of religiosity. But it in no way rejected
eros as such; rather, it declared war on a warped and
destructive form of it, because this counterfeit divinization of eros
actually strips it of its dignity and dehumanizes it. Indeed, the
prostitutes in the temple, who had to bestow this divine intoxication,
were not treated as human beings and persons, but simply used as a
means of arousing “divine madness”: far from being goddesses, they were
human persons being exploited. An intoxicated and undisciplined eros,
then, is not an ascent in “ecstasy” towards the Divine, but a fall, a
degradation of man. Evidently, eros needs to be
disciplined and purified if it is to provide not just fleeting
pleasure, but a certain foretaste of the pinnacle of our existence, of
that beatitude for which our whole being yearns.
(Continuing)
Prayers
this week: Hosanna to the Son of
David, the King of Israel. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
(Mat. 21:19)
Almighty, ever-living God, you have given the human race Jesus Christ
our Saviour as a model of humility. He fulfilled your will by becoming
man and giving his life on the cross. Help us to bear witness to
you by following his example of suffering and make us worthy to share
in his resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
(March 16)
St. Clement Mary Hofbauer (1751-1820)
Clement might be
called the second founder of the Redemptorists, as it was he who
carried the congregation of St. Alphonsus Liguori to the people north
of the Alps. John,
the
name given him at Baptism, was born in Moravia into a poor family, the
ninth of 12 children. Although he longed to be a priest there was no
money for studies, and he was apprenticed to a baker. But God guided
the young man's fortunes. He found work in the bakery of a monastery
where he was allowed to attend classes in its Latin school. After the
abbot there died, John tried the life of a hermit but when Emperor
Joseph II abolished hermitages, John again returned to Vienna and to
baking. One day after serving Mass at the cathedral of St. Stephen, he
called a carriage for two ladies waiting there in the rain. In their
conversation they learned that he could not pursue his priestly studies
because of a lack of funds. They generously offered to support both him
and his friend, Thaddeus, in their seminary studies. The two went to
Rome, where they were drawn to St. Alphonsus' vision of religious life
and to the Redemptorists. The two young men were ordained together in
1785. Newly professed at age 34, Clement Mary, as he was now called,
and Thaddeus were sent back to Vienna. But the religious difficulties
there caused them to leave and continue north to Warsaw, Poland. There
they encountered numerous German-speaking Catholics who had been left
priestless by the suppression of the Jesuits. At first they had to live
in great poverty and preached outdoor sermons. They were given the
church of St. Benno, and for the next nine years they preached five
sermons a day, two in German and three in Polish, converting many to
the faith. They were active in social work among the poor, founding an
orphanage and then a school for boys. Drawing candidates to the
congregation, they were able to send missionaries to Poland, Germany
and Switzerland. All of these foundations had eventually to be
abandoned because of the political and religious tensions of the times.
After 20 years of difficult work Clement himself was imprisoned and
expelled from the country. Only after another arrest was he able to
reach Vienna, where he was to live and work the final 12 years of his
life. He quickly became "the apostle of Vienna," hearing the
confessions of the rich and poor, visiting the sick, acting as a
counsellor to the powerful, sharing his holiness with all in the city.
His crowning work was the establishment of a Catholic college in his
beloved city. Persecution followed him, and there were those in
authority who were able for a while to stop him from preaching. An
attempt was made at the highest levels to have him banished. But his
holiness and fame protected him and the growth of the Redemptorists.
Due to his efforts, the congregation, upon his death in 1820, was
firmly established north of the Alps. He was canonized in 1909.
Clement saw his life’s
work meet with disaster. Religious and political tensions forced him
and his brothers to abandon their ministry in Germany, Poland and
Switzerland. Clement himself was exiled from Poland and had to start
all over again. Someone once pointed out that the followers of the
crucified Jesus should see only new possibilities opening up whenever
they meet failure. He encourages us to follow his example, trusting in
the Lord to guide us.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11; Isaiah
50:4-7; Psalm 21; Philippians 2: 6-11; Matt 26:14-27:66
As they
approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go to the village ahead of
you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by
her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you,
tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.
This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet: Say to
the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding
on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' The disciples went and
did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt,
placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd
spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the
trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him
and those that followed shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! When
Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, Who is
this? The crowds answered, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in
Galilee.(Matt 21:1-11)
Our Gospel passage
is that of the Palm Sunday procession before the beginning of Mass
(Matt 21:1-11). It narrates our Lord’s triumphant Entry
into Jerusalem as the Messiah King, and is followed during the Mass by
St Matthew’s Gospel long account of the passion and death of our Lord.
As the long awaited Messiah he entered the holy city so
beloved by God in order to die for his people and for all mankind. He
entered amid acclaim in order to die amid rejection and by that
rejection he would fulfil his messianic mission. Between five and six
centuries before, the prophet we now call Deutero-Isaiah had foretold
that the Messiah would be God’s Suffering Servant. He would fulfil
God’s plan for his people and for the world by his obedient suffering:
“I offered my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who tore
at my beard; I did not cover my face against insult and spittle.”
(Isaiah 50). Our Lord was entering the City as its promised King,
“humble and riding on a donkey” as Zechariah (ch.9) had foretold, to
follow this divinely ordained path and so enter his glory, opening the
door to glory for all who choose to believe in him. As he told Pontius
Pilate, our Lord’s messianic kingship was of God and not of this world.
He did not use armies to gain his triumphs. His weapon was obedient
suffering, the Cross. By contrast, let our imagination pass to the
region of Arabia east of Jerusalem. We are six hundred years after
Christ, and we find ourselves in the city Mecca, long regarded as holy
because of its sacred black stone in the temple of Kaaba. Muhammad is
marching on this his own native city with an army of 10,000 and the
leading citizens come out to meet him and formally submit to his
authority. He enters and imposes Islam as the religion of the city. How
contrary was the way of Isaiah’s prophecies and their fulfilment in
Christ to the way of the conquering Muhammad! Christ enters the holy
city of Jerusalem as Messiah to die for the sins of mankind and within
a week of his Entry he rises from the dead to a new life. Muhammad
enters the holy city of Mecca, and two years later dies back in his
adopted city of Medina. There his remains still lie.
The Entry of Christ
into the holy city of Jerusalem reminds us of many things, but two in
particular. Firstly, we are reminded that Jesus of Nazareth is God’s
promised Messiah for the whole of mankind. He is the one who brings
salvation to all. He is the one in whom mankind is called to place its
hopes. Whatever be the hopes man places in this or that kingdom or
utopia, the one hope that will not disappoint is our hope in Christ. As
he makes his way humbly seated on the donkey to the acclaim of those
who accompany him, let us also acclaim him in our hearts. He is the
Lord of all lords and the King of all kings. To him has been given all
authority in heaven and on earth. Let not our hopes be like many of
those who acclaimed him as he entered his city. Let our hopes lie
entirely in him and in what he offers. He offers life in abundance, the
gift of holiness, a share in eternal life here on earth and forever in
heaven. He offers the grace to live in him always. Let us resolve to
place our hope in his very person asking him to guide us to a true and
generous following in his footsteps, and to keep us from all other
paths. He alone is our King, and he is the King we bear witness to
before all others in our everyday life. That is the first point. The
second follows upon it. Christ on entering Jerusalem will show the true
path to glory. We remember Christ’s rebuke to Simon Peter who wished to
dissuade him from the path of suffering. Christ said to him, “Get
behind me, you Satan!” Mysteriously, the path to true glory lies in the
renunciation of earthly glory. As St Paul writes in his Letter to the
Philippians (ch 2) Christ’s “state was divine” yet he “emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are” and “humbler
yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.” That is the divinely
ordained path to true glory, and if any one wishes to be his disciple
he must deny himself, take up his cross every day and follow him.
Christ is our Light and his way is very different from that of the world.
So then, what to
do? Let us in spirit accompany Jesus as he makes his way gently and
humbly, yet fully conscious of the King and Lord he is and of the
boundless significance of what he is about to do. We accompany him,
praying to have the grace to love him fully and to accompany him to the
end. Let us ask for the grace to follow in his footsteps in everyday
life, doing the will of God in our daily duties, and being glad in our
stead to suffer in union with Jesus if God so pleases.
(E.J.Tyler)
I have no need of miracles: there are more than enough for me in the
Gospel. But I do need to see you fulfilling your duty and responding to
grace.
(The Way, no.362)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
“Eros” and “Agape” –– difference and unity (cont)
5. Two things emerge clearly from this rapid overview of the concept of
eros past and present. First, there is a certain relationship
between love and the Divine: love promises infinity, eternity—a reality
far greater and totally other than our everyday existence. Yet we have
also seen that the way to attain this goal is not simply by submitting
to instinct. Purification and growth in maturity are called for; and
these also pass through the path of renunciation. Far from rejecting or
“poisoning” eros, they heal it and restore its true
grandeur.
This is due first and foremost to the fact that man is a being made up
of body and soul. Man is truly himself when his body and soul are
intimately united; the challenge of eros can be said to
be truly overcome when this unification is achieved. Should he aspire
to be pure spirit and to reject the flesh as pertaining to his animal
nature alone, then spirit and body would both lose their dignity. On
the other hand, should he deny the spirit and consider matter, the
body, as the only reality, he would likewise lose his greatness. The
epicure Gassendi used to offer Descartes the humorous greeting: “O
Soul!” And Descartes would reply: “O Flesh!”.[3] Yet it is neither the
spirit alone nor the body alone that loves: it is man, the person, a
unified creature composed of body and soul, who loves. Only when both
dimensions are truly united, does man attain his full stature. Only
thus is love —eros—able to mature and attain its
authentic grandeur.
Nowadays Christianity of the past is often criticized as having been
opposed to the body; and it is quite true that tendencies of this sort
have always existed. Yet the contemporary way of exalting the body is
deceptive. Eros, reduced to pure “sex”, has become a
commodity, a mere “thing” to be bought and sold, or rather, man himself
becomes a commodity. This is hardly man's great “yes” to the body. On
the contrary, he now considers his body and his sexuality as the purely
material part of himself, to be used and exploited at will. Nor does he
see it as an arena for the exercise of his freedom, but as a mere
object that he attempts, as he pleases, to make both enjoyable and
harmless. Here we are actually dealing with a debasement of the human
body: no longer is it integrated into our overall existential freedom;
no longer is it a vital expression of our whole being, but it is more
or less relegated to the purely biological sphere. The apparent
exaltation of the body can quickly turn into a hatred of bodiliness.
Christian faith, on the other hand, has always considered man a unity
in duality, a reality in which spirit and matter compenetrate, and in
which each is brought to a new nobility. True, eros
tends to rise “in ecstasy” towards the Divine, to lead us beyond
ourselves; yet for this very reason it calls for a path of ascent,
renunciation, purification and healing.
(Continuing)
(March 17) St. Maximilian (d. 295)
We have an early, precious, almost unembellished account of the
martyrdom of St. Maximilian in modern-day Algeria. Brought before the
proconsul Dion, Maximilian refused enlistment in the Roman army saying,
"I cannot serve, I cannot do evil. I am a Christian." Dion replied:
"You must serve or die." Maximilian: "I will never serve. You can cut
off my head, but I will not be a soldier of this world, for I am a
soldier of Christ. My army is the army of God, and I cannot fight for
this world. I tell you I am a Christian." Dion: "There are Christian
soldiers serving our rulers Diocletian and Maximian, Constantius and
Galerius." Maximilian: "That is their business. I also am a Christian,
and I cannot serve." Dion: "But what harm do soldiers do?" Maximilian:
"You know well enough." Dion: "If you will not do your service I shall
condemn you to death for contempt of the army." Maximilian: "I shall
not die. If I go from this earth my soul will live with Christ my
Lord." Maximilian was 21 years old when he gladly offered his life to
God. His father went home from the execution site joyful, thanking God
that he had been able to offer heaven such a gift.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Isaiah 42: 1-7; Psalm
26; John 12: 1-11
Six days before the
Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had
raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honour. Martha served,
while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then
Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured
it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was
filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, Why wasn't this
perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's
wages. He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because
he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to
what was put into it. Leave her alone, Jesus replied. It was intended
that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will
always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.
Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and
came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had
raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus
as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to
Jesus and putting their faith in him.(John
12: 1-11)
There are several
actors on the stage of our Gospel scene today. There is Jesus, there is
Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead, and there are Martha and
Mary the sisters of Lazarus. There is also Judas. Finally there are the
crowds and the chief priests. I think we could say that apart from
Jesus the two main ones are Mary the sister of
Lazarus and Judas who
would betray him. Let us consider what each of these two do in respect
to Jesus, and what their actions suggest. The context of our scene is a
banquet put on in Jesus’ honour, perhaps in the home of Lazarus and his
two sisters for we are told that Martha is serving. Jesus had worked an
astounding public miracle, calling his friend Lazarus forth from the
tomb after his having been dead four days. Mary enters holding a
quantity of “pure nard”, a very expensive perfume and goes with it
before Jesus. She pours it all out on his feet and wipes his feet with
her hair. What is she doing? She is doing all she can to honour him. In
her eyes, there is no one like him on earth. He is beyond compare and
in her action we surely see the action of the Church of the ages to
come. Jesus Christ is not just the greatest of teachers of religion, he
is not just the greatest of prophets, he is not just the one who has
exercised the greatest of miraculous powers. He is the Lord. He is God,
God the Son become man and as such is to be worshipped. No other man,
no other person in all of history is to be worshipped even though so
many have arrogated to themselves this divine prerogative. The full
sense of this would come home to his disciples especially after his
resurrection from the dead, and we see the great instance of this in
the response of Thomas when the risen Christ showed him his wounds. “My
Lord and my God!” he cried. Our Gospel scene today, occurring not long
before his passion, constitutes a pointer to it. Mary’s action embodies
the worship that is due to Christ.
By contrast we have
the response of Judas, one of the Twelve. He had been privileged to be
called to be one of Christ’s constant companions, to be with him and to
be sent out to preach. Christ had called him to be one of the twelve
foundations stones of his Church which would be the bearer of his
Kingdom. He had been blessed with the unique calling to be an intimate
of Christ and to see for himself the grandeur of his person. Mary saw
it, Judas became blind to it. What was the difference between the two?
Mary loved Jesus, Judas had gradually lost his love for him and became
culpably blind to who he was. In our Gospel scene today
(John 12: 1-11) we see how greatly
disaffected Judas had become and we sense also the gentleness and tact
with which our Lord had treated this traitor within his own company. At
the time of our Lord’s announcement of the doctrine of the Eucharist at
Capernaum (John 6) when so many of his disciples left him, our Lord
said that one of his chosen was a “devil”, and John informs us that he
was referring to Judas. Judas here when he sees the perfume being
poured over the feet of Christ, grumbles. He appears to dislike Christ
and to resent honour being accorded him. His attitude is, we might say,
an enormity and it is cloaked in a hypocritical interest in the poor.
Christ corrects him and insists on the appropriateness of this action
for him in the life of his disciples. This would appear to be the
trigger that leads to Judas’s final apostasy. The person of Christ is
at the centre of this scene and, indeed, of Christian discipleship.
Mary by her action exalts Christ’s person and Jesus accepts her action.
Judas resents Christ being at the centre and criticizes the honour
accorded him. By abandoning Christ he loses all. In this whole sequence
of events we are surely reminded that Jesus is at the centre and at the
heart of the world, and that life is to be found not just in his
teaching, but more fundamentally in his person. He is the object of our
worship and love, and we show our love and worship of him by living
according to his word.
Let us linger in
the thought of Mary’s action of pouring her most precious nard over the
feet of Jesus and wiping them with her hair. That is the attitude we
ought bring to all our activities during life. All our actions, all our
efforts to fulfil our daily duties ought be informed with the attitude
of Mary. Whatever we do ought be done for Jesus as the Lord. He is the
Lord of our life, and all that we do ought be done in order that he be
glorified and honoured the more.
(E.J.Tyler)
Disappointment. You're downhearted. Men have just taught you a lesson!
As long as they thought you did not need them, offers came pouring in.
The possibility that they might have to help you with hard cash — a few
miserable pennies — turned their friendship into indifference.
Trust only in God and in those who, through him, are united with you.
(The Way, no.363)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
“Eros” and “Agape” –– difference and unity (cont)
6. Concretely, what does this path of ascent and purification entail?
How might love be experienced so that it can fully realize its human
and divine promise? Here we can find a first, important indication in
the Song of Songs, an Old Testament book well known to the mystics.
According to the interpretation generally held today, the poems
contained in this book were originally love-songs, perhaps intended for
a Jewish wedding feast and meant to exalt conjugal love. In this
context it is highly instructive to note that in the course of the book
two different Hebrew words are used to indicate “love”. First there is
the word dodim, a plural form suggesting a love that is
still insecure, indeterminate and searching. This comes to be replaced
by the word ahabŕ, which the Greek version of the Old
Testament translates with the similar-sounding agape, which, as we have
seen, becomes the typical expression for the biblical notion of love.
By contrast with an indeterminate, “searching” love, this word
expresses the experience of a love which involves a real discovery of
the other, moving beyond the selfish character that prevailed earlier.
Love now becomes concern and care for the other. No longer is it
self-seeking, a sinking in the intoxication of happiness; instead it
seeks the good of the beloved: it becomes renunciation and it is ready,
and even willing, for sacrifice.
It is part of love's growth towards higher levels and inward
purification that it now seeks to become definitive, and it does so in
a twofold sense: both in the sense of exclusivity (this particular
person alone) and in the sense of being “for ever”. Love embraces the
whole of existence in each of its dimensions, including the dimension
of time. It could hardly be otherwise, since its promise looks towards
its definitive goal: love looks to the eternal. Love is indeed
“ecstasy”, not in the sense of a moment of intoxication, but rather as
a journey, an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self
towards its liberation through self-giving, and thus towards authentic
self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God: “Whoever seeks to gain
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Lk
17:33), as Jesus says throughout the Gospels (cf. Mt 10:39; 16:25; Mk
8:35; Lk 9:24; Jn 12:25). In these words, Jesus portrays his own path,
which leads through the Cross to the Resurrection: the path of the
grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies, and in this way bears
much fruit. Starting from the depths of his own sacrifice and of the
love that reaches fulfilment therein, he also portrays in these words
the essence of love and indeed of human life itself.
