February  2006

Pope Benedict XVI's general prayer intention for February is:  "That the international community may be ever more aware of the urgent duty to bring an end to the trafficking in human beings."

The Pope's mission intention for February is:  "That in the missions the lay faithful may recognize the need to serve their own country with greater commitment, also in its political and social life."

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Wednesday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time II

(1st February)   See this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture readings:    2 Samuel 24:2.9-17;       Psalm 31;        Mark 6:1-6

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:1-6 NIV)

 There is an aspect of our experience which we ought reflect on. It is that our experience of the world and of all that we physically see can lead us to greatly underestimate what is its Ground and Origin, which we cannot see. The world with all its beauty and vastness and power does not give an adequate impression of its Creator whom we cannot see, and our estimation of and attitude to God is all too often limited by this experience of a limited world. This includes our experience of ordinary things. That is to say, we can underestimate the God who is the Ground of ordinary things.  In our Gospel today we are presented with the picture of our Lord returning to his home town, having begun his public ministry. He had spent thirty years in that village and his greatness had been unnoticed. He had been entirely underestimated — and that is how he wished it to be. It seems that in so many ways, and perhaps normally, that is how God works. He calls on us to live by faith rather than simply by sight, for in human life God is normally the God who works in and through the ordinary.

The point is made even more obvious by what happened when our Lord returned. He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and his hearers were astonished at his power of address and his wisdom that was so manifest. It was so contrary to their entire experience of him to that point, that they would not accept him. Presumably a factor here was that they had felt so entirely his equal (and perhaps his superior) during those long years of his growing up — which indicates his humility — that they could not accept his manifest ascendancy. His greatness was being manifested in part, but the true perception and acceptance of it required the readiness to go beyond mere appearances and believe. In the plan of God a life of obedience to him requires that we live not simply by sight, but primarily by faith, for he is a God who works in the ordinary.

                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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The work of the Church, each day, is like the weaving of a great fabric which we offer to God: because all of us who are baptised make up the Church. If we carry out our tasks, faithfully and selflessly, this great fabric will be beautiful and flawless. But if we loosen a thread here, a thread there, another over there... instead of a beautiful fabric we will have a tattered rag.
                                                                               (The Forge, No.640)

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Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

(Thursday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time II)

(February 2) Today we celebrate the presentation of our Lord in the Temple and his consecration to God as Mary’s ‘first-born’. The feast was first observed in the Eastern Church as ‘The Encounter’. In the sixth century it began to be observed in the West: in Rome with a more penitential character, and in Gaul (France) with solemn blessings and processions of candles, popularly known as ‘Candlemas’. The presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity and, with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, the events now point towards Easter.  (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:   Malachi 3:1-4;     Psalm 24: 7-10;      Hebrews 2:14-18;      Luke 2:22-40

When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marvelled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. (Luke 2:22-40 NIV)

Today we think of our Lord being brought to the Temple by Mary and Joseph as their ‘first-born’ in order  to consecrate him as God’s own possession. In the process there was the encounter with Simeon and Anna who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, bore witness to the Child’s  uniqueness and his divine mission. He would be the salvation for all the nations, the glory of Israel, and a sign that would be rejected (Luke 2:22-40).

In the consecration to God of this uniquely significant person, our Redeemer, unique in all of human history in terms of his person and his mission, we have the model for every human being. That is to say, in his presentation and consecration to God we are all reminded of how we too are called to be consecrated to God, and of how we who are baptised are in fact consecrated to God. We were presented and consecrated to God in our baptism and empowered further to live out this consecration through the grace that is available to us in the Sacraments. We were thus configured more and more to the person of Christ, such that he now lives in us and we in him. At his presentation in the Temple our Lord was not only made over to God his Father, but his mission and his sufferings were announced. The shadow of the Cross fell across him and across his mother — his mother representing his entire body the Church. It was through his obedient endurance of the Cross that the world was redeemed.

                                                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

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Why don’t you make up your mind to make that fraternal correction? Receiving one hurts, because it is hard to humble oneself, at least to begin with. But making a fraternal correction is always hard. Everyone knows this. Making fraternal corrections is the best way you can help, after prayer and good example.
                                                     (The Forge, no.641)

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Friday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 3) St Blaise, bishop and martyr (4th century). He enjoyed widespread veneration in the Eastern and Western Churches due to many cures attributed to h im. According to tradition, he was Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia and was martyred under Licinius (320-324)  (Saints)
                    St Angsar, bishop (801-864). Born in Bremen, Germany, Ansgar became known as the “Apostle of the North” for his great evangelical work in Denmark and Sweden. He was Bishop of Hamburg and then of Bremen. Gregory IV appointed him as his legate to Denmark and Sweden. In reply to those who questioned some miracles to him he said, ‘Were God to choose me to do such things I would ask him for one miracle only: that by his power he would make me a good man.’  (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:     Ecclesiasticus 47:2-13;       Psalm 18: 31, 47, 50-51;       Mark 6:14-29

First Reading:    And as the fat taken away from the communion sacrifice, so was David chosen from among the sons of Israel. He played with lions as though with kids: and with bears he did in like manner as with the lambs of the flock. In his youth, did not he kill the giant, and take away reproach from his people? In lifting up his hand, with the stone in the sling he beat down the boasting of Goliath: For he called upon the Lord the Almighty who gave strength to his right hand, to put to death a mighty warrior, and to lift up the horn of his nation. So they gave him credit for ten thousand, and praised him while they blessed the Lord, by offering to him a crown of glory: For he destroyed enemies on every side, and extirpated the Philistines and broke their horn for ever. In all his works he gave thanks to the Holy One, and to the Most High, with words of glory. With his whole heart he praised the Lord, and loved God who made him: and he gave him power against his enemies: And he set singers before the altar, and by their voices he made sweet melody. And to the festivals he added beauty, and set in order the solemn times even to the end of his life, that they should praise the holy name of the Lord, and magnify the holiness of God in the morning. The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his horn for ever: and he gave him a covenant of the kingdom, and a throne of glory in Israel. (Ecclesiasticus 47:2-13 Douay-Rheims)

Gospel:    King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered. At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. (Mark 6:14-29 NIV)

Our first reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus today eulogises David for his many outstanding qualities. He was a great ruler and a true man of God. At the same time he committed various sins, as we read in the book of Samuel and as is briefly alluded to in our passage today (Ecclesiasticus 47:2-13). David sinned, but he repented, obtained the pardon of God, and continued to advance in his love and service of God. He is in the category of those saints who repented of great sins and attained holiness. In our Gospel today (Mark 6:14-29) we have, on the other hand, another kind of sinner, one who sinned but who did not heed the voice of his conscience. I refer to Herod, whose distinction was to have put to death the one of whom our Lord said that never had there been born of woman one greater than he.

So then, David repented, while Herod did not. Both persons committed grave sins, the one going on to holiness of life, the other we may presume died in his sins. What is the key to the difference between the two? One key is that David was willing to listen to and then obey the voice of his conscience when confronted by it, whereas Herod was not. That the voice of conscience was heard by Herod (but ignored) we are assured by various details in our Gospel passage today. Now, each of us to a greater or lesser extent will choose either to listen to our conscience or not to listen to it, and we in fact make this choice one way or another each day. Our conscience whispers constantly, insistently and with authority and in doing this it echoes the voice of God. Its judgment will need to be improved and corrected and guided, but the sense of duty which informs it must not be ignored. If we do ignore it we follow the path of Herod rather than that of David. If it is ignored in the little duties of every day our hearts will be coarsened, and gradually the voice that leads us to holiness will fall silent. In the smallest things we must listen to and obey the voice of duty.

                                                                                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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He has shown that He trusts you by bringing you to the Church. So you have to have the balance, the calm, the strength, the human and supernatural prudence of a mature person, those qualities tat it takes many people years to acquire. Don’t forget what you learnt in your Catechism: that “a Christian” means a man or a woman who has faith in Jesus Christ.
                                                                       (The Forge, no.642)

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Saturday of the fourth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 4) See this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:    1 Kings 3:4-13;      Psalm 119: 9-14;       Mark 6:30-34

The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for — both riches and honour — so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. (1 Kings 3:4-13 NIV)

Today in our first reading we are presented with the figure of Solomon, the son of King David. Our text describes how God spoke to Solomon in a dream inviting him to ask for whatever he desired. At this Solomon replied that insofar as God had made him king in succession to his father David, he asked for the gift of a heart that could discern good from evil, and that could govern God’s people well. That is to say, he asked for the gift of a discerning judgment and wisdom. It was a request that pleased God greatly, and not only did he give to Solomon this gift of understanding, but as a reward for this choice he gave him riches and glory also (1 Kings 3:4-13). Let us learn from this that the prayer of petition pleases God, especially when we ask for what we think will please him to grant us. Our passage shows that God will be pleased if we ask for the gift of wisdom.

 But let us also remember what happened to Solomon. Yes, he pleased God by asking for wisdom and discernment, and yes, he received this gift to such a degree that his very name is inextricably linked with wisdom. We often refer to ‘the wisdom of Solomon’ as a byword. But despite that, he fell into profoundly serious sins which led finally into idolatry. Why did this happen? We are not told, but perhaps it was because he began proudly to rely on himself rather than on God, and confidently strayed into occasions of serious sin. He was ensnared and perhaps one morass led to another. It seems he died in his sins and his bright prospects ended badly. It reminds us that whatever be the gifts God has given us we must be correspondingly humble, relying on the grace of God and avoiding the occasions of sin.

Let us remember what high gifts the angel Lucifer was given, and yet how great was his fall. Furthermore, we notice that while Solomon asked for discernment and wisdom, he did not specifically ask for holiness of life. Let us ask for wisdom all our lives, but even more let us ask for goodness and holiness every day of our lives. Holiness too is God’s gift, and it is for holiness that we have been created.

                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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You want to be strong? Then first realise that you are very weak. After that, trust in Christ, your Father, your Brother, your Teacher. He makes us strong, entrusting to us the means with which to conquer - the sacraments. Live them!
                                                   (The Forge, no.643)

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Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time B

(February 5) St Agatha, virgin and martyr (died about 251) She was martyred in Catania (Sicily) probably during the time of Decius. Her name appears in the Roman Canon.  (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:  Job 7:1-4.6-7;   Psalm 147: 1-6;   1 Corinthians 9:16-19.22-23;    Mark 1:29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. (Mark 1:29-39 NIV)

We live in a technologically advanced society. While very many sicknesses have been averted due to advances in medicine and technology, people still get sick and die. Sickness and death, and sickness alone when death is not imminent, is a tremendous issue for the individual suffering from it. In sickness a person experiences his powerlessness and his limitations, and he is enabled to glimpse at death. On the one hand it can lead to concern simply with self and even despair and revolt against God. On the other hand, it can lead to a greater maturity and a turning to God and surrender into his care. Sickness and death is a great challenge: it can be a danger or an opportunity.

In our Gospel today, Simon’s mother-in-law is in bed with fever (Mark 1:29-39). Having told him about her, our Lord’s disciples bring him to her and he cures her. What does this suggest to us? It reminds us  that Jesus is the Healer and the Saviour of the one who is sick, especially the one who is in some danger of death. It reminds us too that the greatest thing we can do for the sick person is to pray to Jesus for him and to try to bring Jesus to the sick person, just as our Lord’s disciples did.  If our Lord’s disciples had not told him about her and brought him to her, her fever would not have been taken away from her at the time it was. She was in this sense dependent on our Lord’s disciples. So too when people are sick they depend on us to pray for them in our prayer to our Lord, and to do whatever we can to bring the healing presence of Jesus to them. In him is to be found every heavenly blessing for the sick and dying person. Let us remember this when we ourselves fall sick and when we have contact with the sick. Christ is the One the sick person most especially needs.

What a wonderful thing if the one visiting the sick person truly loves our Lord and has sufficient knowledge of the Catholic Faith to be able to speak of our Lord to that sick person. I remember nearly forty years ago reading a great Australian novel by Henry Handel Richardson. There is one scene in which one of the characters lies dying and his friend steps forward and says to him, “Have no fear of death, John!” It is a striking statement, but it is empty. Why? Because the dying person is being told not to fear death without being given any reason. Now, any member of Christ’s faithful has something wonderful to bring to the sick person and especially to the dying person. It is the Good News about Christ: “Have no fear of death, John, for Christ is with you!” That is the reason for not fearing death. But first it is necessary to help the sick person to repent of sin, to believe in Christ, and to receive him totally. If the person is baptised and in the state of grace, Christ is in him as his hope of glory. If he is not baptized, if he is a person of another religion, it can still be the opportunity to speak about the person of Jesus, inviting the sick person to welcome Jesus as the Healer and Redeemer of the soul. It is the chance to do what the disciples did in the Gospel: to bring Jesus to the sick person.

If the sick person is a member of the Church we ought invite the sick person to have a priest come and give the Sacraments: Confession — always suggest Confession! — and Holy Communion. If the person is seriously ill, beginning to be in some danger of death or about to have some serious operation, we ought suggest the Anointing of the Sick as well. Jesus comes in person in these Sacraments when they are administered to the sick person. He comes to cleanse the person of his sins in the Sacrament of Penance.  In the Anointing of the Sick Christ comes to strengthen the sick person so as to bear the difficulties of serious illness or old age, and give healing of soul and even at times, of body. In this sacrament Christ also unites the sick person to himself in his own Passion and in this way enables the sick person to share in his redemptive work, thus doing great good from his very sick bed. But especially does our Lord in this sacrament prepare the dangerously sick person for his final journey to God. Then in addition there is the Holy Eucharist, Jesus himself, called Viaticum when given to the dying.

                                                                                                                                 (E.J.Tyler)

Further Reading:  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1499-1523

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I understood you very well when you confessed to me: I want to steep myself in the liturgy of the Holy Mass.
                                         (The Forge, no.644)

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Monday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 6) Saint Paul Miki and his companions, martyrs (died 1597). Paul Miki, a Japanese Jesuit, and his twenty-five companions (including Pedro Bautista of the Philippines) were martyred in Nagasaki, Japan. They were the first martyrs of East Asia to be canonized. They were killed simultaneously by being raised on crosses and then stabbed with spears. Their executioners were atounded upon seeing their joy at being associated with the Passion of Christ. Every Christian is called to bear witness, in life and in death, to the Faith.  (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:       1 Kings 8:1-7.9-13;        Psalm 132: 6-10;       Mark 6:53-56

Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. All the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted. The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim……These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.” (1 Kings 8:1-7.9-13 NIV)

In our first reading today we are told of how the ark of the covenant containing the two stone tablets with God’s commandments on them were transported from Zion to the Temple. In the presence of the ark great numbers of sheep and cattle were sacrificed. The ark was placed in the Holy of Holies of the Temple, and the glory of the Lord filled the Temple in the form of a cloud (1 Kings 8:1-7.9-13). The ark was a wonderful possession of the people of God. It contained God’s writing which set out his commandments which were the terms of the covenant, and God marked its presence in the Temple with signs of his own guaranteed presence. Our Lord himself was full of love for his Father’s House and on one memorable occasion, physically cleansed the Temple of what he said defiled the place where his Father dwelt.

What we read in today’s first reading points to something far greater that was to come, something accessible to all of us who are Christ’s faithful wherever we live in the world. In every one of our parish churches a far greater than the ark dwells: the person of Jesus Christ in all his risen reality, and with him there is present the Father and the Holy Spirit. Solomon sacrificed vast numbers of sheep and oxen to honour God and the ark of God. Every day at Mass the greatest possible sacrifice is offered to God. Just as the writing on the stone tablets in the ark came from God, so the sacrifice offered in the Mass comes from him, for it makes present again and again the one all-sufficient and infinitely valuable sacrifice of Christ at Calvary. Calvary is made present.

                                                                                                                          (E.J.Tyler)

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How great is the value of piety in the Holy Liturgy! I was not at all surprised when someone said to me a few days ago, talking about a model priest who had died recently: “What a saint he was!” “Did you know him well?” I asked. “No,” he said, “but I once saw him saying the Mass.”
                                                                                                         (The Forge, no.645)

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Tuesday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 7) Today let us think of St Mel   (Saints)  See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:    1 Kings 8:22-23.27-30;      Psalm 84: 3-5, 10-11;        Mark 7:1-13

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below — you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way……..”But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. (1 Kings 8:22-23.27-30 NIV)

I remember 28 years ago when visiting Ecuador in South America, I met a deacon of that country whom a priest told me was one of the leading poets of Ecuador. I saw a small book of poems he had published. Its title was “The Silence of God”, or something to that effect. I was told at the time that a leading theme of his poetry was the apparent inaction of God in the face of petitions.  In 2006 there was a television program about the life and writings of the famous English author and Christian apologist, C. S. Lewis. His Christian faith (which he had come to after atheism and agnosticism) underwent a great shock at the death of his wife. The apparent silence of God in the face of his heartfelt prayer and need was a great stumbling block to him. At length he came to understand God’s inaction and silence as a loving gaze from the One who was so far greater than he. That gaze summoned him to shed his own notions and to trust in God.

In our first reading from the first book of Kings (1 Kings 8:22-23.27-30) we hear Solomon appealing to God for kindness and pardon. He asks God to “listen to the cry and to the prayer your servant makes to you today.” In his prayer of petition he asks that God will watch over the completed Temple and the people who pray in it. He asks also for forgiveness for their sins. It is a heartfelt prayer which would receive its fullest answer in the coming and the mission of Christ. But let us notice the boldness and directness of Solomon’s petition to God. It manifests a lively faith in the reality and the character of God. God is a living person to him, a person of goodness and compassion.

                                                                                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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Since you call yourself a Christian, you have to live the Sacred Liturgy of the Church, putting genuine care into your prayer and mortification for priests - especially for new priests - on the days marked out for this intention, and when you know that they are to receive the Sacrament of Order.
                                                                                                                 (The Forge, no.646)

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Wednesday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 8) St Jerome Emiliani (1486-1537). Born in Venice. Converted to Christianity after a rather dissolute youth, he dedicated himself to the service of the poor, the sick, and abandoned children. He founded a religious congregation (Somaschi) which looked after the education of children, especially orphans. He died of the plague while serving the afflicted.  (Saints)   See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:     1 Kings 10:1-10;        Psalm 37: 5-6, 30-31, 39-40;       Mark 7:14-23

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’ After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”) He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” (Mark 7:14-23 NIV)

Cardinal Newman, one of the greatest religious and theological writers of the nineteenth century, wrote in his Apologia that he had always been greatly oppressed by the degree of evil in the world. Were it not for the unmistakable testimony of his conscience as to the existence of God, the presence of such evil would have confirmed him in agnosticism or atheism. Testimony such as this from such a mind as his ought give us pause when considering the scale of evil in the world. We are very familiar with the immense natural disasters that have rocked modern life — the famines, the earthquakes, the cyclones, the wars and suffering. But there is this to consider. We are liable to forget that the greatest disasters and evils are within the human heart. It is there that the worst catastrophes are constantly occurring. Our Lord came to take away the sin of the world, St John the Baptist told his disciples. It is sin that constitutes the greatest offence against God. Indeed, God has revealed that the death and destruction which is so manifest around us and which constitutes the stumbling block Newman referred to, ultimately stems from the sin of mankind.