(Continuing)
Louise, born near Meux, France, lost
her mother when she was still a child, her beloved father when she was
but 15. Her desire to become a nun was discouraged by her
confessor, and a
marriage was arranged. One son was born of this union. But she soon
found herself nursing her beloved husband through a long illness that
finally led to his death. Louise was fortunate to have a wise and
sympathetic counsellor, St. Francis de Sales, and then his friend, the
Bishop of Belley, France. Both of these men were available to her only
periodically. But from an interior illumination she understood that she
was to undertake a great work under the guidance of another person she
had not yet met. This was the holy priest M. Vincent, later to be known
as St. Vincent de Paul. At first he was reluctant to be her confessor,
busy as he was with his "Confraternities of Charity." Members were
aristocratic ladies of charity who were helping him nurse the poor and
look after neglected children, a real need of the day. But the ladies
were busy with many of their own concerns and duties. His work needed
many more helpers, especially ones who were peasants themselves and
therefore close to the poor and could win their hearts. He also needed
someone who could teach them and organize them. Only over a long period
of time, as Vincent de Paul became more acquainted with Louise, did he
come to realize that she was the answer to his prayers. She was
intelligent, self-effacing and had physical strength and endurance that
belied her continuing feeble health. The missions he sent her on
eventually led to four simple young women joining her. Her rented home
in Paris became the training centre for those accepted for the service
of the sick and poor. Growth was rapid and soon there was need of a
so-called rule of life, which Louise herself, under the guidance of
Vincent, drew up for the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
(though he preferred "Daughters" of Charity). He had always been slow
and prudent in his dealings with Louise and the new group. He said that
he had never had any idea of starting a new community, that it was God
who did everything. "Your convent," he said, "will be the house of the
sick; your cell, a hired room; your chapel, the parish church; your
cloister, the streets of the city or the wards of the hospital." Their
dress was to be that of the peasant women. It was not until years later
that Vincent de Paul would finally permit four of the women to take
annual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. It was still more years
before the company would be formally approved by Rome and placed under
the direction of Vincent's own congregation of priests. Many of the
young women were illiterate and it was with reluctance that the new
community undertook the care of neglected children. Louise was busy
helping wherever needed despite her poor health. She travelled
throughout France, establishing her community members in hospitals,
orphanages and other institutions. At her death on March 15, 1660, the
congregation had more than 40 houses in France. Six months later St.
Vincent de Paul followed her in death. Louise de Marillac was canonized
in 1934 and declared patroness of social workers in 1960. (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today:
Isaiah 49:1-6; Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15
and 17; John 13: 21-33.36-38
After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and
testified, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me. His
disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he
meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next
to him. Simon Peter motioned to
this
disciple and said, Ask him which one he means. Leaning back against
Jesus, he asked him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, It is the one to
whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.
Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of
Simon. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. What
you are about to do, do quickly, Jesus told him, but no-one at the meal
understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the
money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for
the Feast, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken
the bread, he went out. And it was night. When he was gone, Jesus said,
Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is
glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify
him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You
will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where
I am going, you cannot come. Simon Peter asked him, Lord, where are you
going? Jesus replied, Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you
will follow later. Peter asked, Lord, why can't I follow you now? I
will lay down my life for you. Then Jesus answered, Will you really lay
down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the cock crows, you
will disown me three times! (John 13: 21-33.36-38)
Islam rejects the whole concept of Christ’s Cross,
considering that it is against reason for Allah to save man through
such a means. It regards as defying logic the notion that in God’s plan
Christ "had" to suffer. It is senseless that one who could raise the
dead and heal all illnesses would willingly submit to
such a death and fail to kill those who sought to put an end to him.
Therefore Christ the prophet could not have been crucified - it had to
be someone else. So thinks Islam, and so indeed, I suppose we could
say, runs natural wisdom. The Cross of Christ, as St Paul puts it, is
foolishness to the world but in reality it is the power of God. This is
at the heart of Christ’s revelation, and so is at the core of the
Christian Way. Let us consider the attitude of Christ as it is
presented in our Gospel today. Christ is engaged in his Last Supper
with his disciples and a great burden presses on his heart. He is
"troubled in spirit" because one of his very own, one to whom he gave
his friendship, one whom he called to be part of his life and mission
to an altogether special degree, has turned against him and is to
betray him. He knew all this with crystal clarity and yet he has not
expelled Judas from his company. He does not take back his gift. Judas
had been progressively disliking the gift and is preparing to cast it
out of his life in exchange for something else. But Christ continues to
accept his presence and here at the last moments he not only shares
with his beloved disciples his burden but is undoubtedly in the process
meaning to invite Judas to think again of what he is doing. He loves
Judas and for this reason had given to Judas his vocation as an
apostle. Christ is confidentially asked by John his beloved disciple,
who is it to whom you are referring? Our Lord indicates who it is by
his gesture of offering Judas the morsel of dipped bread. I tend to
imagine our Lord offering the bread with a gentle smile as a final
invitation of friendship and as an invitation to turn back from his
sinful and catastrophic course.
(John 13:
21-33.36-38)
The point, though, is that our Lord does not himself
turn back from the suffering that is coming upon him. He does not
publicly expose Judas and outwit and foil his enemies - as he could so
easily have done. He advances towards his sufferings and freely
embraces them. How mysterious and how contrary to the wisdom of the
world! But such was the path the Father laid out for his divine Son.
Thus he would take away the sin of the world - not by a mere divine
decree but by God himself suffering for sin in his human nature. And so
the Last Supper continues. As soon as he offers Judas the piece of
bread Christ sees that Satan enters him. Judas has accepted Satan and
has turned his back on him. All this was clear before the profound gaze
of the Lord. Nothing more could now be done. Judas has placed himself
in the camp of the prince of this world. So Jesus directs Judas to do
quickly what he is to do. He no longer has a place during this the
first Mass. Again, the tone of voice and the manner of saying this
suggests to those who hear Christ say it that he is simply directing
Judas to get something for the Feast or to give something to the poor.
Christ is allowing and indeed embracing his course of suffering. Could
Judas clearly see that Christ understood exactly what he was about? We
are not explicitly told in this account, but in Matthew’s Gospel Christ
intimates to Judas that he knows ((Matt 26:25). So he left the Lord and
went out into the night, a night of utter darkness within him. Christ
had said that he was the Light of the world and that the one who
refused to walk with him walked in the darkness. Judas was now in the
darkness. But again, let us here keep our gaze on Christ and the path
he was treading. It was the path of the Cross. He did not flee it. He
did not reject it. He did not simply accept it as an unavoidable set of
circumstances. He embraced it. Mysteriously it was the divine path to
glory and he was blazing the trail ahead of us.
Where he has gone we are invited to follow. We ought
pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace to see the place of the Cross in
the divine plan. The path he trod, we for love of him are called to
tread. By our baptism we are placed by God in Christ as he goes freely
to his passion and death, and we come forth from our baptism sharing in
his risen life. It means dying to sin daily and living for God, and
doing so in Christ Jesus. This life for God is life in Christ and
according to his way. It is the path to glory. Let us choose that path
daily.
Serialization of the Encyclical
Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
"Eros" and "Agape" ––
difference and unity (cont)
7. By their own inner logic, these
initial, somewhat philosophical reflections on the essence of love have
now brought us to the threshold of biblical faith. We began by asking
whether the different, or even opposed, meanings of the word "love"
point to some profound underlying unity, or whether on the contrary
they must remain unconnected, one alongside the other. More
significantly, though, we questioned whether the message of love
proclaimed to us by the Bible and the Church's Tradition has some
points of contact with the common human experience of love, or whether
it is opposed to that experience. This in turn led us to consider two
fundamental words:
eros, as a term to indicate "worldly" love and agape, referring
to love grounded in and shaped by faith. The two notions are often
contrasted as "ascending" love and "descending" love. There are other,
similar classifications, such as the distinction between possessive
love and oblative love (amor concupiscentiae – amor
benevolentiae), to which is sometimes also added love that
seeks its own advantage.
In philosophical and theological
debate, these distinctions have often been radicalized to the point of
establishing a clear antithesis between them: descending, oblative love—agape—would
be typically Christian, while on the other hand ascending, possessive
or covetous love —eros—would be typical of non-Christian, and
particularly Greek culture. Were this antithesis to be taken to
extremes, the essence of Christianity would be detached from the vital
relations fundamental to human existence, and would become a world
apart, admirable perhaps, but decisively cut off from the complex
fabric of human life. Yet eros and agape—ascending
love and descending love—can never be completely separated. The more
the two, in their different aspects, find a proper unity in the one
reality of love, the more the true nature of love in general is
realized. Even if eros is at first mainly covetous and
ascending, a fascination for the great promise of happiness, in drawing
near to the other, it is less and less concerned with itself,
increasingly seeks the happiness of the other, is concerned more and
more with the beloved, bestows itself and wants to "be there for" the
other. The element of agape thus enters into this love, for otherwise eros
is impoverished and even loses its own nature. On the other hand, man
cannot live by oblative, descending love alone. He cannot always give,
he must also receive. Anyone who wishes to give love must also receive
love as a gift. Certainly, as the Lord tells us, one can become a
source from which rivers of living water flow (cf. Jn 7:37-38). Yet to
become such a source, one must constantly drink anew from the original
source, which is Jesus Christ, from whose pierced heart flows the love
of God (cf. Jn 19:34). In the account of Jacob's ladder, the Fathers of
the Church saw this inseparable connection between ascending and
descending love, between eros which seeks God and agape
which passes on the gift received, symbolized in various ways. In that
biblical passage we read how the Patriarch Jacob saw in a dream, above
the stone which was his pillow, a ladder reaching up to heaven, on
which the angels of God were ascending and descending (cf. Gen 28:12;
Jn 1:51). A particularly striking interpretation of this vision is
presented by Pope Gregory the Great in his Pastoral Rule. He tells us
that the good pastor must be rooted in contemplation. Only in this way
will he be able to take upon himself the needs of others and make them
his own: "per pietatis viscera in se infirmitatem caeterorum
transferat".[4] Saint Gregory speaks in this context of Saint
Paul, who was borne aloft to the most exalted mysteries of God, and
hence, having descended once more, he was able to become all things to
all men (cf. 2 Cor 12:2-4; 1 Cor 9:22). He also points to the example
of Moses, who entered the tabernacle time and again, remaining in
dialogue with God, so that when he emerged he could be at the service
of his people. "Within [the tent] he is borne aloft through
contemplation, while without he is completely engaged in helping those
who suffer: intus in contemplationem rapitur, foris infirmantium
negotiis urgetur."[5]
(March 19, 08) St.
Cyril of Jerusalem (315?-386)
Problems in the
Church today are minor compared with the reverberations of the Arian
heresy that denied the divinity of Christ. Cyril was to be caught up in
the controversy, accused (later) of Arianism by St. Jerome, and
ultimately vindicated both by the men of his own time and by being
declared a Doctor of the Church in 1822. Raised in Jerusalem,
well-educated, especially in the Scriptures, he was ordained a priest
by the bishop of Jerusalem and given the task of catechizing during
Lent those preparing for Baptism and during the Easter season the newly
baptized. His Catecheses remain valuable as examples of the ritual and
theology of the Church in the mid-fourth century. There are conflicting
reports about the circumstances of his becoming bishop of Jerusalem. It
is certain that he was validly consecrated by bishops of the province.
Since one of them was an Arian, Acacius, it may have been expected that
his “cooperation” would follow. Conflict soon rose between Cyril and
Acacius, bishop of the rival nearby see of Caesarea. Cyril was summoned
to a council, accused of insubordination and of selling Church property
to relieve the poor. Probably, however, a theological difference was
also involved. He was condemned, driven from Jerusalem, and later
vindicated, not without some association and help of Semi-Arians. Half
his episcopate was spent in exile (his first experience was repeated
twice). He finally returned to find Jerusalem torn with heresy, schism
and strife, and wracked with crime. Even St. Gregory of Nyssa, sent to
help, left in despair. They both went to the (second ecumenical)
Council of Constantinople, where the amended form of the Nicene Creed
was promulgated. Cyril accepted the word consubstantial (that is, of
Christ and the Father). Some said it was an act of repentance, but the
bishops of the Council praised him as a champion of orthodoxy against
the Arians. Though not friendly with the greatest defender of orthodoxy
against the Arians, Cyril may be counted among those whom Athanasius
called “brothers, who mean what we mean, and differ only about the word
[consubstantial].”
Those who imagine that the lives of saints are simple and placid,
untouched by the vulgar breath of controversy, are rudely shocked by
history. Yet it should be no surprise that saints, indeed all
Christians, will experience the same difficulties as their Master. The
definition of truth is an endless, complex pursuit, and good men and
women have suffered the pain of both controversy and error.
Intellectual, emotional and political roadblocks may slow up people
like Cyril for a time. But their lives taken as a whole are monuments
to honesty and courage. “It is not only among us, who are marked with
the name of Christ, that the dignity of faith is great; all the
business of the world, even of those outside the Church, is
accomplished by faith. By faith, marriage laws join in union persons
who were strangers to one another. By faith, agriculture is sustained;
for a man does not endure the toil involved unless he believes he will
reap a harvest. By faith, seafaring men, entrusting themselves to a
tiny wooden craft, exchange the solid element of the land for the
unstable motion of the waves. Not only among us does this hold true but
also, as I have said, among those outside the fold. For though they do
not accept the Scriptures but advance certain doctrines of their own,
yet even these they receive on faith” (Catechesis V). (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
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Scripture today: Isaiah 50: 4-9; Psalm
69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34; Matthew 26: 14-25
Then one of the
Twelve— the one called Judas Iscariot— went to the chief priests and
asked, What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you? So
they counted out for
him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity
to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Where do you want us to make
preparations for you to eat the Passover? He replied, Go into the city
to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time is
near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your
house.' So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared
the Passover. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with
the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, I tell you the truth,
one of you will betray me. They were very sad and began to say to him
one after the other, Surely not I, Lord? Jesus replied, The one who has
dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man
will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who
betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been
born. Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, Surely not I,
Rabbi? Jesus answered, They are your own words.(Matthew 26: 14-25)
Our Gospel passage
today places before us the figures of Jesus on the one hand and Judas
on the other. The account opens with Judas going to the chief priests
and asking “what will you give me if I hand him over to you?” They gave
him thirty silver coins. Let us place ourselves in the mind of Judas as
he forms his plan and approaches the
chief priests. A great
corruption of his heart and person is occurring. He is turning away
from the Lord of life and doing so with full freedom. Nothing has
forced him to come to this pass. He has been tempted by Satan, just as
Christ was tempted at the beginning of his public ministry and
presumably on other occasions. Undoubtedly Satan tempted others of our
Lord’s disciples, and we remember how during the Last Supper our Lord
told Simon that Satan had sifted him like wheat. Christ could see with
the utmost clarity what had been going on around him both among his
choicest disciples and among the people. Some time before, in the
synagogue of Capernaum, our Lord had announced publicly that his flesh
was to be eaten and his blood was to be drunk and that this was to be
the path to possessing eternal life. Very many of his disciples then
left him and he could see that among the Twelve there was a change.
“One of you is a devil”, he said to the Twelve. Judas had his failings
and was giving in to them - he stole from the common purse, we are
told. But Fulton Sheen, the great American preacher and writer, once
said that Judas’s departure from Christ began not with his pilfering
from the common purse but from his rejection of Christ’s teaching on
the Eucharist. Yes, Judas was being tempted, and he was consenting to
the temptation. Satan had striven to disaffect our Lord’s closest
associates and he was having signal success with one of them. The
example of Judas shows that Satan is, as St Peter writes in one of his
Letters, like a lion seeking to devour his prey. His object is to lure,
to trap and then to destroy. Judas allowed himself to be undone and
ruined.
Our prayerful gaze
turns to Jesus who is fully aware of what is happening within his own
circle. How did Jesus know these things? He did not have informants. He
could see by his profound human intelligence and his divine gaze the
hearts of men and he knew the frightful consequences of sin for his
very own. He had chosen Judas and loved him, and solemnly warned the
group “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe
to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if
he had not been born.” He even took the step of warning Judas himself:
“Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, Surely not I, Rabbi?
Jesus answered, They are your own words.” (Matthew
26:14-25) However, it was done. The next point to observe
is that this entire tragedy was taken into account by the divine plan.
Satan had pulled off his victory by corrupting one of the very Twelve
and orchestrating the capture and death of his great Enemy, the Holy
One of God as the demons had called him. But God from the apparent
ruins would draw an immense victory for the world. In all the distress
that our Lord displays at the course Judas had chosen to follow, he
manifests his serene awareness that despite the trail of sin all is, as
we might say, according to plan. But it is God’s plan, not any human
plan. Our Lord’s appointed time was near. His hour was approaching and
the salvation of the world was at hand. It would be accomplished within
the very circumstances set in motion by Satan, Judas, the chief priests
and all those who rejected him and his message and who wanted to do
away with him. What an extraordinary surprise in the history of the
world! Who would have imagined or conceived of such a method of
salvation! Who would have imagined that one would appear on the scene
of the world with the mission of taking away the sin of the world, and
then of achieving this precisely through betrayal, rejection, a
horrible passion and death and the seeming triumph of sinners! But such
was the surprise of God.
Let us in our
hearts as we gaze on the scene of our Gospel make our choice. Let us
take our stand with Jesus and give our hearts and our loyalty to him.
Let us resolve to follow his way, asking for the grace to go the whole
distance with him. Let us resolve to reject all temptations to prefer
other things to him no matter how small. Judas preferred the silver
coins. Let us never allow ourselves in the slightest sense to be
following such a paltry path. Christ and Christ alone is our choice.
(E.J.Tyler)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
“Eros” and “Agape” –– difference and unity (cont)
8. We have thus come to an initial, albeit still somewhat generic
response to the two questions raised earlier. Fundamentally, “love” is
a single reality, but with different dimensions; at different times,
one or other dimension may emerge more clearly. Yet when the two
dimensions are totally cut off from one another, the result is a
caricature or at least an impoverished form of love. And we have also
seen, synthetically, that biblical faith does not set up a parallel
universe, or one opposed to that primordial human phenomenon which is
love, but rather accepts the whole man; it intervenes in his search for
love in order to purify it and to reveal new dimensions of it. This
newness of biblical faith is shown chiefly in two elements which
deserve to be highlighted: the image of God and the image of man.
(Continuing)
(March 20, 08) St.
Salvator of Horta (1520-1567)
A reputation for holiness does have some drawbacks. Public recognition
can be a nuisance at times—as the confreres of Salvator found out.
Salvator was born during Spain’s Golden Age. Art, politics and wealth
were flourishing. So was religion. Ignatius of Loyola founded the
Society of Jesus in 1540. Salvator’s parents were poor. At the age of
21 he entered the Franciscans as a brother and was soon known for his
asceticism, humility and simplicity. As cook, porter and later the
official beggar for the friars in Tortosa, he became well known for his
charity. He healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross. When crowds of
sick people began coming to the friary to see Salvator, the friars
transferred him to Horta. Again the sick flocked to ask his
intercession; one person estimated that two thousand people a week came
to see Salvator. He told them to examine their consciences, to go to
confession and to receive Holy Communion worthily. He refused to pray
for those who would not receive those sacraments. The public attention
given to Salvator was relentless. The crowds would sometimes tear off
pieces of his habit as relics. Two years before his death, Salvator was
moved again, this time to Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. He died
at Cagliari saying, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." He
was canonized in 1938.