So the primary battle of man’s life is the battle to be waged within and over his own heart. It is a vast and unending war, when we think of the sea of humanity across the sweep of human history. However great might seem the task of combating material evil and suffering, the task of combating and overcoming the evil of sin is incalculably greater. It called for a divine champion to step in and enter the lists on our behalf. The ensuing struggle involved immeasurable suffering for him but he gained the victory and broke the power of sin. Sanctity is now possible for the human race, but it requires a tremendous apostolic activity by the whole of the Church, especially — especially! — on the part of the laity whose mission is the sanctification of the world. Their task is to bring Christ to the world of everyday secular life. The great evil of sin is overcome by union with Christ and living his life.

                                                                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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“A clean heart create for me, O God” (Ps 51:12)  (Mark 7:14-23)
Commentary by St Isaac the Syrian (7th century), Monk in Ninive, near Mosul, present-day Iraq
(Spiritual Discourses, 1st series, no. 21)

It is said that only God’s help saves. When a person knows that there is no other help, he prays a lot. And the more he prays, the more his heart becomes humble, for it is not possible to pray and to request without being humble. “A heart contrite and humble, o God, you will not spurn.” (Ps 51:19) So long as the heart has not become humble, it is impossible for it to escape being scattered; humility gathers the heart together.

When a person has become humble, compassion immediately surrounds him and his heart then feels God’s help. He discovers a strength rising up within him, the strength of trust. When a person thus feels God’s help, when he feels that God is there and that he comes to his aid, immediately his heart is filled with faith and he then understands that prayer is the refuge of help, the source of salvation, trust’’s treasure, the port that has been freed of the storm, the light of those who are in darkness, the support of the weak, the shelter in times of trial, help at the height of illness, the shield that saves in combat, the arrow sent out against the enemy. In one word, a multitude of good enters into him by means of prayer. So from then on, he finds his delight in the prayer of faith. His heart is radiant with trust.

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Offer your prayer, your atonement, and your action for this end: that they may be one! - that all of us Christians may share one will, one heart, one spirit. This is so that we may all go to Jesus, closely united to the Pope, through Mary.
                                                  (The Forge, no.647)

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Thursday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 9)  Today let us think of St Teilo (Saints)  See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:        1 Kings 11:4-13;     Psalm 106: 3-4, 35-36, 37 and 40;       Mark 7:24-30

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command. So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” (1 Kings 11:4-13 NIV)

In today’s first reading from the first book of Kings we are told of the sad end of Solomon. He began his career as king with such promise, choosing wisely and being abundantly blessed by God. But gradually he sank into the most serious of sins, being led astray into deliberate idolatry. That his idolatry was deliberate we can see from the very text: “The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command.” (1 Kings 11:4-13) He violated the very first and most pivotal of the commandments of the covenant. David ended his days faithful to the Lord, while his son Solomon did not.

Solomon’s path proved to be the pattern for so many of the kings of Israel, and indeed for so much of the history of the people itself. The national fragmentation which Solomon drew down upon his people because of his sins also proved to be the pattern for so much of the history of Israel. But God was faithful, showing his fidelity and his mercy in preserving as a remnant the tribe of Judah. All through the history of God’s people we see that pattern at work — the infidelity of the people and the fidelity of God. From the remnant, the tribe of Judah, would come the salvation long promised, the blessing for all the nations of the earth. God the Son, born of Mary and sprung from the tribe of Judah, came to endure all that our sins deserved. By his fidelity he made up for our infidelity, and in this expiation God established the new and eternal covenant.

                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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“The woman was a Greek” (Mark 7:24-30)    Commentary from the Second Vatican Council
(Declaration on the Relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate, 1-2)

In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines more closely her relationship to non-Christian religions. In her task of promoting unity and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.

One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the face of the earth (cf. Acts 17:26). One also is their final goal, God. His Providence, his manifestations of goodness, his saving design extend to all men (cf. Wis 8:1; Acts 14:17; Rom 2:6-7; 1 Tim 2:4), until that time when the elect will be united in the Holy City, the city ablaze with the glory of God, where the nations will walk in his light (cf. Rev 21:23ff.).

Men expect from the various religions answers to the unsolved riddles of the human condition, which today even as in former times deeply stir the hearts of men…… Religions……try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing “ways,” comprising teachings, rules of life and sacred rites.

The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims and ever must proclaim Christ “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:18-19).

                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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You ask me, my child, what you can do to make me very pleased with you. If our Lord is satisfied with you, then I am too. And you can know that he is happy with you, by the peace and joy in your heart.
                                            (The Forge, no.648)

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Friday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 10) St Scholastica, virgin (480-547). Born at Norcia in Umbria, she was the twin sister of St Benedict. She followed the rule of her brother in founding the Order of Benedictine nuns. (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:    1 Kings 11:29-32 and 12:19;    Psalm 81: 10-15:     Mark 7:31-37

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man. After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mark 7:31-37 NIV)

Once again in today’s Gospel according to St Mark we are presented with an account of one of our Lord’s many healings. The man was deaf and he had an impediment in his speech. The man was brought to our Lord by others, and they asked him to lay his healing hand on the deaf man. Now, as we read this account we are struck by the variety of ways in which our Lord grants petitions. In yesterday’s Gospel (Mark 7: 24-30) a pagan woman pursued our Lord with loud and repeated cries that he cast out the demon from her daughter. Our Lord’s response? He delayed, was silent, and initially rebuffed her. Then he granted her persistent petition. Why did he do this? We can offer guesses, but we are not explicitly told. By contrast, on another occasion all that a woman did was to reach out and touch his garment and she was healed. Again, on yet another occasion nobody explicitly asked for a favour, but our Lord spontaneously raised a young man from the dead and gave him back to his mother.

                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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“He put his fingers into the man’s ears and…… touched his tongue”  (Mark 7:31-37)
Commentary St Ephrem (around 306 –– 373), Deacon in Syria and Doctor of the Church
(Sermon “On our Lord”, 10-11)

Divine strength, which the human being cannot touch, came down; it covered itself with a palpable body, so that the poor might touch it, and in touching Christ’s humanity, they might perceive his divinity. Through the fingers of flesh, the deaf-mute felt that his ears and his tongue were being touched. Through the palpable fingers, he perceived the divinity that cannot be touched when his tongue’s bond was broken and when the closed doors of his ears were opened. For the body’s architect and artisan came to him, and with a gentle word, without pain, he created openings in deaf ears. Then the mouth as well, that had been closed and until then incapable of giving light to the word, put into the world praise of him who thus caused its sterility to bear fruit.

In the same way, the Lord made mud with his saliva and spread it over the eyes of the man born blind (Jn 9:6) so as to make us understand that, like the deaf-mute, he was lacking something. An inborn imperfection in our human batter was removed thanks to the leaven that comes from his perfect body…… To fill in what was missing in these human bodies, he gave something of himself, just as he gives himself to be eaten [in the Eucharist]. By this means he causes the faults to disappear and raises the dead, so that we might recognize that the faults of our humanity are filled, thanks to his body in which “the fullness of deity resides” (Col 2:9), and that true life is given to mortals by means of this body, in which true life resides.

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A clear mark of the man of God, of the woman of God, is the peace in their souls: they have peace and they give peace to the people they have dealings with.
                                                                                  (The Forge, no.649)

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Saturday of the fifth week of Ordinary Time II

(11 February) Our Lady of Lourdes. This day marks the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1858 to fourteen-year old Marie Bernade (St Bernadette) Soubirous. There were eighteen apparitions in all, the last of which was on 16 July 1858. The message of Lourdes is a call to personal conversion, prayer and charity.   (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:  1 Kings 12: 26-32; 13: 33-34;    Psalm 106: 6-7ab, 19-22;    Mark 8: 1-10.

During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About four thousand men were present. And having sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. (Mark 8: 1-10 NIV)

There is one interesting feature which we notice time and again in the religion of primal peoples. It is that the highest god seems to be remote and withdrawn, and little concerned with the common and everyday needs of the people. This is left to a variety of lesser gods or spirits. Now, while we could consider the significance of this in the light of Revelation, we ought also notice that this receding action of the highest god in people’s imagination is not a phenomenon peculiar to primal peoples. I refer to the prevalence of deism. While it was especially in the eighteenth century that the deist philosophy had greatest sway, one gets the impression that for great numbers of people in our modern Western culture, God seems to be remote and uninvolved. That is their image of him. They grant that as the Creator, he began the world, but their constant assumption and fundamental image is of a God who leaves the world largely to its own devices, or to lesser forces.

The Christian religion is the antithesis of this, and today’s Gospel reveals a God who is indeed involved in man’s ordinary needs. We are presented with the scene of our Lord being followed by a great crowd for three days. What is his attitude to them? His heart is filled with compassion for their needs. They are hungry and lack anything to eat, and so he proceeds to feed them with a great miracle (Mark 8: 1-10). The scene is a revelation of God’s concern for and involvement in the ordinary needs of his children. He is not a God who disregards our needs, even though time and again how this is played out is shrouded in mystery for there is an abundance of evil in the world. This fact of evil makes is ever so important that we shape our image of God not by natural appearances but by his own historical Revelation. Let us then form and nourish our image of God by contemplating the figure of Jesus in the Scriptures and in the Church’s Tradition. The way to God is through the human nature of Jesus. God became man in order that we might go to him. In Jesus, God has come to us and made himself known.

                                                                                                                                (E.J.Tyler)

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Our shepherd gives himself as food      (Homilies on St. Matthew, no. 82)
Commentary from St John Chrysostom (345 –– 407), Bishop and Doctor of the Church
 
“Who can tell the mighty deeds of the Lord, or proclaim all his praises?” (Ps 106:2) Which shepherd ever nourished his sheep with his own body? But what am I saying –– a shepherd? Often, mothers entrust their children to a wet nurse as soon as they are born. But Jesus Christ cannot accept that for his sheep; he himself nourishes us with his own blood, and thus he causes us to become one single body with him.