Medical science
is now seeing more clearly the relation of some diseases to one’s
emotional and spiritual life. In Healing Life’s Hurts, Matthew and
Dennis Linn report that sometimes people experience relief from illness
only when they have decided to forgive others. Salvator prayed that
people might be healed, and many were. Surely not all diseases can be
treated this way; medical help should not be abandoned. But notice that
Salvator urged his petitioners to reestablish their priorities in life
before they asked for healing. "Then Jesus summoned his twelve
disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them
out, and to cure every disease and every sickness" (Matthew 10:1).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
It was just before
the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave
this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the
world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal
was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot,
son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus
knew that
the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come
from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off
his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist. After that, he
poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying
them with the towel that was wrapped round him. He came to Simon Peter,
who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Jesus replied,
You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand.
No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, Unless I
wash you, you have no part with me. Then, Lord, Simon Peter replied,
not just my feet but my hands and my head as well! Jesus answered, A
person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body
is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. For he knew
who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was
clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes
and returned to his place. Do you understand what I have done for you?
he asked them. You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord', and rightly so, for
that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your
feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an
example that you should do as I have done for you.(John 13:1-15)
Our Gospel scene
today tells us many things about Jesus and about God, but I would
especially like to highlight one or two. Let us begin by thinking of
the very titles that our Lord accepts from his disciples. He tells them
that he is their Lord and their Teacher. “You call me 'Teacher' and
'Lord', and rightly so, for that is what I am.” The title “Lord” is
especially significant. As Messiah he was their King, the King who was
to come. But more, John the Baptist had testified that he was the Son
of God, and Simon Peter when asked by our Lord who they, his own
disciples, said he was, professed that he was the Messiah and the Son
of the Living God. So he was the Lord, and Thomas, after Jesus rose
from the dead and appeared before him, exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”
So Jesus was their very Lord and it was thus that his disciples
addressed him. As the Lord, he was also their Teacher. We remember when
our Lord was transfigured on the Mount, the Father said of him that he
was his own Son, and that they were to listen to him. He, his divine
Son, was their Teacher. When many of his disciples left him after he
taught the doctrine of the Eucharist in the synagogue of Capernaum
(John 6), our Lord asked the Twelve if they too were going. Simon Peter
answered, “Lord to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal
life, and we believe.” He was their Lord and their Teacher. Even then,
though, one was turning away - Judas. Our Lord said, “Have I not chosen
you? And yet one of you is a devil!” Christ is at the pinnacle of
mankind and he possesses all authority and power, being addressed as
Lord and Teacher. These titles he accepts, but he uses his power and
authority humbly and gently, winning the allegiance of men by the
witness of the truth. But now, look at his actions! He bends down and
humbly washes the feet of his disciples, and insisting that he do this.
Simon Peter objects, and Christ replies that communion with him
requires that he be allowed to wash their feet.
This action is
surely of immense significance for our very image of God. When God
called Abraham to leave his country and do as he was bidden, God acts
as, we might say, the High and Mighty One who loves the one he has
called. He commands, and his chosen one obeys. God loves but as one who
is very much the Lord. He calls Moses to him and treats him as, we are
told in Exodus, one treats a friend. Still, He is the Lord God who
commands. We notice a progressive revelation of God’s love in the
prophets, and God speaks of himself as the husband of his people, ever
forgiving and ever awaiting the fidelity of his spouse. It is as if God
is progressively descending to the level of his people, coming down to
them as he helps them to understand his love. But in Christ he puts
aside his glory, as St Paul writes, and becomes as men are, and humbler
still, even to death on a cross. He actually becomes man. The
extraordinary humility of God is being revealed. This is a very
different image of God from that of Allah. Our Lord told his disciples
that he who sees me, sees the Father. The Father and I are one, he
said. St Paul writes of Jesus that he is the image of the unseen God.
Well then, in our Gospel. passage today our Lord “got up from the meal,
took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist. After
that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples'
feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him.” (John 13:1-15) Let us remember that it
is the divine Son of the living God who is doing this, Yahweh God the
Son. The God who called Abraham out of his own land, the God who
summoned Moses in the Burning Bush and sent him to lead the children of
Israel out of slavery, the God who spoke on various occasions through
his prophets, this same God - though not the Father - bent down to wash
his disciples’ feet. This is what God is like. As the Lord and the
Teacher he is humble and full of love.
Just as Jesus was,
so is the Father, and both Father and Son do what they do by the power
of the Holy Spirit. Christ came to serve and he serves humbly. In this
he reveals the Father. So the Father is the God who serves and saves
humbly. The spirit of all this is the divine Spirit of God. So there we
have it. That is what God is like, and our Lord tells us that we should
be the same with one another and with all others. God washes our feet,
we should do the same with others. By the grace of the Holy Spirit let
us strive every day to be like the one only God who has revealed
himself in his Son Jesus Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)
Let's see: do you feel slighted in any way because 'So— and-so' is more
friendly with certain persons whom he knew before or to whom he feels
more attracted by temperament, profession, or character ?
Nevertheless, among yourselves, carefully avoid even the appearance of
a particular friendship.
(The Way, no.366)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
The newness of biblical faith
9. First, the world of the Bible presents us with a new image of God.
In surrounding cultures, the image of God and of the gods ultimately
remained unclear and contradictory. In the development of biblical
faith, however, the content of the prayer fundamental to Israel, the
Shema, became increasingly clear and unequivocal: “Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God is one Lord” (Dt 6:4). There is only one God, the Creator
of heaven and earth, who is thus the God of all. Two facts are
significant about this statement: all other gods are not God, and the
universe in which we live has its source in God and was created by him.
Certainly, the notion of creation is found elsewhere, yet only here
does it become absolutely clear that it is not one god among many, but
the one true God himself who is the source of all that exists; the
whole world comes into existence by the power of his creative Word.
Consequently, his creation is dear to him, for it was willed by him and
“made” by him. The second important element now emerges: this God loves
man. The divine power that Aristotle at the height of Greek philosophy
sought to grasp through reflection, is indeed for every being an object
of desire and of love —and as the object of love this divinity moves
the world [6]—but in itself it lacks nothing and does not love: it is
solely the object of love. The one God in whom Israel believes, on the
other hand, loves with a personal love. His love, moreover, is an
elective love: among all the nations he chooses Israel and loves
her—but he does so precisely with a view to healing the whole human
race. God loves, and his love may certainly be called eros,
yet it is also totally agape.[7]
The Prophets, particularly Hosea and Ezekiel, described God's passion
for his people using boldly erotic images. God's relationship with
Israel is described using the metaphors of betrothal and marriage;
idolatry is thus adultery and prostitution. Here we find a specific
reference—as we have seen—to the fertility cults and their abuse of eros,
but also a description of the relationship of fidelity between Israel
and her God. The history of the love-relationship between God and
Israel consists, at the deepest level, in the fact that he gives her
the Torah, thereby opening Israel's eyes to man's true nature and
showing her the path leading to true humanism. It consists in the fact
that man, through a life of fidelity to the one God, comes to
experience himself as loved by God, and discovers joy in truth and in
righteousness—a joy in God which becomes his essential happiness: “Whom
do I have in heaven but you? And there is nothing upon earth that I
desire besides you ... for me it is good to be near God” (Ps 73
[72]:25, 28).
(Continuing)
(March 21) St.
Nicholas von Flue Hermit and Swiss political figure.
Born near
Sachseln, Canton Obwalden, Switzerland, he took his name from the
Flueli river which flowed near his birthplace. The son of a peasant
couple, he married and had ten children by his wife, Dorothea Wissling,
and fought heroically in the forces of the canton against Zurich in
1439. After serving as magistrate and highly respected councillor, he
refused the office of governor several times and, in 1467, at the age
of fifty and with the consent of his wife and family, he embraced the
life of a hermit, giving up all thought of political activity. Nicholas
took up residence in a small cell at Ranft, supposedly surviving for
his final nineteen years entirely without food except for the Holy
Eucharist. Renowned for his holiness and wisdom, he was regularly
visited by civic leaders, powerful personages, and simple men and women
with a variety of needs. Through Nicholas’ labours, he helped bring
about the inclusion of Fribourg and Soleure in the Swiss Confederation
in 1481, thus preventing the eruption of a potentially bloody civil
war. One of the most famous religious figures in Swiss history, he was
known affectionately as “Bruder Klaus,” and was much venerated in
Switzerland. He was formally canonized in 1947. He is considered the
patron saint of Switzerland. (CatholicOnline)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture: Isaiah 52:13- 53:12; Psalm
31; Hebrews 4:14-16.5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42
So Pilate went back
into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, “Are you the
King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have
others told you about me?” Pilate answered,
“I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you
over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not
belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my
attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the
Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So Pilate said to him,
“Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I
was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to
him, “What is truth?” When he had said this, he again went out to the
Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom
that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to
release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this
one but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary. Then Pilate took
Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns
and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they
came to him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck him
repeatedly. Once more Pilate went out and said to them, “Look, I am
bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in
him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple
cloak. And he said to them, “Behold, the man!” When the chief priests
and the guards saw him they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!”
Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no
guilt in him.” The Jews answered, “We have a law, and according to that
law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” (John 18:1-19:42, part thereof)
St Thomas Aquinas
writes that the passion and death of Christ offers lessons for all
aspects of the Christian life, and indeed for any life. On Palm Sunday
and on Good Friday the Church publicly reads the entire account of
the Passion of Christ but those two days ought not be the only
occasions we read this account. A very good practice would be over the
course of Lent each year, which is to say between Ash Wednesday and,
say, Palm Sunday, to read slowly and prayerfully each of the four
Gospel accounts of the Passion and Death of Christ. The account that is
read publicly on Good Friday is that of St John. Let us notice
immediately how, with such a terrible series of sufferings enveloping
him, Jesus appears to be free and sovereign. Consider the way he speaks
to Pilate, the representative of the vast Roman Empire and the one who,
in his own words, has the power to spare his life or to put an end to
it. Christ is serene, respectful but altogether sovereign. As we think
of the course of mankind’s turbulent history, we also think of the
immense number of human lives that have been simply lost. Vast numbers
have died by the sword, vast numbers in natural disasters or whatever.
Waves of adverse circumstances have rolled over untold numbers of
persons and their lives have been simply washed away as if in some
irresistible tidal wave that ebbs and flows taking with it whatever is
within its reach. But Christ did not simply lose his life and succumb
to circumstances and sufferings. He was sovereignly free at every point
and we gain a sense of this in the account of the passion in Gospel of
St John. Christ offered his life. He did not lose it. He freely gave
it. His suffering and his death was a freely chosen gift of himself and
it was made on our behalf. As St Paul writes in one of his Letters,
Christ loved me - me! - and gave himself up for me - for me! Man
refused to give himself in obedience to God. Christ on our behalf
freely gave himself in obedience to the will of the Father and did so
unto death. In his sufferings he was burdened with the sins of us all
and he embraced this freely.
What this reveals
is that suffering and death is not just a sad and helpless loss of all
that is precious. In Christ it can be a very great gain. The key to it
is not just suffering and dying, but doing so with Christ and, as St
Paul puts it, with his mind. Let this mind be in you that was in Christ
Jesus, he writes. Let us observe the principal reason for Christ being
delivered up to his passion. It was because of who he claimed to be. He
was handed over to Pilate by the chief priests and the Sanhedrin as one
who claimed to be the King of the Jews. It was a title our Lord had
never used because of its political connotations but its Scriptural
expression was the Messiah. That, indeed, Christ claimed to be. He was
the Messiah, the King long foretold by the prophets. The kingship of
the Messiah is that given to him by God and to be exercised in God’s
kingdom, the Kingdom of heaven. It was a kingdom in this world but not
of it. That is exactly what our Lord sovereignly explains to the
uncomprehending Roman procurator. “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus
answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did
belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from
being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say
I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to
testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my
voice.” The truth that our Lord came into the world to reveal was above
all the truth about himself and the redemption to be found in union
with him. That redemption was established precisely by his bearing
witness to this saving truth in the midst of sufferings. His sufferings
were heaped upon him because of his witness to the truth. The truth he
revealed was that he is the Messiah - the Christ - the Son of God and
the Redeemer of man. Pilate turned to his accusers and said, “Take him
yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered,
“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he
made himself the Son of God.” (John
18:1-19:42). Christ has transformed suffering and death from
being a mere loss to being now a life-giving means of bearing witness
to his truth.
Let us resolve to
look on suffering and death with the mind of Christ and to approach it
in union with him. Let us look on it as the means of showing to God our
Father that we accept all that he has revealed through his Son our Lord
Jesus Christ. The rock of our life is Christ and all that he has
revealed as it comes to us in the preaching, teaching, life and
ministry of his Church. If we walk in his footsteps, living according
to his truth obediently whatever be the cost, we shall share his glory.
(E.J.Tyler)
The choicest morsel, if eaten by a pig, is turned (to put it bluntly),
into pigflesh!
Let us be angels, so as to dignify the ideas we assimilate.
Let us at least be men, so as to convert our food into strong and noble
muscles, or perhaps into a powerful brain capable of understanding and
adoring God.
But let us not be beasts, like so many, so very many!
(The Way, no.367)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
The newness of biblical faith (cont)
10. We have seen that God's eros for man is also totally
agape. This is not only because it is bestowed in a completely
gratuitous manner, without any previous merit, but also because it is
love which forgives. Hosea above all shows us that this agape
dimension of God's love for man goes far beyond the aspect of gratuity.
Israel has committed “adultery” and has broken the covenant; God should
judge and repudiate her. It is precisely at this point that God is
revealed to be God and not man: “How can I give you up, O Ephraim! How
can I hand you over, O Israel! ... My heart recoils within me, my
compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger, I
will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One
in your midst”” (Hos 11:8-9). God's passionate love for his people—for
humanity—is at the same time a forgiving love. It is so great that it
turns God against himself, his love against his justice. Here
Christians can see a dim prefigurement of the mystery of the Cross: so
great is God's love for man that by becoming man he follows him even
into death, and so reconciles justice and love.
The philosophical dimension to be noted in this biblical vision, and
its importance from the standpoint of the history of religions, lies in
the fact that on the one hand we find ourselves before a strictly
metaphysical image of God: God is the absolute and ultimate source of
all being; but this universal principle of creation—the Logos,
primordial reason—is at the same time a lover with all the passion of a
true love. Eros is thus supremely ennobled, yet at the
same time it is so purified as to become one with
agape. We can thus see how the reception of the Song of Songs
in the canon of sacred Scripture was soon explained by the idea that
these love songs ultimately describe God's relation to man and man's
relation to God. Thus the Song of Songs became, both in Christian and
Jewish literature, a source of mystical knowledge and experience, an
expression of the essence of biblical faith: that man can indeed enter
into union with God—his primordial aspiration. But this union is no
mere fusion, a sinking in the nameless ocean of the Divine; it is a
unity which creates love, a unity in which both God and man remain
themselves and yet become fully one. As Saint Paul says: “He who is
united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him” (1 Cor 6:17).
(Continuing)
Prayers
this week: The Lord has
indeed risen, alleluia. Glory and kingship be his for ever and ever.
(Luke 24:34; cf. Revel.1:6) God
our Father, by raising Christ your Son you conquered the power of death
and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let our celebration today
raise us up and renew our lives by the Spirit that is within us. We ask
this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
(March 22, 2008) St. Nicholas Owen (d. 1606).
Nicholas, familiarly known as "Little John,"
was small in stature but big in the esteem of his fellow Jesuits. Born
at Oxford, this humble artisan saved the lives of many priests and lay
persons in England during the penal times (1559-1829), when a series of
statutes punished Catholics for the practice of their faith. Over a
period of about 20 years he used his skills to build secret hiding
places for priests throughout the country. His work, which he did
completely by himself as both architect and builder, was so good that
time and time again priests in hiding were undetected by raiding
parties. He was a genius at finding, and creating, places of safety:
subterranean passages, small spaces between walls, impenetrable
recesses. At one point he was even able to mastermind the escape of two
Jesuits from the Tower of London. Whenever Nicholas set out to design
such hiding places, he began by receiving the Holy Eucharist, and he
would turn to God in prayer throughout the long, dangerous construction
process. After many years at his unusual task, he entered the Society
of Jesus and served as a lay brother, although—for very good
reasons—his connection with the Jesuits was kept secret. After a number
of narrow escapes, he himself was finally caught in 1594. Despite
protracted torture, he refused to disclose the names of other
Catholics. After being released following the payment of a ransom,
"Little John" went back to his work. He was arrested again in 1606.
This time he was subjected to horrible tortures, suffering an agonizing
death. The jailers tried suggesting that he had confessed and committed
suicide, but his heroism and sufferings soon were widely known. He was
canonized in 1970 as one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales.
Nicholas was a clever builder and architect
who used his skills to protect endangered priests. Without his help,
hundreds of English Catholics would have been deprived of the
sacraments. His gift for spotting unlikely places to hide priests was
impressive, but more impressive was his habit of seeking support for
his work in prayer and the Eucharist. If we follow his example, we may
also discover surprising ways to put our skills to God’s service.
(American.Catholic.org)
Epistle: Rom 6:3-11; Responsorial Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Gospel Matthew 28:1-10
After the Sabbath,
as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake;
for an angel of
the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and
sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was
white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like
dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid!
I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he
has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the
dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’
Behold, I have told you.” Then they went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And
behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached,
embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not
be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will
see me.”(Matthew 28:1-10)
It is quite natural
to fear death. I remember reading years ago a great Australian novel
and at one point the main character of the novel was at the bedside of
a dying relative named John. Around his bedside were other members of
the family. As death approached, the main character stepped forward and
said to the dying person, “have no fear
of death,
John!” It was a dramatic intervention in the novel and I have always
remembered it. It had an air of courage and decisiveness in the face of
the unknown, but it was quite unreal. By this I mean that there was
absolutely nothing in what the main character said to the dying person
that provided a reason for being confident in the face of approaching
death. In the history of thought and of religion death is shadowy and
the afterlife is seen as profoundly uncertain, which, naturally
speaking it is. Indeed many have thought there is no afterlife at all.
Into this situation of obscurity has come Christ’s revelation of the
immortality of the human person, as well as God’s judgment followed by
heaven or hell. Of course many do not accept this revelation but so
great has been this change in thought and culture that very many just
take for granted both that the deceased live on in their spirit and
that they are happy. The point here about this is that this instinctive
acceptance of the fact of the afterlife that the Christian religion has
brought can lead us to disregard the marvel and the critical importance
of the bodily resurrection of our Lord. We can accept our Lord’s bodily
resurrection but largely just as a notion. We can slip into imagining
the risen Jesus much in the way that we might imagine any very good
person who is now with God in happiness. That is to say, while we might
never say as much, we could think of Jesus our Lord as alive in his
spirit and simply that. We could perhaps ask ourselves if there is much
difference in the way we consider and imagine our Lord and the way we
imagine any great saint. We know there is in fact a great difference.
Our Lord rose from the dead in all his physical reality, glorious and
heavenly, but in all his physical and bodily reality nevertheless.
The empty tomb of
Easter morning helps us to appreciate this. We read that “After the
Sabbath, and towards dawn on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala
and the other Mary went to visit the tomb.” (Matthew
28:1-10)
We are told in our text that “the angel spoke, and he said to the
women, ‘There is no need for you to be afraid. I know you are looking
for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen as he
said he would’.” So he was risen from the dead in all his bodily
reality. That is how Jesus Christ now lives. He lives glorious as risen
from the dead in his body. We do not see him but others did see him
after he had risen and they saw him after having in no way expected it,
and indeed after having disbelieved those who did see him. In the
accounts of the resurrection in the other Gospels we have instances of
this disbelief in the reaction of the apostles to the testimony of the
women. They thought it was nonsense. We also read in the Gospel of St
John that Peter ran to the tomb, at least to verify that it was now
empty, and John the beloved disciple ran with him. Easter Sunday, the
day of the discovery of the empty tomb, was also the day of meetings
with the risen Jesus. It marks the beginning of a wonderful new era in
the infant Church and in the history of the world. Christ was seen in
the flesh, alive in all his physical person. He was seen by his
disciples, by the Apostles, and indeed, St Paul tells us, by as many as
five hundred persons on one occasion many of whom were still alive when
St Paul was writing. He became their love and their hope and their
life. It is the same risen Jesus who abides now in his body the Church
which he founded on the rock of Peter, and he will be with his Church
till the end when he comes again in glory. This risen Jesus speaks to
us in his word which is read, proclaimed and taught by the Church. He
comes to us in the Church’s sacraments and by his grace he nourishes
our union with him day by day.
Let us enter the
scene of Easter Sunday morning and stand within the empty tomb,
observing how the body of the Lord Jesus is no longer there. He has
risen from the dead and will appear to very many of his disciples,
telling them that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to him. They were to go to the whole world and make disciples of all
the nations. Let us take up that grand vocation which we have by our
baptism, and let us follow the risen Jesus to the end, knowing that if
we live with him here we shall rise with him hereafter in glory.
(E.J.Tyler)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
The newness of biblical faith (cont)
11. The first novelty of biblical faith consists, as we have seen, in
its image of God. The second, essentially connected to this, is found
in the image of man. The biblical account of creation speaks of the
solitude of Adam, the first man, and God's decision to give him a
helper. Of all other creatures, not one is capable of being the helper
that man needs, even though he has assigned a name to all the wild
beasts and birds and thus made them fully a part of his life. So God
forms woman from the rib of man. Now Adam finds the helper that he
needed: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gen
2:23). Here one might detect hints of ideas that are also found, for
example, in the myth mentioned by Plato, according to which man was
originally spherical, because he was complete in himself and
self-sufficient. But as a punishment for pride, he was split in two by
Zeus, so that now he longs for his other half, striving with all his
being to possess it and thus regain his integrity.[8] While the
biblical narrative does not speak of punishment, the idea is certainly
present that man is somehow incomplete, driven by nature to seek in
another the part that can make him whole, the idea that only in
communion with the opposite sex can he become “complete”. The biblical
account thus concludes with a prophecy about Adam: “Therefore a man
leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife and they
become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). Two aspects of this are important. First,
eros is somehow rooted in man's very nature; Adam is a
seeker, who “abandons his mother and father” in order to find woman;
only together do the two represent complete humanity and become “one
flesh”. The second aspect is equally important. From the standpoint of
creation, eros directs man towards marriage, to a bond
which is unique and definitive; thus, and only thus, does it fulfil its
deepest purpose. Corresponding to the image of a monotheistic God is
monogamous marriage. Marriage based on exclusive and definitive love
becomes the icon of the relationship between God and his people and
vice versa. God's way of loving becomes the measure of human love. This
close connection between eros and marriage in the Bible
has practically no equivalent in extra-biblical literature.
(Continuing)
Prayers
this week: The Lord has
indeed risen, alleluia. Glory and kingship be his for ever and ever.
(Luke 24:34; cf. Revel.1:6) God
our Father, by raising Christ your Son you conquered the power of death
and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let our celebration today
raise us up and renew our lives by the Spirit that is within us. We ask
this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
(March 23) St. Turibius of Mogrovejo
(1538-1606)
Together with Rose of Lima, Turibius is the first known saint of
the New World, serving the Lord in Peru, South America, for 26 years.
Born in Spain and educated for the law, he became so brilliant a
scholar that he was made professor of law at the University of
Salamanca and eventually became chief judge of the Inquisition at
Granada. When the archbishopric of Lima in Spain’s Peruvian colony
became vacant, it was decided that Turibius was the man needed to fill
the post: He was the one person with the strength of character and
holiness of spirit to heal the scandals that had infected that area. He
cited all the canons that forbade giving laymen ecclesiastical
dignities, but he was overruled. He was ordained priest and bishop and
sent to Peru, where he found colonialism at its worst. The Spanish
conquerors were guilty of every sort of oppression of the native
population. Abuses among the clergy were flagrant, and he devoted his
energies (and suffering) to this area first. He began the long and
arduous visitation of an immense archdiocese, studying the language,
staying two or three days in each place, often with neither bed nor
food. He wanted the people to be able to listen to homilies at Mass and
go to confession in their own language. He protected the natives who
were often cruelly treated by their Conquerors. He confessed every
morning to his chaplain, and celebrated Mass with intense fervour.
Among those to whom he gave the Sacrament of Confirmation was St. Rose
of Lima, and possibly St. Martin de Porres. After 1590 he had the help
of another great missionary, St. Francis Solanus. His people, though
very poor, were sensitive, dreading to accept public charity from
others. Turibius solved the problem by helping them anonymously. As
archbishop, St. Turibius travelled all over the country. He made his
way over the snowy mountains on foot. He walked over the hot sands of
the seashore. He built churches and hospitals. He started the first
seminary in Latin America for the training of priests. St. Turibius
loved the people of Peru. He died on March 23, 1606, at the age of
sixty-eight. St. Turibius was proclaimed a saint by Pope Benedict XIII
in 1726.
The Lord indeed writes straight with crooked lines.
Against his will, and from the unlikely springboard of an Inquisition
tribunal, this man became the Christlike shepherd of a poor and
oppressed people. God gave him the gift of loving the poor of
Peru. (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture:
Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Col 3:1-4 or I Cor
5:6b-8; John 20:1-9
On the first day of
the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while
it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran
and went to
Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they
put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the
tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and
arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths
there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went
into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had
covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a
separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had
arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not
yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
(John 20:1-9)
Our Gospel passage
narrates the news of Christ’s empty tomb. Jerusalem is asleep and it is
very early on the Sunday morning, still dark. Jesus of Nazareth, mighty
in his works and in his teaching, had been put to death on the Friday
two days before. The chief priests had told Pilate that by their Law
Jesus had to die for he had claimed to be
the Son of God. Our Lord
had repeatedly told his disciples that it would come to this and such
was the plan of God. By this path he would fulfil his mission as the
Messiah. On the third day he would rise again and so enter his glory
and take with him all those who are united to him. But his disciples
who loved him so much did not yet understand his words, nor the drift
the Scriptures. And so with his final rejection and terrible death they
thought it had all come to a sudden end. The body of their Lord and
Teacher lay in the tomb awaiting its burial anointing and, once done,
there it would remain. All thought of his resurrection, despite his
repeated telling them, was absent from their minds. We read that Mary
of Magdala “saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to
Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they
put him.”
(John 20:1-9) The assumption of
all on seeing and learning of the empty tomb was that “they” -
presumably the authorities - had taken the body away somewhere. Indeed,
on their part the Jewish authorities - who knew that Christ had claimed
he would rise (Matthew 27:63) - eventually put it out that the body had
been taken away by his disciples. So the body had gone, the body of
their precious and beloved Lord and Teacher. Simon and John set out
running and let us imagine the love and anxiety filling their hearts as
they ran. The love that filled their hearts is a lesson for every
disciple down the ages and is a lesson to us. Jesus was their love, the
love of their life and we are invited to make him the love of our lives
too.
John the
younger outstrips Simon in his run. They forget one another as they
run. Each is thinking only of Jesus, their beloved Jesus whose body had
been placed in the tomb. John is “the beloved disciple” of his Gospel,
the one with whom in some way our Lord had a special closeness and
understanding. But in some way too, he expected and undoubtedly
received greater love from Simon, because when risen from the dead and
breakfasting with his disciples on the shore he asked Simon if he loved
him more, more, than the others. He expected Simon to love him more,
and we can assume that he did. So as they run, their hearts are burning
with love. At the entrance of the empty tomb Simon enters first and
observes the way the burial cloths are positioned. Something about the
arrangement of the cloths and in particular that “the cloth that had
covered his head,” was “not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a
separate place” was very significant. Then John entered. Perhaps Simon
who had seen the position of the cloths first, pointed this feature out
to John. We can imagine how they stood there in wonder at what they
saw. John, the author of the Gospel account, then adds what came to
him. He saw, and he believed. In some sense and perhaps vaguely and
confusedly it dawned on him that the body had not been taken away but
that Christ had risen in accordance with the Scriptures. Undoubtedly
their dawning perception needed a great confirmation and that
confirmation was soon to come. Indeed it would come with resounding
clarity that very day and that very evening. They would soon see and
speak with Christ risen and in the flesh again, the very same Jesus in
all his bodily and tangible reality, but now glorious with the glory
that was his as God. They deeply loved him and their love was about to
be rewarded with the marvellous experience of being with him in a way
that would never end. They would be with him and see him on various
occasions after he rose from the dead, but their union with him would
never end and would find its full consummation in heaven for ever.
Let each of
us resolve to love the risen and living Jesus, our Lord and Master.
Simon and John loved Jesus and with the gift of the Holy Spirit their
lives would be distinguished by this love. Their love for the living
risen Jesus grew and grew and showed itself in their lives of service
to his person and his mission. Let us give ourselves to Jesus and to
his mission of bearing witness to the redemption wrought by him. If we
do this, we shall have the joy of life with him here and then forever
hereafter in heaven.
(E.J.Tyler)
The charity of Jesus Christ will often lead you to make concessions.
That is very noble. And the charity of Jesus Christ will often lead you
to stand your ground. That too is very noble.
(The Way, no.369)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
Jesus Christ – the incarnate love of God
12. Though up to now we have been speaking mainly of the Old Testament,
nevertheless the profound compenetration of the two Testaments as the
one Scripture of the Christian faith has already become evident. The
real novelty of the New Testament lies not so much in new ideas as in
the figure of Christ himself, who gives flesh and blood to those
concepts——an unprecedented realism. In the Old Testament, the novelty
of the Bible did not consist merely in abstract notions but in God's
unpredictable and in some sense unprecedented activity. This divine
activity now takes on dramatic form when, in Jesus Christ, it is God
himself who goes in search of the “stray sheep”, a suffering and lost
humanity. When Jesus speaks in his parables of the shepherd who goes
after the lost sheep, of the woman who looks for the lost coin, of the
father who goes to meet and embrace his prodigal son, these are no mere
words: they constitute an explanation of his very being and activity.
His death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God
against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and
save him. This is love in its most radical form. By contemplating the
pierced side of Christ (cf. 19:37), we can understand the
starting-point of this Encyclical Letter: “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). It
is there that this truth can be contemplated. It is from there that our
definition of love must begin. In this contemplation the Christian
discovers the path along which his life and love must move.
(Continuing)
(March 24) St.
Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510)
Going to confession one day
was the turning point of Catherine’s life. When Catherine was born,
many Italian nobles were supporting Renaissance artists and writers.
The needs of the poor and the sick were often overshadowed by a hunger
for luxury and self-indulgence. Catherine’s parents were members of the
nobility in Genoa. At 13 she attempted to become a nun but failed
because of her age. At 16 she married Julian, a nobleman who turned out
to be selfish and unfaithful. For a while she tried to numb her
disappointment by a life of selfish pleasure. One day in confession she
had a new sense of her own sins and how much God loved her. She
reformed her life and gave good example to Julian, who soon turned from
his self-centred life of distraction. Julian’s spending, however, had
ruined them financially. He and Catherine decided to live in the
Pammatone, a large hospital in Genoa, and to dedicate themselves to
works of charity there. After Julian’s death in 1497, Catherine took
over management of the hospital. She wrote about purgatory which, she
said, begins on earth for souls open to God. Life with God in heaven is
a continuation and perfection of the life with God begun on earth.
Exhausted by her life of self-sacrifice, she died September 15, 1510,
and was canonized in 1737.
Regular confessions and frequent
Communion can help us see the direction (or drift) of our life with
God. People who have a realistic sense of their own sinfulness and of
the greatness of God are often the ones who are most ready to meet the
needs of their neighbours. Catherine began her hospital work with
enthusiasm and was faithful to it through difficult times because she
was inspired by the love of God, a love which was renewed in her by the
Scriptures and the sacraments. Shortly before Catherine’s death she
told her goddaughter: "Tomasina! Jesus in your heart! Eternity in your
mind! The will of God in all your actions! But above all, love, God’s
love, entire love!" (Marion A. Habig, O.F.M., The Franciscan
Book of Saints, p. 212).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Acts 2:14, 22-33;
Psalm 16:1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; Matthew 28:8-15
Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to
his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted
them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then
Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to
Galilee, and there they will see me.” While they were going, some of
the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had
happened. The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You
are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were
asleep.’ And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy
him and keep you out of trouble.” The soldiers took the money and did
as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews
to the present day. (Matthew 28:8-15)
One of the many
distinctive characteristics of the Christian religion is that it
originated in hard facts. The most significant fact is that Jesus rose
from the dead. I remember - and I have referred to it before - years
ago watching on television an interview with a then very prominent
Australian politician. He was asked if he regarded himself as a
Christian. He said that inasmuch as being
a Christian depends on accepting that Christ rose from the dead, he
could not thus regard himself because he did not accept the
resurrection. He did not go on to indicate why he refused to accept it,
but undoubtedly he had his reasons because he was an intelligent and
very well-read man. He could see that the resurrection was pivotal in
the Christian claims. Islam refuses to accept Christ’s resurrection
because, of course, it refuses to accept that Christ was crucified and
died. He was not placed in the tomb in the first place, so the “empty
tomb” has no significance. But of course this position is utterly
gratuitous and has not the slightest basis in fact. It is untenable. It
is the plainest fact of history that Jesus suffered under Pontius
Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. The next plain fact is that
at the earliest opportunity to return to the tomb after his death and
burial late on the Friday afternoon, namely very early on the Sunday
morning after the great Feast (of Saturday) was over, his tomb was
discovered to be empty. Our Gospel account today (Matthew
28:8-15) reports that the guards were aware (not only of
our Lord’s very death of course, but) of the disappearance of the body.
It had vanished. The chief priests and elders also knew of it. The tomb
had been seen and the body had gone. No one was known to have removed
it, but the chief priests knowingly concocted or presumed that it had
been spirited away by his disciples. Again, a gratuitous assertion
without any basis in witnessed facts. The fact was that the body had
gone, and the next fact was that on that very day he was seen and
spoken to alive and in the flesh again. The hard fact is that there
were very many witnesses to the resurrection.
What this means in
terms of daily life is that the one who believes in Christ bases his
entire life on a great hard fact, namely the living risen Jesus. An
acceptance of the fact of the resurrection means a full acceptance of
the reality of the risen living Jesus. The same Jesus who walked the
paths of Palestine two millennia ago and who founded his Church on the
Apostles with Peter at their head, this same Jesus in all his personal
and bodily reality, is now alive but glorious and heavenly. He is
alive, and not only in heaven at the right hand of God his Father. He
abides within his body the Church and is ever so near to each of his
disciples. They live in him and share in his risen life by grace, a
share which will reach its eventual culmination in their own full
resurrection from the dead. What happened to Christ in rising from the
dead, the Christian will experience at the end. That is at the end, but
also right now day by day the Christian shares in the risen life of
Christ by grace and that wonderful gift enables him to follow Christ in
his obedience to the will of the Father. This entire prospect is based
on the hard fact that the historical Jesus is still alive and
intimately near to each of his disciples. He is no longer bound by the
very human condition into which he was born and within which he
fulfilled his mission, suffering and dying on the cross. No, he now
lives beyond that and in power, power proper to God, the God he is. But
the point here is that it is the same Jesus in his very body and not
just in his spirit. In his body he lives glorious and in his body he
gives us a continual share in the life of the Holy Spirit, grace upon
grace. Where is he? He abides in his body the Church. He speaks to us
in his Word which is read, taught, preached and explained by the
Church. He nourishes us with the gift of his grace especially through
the Church’s sacraments, beginning with Baptism and reaching their
culmination in the Eucharist. In all this we are speaking of the hard
fact of the living bodily Jesus now in glory and serving us his
brothers in the life of the Church.
Let us place
ourselves in the scene of today’s Gospel and together with the women
meet Jesus as they leave the empty tomb to go to the disciples. “And
behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached,
embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not
be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will
see me.” (Matthew 28:8-15) The
testimony of the disciples and the testimony of the entire Church down
the ages is to the greatest and hardest of facts, that Jesus, this same
Jesus, is alive and with us.
(E.J.Tyler)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
Jesus Christ – the incarnate love of God (cont)
13. Jesus gave this act of oblation an enduring presence through his
institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. He anticipated his
death and resurrection by giving his disciples, in the bread and wine,
his very self, his body and blood as the new manna (cf. John 6:31-33).
The ancient world had dimly perceived that man's real food—what truly
nourishes him as man—is ultimately the Logos, eternal wisdom: this same
Logos now truly becomes food for us—as love. The Eucharist draws us
into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving
the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving.
The imagery of marriage between God and Israel is now realized in a way
previously inconceivable: it had meant standing in God's presence, but
now it becomes union with God through sharing in Jesus' self-gift,
sharing in his body and blood. The sacramental “mysticism”, grounded in
God's condescension towards us, operates at a radically different level
and lifts us to far greater heights than anything that any human
mystical elevation could ever accomplish.