My brothers, consider that Christ was born of our own human substance. But, you will say, so what? That doesn’t concern all human beings. Excuse me, my brother; it is a great advantage for all of them. If he became man, if he came to take on our nature, that concerns the salvation of all human beings. And if he came for all, he also came for each one in particular. Perhaps you will say: So why have not all accepted the fruit that they were supposed to receive through that coming? Don’t blame Jesus, who chose this means for the salvation of everyone; the fault lies with those who reject this kindness. For in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ unites himself to each of his faithful; he causes them to be reborn, he nourishes them with himself, he does not abandon them to another, and thus he convinces them once again that he really took on our flesh.

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Get used to replying to those poor “haters”, when they pelt you with stones, by pelting them with Hail Marys.
                                                 (The Forge, no.650)

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The sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time B

(February 12)  Today let us think of St Damian  (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture: Leviticus 13:1-2.44-46;  Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 11;  1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1;  Mark 1:40-45

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. (Mark 1:40-45 NIV)

We are born into the social setting which is our family, we grow up in various social settings, and we live out our lives in various social settings. These settings are our family, school, workplace, friends and acquaintances, our parish. Whichever it is, we can hardly live life without living in a community of one kind or another. Now, part and parcel of living in any community will be living subject to some form of authority. Within the family, the parents have the responsibility of exercising authority, and children of respecting it. Within the school, the principal and staff exercise various degrees of authority, and pupils should respect it. In the workplace there are some who exercise some kind of authority, and many others who ought respect and obey it. So too in the nation and also in the Church. The fact is that by divine arrangement human society cannot be properly ordered nor can it prosper unless some are invested with legitimate authority. These persons protect the common good of all and preserve the institutions of society. By God’s plan every human community needs an established and recognized authority.

What then ought be our attitude to authority, inasmuch as it is necessarily part of our life? The danger is that, living in a democracy in which those who exercise authority are constantly and publicly criticised, our attitude to authority will often tend instinctively to be grudging and reluctant. Well, the Christian will recognise that legitimate authority comes directly or indirectly from God, and that by respecting legitimate authority we are respecting God. It means that wherever authority is legitimately exercised over us, there God is touching our lives by making known his will. If we are intent every day on doing the will of God and of showing our love for him by serving him generously, then we have the chance to do this by obeying the authorities that touch different dimensions of our life.

Of course, it is often not that simple, because those entrusted with the authority that ultimately comes from God often exercise it in at least partially sinful ways. Blindly to follow the directives of authority in society could mean collaborating in things which are intrinsically sinful. An example might be if a Government passes a law allowing the prescription by doctors of deadly abortion pills. To obey such a law would be to participate in an extremely sinful act. However, the Christian, while knowing that authority can be sinfully abused, will nevertheless respect authority as something that comes from the will and plan of God. Authority in society enables the members of society to please God in their daily life in the world by their obedience. It also means that the one invested with some authority has the responsibility of serving God by governing and administering in a way pleasing to God and not just arbitrarily.

In all of this the Christian has the example of our Lord himself to inspire and guide him. At the age of twelve, even though our Lord had shown to Mary and Joseph who had been seeking him that he obeyed his heavenly Father, he went down to Nazareth and from then on was subject to their authority. Then in his public ministry, even though he was being persecuted by the religious authorities because of his teachings, he nevertheless respected their authority. In our Gospel today he tells the leper he had cured to go off and report to the priest and make the offering as prescribed by Moses as evidence of his recovery. In this instance, our Lord respected the legitimate authority given by God to the priests to certify a healing. So too in relation to the authority of the state, he told the religious leaders that one should give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. And then in the presence of Pilate he told him that the authority he had was given to him from above.

The lay person whose mission is to serve Christ in the world ought have a lively sense of the fact that in obeying legitimate authority in the various spheres of his daily life, be it in the family, in the world and in his parish, he is serving God and showing his love for him. So then, respect for authority is a very important means of keeping in union with God in daily life. In the person of Jesus there is a wonderful example for the person who is called upon to exercise authority, and a wonderful example for the person who is called upon to respect and obey it. Christ is more than an example. He lives in us by grace.

                                                                                                                                     (E.J.Tyler)

Further Reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church  no. 1897-1904  (Authority)

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“I do will it. Be cured.” (Mark 1:40-45)
Comment by St Paschasius Radbert (? –– 849), Monk. (Commentary on Matthew’s Gospel 5,8)

Every day, the Lord heals the soul of every person who implores him, who adores him reverently and who proclaims these words with faith: “Lord, if you will to do so, you can cure me,” and he does so no matter how many faults he has. For “faith in the heart leads to justification.” (Rom 10:10) Thus, we must address our requests to God in complete trust, without doubting his presence in any way…… That is why the Lord immediately answered the leper who begged him: “I do will it.” For the sinner has hardly begun to pray with faith when the hand of the Lord begins to take care of his soul’s leprosy……

This leper gives us very good advice on how to pray. He does not doubt the Lord’s will as if he were refusing to believe in his goodness. But he is aware of the seriousness of his faults, and so he does not want to presume on that will. In saying that if the Lord wills, he can cure him, he affirms that the Lord has this power, and at the same time, he affirms his faith…… If faith is weak, it must first be strengthened. Only then will it reveal all its power so as to obtain healing for the soul and the body.

Without doubt, the apostle Peter was speaking of this faith when he said: “He purified their hearts by means of faith” (Acts 15:9)…… Pure faith lived in love, maintained through perseverance, patient in waiting, humble in its affirmation, firm in its trust, full of respect in its prayer and of wisdom in what it asks, is certain of hearing this word of the Lord’’s in every circumstance: “I do will it.”

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Don’t worry if your work seems barren just now. When it is holiness that is being sown, it is not lost: others will gather in the harvest.
                                                             (The Forge, no.651)

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Monday of the sixth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 13)   Today let us think of St. Catherine de Ricci   (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:    James 1:1-11;       Psalm 119: 67-68, 71-72, 75-76;          Mark 8:11-13

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. (James 1:1-11 NIV)

All through life the natural tendency is to avoid difficulty and to hate suffering when it comes. This is normal and natural, but inasmuch as difficulty and suffering is so much part of life and indeed is unavoidable — especially if we take our responsibilities seriously and truly work at them — the challenge will be to find meaning in difficulty and suffering. Otherwise happiness will not be possible. For very many there is no meaning in suffering, and this finds expression in so many contexts. There are those who find little meaning in work when it is burdensome. Many see no meaning in ill-health, and we see the consequences of this in the push for euthanasia.

St James in our first reading (James 1:1-11) makes it clear that there is meaning in suffering, provided it is borne in the process of doing what is right. He tells us that we shall always have our trials, but when they come, how ought we look upon them? They ought be looked upon not just as a burden but, St James teaches, as “a happy privilege”. Let us always remember this when trials come: our trials are a “happy privilege” — and he assures us that they will “always” come. Moreover, St James tells us that when trials come our faith is being “put to the test to make you patient” and that patience will lead to Christian maturity “with nothing missing”. The sufferings that God allows will enable us to advance to our full potential in Christ. Trials are not a purely negative phenomenon, but rather they contribute to our progress in God’s sight.

                                                                                                                                     (E.J.Tyler)

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“Why does this age seek a sign?”    (Mark 8:11-13)    (Believing even in darkness)
Comment by Saint [Padre] Pio de Pietrelcina (1887-1968), Capuchin (OP; GF 174; Ep 4,418)

The Holy Spirit tells us: Don’t let your mind succumb to temptation and sorrow, for joy of the heart is life for the soul. Sorrow is no good for anything and causes our spiritual death.

It happens sometimes that the darkness of trial overwhelms your soul’s heaven; but this darkness is light! Thanks to it, you believe even in darkness; the mind feels lost, it fears no longer being able to see, no longer understanding anything. But this is the moment when the Lord speaks and makes himself present to the soul; and the soul listens, understands and loves in the fear of God. So don’t wait for Tabor to “see” God when you are already contemplating him on Sinai.

Progress in the joy of a sincere heart that is wide open. And if it is impossible for you to keep that happiness, at least don’t lose courage and keep all your trust in God.

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Even though you gain little light in your prayer, even though it seems dry and irksome, you should consider, with a sure, ever-new insight, that you need to persevere in every detail of your life of piety.
                                                 (The Forge, no.652)

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Tuesday of the sixth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 14) Saints Cyril, monk (died 869), and Methodius, bishop (died 885). These two brothers evangelized Moravia, Bohemia, and Bulgaria. Methodius was consecrated bishop by Pope Adrian II. Pope John Paul II proclaimed them patron saints of Europe, with St Benedict.   (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:    James 1:12-18;       Psalm 94: 12-15, 18-19;       Mark 8:14-21

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.” Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” (Mark 8:14-21 NIV)

One of the very intriguing phenomena of human society (at least societies shaped by Western culture) is the profound and radical differences of opinion obtaining among men and women. That there is an objective truth (whatever it might be) is self evident, and yet despite the fact that human beings have minds that are designed to attain the truth, men differ radically from one another in matters of the highest and most pressing import. Inasmuch as contradictory propositions cannot both be correct, it means that many people are absolutely wrong.  They are blind and lack perception in respect to the truth and to matters of the greatest value. Many instances of this could be cited — such as the claim of many that there is no God and that Christ was purely a man. One of the most fundamental needs of life is to attain the light of truth, and yet lack of perception is a fact of human nature and of human society.