(Continuing)
(March 25 - The
Annunciation is transferred to March 31 because of the Octave of
Easter) The
ETERNAL FATHER The entire
life of the Father in the Holy Trinity is to “speak” His Son, His Word;
it is to engender, by a unique, simple and eternal act, a Son
resembling Himself, to whom He communicates the plenitude of His Being
and His perfections. In this Word, infinite like Himself, in this
unique and eternal Word, the Father never ceases to recognize His Son,
His own image, “the splendour of His glory”. This is My beloved Son, in
whom I am well-pleased. These words, pronounced on Mount Tabor at the
time of the Transfiguration, are the greatest revelation God has made
to the earth; they are an echo of the very life of the Father. The
Father, in His character of Father, lives by engendering His Son; this
generation has neither beginning nor end. In eternity we will behold
with astonishment, admiration and love, that procession of the Son
engendered in the bosom of the Father, procession which is eternal:
Thou art My Son; this day I have engendered Thee. The today is the
perpetual present of eternity. It is an excellent thing in the
spiritual life to keep before the eyes of the heart, this testimony of
the Father; nothing is more powerful to sustain our faith. And let us
then say, “Yes, Father, I believe it, and I want to repeat it: this
Jesus who is in me through faith, through grace, through Holy
Communion, is Your Son. Because You have said it, I believe it. And
because I believe it, I adore Your Son, to render Him my homage and
through Him, in Him, to render to You also, O Heavenly Father, in union
with Your Spirit, all honour and all glory.” Such a prayer is very
agreeable to our Father in heaven; when it is true, pure and frequent,
it makes us the object of the Father’s love. God envelops us in the
complacency which He finds in His own Son Jesus. It is Our Lord Himself
who tells us so: “The Father loves you, because you have believed that
I have come from Him” — that I am His Son. What happiness for a soul to
be the object of the Father’s love, this Father “from whom every
perfect gift comes down” to rejoice hearts! (Magnificat.ca)
St. Stephen of Mar Saba (d. 794)
A "do not disturb" sign helped
today's saint find holiness and peace. Stephen of Mar Saba was the
nephew of St. John Damascene, who introduced the young boy to monastic
life beginning at age 10. When he reached 24, Stephen served the
community in a variety of ways, including guest master. After some time
he asked permission to live a hermit's life. The answer from the abbot
was yes and no: Stephen could follow his preferred lifestyle during the
week, but on weekends he was to offer his skills as a counsellor.
Stephen placed a note on the door of his cell: "Forgive me, Fathers, in
the name of the Lord, but please do not disturb me except on Saturdays
and Sundays." Despite his calling to prayer and quiet, Stephen
displayed uncanny skills with people and was a valued spiritual guide.
His biographer and disciple wrote about Stephen: "Whatever help,
spiritual or material, he was asked to give, he gave. He received and
honoured all with the same kindness. He possessed nothing and lacked
nothing. In total poverty he possessed all things." Stephen died in
794. (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today:
Acts 2:36-41; Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22; John 20:11-18
Mary Magdalene
stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into
the tomb and saw two angels in white
sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of
Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She
said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they
laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus
there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why
are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the
gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where
you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She
turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended
to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my
Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’" Mary went and
announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and then reported
what he had told her.
(John 20:11-18)
This Gospel scene
today is surely among the most beautiful scenes of the Gospel. All is
quiet and Mary Magdalene is lingering outside the tomb, weeping. The
body of Jesus has gone, presumably taken away. There she is, with, we
might say, a heart near to
breaking. Jesus her Lord and Master had suffered and died a terrible
death, and had been buried in the tomb. All this was mystery enough
that such a thing came to pass. But now his very body has gone. She
looked again into the tomb and saw two persons inside seated where the
body of Jesus had been laid. They spoke to her, asking why she was
weeping. They have taken away my Lord, she said, and I don’t know where
they have put him. Her reply does not indicate astonishment on her part
to see them there perhaps because she was overwhelmingly preoccupied
with the thought of Christ’s missing body and could think of little
else. She simply gave her answer. Her only thought was, who had taken
him, and to where? Suddenly she saw another nearby perhaps the
gardener, and she turned to him. He spoke, asking the same question as
had the two angels seated in the tomb. "Woman, why are you weeping?"
Then he added a further question, "Whom are you looking for?" (John 20:11-18)
At various times in the Gospels our Lord asks questions of a
person when he knows exactly what they want and need. He is drawing
them out to present their petition. He wants us to ask him for what we
need, all the while knowing what we need before we ask him. At the same
time our Lord is very human and even playful. I am convinced that we
think too little of our Lord’s smile and laughter. I am sure that a
smile played frequently on his face and that in his holy way he smiled
and often laughed. We see traces of it in some of his sayings. On one
occasion he warned against noticing the splinter in the other person’s
eye while not noticing the beam of wood in one’s own. I am sure that
sayings like this evoked peals of laughter, with himself smiling as he
said it. Well, I like to imagine a smile and a twinkle in the eye of
the risen Jesus as he asked Mary his two questions.
Those two questions
Christ asked of Mary Magdalene could be said to be the questions he
asks of mankind down the ages. Why are you weeping? He wants us to tell
him of our sorrows. He wants us to direct our petitions to him. Come to
me all you who labour and are overburdened, he said once, and I will
give you rest. He is the one who takes us to the Father. He is the Way,
the Truth and the Life. The root cause of our sufferings and our plight
he has taken upon himself, namely sin. He the Son of God entered into
solidarity with sinful man and by his death he expiated for the sin of
the world. Why are you weeping? But there is also the second question
which he directs to Mary and through her to all his brothers down the
ages: "Who are you looking for?" He directs that all-important question
to our heart and he wants us to answer it with our gaze on him, the
risen Jesus, just as Mary answered it with her gaze on the living
Jesus. "Master!" she said. "Rabuni!" He, Jesus of Nazareth, risen from
the dead, he who is the Lord and Master, he who is the Son of God made
man and redeemer of the world, he it is whom we are seeking. Our hearts
were made for him. As St Paul writes, before the world was made, God
chose us, chose us in Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight.
We were chosen in Christ. The holiness and love that we are called to
live is attained through the person of Jesus, and this he works in us
through his gift of the Holy Spirit. This gift too is obliquely alluded
to in our Lord’s next words. He is ascending to the Father, he tells
Mary, and he directs her to go and tell this to the brothers. It may
imply that having only just risen from the dead he is now about to go
to the Father. He wants the Apostles to know, and he may be implying
that he will soon return to bring them a great gift. It is the gift of
the Holy Spirit whom he will confer on his Apostles. That very evening
he appears to the Apostles in the upper room and breathes on them the
Holy Spirit establishing them as the foundation of his Church and
empowering them for their mission and for their work of forgiving sins.
It is an initial instalment of what will be granted to the Church at
Pentecost after his final ascension the Father.
Let us place
ourselves in spirit outside the empty tomb with Mary and gaze with her
on the smiling face of the risen Jesus. He is going to the Father.
Together with the Father will send the Holy Spirit to abide with the
Church forever. By the power of his Holy Spirit he too will remain with
his Church to the very end and he abides with us now. He is our source
of hope and is the hope of the world. Let us address him from the heart
as the Lord, and let us live every day accordingly.(E.J.Tyler)
When you see people of uncertain
professional standing acting as leaders at public functions of a
religious nature, don't you feel the urge to whisper in their ears:
Please, would you mind being just a little less Catholic?
Serialization of the Encyclical
Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
Jesus Christ –
the incarnate love of God (cont)
14. Here we need to consider yet
another aspect: this sacramental "mysticism" is social in character,
for in sacramental communion I become one with the Lord, like all the
other communicants. As Saint Paul says, "Because there is one bread, we
who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread" (1 Cor
10:17). Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives
himself. I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to him
only in union with all those who have become, or who will become, his
own. Communion draws me out of myself towards him, and thus also
towards unity with all Christians. We become "one body", completely
joined in a single existence. Love of God and love of neighbour are now
truly united: God incarnate draws us all to himself. We can thus
understand how agape also became a term for the Eucharist: there God's
own agape comes to us bodily, in order to continue his work in us and
through us. Only by keeping in mind this Christological and sacramental
basis can we correctly understand Jesus' teaching on love. The
transition which he makes from the Law and the Prophets to the twofold
commandment of love of God and of neighbour, and his grounding the
whole life of faith on this central precept, is not simply a matter of
morality—something that could exist apart from and alongside faith in
Christ and its sacramental re-actualization. Faith, worship and ethos
are interwoven as a single reality which takes shape in our encounter
with God's agape. Here the usual contraposition between worship and
ethics simply falls apart. "Worship" itself, Eucharistic communion,
includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn.
A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love
is intrinsically fragmented. Conversely, as we shall have to consider
in greater detail below, the "commandment" of love is only possible
because it is more than a requirement. Love can be "commanded" because
it has first been given.
(March 26) Blessed
Didacus of Cadiz (d. 1801)
Born in Cadiz, Spain, and christened Joseph Francis, the youth spent
much of his free time around the Capuchin friars and their church. But
his desire to enter the Franciscan Order was delayed because of the
difficulty he had with his studies. Finally he was admitted to the
novitiate of the Capuchins in Seville as Brother Didacus. He later was
ordained a priest and sent out to preach. His gift of preaching was
soon evident. He journeyed tirelessly through the territory of
Andalusia of Spain, speaking in small towns and crowded cities. His
words were able to touch the minds and hearts of young and old, rich
and poor, students and professors. His work in the confessional
completed the conversions his words began. This unlearned man was
called "the apostle of the Holy Trinity" because of his devotion to the
Trinity and the ease with which he preached about this sublime mystery.
One day a child gave away his secret, crying out: "Mother, mother, see
the dove resting on the shoulder of Father Didacus! I could preach like
that too if a dove told me all that I should say." Didacus was that
close to God, spending nights in prayer and preparing for his sermons
by severe penances. His reply to those who criticized him: "My sins and
the sins of the people compel me to do it. Those who have been charged
with the conversions of sinners must remember that the Lord has imposed
on them the sins of all their clients." It is said that sometimes when
he preached on the love of God he would be elevated above the pulpit.
Crowds in village and town squares were entranced by his words and
would attempt to tear off pieces of his habit as he passed by. He died
in 1801 at age 58, a holy and revered man. He was beatified in 1894.
Didacus was such a poor student that the Franciscans wouldn’t have him.
When Capuchins finally took him into their order and eventually
ordained him, he proved to be a powerful preacher—to everyone’s
surprise. As we often do, Didacus’s contemporaries expected little from
someone with a slow mind. Didacus proved to them that intelligence is
not the only measure. The person who has a loving heart, a listening
ear and a wealth of compassion is, in the long run, much wiser. (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today: Acts 3:1-10; Psalm
105:1-4, 6-9; Luke 24:13-35
That very day, the
first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village
seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing
about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they
were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with
them, but their
eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you
discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of
them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to
Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there
in these days?” And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They
said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a
prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our
chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death
and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to
redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this
took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they
were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his Body; they
came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who
announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the
tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did
not see.” And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that
the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then
beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what
referred to him in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village
to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on
farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening
and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it
happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the
blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were
opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then
they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while
he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” So they set
out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered
together the Eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has
truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in
the breaking of the bread.(Luke 24:13-35)
When we think of
the cultures of the world as they have unfolded over the millennia of
human history, it is obvious that they have been religious. In general,
man has been religious. An integral feature of this phenomenon is that
man has taken for granted the reality of the invisible world and the
unseen powers with whom
he deals in his religion. But in this our modern Western age is
markedly different perhaps because of its striking achievements
scientific achievements. We moderns tend to be sceptical about the
reality of the Unseen. For us the real is what can be held in our hands
and seen and in some way tested empirically. You say it is real? Then
let me see it! I remember watching a television debate about forty
years ago and a person in it said he would believe in the Devil only if
he could actually see him. Well now, this cultural and philosophical
assumption that only the empirical is real very obviously and in the
nature of the case profoundly affects modern man’s response to the
Church’s witness to Christ. Why? Plainly because the Christ whom the
Church proclaims is not seen or touched or heard - that is, he is not
now seen. He has gone from sight. One result of this is that perhaps
more than in the past we must immerse ourselves in the Gospel accounts
of those who did see and hear Christ, especially after he rose from the
dead. He had suffered and died and so had gone. His dead body was in
the tomb. He could not be seen any longer alive in the flesh - but
then, lo! He was seen and touched and heard in the flesh again. He was
fully alive, more fully so than ever before with a life beyond the
reach of anything of the touch of death. The incident narrated in our
Gospel passage today is a case in point. The two disciples walking to
Emmaus from Jerusalem were downcast. Christ had gone. But unbeknown to
them, the stranger who joined them was he. So profound was their
preoccupation with his death that they could not recognize his actual
presence. In a quite different sense we may perhaps liken it to the
modern secular reluctance to recognize the Unseen. Christ is present,
but our problem is that he is not to be seen.
But as our Gospel
account demonstrates, the mere fact of their not recognizing him in no
way meant that our Lord was not there in their presence (Luke 24:13-35). Indeed he accompanied
them along the entire journey without being recognized. He questioned
them and drew forth their attitudes and questions. Then he proceeded to
instruct them and did so at length still without their recognizing him.
The Church’s constant witness down the ages is that the same thing in
one way or anther continues to happen for those who turn to the Good
News of Jesus Christ. That is to say he has gone from sight but he
abides with us still in all his living and bodily reality, risen from
the dead and unseen. The question is, where, then, is he? He is both in
heaven at the right hand of his heavenly Father and he also abides
among men in his body the Church. The same Jesus who at the end of many
days of appearances following his resurrection from the dead then
ascended to the right hand of his heavenly Father abides with us now.
Before ascending to the Father he charged his Apostles to go to the
whole world and make disciples of all the nations. I will be with you
till the end of the world, he said. In speaking to his disciples, he is
speaking to his Church, the Church he founded on the Apostles with
Peter at their head. In this sense Christ has made for himself a
locale. He has, so to speak, a House here on earth in which he dwells
and from which he continues to work bringing his salvation to men. That
House, as we might call it, is his Church. From and in that spiritual
House he instructs his faithful just as he instructed the two on the
way to Emmaus. He does so in and through the Church’s proclamation of
the Gospel. From and in his body the Church he nourishes his faithful
with divine grace through the Church’s sacraments and ministry. Christ
is the great Presence in the Church and the Church’s whole raison
d’etre is to make him present to all. He, unseen, abides in the
Church his body.
Let us ponder on
the failure by the two disciples to recognize the risen Jesus who
approached them and then accompanied them on their way to Emmaus. They
were unable to recognize him, but he was there instructing and
empowering them to believe. This same living Jesus is with us still and
he abides in his body the Church founded on the Apostles and which
bears constant witness to him. It is there that we can approach him and
be nourished by him on our way to heaven. Let us then choose to walk
with him and open our hearts to his grace. He will take us to heaven.
(E.J.Tyler)
If you have an official position, you have also certain rights which
arise from the practice of that office, and certain duties.
You stray from your apostolic way if you use the opportunity — or the
excuse — offered by a work of zeal to leave the duties of your position
unfulfilled. For you will lose that professional prestige which is your
'bait' as a 'fisher of men.'
(The Way, no.372)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
Jesus Christ – the incarnate love of God (cont)
15. This principle is the starting-point for understanding the great
parables of Jesus. The rich man (cf. Lk 16:19-31) begs from his place
of torment that his brothers be informed about what happens to those
who simply ignore the poor man in need. Jesus takes up this cry for
help as a warning to help us return to the right path. The parable of
the Good Samaritan (cf. Lk 10:25-37) offers two particularly important
clarifications. Until that time, the concept of “neighbour” was
understood as referring essentially to one's countrymen and to
foreigners who had settled in the land of Israel; in other words, to
the closely-knit community of a single country or people. This limit is
now abolished. Anyone who needs me, and whom I can help, is my
neighbour. The concept of “neighbour” is now universalized, yet it
remains concrete. Despite being extended to all mankind, it is not
reduced to a generic, abstract and undemanding expression of love, but
calls for my own practical commitment here and now. The Church has the
duty to interpret ever anew this relationship between near and far with
regard to the actual daily life of her members. Lastly, we should
especially mention the great parable of the Last Judgement (cf. Mt
25:31-46), in which love becomes the criterion for the definitive
decision about a human life's worth or lack thereof. Jesus identifies
himself with those in need, with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger,
the naked, the sick and those in prison. “As you did it to one of the
least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Love of God
and love of neighbour have become one: in the least of the brethren we
find Jesus himself, and in Jesus we find God.
(Continuing)
(March 27) Blessed
Francis Faŕ di Bruno (1825-1888)
Francis, the last of 12 children, was born in northern Italy into an
aristocratic family. He lived at a particularly turbulent time in
history, when anti-Catholic and anti-papal sentiments were especially
strong. After being trained as a military officer, Francis was spotted
by King Victor Emmanuel II, who was impressed with the young man's
character and learning. Invited by the king to tutor his two young
sons, Francis agreed and prepared himself with additional studies. But
with the role of the Church in education being a sticking point for
many, the king was forced to withdraw his offer to the openly Catholic
Francis and, instead, find a tutor more suitable to the secular state.
Francis soon left army life behind and pursued doctoral studies in
Paris in mathematics and astronomy. He studied under Augustin Cauchy,
and Urbain Le Verrier, who shared in the discovery of the planet
Neptune, and he became intimate with Abbé Moigno and Charles Hermite.