Our Lord confronted this problem (of blindness and lack of understanding) among his own disciples. In our Gospel today (Mark 8:14-21), having warned them against the lead that was being given by the Pharisees and the Herodians (the yeast of Herod), our Lord upbraided them for their lack of perception. Does our Lord offer advice on how to guard against the danger of blindness? Yes, for he warns his disciples to be on guard and to watch: “Keep your eyes open and be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” They are to be vigilant and to be on guard. At various times across the pages of the Gospels our Lord asks for vigilance of his disciples. In our passage for today, our Lord’s words imply that a failure in vigilance will result (not only in sin, but) in a lack of understanding and perception.

                                                                                                                                   (E.J.Tyler)

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“The harvest is good but labourers are scarce” ( A comment by Pope John Paul II)

Cyril and Methodius were two authentic labourers in the Lord’s field; the Church exalts their meritorious apostolic activity. It is conscious of needing today even more Christians who are able to contribute to announcing Christ Jesus’ message of salvation through their commitment, their energy, their enthusiasm.

But the Church is also conscious of needing souls who are totally, exclusively dedicated to preaching the Gospel, to missionary activity. It needs priests, men and women religious, lay men and women who generously and joyfully give up their family, their country, their goods and their human affections so as to consecrate their whole life to working and suffering for the Gospel.

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You grew in the face of difficulties in the apostolate when you prayed: “Lord, You are the same as ever. Give me the faith of those men who knew how to correspond to your grace, who worked great miracles, real marvels in your Name ...” And you finished off: “I know that you will do it; but I also know that you want to be asked. You want to be sought out. You want us to knock hard at the doors of your Heart.” At the end you renewed your resolve to persevere in humble and trusting prayer.
                                                                                                                 (The Forge, no.653)

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Wednesday of the sixth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 15)    Today let us think of Saint Sigfrid of Vaxjo   (Saints)

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Scripture today:        James 1:19-27;       Psalm 15: 2-5;     Mark 8:22-26

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t go into the village.” (Mark 8:22-26 NIV)

One of the great mysteries of life is the immensely varied way in which God deals with us his children. One person seems to go through life blessed in so many ways — in terms of success at work, happiness in marriage, physical and mental health, personal wealth and fortune, and a whole lot of other factors that make up a relatively blessed human life. The other person seems to pass from one mishap and misfortune to another. From birth to grave his lot is sad. Often much of this variation appears to have little to do with personal decisions and mistakes, but rather because of circumstances. At least so it appears. What is the meaning of it? It is impossible to say even though partial answers can be given. It is the quintessential instance of the problem of evil. If we allow for a Creator, why does he deal so differently with his children?

Our Gospel passage today gives us an example of the differing ways in which God treats us his children. Some people bring a blind person to Jesus for him to touch. His mere touch would do it — and of course often he did not even touch, but healed at a word and from a distance. But in this case our Lord did not merely touch the blind man. He “took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Then putting spittle on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked, ‘Can you see anything?’ .... Then he laid his hands on the man’s eyes again and he saw clearly” (Mark 8:22-26). So then, our Lord followed a long and convoluted process to bring about the healing. Why? Why go through all this for that particular man, and do it far more expeditiously for another? We are not told. God deals with his children in different ways.

                                                                                                                                  (E.J.Tyler)

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“They shall see God” (Matthew 5: 8)     (Mark 8:22-26)
Comment by St Gregory of Nyssa (335 - 395), Monk and Bishop (Homilies on the Beatitudes, 6,1)

When from the height of the Lord’s steep words I contemplate their infinite abyss as from the top of a cliff, my mind gets the same impression one gets when gazing at the immensity of the sea…… My soul feels dizzy before this word of the Lord: “Blest are the pure of heart for they shall see God.” (Mt 5:8) God gives himself to the gaze of those who have a pure heart. But Saint John says that “no one has ever seen God.” (Jn 1:18) And Saint Paul confirms this idea when he speaks of him whom “no human being has ever seen or can see.” (1 Tim 6:16) God is the abrupt and highly sharpened rock, which does not give even the smallest hold to our imagination. Moses also called God the Inaccessible One…… He said that “no man sees the Lord and still lives.” (Ex 33:20) But what? Eternal life is the vision of God, and these pillars of faith certify that this vision is impossible? What an abyss! ... If God is life, the person who does not see him does not see life either……

But the Lord stimulates this hope. Did he not give Peter the proof? Under the feet of this disciple who was close to drowning, he consolidated and hardened the waves (Mt 4:30).Will the hand of the Word also stretch out over us who are submerged in this abyss, will it strengthen us? Then we shall be reassured, for we shall be firmly led by the hand of the Word.

“Blest are the pure of heart for they shall see God.” Such a promise goes beyond our greatest joys; after this happiness, what other happiness could we desire? …… The person who sees God has every imaginable good through that vision: life without end, perpetual incorruptibility, inexhaustible joy, unconquerable power, eternal delights, true light, the sweet words of the spirit, incomparable glory, uninterrupted happiness, finally, every good. What great and beautiful hope this beatitude thus offers us!

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When you are troubled ... and also in the hour of success, say again and again, “Lord, don’t let go of me, don’t leave me, help me as you would a clumsy child; always lead me by the hand.”
                                                                                                                 (The Forge, no.654)

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Thursday of the sixth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 16) Today let us think of Saint Onesimus  (Saints)

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Scripture today:            James 2: 1-9;          Psalm 34: 2-7;         Mark 8: 27-33

My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favouritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. (James 2: 1-9 NIV)

In our first reading today St James forcefully makes a point which the average Christian is liable to forget or ignore. We are liable to forget or to ignore the poor when we think of what St James calls “the royal law of Scripture: you must love your neighbour as yourself” (James 2: 1-9). St James here was referring to the Old Testament Scripture, for the New Testament Scripture was still in formation (his own Letter would in due course be counted as part of it). It is absolutely manifest that right across the pages of both the Old and the New Testaments it is revealed that we must love the poor and do whatever we can for them. In the Gospels there is mention of how the common purse of our Lord and the Apostles included provision for the poor. We remember how when the very expensive oil, pure nard, was poured on our Lord during the banquet in the house of Lazarus, Judas Iscariot complained that the money could have been given to the poor. Whatever about Judas’ perversion of this point, it surely reflects something of our Lord’s teaching to his disciples. Especially do we remember our Lord’s description of the General Judgment in which those who neglect the poor will be accused of neglecting Christ himself.

                                                                                                                                    (E.J.Tyler)

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 “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do”     (Mark 8: 27-33)
Comment from Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
(The Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 36, 10.13)

(The) thicket of God’s wisdom and knowledge is so deep and immense that no matter how much the soul knows, she can always enter it further; it is vast and its riches incomprehensible, as St. Paul exclaims: O height of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how incomprehensible are His judgments and unsearchable His ways. (Rom 11:33)

Yet the soul wants to enter this thicket and incomprehensibility of judgments and ways because she is dying with the desire to penetrate them deeply. Knowledge of them is an inestimable delight surpassing all understanding……

Oh! If we could but now fully understand how a soul cannot reach the thicket and wisdom of the riches of God …… without entering the thicket of many kinds of suffering, finding in this her delight and consolation; and how a soul with an authentic desire for divine wisdom, wants suffering first in order to enter this wisdom by the thicket of the cross!…… The gate entering into these riches of His wisdom is the cross, which is narrow, and few desire to enter by it, but many desire the delights obtained from entering there.

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“The great turmoil of waters could not quench the fire of charity.” I offer you two interpretations of these words of Holy Scripture. First: the throng of your past sins, now that you have fully repented of them, will not take you away from the Love of our God; and a second one: the waters of misunderstanding, the difficulties that you are perhaps encountering, should not interrupt your apostolic work.
                                                                                                                    (The Forge, no.655)

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Friday of the sixth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 17)   The Seven Founders of the Order of Servites. These seven were members of a Florentine confraternity and they founded the Order of Servites (Servants) of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Servites lead an austere life of prayer and mortification, meditating constantly on the Passion of our Lord and venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows.  (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:     James 2: 14-24.26;       Psalm 112: 1-6;         Mark 8:34-9:1.

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. …. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:14-24.26 NIV)

Among the various tendencies to be found in those trying to live a Christian life, let us briefly refer here to two. There is on the one hand the tendency to concentrate on one’s personal relationship with Jesus and to busy oneself with various practices of piety, to the neglect of doing as much good as one can to others. Faith in Jesus in this case is seen as all-important and good works are largely an adjunct. On the other hand there is the tendency to give oneself over to doing good while neglecting one’s personal relationship with God and Christ. Accordingly, little care is taken with times of prayer and spiritual reading, with the regular and fervent reception of the sacraments, and with many other elements of a firm plan of the spiritual life. Doing as much good in life as possible is seen as all-important, and the life of faith in Jesus is seen as something one can take for granted.

                                                                                                                                     (E.J.Tyler)

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“Let him follow in my steps”   (Mark 8:34-9:1)
Comment by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger [Pope Benedict XVI] (Meditation for Holy Week, 1969)

Like the Church itself, the sacraments of the Church are the fruit of the dying grain of wheat (Jn 12:24). In order to receive them, we must enter into the movement from which they themselves come. That movement consists in losing oneself, without which it is impossible to find oneself: “Whoever would preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will preserve it.” This word of the Lord is the fundamental formula for a Christian life. When all is said and done, to believe is to say “yes” to this holy adventure of “losing oneself”. In its quintessence, faith is nothing other than true love. Thus, Christian life receives its characteristic form from the cross. The Christian opening to the world, which today is so extolled, can find its true model only in the Lord’s open side (Jn 19:34), the expression of that radical love, which alone is able to save.

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Work to the end, to the very end! My child, it is the one who perseveres right to the end who will be saved. We children of God have the means we need: you too! We will finish, we will top out our building, for we can do all things in Him who strengthens us. With God there are no impossibles. They are overcome always.
                                                   (The Forge, no.656)

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Saturday of the sixth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 18)   Today let us think of St Flavian   (Saints)

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Scripture today:    James 3: 1-10;        Psalm 11;        Mark 9:2-13

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.” (Mark 9:2-13 NIV)

There are so many voices in the world clamouring to be heard, so many different philosophies guiding the thoughts and lives of people. That these voices and philosophies have contradictory results we can see simply by observing the opposite courses of behaviour pursued by those who accept them, and those who do not. An instance of this contradiction in view and in action is the abortion debate. A Government facilitates the availability of a deadly abortion pill and the society is profoundly divided. Down through the ages one great teacher or leader has followed another of very different views, leading their disciples to follow divergent religions or philosophies, and then to propagate them with passion. Consider the reaction of Islam to the cartoons of Mahomet in 2006. Human history is the history of voices that have been listened to.

But the question is, has God pointed to a Voice which he means us to hear and to follow? In our Gospel passage today (Mark 9:2-13) there is narrated the memorable event of Christ’s transfiguration, an event remembered long after by St Peter and referred to in his inspired Letter. At the transfiguration, God made his voice heard, and by means of it he points to the One we must listen to: He is Jesus, his own beloved Son. That message coming from God is the message we are called to bring to others. If only mankind could be brought to listen to Jesus! “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him.” Every day of our lives we ought be contemplating the person of Jesus and his teaching, as brought to us by the successors of those who witnessed the event — those successors being the divinely ordained Pastors of Christ’s Church.

As we think of the varied voices being listened to and accepted by our politicians, by the leaders and formers of our culture, and by the mass of the people, let us resolve to recognise clearly in our hearts and in our daily lives the one supreme teacher of mankind for all the ages, the one God asks us to listen to: Jesus his beloved Son in whom he is well pleased. Having listened to that Voice, let us bring it to the world.

                                                                                                                                 (E.J.Tyler)

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The mystery of the crucifixion and the beauty of God’s reign   (Mark 9:2-13)
Comment by Anastasius of Sinai (? –– after 700), Monk (Homily on the Transfiguration)

The mountain of the Transfiguration is the place of mysteries, the place of ineffable realities, the rock of hidden secrets, the summit of the heavens. Here the symbols of the future kingdom were revealed: the mystery of the crucifixion, the beauty of God’s reign, Christ’s descent at his second coming in glory. On this mountain, the luminous cloud covered the splendour of the righteous; the future good was already realized. The cloud enveloping this mountain prefigures the carrying away of the righteous on the clouds; it shows us already today what we will look like in the future, our configuration with Christ……

While he walked with his disciples, Jesus told them about his reign and his second coming in glory. But perhaps because they were not sure enough about what he had told them concerning his reign, he wanted them to end up being very firmly convinced in the depth of their heart, and he wanted present events to help them to believe in the future events. That is why he let them see that marvellous divine manifestation on Mount Tabor as a prefigurative image of the kingdom of heaven. It was as if he were telling them: “So that your gaze might not bring forth incredulity in you, soon, even now ‘I assure you, among those standing here’ and listening to me ‘there are some who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man come in his kingship’.” (Mt 16:28) “Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before their eyes.” ……

“How awesome is this place! This is nothing else but an abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!” (Gen 28:17) We must hasten to this gateway.

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Sometimes the immediate future is full of worries, if we stop seeing things in a supernatural way. So, faith, my child, faith - and more deeds. In that way it is certain that our Father-God will continue to solve your problems.
                                                      (The Forge, no.657)

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Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time B

(February 19)  Today let us think of St Boniface of Lausanne   (Saints)

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Scripture: Isaiah 43:18-19.21-22.24-25; Psalm 41: 2-5, 13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; Mark 2:1-12

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralysed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” (Mark 2:1-12 NIV)

When St John the Baptist pointed our Lord out to two of his disciples, he said, “Look, there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Our Lord’s mission to mankind was being described — it was to take away our sins. Over the course of human history various persons have arisen who have brought great benefits to mankind. But who could possibly have taken away man’s sins? Who could possibly take away the sin of the whole world? God has revealed that sin is the root of evil in the world and of all that leads to death. Now, who could take this away? Only Jesus, the Lamb of God. Our Lord’s mission was to forgive sin and take it right away. The forgiveness of sin is a dogma of the Christian faith and is stated in the Creed as something we solemnly believe in.

At our Baptism the original sin that we inherit and all our personal sins committed prior to Baptism are taken away. Were a newly-baptised adult suddenly to die at that instant, his soul would go straight to heaven without any purification in what the Church calls Purgatory. But after Baptism is a different matter, for as we know, sins are committed after Baptism, and Baptism cannot, of course, forgive them. The divine life planted in the soul at Baptism struggles with powerful and sinful inclinations that draw man to sin. What provision has God made, then, for post-baptismal sin, the sin that recurs daily throughout life after the great cleansing of Baptism? The provision is the Sacrament of Penance. Our Lord forgives and takes away the sins of those who have been baptized especially in the Sacrament of Penance. In our Gospel today (Mark 2:1-12) the friends of the paralytic lowered the paralysed man in front of Jesus, expecting a cure. But our Lord first forgave him his sins. What our Lord did for that sick man then he does for the person who approaches him in the Sacrament of Penance. We also remember how on the evening of the very day our Lord rose from the dead, he breathed on his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then immediately he gave to them the power to forgive sins. This forgiveness of sins comes to us every time we go to Confession — provided we have the necessary dispositions.

The necessary dispositions? What does God expect of us in coming to him for the forgiveness of our sins? Just as our Lord forgave the sins of the paralytic because he saw in him faith, so too we must approach the Sacrament of Penance with faith, a lively faith which recognizes the presence of our Lord acting in the person and the words of the priest. This faith ought be prayed for. It is a grace, a gift from God. There are other personal dispositions that should be prayed for in preparation for Confession. Most especially, we ought pray for a true sorrow for sin. We can be sorry simply out of fear of punishment to come — and even if we go to Confession with little more than that degree of contrition Christ will still forgive us our sins in the Sacrament of Penance. But we ought pray for the grace to be more perfectly contrite than that. We ought seek to be sorry for sin because of the love and goodness of God. Let us think of all that Christ has done for us, especially by dying on the Cross. Sorrow for sin is the linchpin for making a good Confession and for receiving God’s pardon through this Sacrament, and indeed if we go to Confession without being sorry at all for our sins, our sins will not be forgiven. And the sign that we are truly sorry is having an intention to amend, to change, to repent. If I have no intention to change from my sinful course, how can I say I am sorry?  But then of course, if I am sorry I will also actually confess my sins, especially any mortal sins. So I must examine my conscience carefully asking the Holy Spirit to help me see the extent of my sins (at the very least any mortal sins), and then I ought make a good confession of them to the priest. Then I must make up for the harm done to myself and to others by my sins, which I at least begin to do by fulfilling after Confession the work of penance I am given. But of course that ought be just the start: we ought bring into our life a spirit of penance so as to make up more adequately for past sins and faults.

Three things we on our part must do in order to receive God’s forgiveness, especially in the Sacrament of Penance. We must be sorry for our sins, we must confess our sins, and we must make up for our sins by at least fulfilling the penance given. The linchpin of what we do on our part (contrition, confession, the penance) is genuine sorrow for sin. What God on his part does is impart the grace of the Sacrament to us, forgiving and cleansing us from sin and restoring our friendship with him. So then, thinking of today’s Gospel in which Christ forgives the sins of the paralytic, let us make the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins a living doctrine in our life, a doctrine which we live out by a life of repentance and frequent and regular recourse to the Sacrament of Penance.

                                                                                                                                  (E.J.Tyler)

Further Reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church,  no.1450-1460 (Acts of the Penitent)

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“Who can forgive sins except God alone?”  (Mark 2:1-12)
Comment by St Peter Chrysologus (406 – 450), Bishop of Ravenna, Doctor of the Church (Sermon 50)

“My son, your sins are forgiven.” Through these words, he wanted to be recognized as God while he was still hiding before human eyes under the appearance of a man. Because of his manifestations of power and his miracles, he was compared to the prophets; and yet it was thanks to him and to his power that they had also performed miracles. Granting the forgiveness of sins does not lie within the power of human beings; it is what characterizes God. That is how he introduced his divinity into human hearts. It is what outraged some. They said: “He is committing blasphemy! Who can forgive sins except God alone?”

O you who protest! You think you know, and you are nothing but an ignoramus. You believe you are celebrating the divinity, and you are denying it. You think you are bearing witness and you are dealing blows. If it is God who forgives sins, why don’t you accept Christ’s divinity? Since he could grant the forgiveness of one single sin, that means that he wiped away the sins of the whole world. “There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn 1:29) So that you might grasp stronger marks of his divinity, listen to him. Yes, he has penetrated the mystery of your heart. Look at him. He has come even to the hideouts of your thoughts. Understand that he uncovers the secret intentions of your heart.

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God’s ordinary providence is a continual miracle; but He will use extraordinary means when they are required.
                                  (The Forge, no.658)

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Monday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time II

(February 20) Today let us think of Saint Wulfric   (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:     James 3: 13-18;         Psalm 19: 8-10, 15;        Mark 9:14-29

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:14-29 NIV)

Most of us have some familiarity with the life of St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. He wrote a famous little retreat manual called The Spiritual Exercises, designed to facilitate in the person doing the retreat a conversion to Christ. One of the meditations in this manual that the retreatant is asked to do is the meditation on The Two Standards. The retreatant contemplates Christ and his Standard on the one hand, and Satan and his Standard on the other, and then he is invited to choose for Christ. That meditation captures a fundamental dynamic that features across the pages of the Gospel. Christ is in conflict with Satan. He is the stronger one and the victor, but there is no denying the seriousness and difficulty of the struggle. We must choose for Christ in this conflict.