Wishing to broaden and deepen his commitment to the poor, Francis, then
well into adulthood, studied for the priesthood. But first he had to
obtain the support of Pope Pius IX to counteract the opposition to his
own archbishop's difficulty with late vocations. Francis was ordained
at the age of 51. The remainder of his life was spent as Professor of
Mathematics at the University. In recognition of his achievements as a
mathematician, the degree of Doctor of Science was conferred on him by
the Universities of Paris and Turin. In addition to some ascetical
writings, the composition of some sacred melodies, and the invention of
some scientific apparatus, Faŕ di Bruno made numerous and important
contributions to mathematics. Today, he is best known for Faŕ di
Bruno's formula on derivatives of composite functions. He was the
author of about forty original articles published in the "Journal de
Mathématiques" (edited by Joseph Liouville), Crelle's Journal,
"American Journal of Mathematics" (Johns Hopkins University), "Annali
di Tortolini", "Les Mondes", "Comptes rendus de l'Académie des
sciences", etc; the first half of an exhaustive treatise on the theory
and applications of elliptic functions which he planned to complete in
three volumes; "Théorie générale de l'élimination" (Paris, 1859);
"Calcolo degli errori" (Turin, 1867), translated into French under the
title of "Traité élémentaire du calcul des erreurs" (Paris, 1869); and
most important of all, "Théorie des formes binaires" (Paris, 1876),
translated into German (Leipzig, 1881). For a list of the memoirs of
Faŕ di Bruno, see the "Catalogue of Scientific Papers of the Royal
Society: (London, 1868, 1877, 1891), t. II, vii, and ix. Despite his
commitment to the scholarly life, Francis put much of his energy into
charitable activities. As a priest, he continued his good works,
sharing his inheritance as well as his energy. He established yet
another hostel, this time for prostitutes. He founded the Society of
St. Zita for maids and domestic servants, later expanding it to include
unmarried mothers, among others. He helped establish hostels for the
elderly and poor. He even oversaw the construction of a church in Turin
that was dedicated to the memory of Italian soldiers who had lost their
lives in the struggle over the unification of Italy. He died in Turin
on March 27, 1888, and was beatified 100 years later.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today: Acts 3:11-26; Psalm
8:2ab and 5-9; Luke 24:35-48
The disciples of
Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way, and how they had
come to recognize him in the breaking of bread. While they were still
speaking about
this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing
a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do
questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it
is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and
bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his
hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were
amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a
piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. He said to
them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with
you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the
prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to
understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written
that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in
his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are
witnesses of these things.”(Luke
24:35-48)
If anything
extraordinary happens which is witnessed by some, the only way others
will learn about it is if those who have witnessed it pass on the news
of it to them. To possess certain knowledge of it one must then accept
the witness to it that they give. Of course, the witness has to be
trustworthy, but the mere fact of its being
extraordinary and beyond
normal experience is no reason in itself for simply refusing to accept
it - provided the witnesses are truly trustworthy. This is not the
place to discuss the trustworthiness of the witnesses to Christ’s
resurrection, but I would simply observe that many who refuse to accept
the reality of the bodily resurrection of Christ do so primarily
because they choose to regard it as too far beyond the ordinary to be
admissible. Their refusal is similar to that of many of our Lord’s
disciples who rejected his doctrine of the Eucharist which he preached
in the synagogue of Capharnaum (John 6). They refused to accept it and
no longer went with Jesus what he said was too much. They did not bear
in mind who it was who had announced it, nor, ultimately, accept his
authority. By contrast, when Christ turned to his Apostles and asked if
they too were going to go, Simon Peter answered, “To whom would we go?
You have the words of eternal life, and we believe!” Christ was utterly
trustworthy and so whatever be the apparent impossibility of what he
was saying, they believed - as does every Christian. The Christian
accepts the testimony of the Gospels and of the Church as to Christ’s
resurrection from the dead as being entirely trustworthy. Modern man
ought guard himself against a disposition to refuse credence simply
because of its apparent impossibility. With man it is impossible but
with God all things are possible, and Christ is God become man. So
then, let us approach the Gospel accounts of our Lord’s resurrection
with mind and heart open to fresh conviction of the wonderful fact of
his rising in his body from the dead.
The facts as
reported in the Gospel are simple and wonderful. On the very day
Christ’s tomb was discovered to be empty he stood in the midst of his
disciples. They were discussing the news of his encounter with the two
disciples on the way to Emmaus earlier in the day. There he was in
their midst! There he stood, perhaps smiling on them! He was very, very
physical. Then he spoke. “Peace be with you.” But they were startled
and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said
to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your
hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and
see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I
have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. (Luke 24:35-48). They saw him, they
heard him, they touched him and indeed felt his wounds. He showed them
his hands and his feet with their marks from the nails. This is
happening not just with one person, but with a whole group who in no
way expected what they were now seeing and experiencing. Jesus was no
less tangible and concrete now than what he was before his passion and
death. Now, however, he was in the glory proper to his divinity while
being still the man he had become at his Incarnation. He had risen in
the flesh and was being seen in the flesh. They spoke to him and they
even saw him eat some baked fish before their eyes. He took it, chewed
it and swallowed it before them in order to show them that he had truly
risen from the dead and was not merely the ghost of the Jesus whom they
had known, in much the way a ghost may appear. A thousand years before,
Saul had gone to the witch and she had called up Samuel from the dead.
Samuel spoke to Saul as a ghost. It was the spirit of Samuel that told
him he would be defeated and would die. Christ comes back from the dead
to prove to his disciples that he was alive in his body - and he had
good news to tell. It was that the redemption of man had been effected
and they were to bring this redemption to the world.
The redemption of
man from sin and his sanctification comes from entering into union with
this same Jesus who suffered, died and rose again and then ascended
into heaven to the right hand of God his Father. He abides here on
earth still and does so in his body the Church of which he is the head.
We become united to him by our faith and baptism. This redeeming and
sanctifying union with him is deepened during the years of life by our
fidelity to him in daily life, by accepting his word and partaking of
his sacraments as they come to us in the life of the Church. Let us
then take our stand with Jesus, God and man, risen from the dead and
now in glory.
(E.J.Tyler)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
Love of God and love of neighbour
16. Having reflected on the nature of love and its meaning in biblical
faith, we are left with two questions concerning our own attitude: can
we love God without seeing him? And can love be commanded? Against the
double commandment of love these questions raise a double objection. No
one has ever seen God, so how could we love him? Moreover, love cannot
be commanded; it is ultimately a feeling that is either there or not,
nor can it be produced by the will. Scripture seems to reinforce the
first objection when it states: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,' and
hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother
whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 Jn 4:20).
But this text hardly excludes the love of God as something impossible.
On the contrary, the whole context of the passage quoted from the First
Letter of John shows that such love is explicitly demanded. The
unbreakable bond between love of God and love of neighbour is
emphasized. One is so closely connected to the other that to say that
we love God becomes a lie if we are closed to our neighbour or hate him
altogether. Saint John's words should rather be interpreted to mean
that love of neighbour is a path that leads to the encounter with God,
and that closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God.
(Continuing)
(March 28) St.
Hesychius of Jerusalem (c. 450)
Not only is the name of today's saint a bit hard to pronounce and
spell. It's also difficult to learn about such a modest and gentle man
who lived in the fourth and fifth century and who is better known in
the Russian Orthodox Church. The birth date of Hesychius (pronounced
HESH-us) is unclear, but we know that he was a priest and monk who
wrote a history of the Church, unfortunately lost. He also wrote about
many of the burning issues of his day. These included the heresy of
Nestorianism, which held that there were two separate persons in
Jesus—one human, one divine—and the heresy of Arianism, which denied
the divinity of Christ. Some of his commentaries on the books of the
Bible as well, along with meditations on the prophets and homilies on
the Blessed Virgin Mary, still survive. It's believed Hesychius
delivered Easter homilies in the basilica in Jerusalem thought to be
the place of the crucifixion. His words on the Eucharist, written
centuries ago, speak to us today: "Keep yourselves free from sin so
that every day you may share in the mystic meal; by doing so our bodies
become the body of Christ." Hesychius died around the year 450.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Acts 4:1-12; Psalm
118:1-2 and 4, 22-24, 25-27a; John 21:1-14
Jesus revealed
himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed
himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his
disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to
him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out
and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was
already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did
not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you
caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them,
“Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find
something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of
the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It
is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in
his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The
other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore,
only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they
climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and
bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So
Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred
fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not
torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the
disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was
the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and
in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed
to his disciples after being raised from the dead.(John 21:1-14)
During what the
Church calls the time of Easter, or Eastertide, we have the opportunity
to appreciate in an ever new way the reality of the resurrection of
Jesus from the dead. It is a time when we read with fresh attention the
Gospel accounts of Christ’s bodily appearances to his disciples and
perhaps the most vivid accounts are those
presented
in the Gospel of St John. In our Gospel passage today it is all so
simple and real. St John gives plenty of detail beginning by stating at
the beginning that this appearance occurred at the Sea of Tiberias, and
at the end of the passage he tells us that it was the third appearance
of Jesus after being raised from the dead. Perhaps St John means that
it is the third appearance of Jesus to several of his Apostles as a
group and included among them are Peter, James and John the future
“pillars” of the infant Church. We are in chapter 21 of the Gospel, a
chapter that is very largely about Christ and Simon Peter, with John
himself getting a look-in. Putting it another way, it looks to the
coming Church and shows Christ laying the foundations. Christ is there
on the shore and it is dawn. It is all so simple and, let us emphasise,
so very real. There is nothing ethereal about it. There is the simple
environment of the Sea of Galilee, the dawning day, the shore, the boat
with the weary fishermen who had caught nothing all night. All is still
and quiet with the slight sound of the water and the movement of the
boat. The figure on the shore is seen and his voice is heard. Have they
caught anything? No, nothing had been caught. Throw the net to the
other side and you’ll catch something. And so it was, and what a catch!
John immediately recognized who it was on the shore. Probably he
remembered that similar occasion of the catch of fish in Simon’s boat
at the beginning of our Lord’s ministry when he, James and Simon were
called by our Lord to follow him. In this appearance there is a strong
sense of simple, concrete reality to everything.(John 21:1-14)
They hurriedly
arrive at the shore and Simon is there with Jesus, having gone ahead of
the others. Jesus has prepared breakfast which he invites them to have.
Again, it is simple, real, so very much part of ordinary life. Christ
is back with them in the flesh and joining them in the things that make
up everyday life. They hear his voice, they sit with him, they are
served by him, they engage in conversation with him and they watch him
eat with them. They sense his special love for them. He has returned
from the dead and here he is before them showing them his friendship
and his special consideration. They are his friends, his disciples and
the ones who will share in his mission as the risen Messiah and
Redeemer. So then, not only do we sense the very reality of the
resurrection but we sense the love Christ has for them and their
special bond with him. Jesus is now in glory but he is still among them
as their brother - Lord and Master, yes, but as their brother
nevertheless. Now, what he is doing for them here he does for every one
of his disciples down the ages in unseen fashion. That is to say, he is
continually with each of us, caring for us, remaining with us in all
our difficulties and in all our joys. He is on the shore with us, as it
were, and serving us breakfast, so to speak. Let us shift our gaze to
Simon. Firstly, it is evident from the start that despite Simon’s
failure during Christ’s passion, he loves Christ passionately. As soon
as John told him that the figure on the shore was “the Lord” Simon
jumped into the water and went ahead of the others to meet Jesus. He
loved him more than the others - and the hint is that he loved Christ
more than the “beloved disciple” himself. Moreover, as the rest of the
chapter not here included shows, Christ expected him to love him more
than the others. That love of Simon for Christ is an example to us all.
We are called to love Jesus because he has loved us and has given
himself up for us. Like Simon we are called to love Christ passionately
and to be part of his mission of bringing him to others.
Let us place
ourselves on the shore with the risen Jesus as he prepares a simple
breakfast. Let us gaze on him, the Son of God made man and risen from
the dead. He has by his death and resurrection redeemed mankind from
the power of sin and wishes to offer all a share in his own risen life.
This share will come from entering into union with him by faith and
baptism into his Church. This Church is founded on Peter and the
Apostles gathered with him on the shore of the Lake. The Holy Spirit
will soon be sent to bring it to birth. Let us make Christ our love and
our life.
(E.J.Tyler)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
Love of God and love of neighbour (cont)
17. True, no one has ever seen God as he is. And yet God is not totally
invisible to us; he does not remain completely inaccessible. God loved
us first, says the Letter of John quoted above (cf. 4:10), and this
love of God has appeared in our midst. He has become visible in as much
as he “has sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live
through him” (1 Jn 4:9). God has made himself visible: in Jesus we are
able to see the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Indeed, God is visible in a
number of ways. In the love-story recounted by the Bible, he comes
towards us, he seeks to win our hearts, all the way to the Last Supper,
to the piercing of his heart on the Cross, to his appearances after the
Resurrection and to the great deeds by which, through the activity of
the Apostles, he guided the nascent Church along its path. Nor has the
Lord been absent from subsequent Church history: he encounters us ever
anew, in the men and women who reflect his presence, in his word, in
the sacraments, and especially in the Eucharist. In the Church's
Liturgy, in her prayer, in the living community of believers, we
experience the love of God, we perceive his presence and we thus learn
to recognize that presence in our daily lives. He has loved us first
and he continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love. God
does not demand of us a feeling which we ourselves are incapable of
producing. He loves us, he makes us see and experience his love, and
since he has “loved us first”, love can also blossom as a response
within us.
In the gradual unfolding of this encounter, it is clearly revealed that
love is not merely a sentiment. Sentiments come and go. A sentiment can
be a marvellous first spark, but it is not the fullness of love.
Earlier we spoke of the process of purification and maturation by which
eros comes fully into its own, becomes love in the full
meaning of the word. It is characteristic of mature love that it calls
into play all man's potentialities; it engages the whole man, so to
speak. Contact with the visible manifestations of God's love can awaken
within us a feeling of joy born of the experience of being loved. But
this encounter also engages our will and our intellect. Acknowledgment
of the living God is one path towards love, and the “yes” of our will
to his will unites our intellect, will and sentiments in the all-
embracing act of love. But this process is always open-ended; love is
never “finished” and complete; throughout life, it changes and matures,
and thus remains faithful to itself. Idem velle atque idem nolle [9]—to want the same thing, and
to reject the same thing—was recognized by antiquity as the authentic
content of love: the one becomes similar to the other, and this leads
to a community of will and thought. The love-story between God and man
consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a
communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God's will
increasingly coincide: God's will is no longer for me an alien will,
something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now
my own will, based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply
present to me than I am to myself.[10] Then self- abandonment to God
increases and God becomes our joy (cf. Ps 73 [72]:23-28).
(Continuing)
(March 29) Blessed Ludovico of Casoria
(1814-1885)
Born in Casoria (near Naples), Arcangelo
Palmentieri was a cabinet-maker before entering the Friars Minor in
1832, taking the name Ludovico. After his ordination five years later,
he taught chemistry, physics and mathematics to younger members of his
province for several years. In 1847 he had a mystical experience which
he later described as a cleansing. After that he dedicated his life to
the poor and the infirm, establishing a dispensary for the poor, two
schools for African children, an institute for the children of
nobility, as well as an institution for orphans, the deaf and the
speechless, and other institutes for the blind, elderly and for
travellers. In addition to an infirmary for friars of his province, he
began charitable institutes in Naples, Florence and Assisi. He once
said, "Christ’s love has wounded my heart." This love prompted him to
great acts of charity. To help continue these works of mercy, in 1859
he established the Gray Brothers, a religious community composed of men
who formerly belonged to the Secular Franciscan Order. Three years
later he founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth for the same
purpose. Toward the beginning of his final, nine-year illness, Ludovico
wrote a spiritual testament which described faith as "light in the
darkness, help in sickness, blessing in tribulations, paradise in the
crucifixion and life amid death." The local work for his beatification
began within five months of Ludovico’s death. He was beatified in 1993.
Saintly people are not protected
from suffering, but with God’s help they learn how to develop
compassion from it. In the face of great suffering, we move either
toward compassion or indifference. Saintly men and women show us the
path toward compassion. Ludovico’s spiritual testament begins: "The
Lord called me to himself with a most tender love, and with an infinite
charity he led and directed me along the path of my life."
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today:
Acts 4:13-21; Psalm 118:1 and 14-21; Mark 16:9-15
Jesus
rose early on the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary
Magdalen out of whom he had cast seven devils. She went and told his
disciples who were mourning and weeping. Hearing that he was alive and
had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that he appeared in
another way to two of them walking on their way into the country. They
went back and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them
either. Later he appeared to the eleven as they were at table, and he
upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because
they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen again.
He said to them: “Go into the whole world, and preach the gospel to
every creature.”(Mark 16:9-15)
There is one aspect
of the series of events following our Lord’s appearances after rising
from the dead that stands out in St Mark’s account. It is the
incredulity of our Lord’s disciples at the news of his resurrection. St
Mark tells us that our Lord first appeared to Mary Magdalen (which
harmonizes with St John’s account) and that she went and told the
disciples who were still overwhelmed in their despondency. But they did
not believe her. Nor did they believe when the two who met Jesus on the
way to Emmaus returned to tell them the good news. Their subsequent
conviction about the resurrection was certainly not the product of
hopes and expectations born of optimistic dreams. It was due to the
fact of it being unavoidable despite their prior incredulity. Christ
appeared to them in all his concrete reality and proceeded to reprimand
them for “their incredulity and hardness of heart.” That is to say,
their incredulity in the face of several reliable witnesses was
culpable and due to a faulty disposition of heart. In writing this
account and in stressing both their reluctance to believe in the face
of reliable testimony and our Lord’s condemnation of their attitude, St
Mark is surely drawing a profoundly important lesson for his readers
down the ages. He is saying that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead is a most certain fact authenticated by numerous reliable
witnesses. He is also warning against a sinful hardness of heart.
Moreover, he is implying that this most certain fact is of great
significance for mankind. Christ did not just come back to life in the
way he had raised some people from the dead during his public ministry
to give them a few more years still. No, he had risen from the dead in
his body to glory and in doing so had opened up for mankind the same
doorway to glory. He is the Way. Just as he had risen to a new life
beyond the limitations of this life, so too he gives us a share in the
same life. He is the Life. That share begins with our baptism and grows
with our friendship with Christ. It reaches its fulfilment in the life
hereafter. That good news, that Truth which he is, our Lord tells his
disciples to bring to the whole world.
All this is to say
that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just an interesting and
even arresting proposition. It is not just a singular event in the
story of mankind, yet another miracle. It is a new beginning for the
human race. Christ is the new Adam, we might say. The first Adam
disobeyed God and brought death to himself and his posterity. It was a
terrible legacy to hand on to his children. He squandered all his great
wealth and worse than this, he used his precious power of choice to
disadvantage profoundly his descendants. All were left crippled and
morally impoverished. But a new Adam arrived and the situation was
wonderfully changed. The death that the new Adam inherited from the
first Adam he transformed into the great means of unending life. His
resurrection from the dead was the grand beginning of this changed
situation. During the movie “The Passion of the Christ” produced by Mel
Gibson Christ is shown speaking to his holy mother as he carried his
cross to Calvary. He tells her he is in the process of making all
things new. It is a new beginning for mankind. To die in Christ is now
the means of living in Christ. The new beginning is concretized and
embodied in his risen person. He is the bearer of this new and divine
life intended for all mankind, and the Church, represented by and
founded on the Apostles, has the charge of bringing the good news of
Christ to the nations. He said to them: “Go into the whole world, and
preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark
16: 9-15) The Church brings him to the nations, and
bringing him to the nations it brings every heavenly blessing. The
Church has one great treasure to offer the world and it is the person
of Jesus, the risen Jesus, the Jesus who appeared to the women and to
the Apostles as narrated in our Gospel passage today. Christ is our
life. Union with him is the all-important thing. He is the pearl of
great price, the treasure in the field we must sell all in order to
gain.