In our Gospel passage today (Mark 9:14-29) the crowd comes running to meet Jesus with a request from one in the crowd that he drive out the demon from his son. The demon has caused the boy great harm, and this has been going on from childhood. It was a picture of the great and constant struggle with Satan that faces mankind if the world is to be freed of the demonic influence, a struggle beyond the powers of mere man. Our Lord arrives on the scene, expresses a holy exasperation with their lack of faith and then effortlessly casts out the demon from the boy. The devil came out at Christ’s word, but even then it did so with such a struggle and violence that its departure left the boy unconscious. Satan has power and this must be recognised, even though his power is as nothing before Christ.

                                                                                                                                    (E.J.Tyler)

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“I do believe! Help my lack of trust!”   (Mark 9:14-29)
Comment from The Catechism of the Catholic Church §§ 153-155

Faith is a grace.
When St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come “from flesh and blood,” but from “my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 16:17) Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. “Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and ‘makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.’” (Vatican II, DV 5)

Faith is a human act.
Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed are contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason. Even in human relations it is not contrary to our dignity to believe what other persons tell us about themselves and their intentions or to trust their promises (for example when a man and a woman marry) to share a communion of life with one another. If this is so, still less is it contrary to our dignity to “yield by faith the full submission of …… intellect and will to God who reveals,” (Vatican I) and to share in an interior communion with him.

In faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace: “Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace.” (St. Thomas Aquinas)

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Christian optimism is not a sugary optimism; nor is it a mere human confidence that everything will turn out all right. It is an optimism that sinks its roots in an awareness of our freedom, and in the sure knowledge of the power of grace. It is an optimism which leads us to make demands on ourselves, to struggle to respond at every moment to God’s will.
                                                                             (The Forge, no.659)

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Tuesday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time II

(February 21) St Pater Damian, bishop and doctor of the Church (1007-1072). Born at Ravenna, after completing his studies he taught for a short while but then gave it up and became a hermit at Fonte Avelllana. He was elected Benedictine Prior of the community and strenuously promoted religious observance both there and in other parts of Italy. In the difficult times in which he lived he helped the Popes by his writings and acted as papal legate to reform the Church. He was created a Cardinal and Bishop of Ostia by Stephen IX. He was the author of many important works on liturgy, theology, and morals, and supported St Gregory VII in his struggle for the rights of the Church. On his death in 1072 he was immediately venerated as a saint.  (Saints)

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Scripture today:     James 4:1-10;        Psalm 55: 7-11, 23;        Mark 9:30-37

They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:30-37 NIV)

One of the features of modern life is its busyness. People are now usually very busy. The danger in this is that we can end up thinking of little other than what we are busy about, which means that we could miss what we ought be living for. Even in respect to our work we could very easily end up missing the God of what we are busy about, the One we should be serving in our work each day. So what should we do about the problem of the busyness of life? The answer, of course, is not to refrain from being busy, but to give time to other things that are equally if not more important. We must give time to our family, to our physical wellbeing, and especially must we give time to God.

Our Lord was a person utterly given over to the work of his mission. He was a man of intense work. We read in the Gospels that on one occasion during his public ministry his relatives thought he was out of his mind, so intensely was he working. He told his disciples on another occasion that his food was to do the will of his Father, which was to save men. But here in our Gospel today (Mark 9:30-37) our Lord did not want anyone to know that he was passing through Galilee with his disciples. The reason was that he was instructing them about his coming Passion and Death. He wanted to be with them alone. We notice that on other occasions too, the Gospels speak of our Lord going aside with his disciples to be with them alone.

                                                                                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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“What were you discussing on the way?”   (Mark 9:30-37)
Commentary from Silouane (1866-1938), Orthodox monk (Spiritual Writings)

Oh humility of Jesus Christ! You give the soul indescribable joy. I thirst for you because in you the soul forgets the earth and stretches out ever more ardently towards God. If the world understood the power of Christ’s words: “Learn gentleness and humility from me,” (cf. Mt 11:29), it would put all other knowledge aside in order to acquire that heavenly knowledge.

Human beings do not know the strength of Christ’s humility, and they desire the things of the earth. But a person cannot come to the power of these words of the Lord without the Holy Spirit. The person who has plumbed them no longer leaves them, even if all the treasures of the earth are offered to him…… The person who has tasted that love of the infinitely gentle God can no longer dream of the things of the earth; he feels constantly drawn by that love.

But we lose it through our pride and our vanity, through our enmities and our judgment of our brothers; we abandon it through our greedy thoughts and our proclivity towards the earth. Then grace abandons us and the troubled, depressed soul desires God and calls him, like Adam when he was chased from Paradise. My soul yearns and I seek you with tears. See my affliction, enlighten my darkness so that my soul might have joy. Lord, give me your humility so that your love might be in me and that the fear of you might live in me.

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The Lord’s triumph, on the day of the Resurrection, is final. Where are the soldiers the rulers posted there? Where are the seals that were fixed to the stone of the tomb? Where are those who condemned the Master? Where are those who crucified Jesus? He is victorious, and faced with his victory those poor wretches who have all taken flight. Be filled with hope: Jesus Christ is always victorious.
                                          (The Forge, no.660)

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Wednesday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time     The Chair of the Apostle Peter

(February 22) This feast brings to mind the mission of teacher and pastor conferred by Christ on Peter, and continued in an unbroken line down to the present Pope. We celebrate the unity of the Church, founded upon the Apostle, and renew our assent to the magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, extended both to truths which are solemnly defined “ex cathedra” and to all the acts of the ordinary magisterium. (Saints)

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Scripture today:        1 Peter 5:1-4;     Psalm 23: 1-6;     Matthew 16:13-19

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-19 NIV)

Today we celebrate the ‘cathedra’ of Peter, the chair from which he teaches and guides the Church. That is to say, we celebrate his spiritual authority. When we consider our Lord’s astonishing words in today’s Gospel passage (Matthew 16:13-19), a passage selected by the Church because of today’s feast, the thought of the disunity within Christendom bears down on our minds. A major point of this disunity is precisely over the authority granted by Christ to Peter and his successors. That authority is very great, signalling what is and will be ratified in heaven itself. The Catholic Faith interprets our Lord’s words at their face value and gives to Peter and his successors a pivotal role in the life of the Church: they wield the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Very many martyrs have given their lives for the Catholic doctrine of the papal primacy. We think of the great English martyrs, St John Fisher, St Thomas More, St Edmund Campion, and so many others. They died because they would not give way in respect to the spiritual authority of the Pope. All this means that we, in our turn, ought integrate well and wholeheartedly the doctrine of the Church on the papal magisterium, bringing to it a personal love for the Pope as well. The Church invites us to pray for the intentions of the Pope frequently. When it comes to gaining plenary indulgences, prayer for the Pope’s intentions is a basic requisite. I suspect that many Catholics rarely pray for the Pope’s intentions, and this neglect cannot be pleasing to God.

                                                                                                                                (E.J.Tyler)

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“Your name shall be Peter” (Jn 1:42)  (Matthew 16:13-19)
Comment from St Augustine (354-430), Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Sermon 190)

“You are ‘Rock’ [Peter], and on this rock I will build my church.” This name Peter is given to him because he was the first to lay the foundations of faith among the nations and he is the indestructible rock on which rest the foundations and the whole of Jesus Christ’s edifice. He is called Peter because of his fidelity, whereas according to the word of Saint Paul, the Lord received this same name because of his power: “They drank from the spiritual rock that was following them, and the rock was Christ.” (1 Cor 10:4) Yes, the apostle who was chosen to cooperate in his work deserved to share a same name with Christ. Together, they built the same edifice. Peter planted and the Lord gives the growth; it is also the Lord who sends those who have to give it water (cf. 1 Cor 3:6f.).

As you know, beloved brothers, starting from his own faults, the blessed Peter was raised up at the time when his Saviour was suffering. After he denied the Lord, he became the first with him. In weeping over the faith which he had betrayed, he was made more faithful, he received a greater grace than the one he had lost. Christ entrusted his flock to him so that he might lead it like the good shepherd, and he who had been so weak now became a support for everyone. He who had been questioned about his faith had fallen, and now he had to set up the others on the unshakeable foundation of faith. Therefore he is called the foundation stone of the Churches’ piety.

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If you look for Mary, you will necessarily find Jesus; and you will learn, in greater and greater depth, what there is in the heart of God
                                                     (The Forge, no.661)

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Thursday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time II

(February 23) Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr. Polycarp was a disciple of the apostles and bishop of Smyrna (Izmir, in Turkey), as well as a friend of St Ignatius of Antioch. He went to Rome to confer with Pope St Anicetus about the celebration of Easter. He suffered martyrdom about the year 155 by being burnt to death in the city stadium.  (Saints)

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Scripture today:    James 5: 1-6;      Psalm 49: 14-20;      Mark 9: 41-40

…for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. (Mark 9: 40-41)

It was once stated at an international conference that all the religions of man stress the virtues of charity, justice and forgiveness. While this sounds likely, the religion established by Christ our Lord stresses one aspect of our attitude to others which is altogether distinctive. It is alluded to by our Lord in today’s Gospel (Mark 9: 40-41), when he tells his disciples that “anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will not lose his reward.” So then, an important motive for serving and helping others is that they belong to Christ. We belong to Christ because of our baptism and membership in the Church, of course. But inasmuch as Christ died on the cross to save all men, all of mankind must be said to belong to him in the plan and intention of God. Our Lord is inviting us to help others because they belong to him. He is also saying that even though there are many things a man may do for others that may not be rewarded by society, the case is different in respect to rewards from God — “he will most certainly not lose his reward.”