Every Christian
ought ask God for the grace to realize the fact of the resurrection. In
the case of many I suspect that their belief in the resurrection is
largely notional - it is a notion. It has to become the realization of
something known to be real. The living Jesus to whom the Christian
prays is real and bodily, the same Jesus who suffered and died and rose
again. Let us gain this realization so as to be able to introduce
others to it and so find life in his name.
(E.J.Tyler)
Dissipation. — You slake your senses and faculties in whatever pool you
meet on the way. And you can feel the results: unsettled purpose,
scattered attention, deadened will and quickened concupiscence.
Subject yourself once again to a serious plan that will make you lead a
Christian life: or you'll never do anything worth while.
(The Way, no.375)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod
is Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
Love of God and love of neighbour (cont)
18. Love of neighbour is thus shown to be possible in the way
proclaimed by the Bible, by Jesus. It consists in the very fact that,
in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even
know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter
with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even
affecting my feelings. Then I learn to look on this other person not
simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus
Christ. His friend is my friend. Going beyond exterior appearances, I
perceive in others an interior desire for a sign of love, of concern.
This I can offer them not only through the organizations intended for
such purposes, accepting it perhaps as a political necessity. Seeing
with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their
outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave.
Here we see the necessary interplay between love of God and love of
neighbour which the First Letter of John speaks of with such
insistence. If I have no contact whatsoever with God in my life, then I
cannot see in the other anything more than the other, and I am
incapable of seeing in him the image of God. But if in my life I fail
completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be “devout” and to
perform my “religious duties”, then my relationship with God will also
grow arid. It becomes merely “proper”, but loveless. Only my readiness
to encounter my neighbour and to show him love makes me sensitive to
God as well. Only if I serve my neighbour can my eyes be opened to what
God does for me and how much he loves me. The saints—consider the
example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta—constantly renewed their capacity
for love of neighbour from their encounter with the Eucharistic Lord,
and conversely this encounter acquired its real- ism and depth in their
service to others. Love of God and love of neighbour are thus
inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the
love of God who has loved us first. No longer is it a question, then,
of a “commandment” imposed from without and calling for the impossible,
but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love
which by its very nature must then be shared with others. Love grows
through love. Love is “divine” because it comes from God and unites us
to God; through this unifying process it makes us a “we” which
transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is “all
in all” (1 Cor 15:28).
(Continuing)
Prayers this week: Like newborn children you should
thirst for milk, on which your spirit can grow to strength, alleluia.
(1 Peter 2:2) God of
mercy, you wash away our sins in water, you give us new birth in the Spirit, and
redeem us in the blood of Christ. As we celebrate Christ's resurrection increase
our awareness of these blessings, and renew your gift of life within us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
(March 30) St. Peter Regalado (1390-1456)
Peter lived at a very busy time. The Great Western Schism
(1378-1417) was settled at the Council of Constance (1414-1418). France and
England were fighting the Hundred Years’ War, and in 1453 the Byzantine Empire
was completely wiped out by the loss of Constantinople to the Turks. At Peter’s
death the age of printing had just begun in Germany, and Columbus's arrival in
the New World was less than 40 years away. Peter came from a wealthy and pious
family in Valladolid, Spain. At the age of 13, he was allowed to enter the
Conventual Franciscans. Shortly after his ordination, he was made superior of
the friary in Aguilar. He became part of a group of friars who wanted to lead a
life of greater poverty and penance. In 1442 he was appointed head of all the
Spanish Franciscans in his reform group. Peter led the friars by his example. A
special love of the poor and the sick characterized Peter. Miraculous stories
are told about his charity to the poor. For example, the bread never seemed to
run out as long as Peter had hungry people to feed. Throughout most of his life,
Peter went hungry; he lived only on bread and water. Immediately after his death
on March 31, 1456, his grave became a place of pilgrimage. Peter was canonized
in 1746.
Peter was an effective leader of the friars
because he did not become ensnared in anger over the sins of others. Peter
helped sinning friars rearrange the priorities in their lives and dedicate
themselves to living the gospel of Jesus Christ as they had vowed. This patient
correction is an act of charity available to all Franciscans, not just to
superiors. "And let all the brothers, both the ministers and servants as well as
the others, take care not to be disturbed or angered at the sin or the evil of
another, because the devil wishes to destroy many through the fault of one; but
they should spiritually help [the brother] who has sinned as best they can,
because it is not the healthy who are in need of the physician, but those who
are sick (cf. Mt 9:12; Mk 2:17)" (Rule of 1221, Chapter 5).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John
20:19-31
Now in the evening of that same day, the first of the week, the doors were
closed where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews. Jesus
came and stood in their midst and said to them: Peace be to you. When he had
said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with
joy when they saw the Lord. He said to them again: Peace be to you. As the
Father sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and
said Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them;
whose sins you retain, they are retained. Now Thomas, one of the twelve (called Didymus) was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples said to him: We
have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Unless I see in his hands the print of
the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into
his side, I will not believe. After eight days again his disciples were within,
and Thomas with them. The doors were closed and Jesus came and stood in their
midst. He said: Peace be to you. Then he said to Thomas: Put in your finger
here, and see my hands; and bring your hand here, and put it into my side. Be
not unbelieving, but believe. Thomas answered, My Lord, and my God. Jesus said
to him: Because you have seen me, Thomas, you believe: blessed are those who
have not seen, and yet believe. Many other signs did Jesus do in the sight of
his disciples which are not written in this book. These are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing this, you
may have life in his name.(John 20:19-31)
From the first proclamation by the infant Church that Jesus Christ is the
Saviour of the world, there has been a tension between the Church and other
religions precisely because of this proclamation. Following the cure of the lame
man and then Peter’s address, both Peter and John were brought before the
Sanhedrin. The essence of their testimony to Christ before this highest council
of the land was that “For all the names in the world given to men, this is the
only one by which we can be saved” (Acts 4:12) It is a very hard saying for
other ears, and it led to centuries of clash with the Roman Empire itself. The
Empire allowed the worship of many gods and insisted on the allowance of its
own. At times even the Emperor had to be allowed as a god. For a religion to claim that there was only one
God and that a crucified and
risen man was that living God was perceived as profoundly subversive of its
religious foundations and therefore of the Empire itself. Moreover, the
Christian religion would not stay quiet and allow other religions to live out of
earshot. It was missionary, and driving its missionary life was the conviction
that the salvation of all others depended on their hearing and accepting that
Jesus is Messiah and Lord and then living accordingly. He is literally the Lord
God, the only one, and salvation lies in him alone. These were unparalleled
claims but they came directly from Jesus himself and he accepted the full assent
to them by his own disciples. He himself taught that the one who believes this
will be saved, and that to refuse assent brings damnation. From this has flowed
the constant testimony to Christ by the Church amid the resulting tides of
persecution that have enveloped her. Our Gospel today recounts the appearance of
the risen Jesus to the Apostles gathered as a body, and this time the doubting
Thomas was with them. He saw and heard and touched the risen Jesus in the flesh.
There was no doubting now. Jesus is Lord. He is Yahweh God, God the Son who
became man to save mankind, and together with Thomas and the Apostles this is
the Church’s testimony. Hence the Church continually prays and works that all
may be saved by coming to recognize Jesus Christ as their Lord.
Our Lord had revealed his divine sovereignty by his power over nature, over
demons, over sin, over death and above all by his own resurrection. All this,
including his own resurrection, Thomas saw and now he believed. In our Gospel our
Lord tells Thomas he believes because he has seen, but blessed are those who
have not seen and yet believe. Blessed are those who accept the Church’s
testimony and teaching about Jesus. The Christian creeds proclaim that the
power, the honour and the glory that are due to God the almighty Father also
belong to Jesus. He has been given the name which is above every other name. He
is the Lord of all things and of history and the only One to whom we must
completely submit our personal freedom. The Father and I are one, he said. He
who sees me sees the Father, he said. So who is God? The one only God is Jesus,
just as he is the Father, and just as he is the Holy Spirit. Does the world have
a Saviour? Yes, and that Saviour is Jesus, he and only he. No one can come to
the Father except through me, he said. In the man Jesus who once walked the
earth and is now risen from the dead is to be found the fullness of the godhead
bodily. All of this was contained implicitly in the wonderful profession of
faith of Thomas who bowed before the risen Jesus. There is a further and most
important point about the God who is Jesus. He is the Sovereign of all things
and of all history, but he put aside his pure glory and assumed our nature, and
lowered himself even more, even to death on a cross. He loved me, each of us can
say, and gave himself up for me. He took on to himself the burden of man’s sins
and expiated for them all. He is revealed in Jesus to be all merciful and
compassionate. We can then turn to him with confidence in his mercy, knowing
that if we but repent and ask him for pardon, we will receive his loving
embrace. The infinite God become man in Jesus is a God boundlessly rich in mercy
and compassion. In showing him his wounds, this is what the risen Jesus reveals
to Thomas in our Gospel today (John 20:19-31). With good reason the Church celebrates this Sunday as
Mercy Sunday.
Let us ask for the grace to understand something of the height and the depth,
the length and the breadth of the mystery of the living Jesus our brother and
our sovereign Lord, our Saviour and our God. He is the Lord of lords and the
King of kings and to him belongs all authority and power in heaven and on earth.
In him is to be found the mercy of God and his surpassing compassion. Where is
he? He abides in the Church he founded on the Apostles who were gathered before
him in the upper room of our Gospel today. Let us give our lives over to him.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church,
nos.446-451
'There's no denying the influence of environment', you've told me. And I have to
answer: Quite. That is why you have to be formed in such a way that you can
carry your own environment about with you in a natural manner, and so give your
own 'tone' to the society in which you live.
And then, if you have acquired this spirit, I am sure you will tell me with the
amazement of the disciples as they contemplated the first fruits of the miracles
being worked by their hands in Christ's name: 'There's no denying our influence
on environment!'
(The Way, no.376)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod is
Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
PART II CARITAS: THE PRACTICE OF LOVE BY THE CHURCH AS A “COMMUNITY OF LOVE”
The Church's charitable activity as a manifestation of Trinitarian love
19. “If you see charity, you see the Trinity”, wrote Saint Augustine.[11] In the
foregoing reflections, we have been able to focus our attention on the Pierced
one (cf. Jn 19:37, Zech 12:10), recognizing the plan of the Father who, moved by
love (cf. Jn 3:16), sent his only-begotten Son into the world to redeem man. By
dying on the Cross—as Saint John tells us—Jesus “gave up his Spirit” (Jn 19:30),
anticipating the gift of the Holy Spirit that he would make after his
Resurrection (cf. Jn 20:22). This was to fulfil the promise of “rivers of living
water” that would flow out of the hearts of believers, through the outpouring of
the Spirit (cf. Jn 7:38-39). The Spirit, in fact, is that interior power which
harmonizes their hearts with Christ's heart and moves them to love their
brethren as Christ loved them, when he bent down to wash the feet of the
disciples (cf. Jn 13:1-13) and above all when he gave his life for us (cf. Jn
13:1, 15:13).
The Spirit is also the energy which transforms the heart of the ecclesial
community, so that it becomes a witness before the world to the love of the
Father, who wishes to make humanity a single family in his Son. The entire
activity of the Church is an expression of a love that seeks the integral good
of man: it seeks his evangelization through Word and Sacrament, an undertaking
that is often heroic in the way it is acted out in history; and it seeks to
promote man in the various arenas of life and human activity. Love is therefore
the service that the Church carries out in order to attend constantly to man's
sufferings and his needs, including material needs. And this is the aspect, this
service of charity, on which I want to focus in the second part of the
Encyclical.
(Continuing)
The Annunciation of the Lord (Monday of the Second Week of Eastertide A)
(March 31 ) Annunciation of
the Lord (2008 - Transferred to March 31 because of Octave of Easter) The
feast of the Annunciation goes back to the fourth or fifth century. Its central
focus is the Incarnation: God has become one of us. From all eternity God had
decided that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become
human. Now,
as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realized. The God-Man embraces
all humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love.
Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering
and an agonizing death: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s
life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Mary has an important role to play in
God’s plan. From all eternity God destined her to be the mother of Jesus and
closely related to him in the creation and redemption of the world. We could say
that God’s decrees of creation and redemption are joined in the decree of
Incarnation. As Mary is God’s instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to
play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a God-given role. It is God’s
grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure she is only by
God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act. Everything she is she
owes to the Trinity. She is the virgin-mother who fulfils Isaiah 7:14 in a way
that Isaiah could not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out
the will of God (Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38). Together with Jesus,
the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven and earth. She is the
human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the possibilities of human
existence. She received into her lowliness the infinite love of God. She shows
how an ordinary human being can reflect God in the ordinary circumstances of
life. She exemplifies what the Church and every member of the Church is meant to
become. She is the ultimate product of the creative and redemptive power of God.
She manifests what the Incarnation is meant to accomplish for all of us.
“Enriched from the first instant of her conception with the splendour of an
entirely unique holiness, the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by the heralding
angel, by divine command, as ‘full of grace’ (cf. Luke 1:28). To the heavenly
messenger she replies: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me
according to thy word’ (Luke 1:38). Thus the daughter of Adam, Mary, consenting
to the word of God, became the Mother of Jesus. Committing herself
wholeheartedly and impeded by no sin to God’s saving will, she devoted herself
totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and
with him, serving the mystery of redemption, by the grace of Almighty God”
(Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 56).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel
was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to
a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The
virgin's name was Mary. The angel entered and said to her “Hail, full of grace,
the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women.” Mary was troubled at hearing
this said, and asked herself what this salutation might mean. The angel said to
her: “Fear not, Mary, for you have found favour with God. Behold you will
conceive and bear a son and will call his name Jesus. He will be great and will
be called the Son of the most High. The Lord God will give to him the throne of
David his father; and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever. Of his
kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel: “How will this happen,
since I know not man?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the most High will overshadow you. Therefore the Holy One born
of you will be called the Son of God. And behold your kinswoman Elizabeth has
also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who is
called barren. For nothing is impossible with God.” Mary said: “Behold the
handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.” And the angel
departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)
The event described in the Gospel is
celebrated by the Church as the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord. The
coming of the Messiah is announced by the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary and
her consent to be mother of the Messiah is requested. The angel is sent by God
and he enters the presence of the young woman, presumably not long
into her teens. She is a young girl, but consider the respect with which he,
this august emissary from God’ throne, greets her. Hail, he says, you who are
full of God’s grace and favour, the Lord is with you! (Luke
1:26-38) There is unfeigned praise in the angel’s simple and sober
salutation. He gazes on this holy girl with a gaze of love and respect for the
one so specially the object of God’s care and choice. Perhaps he is smiling as
he speaks, assuring her not to fear at hearing his momentous words. She is, he
says, one who is filled with the favour and grace of God. Without any
qualification the Lord is with her. There is nothing in her heart and soul which
separates her from him, nothing which represents or is a cause of God’s
disfavour or displeasure. These words of pure praise come from heaven and they
surely express the joy of God in one who has responded and will respond so
faithfully to his grace. If through the angel God thus addresses and considers
Mary, so should we. Hail Mary, we ought often pray. You who are full of grace,
the Lord is with you! In these simple words of the angel we are given an inkling
of the singular place in heaven occupied by the mother of the Messiah and Son of
God. How constantly, then, we ought pray to her and especially at the hour of
our death when we go before him who is our Judge! The words of the angel
addressed to Mary are words we ought repeatedly address to her ourselves as we
strive to imitate her divine Son. Not only do the angel’s words tell us about
her. Her own words in response tell us more. Once she understands what God is
asking, her obedient consent is total. In her obedience she is our model.
But of course the angel had come not
simply to render praise to Mary herself for her obedience and gifts of grace,
but to speak to her about the great One who is to come. The angel is announcing
the Gospel. He is announcing the Good News of Jesus Christ and doing so on God’s
behalf to the one who is to be mother of the Messiah. The Messiah, he is saying
to her, is at this very point about to come. He is about to be conceived in the
virgin’s womb. Such is the plan of the Most High and the angel has come to ask
the virgin’s consent. Does she accept? Does she accept what God has willed, with
all that this will entail in the years to come? The angel proceeds to give to
the virgin more information about him who is about to be conceived. God has
chosen his name. She will call him Jesus. He will be great, great without any
qualification. He will be great not only as men regard him but absolutely great,
whatever be the estimation of men. God is great, and this One will be great.
Indeed, he will be the very Son of God. How great he is, then! He is the Messiah
long promised and God will give to him the throne of David. There is more still,
for he will actually rule as king forever. He will, then, be the King of kings
and Lord of lords for of his kingdom there will be no end. He will be the Holy
One and inasmuch as in the Scriptures the Holy One was Yahweh himself, and
inasmuch as he is the Son of the most High, the Son of God, the angel is
intimating that God himself is the one who is coming to establish his Kingdom.
There is the most High, there is the Son of the most High, and there is the Holy
Spirit by whose power he will be born of the holy Virgin. That is to say, the
angel is not only intimating that the Messiah is God the Son, but that the one
God is three. He is the most High. He is the Son of the most High, and he is the
Holy Spirit. The angel Gabriel was granting to the virgin Mary an incipient
revelation of the mystery of the Incarnation and the Blessed Trinity. She is the
first to hear the Gospel and she totally believes. She is the model of faith and
obedience.
Let us keep before our gaze the figure
of the virgin with her child. The one who is full of grace holds him who is the
source of grace. The Lord God is with her, indeed he is being held in her arms.
She is the first and greatest Christian, the handmaid par excellence of the
Lord. She is his mother and he has given her to us to be our mother and model in
the order of grace. She is the help of Christians. Let us pray to her
repeatedly, asking her to pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
(E.J.Tyler)
And how shall I acquire 'our formation', how
shall I keep 'our spirit'? — By being faithful to the specific norms your
Director gave you and explained to you, and made you love: be faithful to them
and you will be an apostle.
(The Way, no.377)
Serialization of the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVIGod is
Love (25 Dec. ‘05)
PART II CARITAS: THE PRACTICE OF LOVE BY THE CHURCH AS A “COMMUNITY OF LOVE”
Charity as a responsibility of the Church
20. Love of neighbour, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a
responsibility for each individual member of the faithful, but it is also a
responsibility for the entire ecclesial community at every level: from the local
community to the particular Church and to the Church universal in its entirety.
As a community, the Church must practise love. Love thus needs to be organized
if it is to be an ordered service to the community. The awareness of this
responsibility has had a constitutive relevance in the Church from the
beginning: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; and
they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had
need” (Acts 2:44-5). In these words, Saint Luke provides a kind of definition of
the Church, whose constitutive elements include fidelity to the “teaching of the
Apostles”, “communion” (koinonia), “the breaking of the bread” and
“prayer” (cf. Acts 2:42). The element of “communion” (koinonia) is
not initially defined, but appears concretely in the verses quoted above: it
consists in the fact that believers hold all things in common and that among
them, there is no longer any distinction between rich and poor (cf. also Acts
4:32-37). As the Church grew, this radical form of material communion could not
in fact be preserved. But its essential core remained: within the community of
believers there can never be room for a poverty that denies anyone what is
needed for a dignified life.
(Continuing)
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:
world and in various manners because of the Gospel, may
continue, sustained by the strength of the Holy Spirit, to bear witness
courageously and openly to the Word of God".
“Two men went into the
temple to pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The
Pharisee standing, prayed thus to himself: ‘O God, I give you thanks
that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as
is this publican. I fast twice a week: I give tithes of all that I
possess.’ The publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up
his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: ‘O God, be
merciful to me a sinner.’ I say to you, this man went home justified
whereas the other did not. Every one who exalts himself will be
humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
But his greatest goal is
surely to establish a right relationship with God. The purpose of
religion is to be made right with God. If his conscience is enlightened
as to his own true condition man is aware that he is a sinner, which is
to say that he does not have this right relationship. How, then, is he
to be made right with God? God has revealed the answer to this question
and in our Gospel passage today our Lord tells of the Publican going
home right with God after his prayer, while the Pharisee does not. Well
then, what did the Publican do that reconciled him with God and which
the Pharisee did not do and which in consequence left him unreconciled?
Both were sinners, the one acknowledging his sinfulness, the other
blind to his sins. This is the most obvious difference between the two
and our Lord’s introduction to his parable gives us the indicator as to
what was behind this difference. He told the parable to those who
trusted in themselves as being just before God. It was not simply a
question of whether they were just - which, as we know from our Lord’s
strictures on them elsewhere, they were not - but that they “trusted in
themselves.” There are others mentioned in the Gospels who were just
and who trusted entirely in God. The example of this par excellence is
Mary the mother of Jesus who was “full of grace”. The Lord was with
her. She was blessed among women. Yet she trusted entirely in the Lord
and regarded herself as his lowly handmaid. Joseph the husband of Mary
was eminently just, as was Simeon who spoke of the child in the Temple.
They trusted not in themselves but in the Lord. The Publican of our
Lord’s parable was not just but he acknowledged his sinfulness and
trusted in the Lord for mercy. All he could do was entrust himself to
the mercy of God. This constituted his faith in God and it made him
right with God. 
St.
John Bosco as a student at the Oratory in Turin at the age of 12. He
impressed John with his desire to be a priest and to help him in his
work with neglected boys. A peacemaker and an organizer, young Dominic
founded a group he called the Company of the Immaculate Conception
which, besides being devotional, aided John Bosco with the boys and
with manual work. All the members save one, Dominic, would in 1859 join
John in the beginnings of his Salesian congregation. By that time,
Dominic had been called home to heaven. As a youth, Dominic spent hours
rapt in prayer. His raptures he called "my distractions." Even in play,
he said that at times "It seems heaven is opening just above me. I am
afraid I may say or do something that will make the other boys laugh."
Dominic would say, "I can't do big things. But I want all I do, even
the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God." Dominic's
health, always frail, led to lung problems and he was sent home to
recuperate. As was the custom of the day, he was bled in the thought
that this would help, but it only worsened his condition. He died on
March 9, 1857, after receiving the Last Sacraments. St. John Bosco
himself wrote the account of his life. Some thought that Dominic was
too young to be considered a saint. St. Pius X declared that just the
opposite was true, and went ahead with his cause. Dominic was canonized
in 1954.
many
ages, and by the colonies of Saints with which it peopled many foreign
countries. The Apostle of Ireland was born in Scotland towards the
close of the fourth century, in a village which seems to be the
present-day Scotch town of Kilpatrick, between Dumbarton and Glasgow.
He calls himself both a Briton and a Roman, that is, of mixed
extraction, and says his father was of a good family named Calphurnius.
Some writers call his mother Conchessa, and say she was the niece of
Saint Martin of Tours. In his sixteenth year he was carried into
captivity in Ireland by barbarians. There he was obliged to shepherd
cattle on the mountains and in the forests, in hunger and nakedness,
amid snow, rain, and ice. The young man had recourse to God with his
whole heart, in fervent prayer and fasting, and from that time faith
and the love of God acquired a constantly renewed strength in his
tender soul. After six months spent in slavery, Saint Patrick was
admonished by God in a dream to return to his own country, and was
informed that a ship was then ready to sail there. He went at once to
the seacoast, though at a great distance, and found the vessel, but he
could not obtain his passage — probably for want of money. Patrick was
returning to his hut, praying as he went, when the sailors, though
pagans, called him back and took him on board. Some years afterwards he
was again taken captive, but recovered his liberty after two months.
While he was at home with his parents, God manifested to him, by divers
visions, that He destined him for the great work of the conversion of
Ireland. His biographers say that after his second captivity he
travelled into Gaul and Italy, and saw Saint Martin, Saint Germanus of
Auxerre, and Pope Saint Celestine, and that he received his mission and
the apostolical benediction from this Pope, who died in 432. It is
certain that he spent many years in preparing himself for his sacred
calling. Great opposition was raised to his episcopal consecration and
mission, both by his own relatives and by the clergy. They made him
great offers in order to detain him among them, and endeavoured to
affright him by exaggerating the dangers to which he exposed himself
amid the enemies of the Romans and Britons, who did not know God. All
these temptations cast the Saint into great perplexity; but the Lord,
whose Will he consulted by earnest prayer, supported him and he
persevered in his resolution. He therefore left his family, sold his
birthright and dignity, and consecrated his soul to God, to serve
strangers and carry His name to the ends of the earth. In this
disposition he passed into Ireland, to preach the Gospel where the
worship of idols still generally reigned. He travelled over the island,
penetrating into the remotest corners, and such was the fruit of his
preaching and sufferings that he baptized an infinite number of
persons. Everywhere he ordained clergymen, induced women to live in
holy widowhood and continence, consecrated virgins to Christ, and
founded monasteries, not without many persecutions. Saint Patrick held
several councils to regulate the discipline of the Church he had
planted. Saint Bernard and the tradition of the country testify that he
fixed his metropolitan see at Armagh. He established other bishops, as
appears by the acts of a council and various other documents. He not
only converted the whole country by his preaching and wonderful
miracles, but also cultivated this vineyard with so fruitful a
benediction from heaven as to render Ireland a flourishing garden in
the Church of God, and a land of Saints. He converted and baptized the
kings of Dublin and Munster and the seven sons of the king of
Connaught, with the majority of their subjects, and before his death
almost the whole island. He founded three monasteries and filled the
countryside with churches and schools of piety and learning. He died
and was buried at Down in Ulster. His body was found there in a church
of his name in 1185, and moved to another part of the same
church. (Magnificat.ca)
the
spouse of the Virgin Mother, the virginal father and guardian of the
Incarnate Word. Joseph, says Holy Scripture, was a just man. He was
innocent and pure, as became the husband of Mary; he was gentle and
tender, as one worthy to be named the father of Jesus; he was prudent
and a lover of silence, as became the master of the holy house; above
all, he was faithful and obedient to divine calls. His conversation was
with Angels rather than with men. When he learned that Mary bore within
Her womb the Lord of heaven, he feared to take Her as his wife; but an
Angel bade him put his fear aside, and all doubts vanished. When Herod
sought the life of the divine Infant, an Angel told Joseph in a dream
to fly with the Child and His Mother into Egypt. Joseph at once arose
and obeyed. This sudden and unexpected flight must have exposed both
him and his little Family to many inconveniences and sufferings; the
journey with a newborn infant and a tender virgin was long, and the
greater part of the way led through deserts and among strangers. Yet
Saint Joseph alleges no excuses, nor inquires at what time they were to
return. Saint Chrysostom observes that God treats in this way all His
servants, sending them frequent trials to clear their hearts from the
rust of self-love, but intermixing with afflictions, seasons of
consolation. It is the opinion of the Fathers that when the Holy Family
entered Egypt, at the presence of the Child Jesus all the oracles of
that superstitious country were struck dumb, and the statues of their
gods trembled, and in many places fell to the ground. The Fathers also
attribute to this holy visit the spiritual benediction poured on that
country, which made it for many ages fruitful in Saints. After the
death of King Herod, of which Saint Joseph was informed in another
vision, God ordered him to return with the Child and His Mother into
the land of Israel, which our Saint readily accomplished. But when he
arrived in Judea, hearing that Archelaus had succeeded Herod in that
part of the land, and apprehensive that the son might be infected with
his father’s vices, he feared to settle there, as he would otherwise
probably have done, for the education of the Child. Therefore, directed
by God through still another angelic visit, he retired into the
dominions of Herod Antipas in Galilee, and to his former habitation in
Nazareth. Saint Joseph, a strict observer of the Mosaic law, journeyed
each year at the time of the Passover to Jerusalem. Our Saviour, in the
twelfth year of His age, accompanied His parents. Having participated
in the usual ceremonies of the feast, the parents were returning with
many of their neighbours and acquaintances towards Galilee, and never
doubted that Jesus was with some of the company. They travelled on for
a whole day’s journey before they discovered that He was not with them.
But when night came on and they could find no trace of Him among their
kindred and acquaintances, they, in the deepest affliction, returned
with the utmost haste to Jerusalem. We are left to imagine their tears
and their efforts to find Him. After an anxious search of three days
they discovered Him in the Temple, discoursing with the learned doctors
of the law, and asking them such questions as aroused the admiration of
all who heard Him. His Mother told Him with what grief and earnestness
they had sought Him and asked, “Son, why have You dealt with us in this
way? Behold, Your Father and I have searched for You in great
affliction of mind.” The young Saviour answered, “How is it that You
sought Me? Did You not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
In this way Jesus encourages all young persons who are called to serve
God to persevere in that high vocation, whatever the cost. But we are
told that although He had remained in the Temple unknown to His
parents, in all other things He was obedient to them, returning with
them to Nazareth, and living there in all dutiful subjection to them.
As no further mention is made of Saint Joseph, he must have died before
the marriage feast of Cana and the beginning of our divine Saviour’s
ministry. We cannot doubt that he had the happiness of the presence of
Jesus and Mary at his death, praying beside him, assisting and
comforting him in his last moments; therefore he is invoked for the
great grace of a happy death and the spiritual presence of Jesus in
that hour. The words of the Pharaoh to those who applied to him for
aid, “Go to Joseph” are fitting for the second great Joseph of sacred
history. (Magnificat.ca)
the
name given him at Baptism, was born in Moravia into a poor family, the
ninth of 12 children. Although he longed to be a priest there was no
money for studies, and he was apprenticed to a baker. But God guided
the young man's fortunes. He found work in the bakery of a monastery
where he was allowed to attend classes in its Latin school. After the
abbot there died, John tried the life of a hermit but when Emperor
Joseph II abolished hermitages, John again returned to Vienna and to
baking. One day after serving Mass at the cathedral of St. Stephen, he
called a carriage for two ladies waiting there in the rain. In their
conversation they learned that he could not pursue his priestly studies
because of a lack of funds. They generously offered to support both him
and his friend, Thaddeus, in their seminary studies. The two went to
Rome, where they were drawn to St. Alphonsus' vision of religious life
and to the Redemptorists. The two young men were ordained together in
1785. Newly professed at age 34, Clement Mary, as he was now called,
and Thaddeus were sent back to Vienna. But the religious difficulties
there caused them to leave and continue north to Warsaw, Poland. There
they encountered numerous German-speaking Catholics who had been left
priestless by the suppression of the Jesuits. At first they had to live
in great poverty and preached outdoor sermons. They were given the
church of St. Benno, and for the next nine years they preached five
sermons a day, two in German and three in Polish, converting many to
the faith. They were active in social work among the poor, founding an
orphanage and then a school for boys. Drawing candidates to the
congregation, they were able to send missionaries to Poland, Germany
and Switzerland. All of these foundations had eventually to be
abandoned because of the political and religious tensions of the times.
After 20 years of difficult work Clement himself was imprisoned and
expelled from the country. Only after another arrest was he able to
reach Vienna, where he was to live and work the final 12 years of his
life. He quickly became "the apostle of Vienna," hearing the
confessions of the rich and poor, visiting the sick, acting as a
counsellor to the powerful, sharing his holiness with all in the city.
His crowning work was the establishment of a Catholic college in his
beloved city. Persecution followed him, and there were those in
authority who were able for a while to stop him from preaching. An
attempt was made at the highest levels to have him banished. But his
holiness and fame protected him and the growth of the Redemptorists.
Due to his efforts, the congregation, upon his death in 1820, was
firmly established north of the Alps. He was canonized in 1909.
confessor, and a
marriage was arranged. One son was born of this union. But she soon
found herself nursing her beloved husband through a long illness that
finally led to his death. Louise was fortunate to have a wise and
sympathetic counsellor, St. Francis de Sales, and then his friend, the
Bishop of Belley, France. Both of these men were available to her only
periodically. But from an interior illumination she understood that she
was to undertake a great work under the guidance of another person she
had not yet met. This was the holy priest M. Vincent, later to be known
as St. Vincent de Paul. At first he was reluctant to be her confessor,
busy as he was with his "Confraternities of Charity." Members were
aristocratic ladies of charity who were helping him nurse the poor and
look after neglected children, a real need of the day. But the ladies
were busy with many of their own concerns and duties. His work needed
many more helpers, especially ones who were peasants themselves and
therefore close to the poor and could win their hearts. He also needed
someone who could teach them and organize them. Only over a long period
of time, as Vincent de Paul became more acquainted with Louise, did he
come to realize that she was the answer to his prayers. She was
intelligent, self-effacing and had physical strength and endurance that
belied her continuing feeble health. The missions he sent her on
eventually led to four simple young women joining her. Her rented home
in Paris became the training centre for those accepted for the service
of the sick and poor. Growth was rapid and soon there was need of a
so-called rule of life, which Louise herself, under the guidance of
Vincent, drew up for the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
(though he preferred "Daughters" of Charity). He had always been slow
and prudent in his dealings with Louise and the new group. He said that
he had never had any idea of starting a new community, that it was God
who did everything. "Your convent," he said, "will be the house of the
sick; your cell, a hired room; your chapel, the parish church; your
cloister, the streets of the city or the wards of the hospital." Their
dress was to be that of the peasant women. It was not until years later
that Vincent de Paul would finally permit four of the women to take
annual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. It was still more years
before the company would be formally approved by Rome and placed under
the direction of Vincent's own congregation of priests. Many of the
young women were illiterate and it was with reluctance that the new
community undertook the care of neglected children. Louise was busy
helping wherever needed despite her poor health. She travelled
throughout France, establishing her community members in hospitals,
orphanages and other institutions. At her death on March 15, 1660, the
congregation had more than 40 houses in France. Six months later St.
Vincent de Paul followed her in death. Louise de Marillac was canonized
in 1934 and declared patroness of social workers in 1960. (AmericanCatholic.org)
Francis, the last of 12 children, was born in northern Italy into an
aristocratic family. He lived at a particularly turbulent time in
history, when anti-Catholic and anti-papal sentiments were especially
strong. After being trained as a military officer, Francis was spotted
by King Victor Emmanuel II, who was impressed with the young man's
character and learning. Invited by the king to tutor his two young
sons, Francis agreed and prepared himself with additional studies. But
with the role of the Church in education being a sticking point for
many, the king was forced to withdraw his offer to the openly Catholic
Francis and, instead, find a tutor more suitable to the secular state.
Francis soon left army life behind and pursued doctoral studies in
Paris in mathematics and astronomy. He studied under Augustin Cauchy,
and Urbain Le Verrier, who shared in the discovery of the planet
Neptune, and he became intimate with Abbé Moigno and Charles Hermite.
Wishing to broaden and deepen his commitment to the poor, Francis, then
well into adulthood, studied for the priesthood. But first he had to
obtain the support of Pope Pius IX to counteract the opposition to his
own archbishop's difficulty with late vocations. Francis was ordained
at the age of 51. The remainder of his life was spent as Professor of
Mathematics at the University. In recognition of his achievements as a
mathematician, the degree of Doctor of Science was conferred on him by
the Universities of Paris and Turin. In addition to some ascetical
writings, the composition of some sacred melodies, and the invention of
some scientific apparatus, Faŕ di Bruno made numerous and important
contributions to mathematics. Today, he is best known for Faŕ di
Bruno's formula on derivatives of composite functions. He was the
author of about forty original articles published in the "Journal de
Mathématiques" (edited by Joseph Liouville), Crelle's Journal,
"American Journal of Mathematics" (Johns Hopkins University), "Annali
di Tortolini", "Les Mondes", "Comptes rendus de l'Académie des
sciences", etc; the first half of an exhaustive treatise on the theory
and applications of elliptic functions which he planned to complete in
three volumes; "Théorie générale de l'élimination" (Paris, 1859);
"Calcolo degli errori" (Turin, 1867), translated into French under the
title of "Traité élémentaire du calcul des erreurs" (Paris, 1869); and
most important of all, "Théorie des formes binaires" (Paris, 1876),
translated into German (Leipzig, 1881). For a list of the memoirs of
Faŕ di Bruno, see the "Catalogue of Scientific Papers of the Royal
Society: (London, 1868, 1877, 1891), t. II, vii, and ix. Despite his
commitment to the scholarly life, Francis put much of his energy into
charitable activities. As a priest, he continued his good works,
sharing his inheritance as well as his energy. He established yet
another hostel, this time for prostitutes. He founded the Society of
St. Zita for maids and domestic servants, later expanding it to include
unmarried mothers, among others. He helped establish hostels for the
elderly and poor. He even oversaw the construction of a church in Turin
that was dedicated to the memory of Italian soldiers who had lost their
lives in the struggle over the unification of Italy. He died in Turin
on March 27, 1888, and was beatified 100 years later.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
human. Now,
as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realized. The God-Man embraces
all humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love.
Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering
and an agonizing death: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s
life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Mary has an important role to play in
God’s plan. From all eternity God destined her to be the mother of Jesus and
closely related to him in the creation and redemption of the world. We could say
that God’s decrees of creation and redemption are joined in the decree of
Incarnation. As Mary is God’s instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to
play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a God-given role. It is God’s
grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure she is only by
God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act. Everything she is she
owes to the Trinity. She is the virgin-mother who fulfils Isaiah 7:14 in a way
that Isaiah could not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out
the will of God (Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38). Together with Jesus,
the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven and earth. She is the
human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the possibilities of human
existence. She received into her lowliness the infinite love of God. She shows
how an ordinary human being can reflect God in the ordinary circumstances of
life. She exemplifies what the Church and every member of the Church is meant to
become. She is the ultimate product of the creative and redemptive power of God.
She manifests what the Incarnation is meant to accomplish for all of us.