                                                                                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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Paths for entering eternal life   (Mark 9: 41-40)
By St John Chrysostom (345-407), Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Sermon on the devil who tempts)

Do you want me to show you the paths of conversion? They are numerous, varied and different, but they all lead to heaven. The first path of conversion is the condemnation of our faults. “You yourself begin by saying your faults in order to be justified.” And that is why the prophet said: “I said, ‘I confess my faults to the Lord,’ and you took away the guilt of my sin.” (Ps 32:5) So you yourself condemn the faults you have committed, and that will be enough for the Master to hear you. For the person who condemns his faults will be more afraid of falling back into them……

There is a second path, which is not inferior to the first one. It is that we do not hold a grudge against our enemies, that we overcome our anger in order to forgive the offences of our companions in service, for that is how we shall obtain forgiveness for those which we commit against the Master. That is the second way of obtaining purification from our faults. The Lord says: “If you forgive the faults of others, your heavenly Father will forgive yours.” (Mt 6:14)

Do you want to know the third path of conversion? It is the fervent and attentive prayer in the depth of your heart…… The fourth path is alms; it has considerable and unspeakable power…… Then modesty and humility are not inferior means for destroying sins by their root. We have the publican as a witness; he could not proclaim his good deeds, but he replaced them all with the offering of his humility, and thus he laid down the heavy burden of his faults (Lk 18:9f.).

We have shown you five paths of conversion……So don’t remain inactive, but use all of these paths each day. They are easy paths, and you cannot use your destitution as a pretext.

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When you are preparing for a work of apostolate, make your own these words of a man who was seeking God: “Today I start to preach a retreat for priests. God grant that we may draw profit from it - and first of all, myself!” And later: “I have been on this retreat for several days now. There are a hundred and twenty on it. I hope that Our Lord will do good work in our souls.”
                                                                                           (The Forge, no.662)

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Friday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time II

(February 24) Today let us think of Saint Ethelbert  (Saints)

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Scripture today:         James 5: 9-12;        Psalm 103: 1-4, 8-12;         Mark 10: 1-12

Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” “What did Moses command you?” he replied. They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”  “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.” (Mark 10: 1-12 NIV)

During a debate in 2006 in the Federal Parliament over the abortion pill some members of parliament (especially some women) said that they objected to the thought of politicians involving themselves in such personal spheres of women’s lives. The same objection has been levelled by various people against the Church and her moral teaching, accusing the Church of interfering in the private lives of people. But the same objection would have to be directed against Christ himself, if one is to be consistent. In today’s Gospel (Mark 10: 1-12) our Lord pronounces on the very personal matter of marriage — personal, but at the same time one of public and general significance for society. Our Lord told his disciples who questioned him that divorce and remarriage is adultery. He meant that you must not do it (of course, we know that this is not the case when an annulment has been obtained).

The point that I am making here, though, is that the Christian Faith bears on every aspect of life, including the most personal. What Christ has revealed touches everything in life, and everything we do is done before the full gaze of God, and so the light of Christ must be the light by which we live in everything. We ought take this a step further. Just as Christ responded to his disciples’ questions by teaching that divorce and remarriage is impossible, so across the ages the Church, speaking in the name of Christ, answers the questions put to her by Christ’s disciples and indeed by all men. As we picture our Lord answering his disciples’ questions, let us renew our faith in the continuing presence of Christ in the Church through the ages right to our own. Through the Church, Christ guides us still, answering many questions which he did not answer while he lived on earth. The Church’s vast teaching on faith and morals is to be viewed as the living teaching of the risen person of Jesus. He it is who speaks to us now through his body the Church.

                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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“The two shall become as one”   (Mark 10: 1-12)
Commentary from Jacob of Sarug (around 449 –– 521), Monk and Syrian bishop
(Hexameron; Homily for the sixth day)

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Gen 1:26) A simple commandment had brought forth the other beings in creation: “Let there be light!” or “Let there be a dome!” This time, God did not say: “Let there be human beings”, but he said rather: “Let us make man.” For he considered it to be proper that this image of himself, which is superior to all the other creatures, be formed by his own hands. This work was particularly close to him; he loved it with a great love…… Adam is the image of God because he bears the effigy of the Only Son…

In a certain sense, Adam was created simple and at the same time double. Eve was hidden in him. Even before they existed, humanity was destined for marriage, which would gather them, man and woman, together again in one single body, like in the beginning. No quarrel, no discord was to arise between them. They would be of one mind, would have one single will…… The Lord formed Adam out of dust and water; he drew forth Eve from the flesh, the bones and the blood of Adam. The first man’s deep sleep anticipated the mysteries of the crucifixion. The opening of his side was the lance’s blow given to the Only Son; his sleep: death on the cross; the blood and water: the fruitfulness of baptism (Jn 19:34)…… But the water and blood that flowed from the Saviour’s side are at the origin of the world of the Spirit……

Adam did not suffer because of something being removed from his flesh; what had been taken from him was returned to him transfigured through beauty. The blowing of the wind, the murmuring of the trees, the singing of the birds called to those who were betrothed: “Arise, you have slept enough! You are expected at the wedding feast!”…… Adam saw Eve at his side, she who was of his flesh and his bones, his daughter, his sister, his spouse. Covered in a garment of light, they arose into the smiling day. They were in Paradise.

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 My child, it’s worth your while being humble, obedient, loyal. Drench yourself in the spirit of God, so as to be able to carry it from where you are, from your place of work, to all the peoples that fill the earth!
                                                (The Forge, no.663)

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Saturday of the seventh week of Ordinary Time II

(February 25)  Today let us think of St Ethelbert of Kent  (Saints)

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Scripture today:     James 5: 13-20;         Psalm 141: 1-3, 8;         Mark 10:13-16

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10: 13-16 NIV)

One of our Lord’s obvious characteristics was his love for children. He delighted in their presence and made them warmly welcome. This was clear to parents because we are told in today’s Gospel that “people were bringing little children to Jesus for him to touch them.” There must have been a considerable number because “the disciples turned them away,” perhaps thinking that Jesus needed some rest. Our Lord’s reaction upon seeing this shows his love for children — he was indignant, and told his disciples not to stop them. On another occasion we are told that when our Lord saw that his disciples had been discussing among themselves who of them was the greatest, our Lord took a child and placed him in front of them and went on to give his teaching. Our Lord loved children.  This surely reminds of another kind of childhood – that which relates to Jesus himself. The whole work of Christ was to share his own sonship with us. He is the only-begotten Son of God, God’s only-begotten “child” from all eternity, the equal of the Father in nature. He came from heaven to enable us to become God’s adopted children. By our baptism we have become this in the sense that we are not only now God’s creation, but we also share in his own divine life. Our entire spiritual life ought be shaped by the fact that God is our Father in this special way, and we are his children.

Let us consider the teaching Christ gives us in today’s Gospel (Mark 10: 13-16), prompted by the children in his midst. He tells us that it is to such as little children that the kingdom of heaven belongs. What is the kingdom of heaven? It is above all the person and spirit and teaching of Jesus himself. In him dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily. Our Lord’s words surely mean that it is to such as little children that he himself belongs. He gives himself to those who are like little children and he belongs to them especially. He goes on to say that “anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” We think of the delighted welcome given by the little children to Jesus. They loved to see him and to be with him. That is the example held up to us by our Lord: we in our turn are to welcome Jesus into our hearts just as did those children brought to him by their parents. If we welcome Jesus in that way, we shall enter into his sacred heart — which is the kingdom of heaven — symbolized by the children who received from Jesus his embrace and his blessing before he went on his way.

                                                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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“Let the children come to me”   (Mark 10: 13-16)
Comment from St Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
(Autobiography, Manuscript C)

As you know, Mother, I have always wanted to be a saint. But alas! When I compared myself to the saints, I always noticed that there is the same difference between them and me as between a mountain whose peak is lost in the clouds and the obscure grain of sand that is trodden underfoot by the passersby. Instead of getting discouraged, I told myself: God would not inspire unattainable desires. Therefore, in spite of my smallness, I can aspire to sanctity. It is impossible for me to become greater; I have to bear with myself as I am with all my imperfections. So I want to look for a means to go to heaven by a small and very straight, very short path, a brand new little path.

Ours is a century of inventions. Now we need no longer go up the steps of a stairway; in rich people’s houses, an elevator replaces the stairway very advantageously. I wanted to find an elevator to lift me up to Jesus, for I am too little to go up the difficult stairway of perfection. So I looked in the holy Books for something pointing to the elevator, the object of my desire; and I read these words that came forth from the mouth of eternal Wisdom: “If someone is very small, let him come to me.” (Proverbs 9:4)

So I came, sensing that I had found what I was looking for. And since I wanted to know, oh my God, what you would do to the very little person who would respond to your call, I continued my search and this is what I found: “As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you. You shall be carried in her arms, and fondled in her lap.” (Isa 66:13.12) Ah, never did more tender, more melodious words come to give joy to my soul. Your arms, oh Jesus, are the elevator that must lift me up to heaven. For that, I don’t need to grow. On the contrary, I must remain small. May I become ever smaller. O my God, you have surpassed my expectations! I want to sing of your mercies!

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During a way, the courage of the soldiers facing the enemy would be of little use were not others who seem to take no part in the struggle but who supply the fighting men with armament and food and medicines ... Without the prayer and sacrifice of many souls there would be no genuine apostolate of action.
                                                 (The Forge, no.664)

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The eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time B

(February 26) Today let us think of St Alexander of Alexandria   (Saints)

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Scripture: Hosea 2:16-17, 21-22;  Psalm 103: 1-4, 8, 10, 12-13;  2 Corinthians 3:1-6; Mark 2: 18-22.

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. “No one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.” (Mark 2: 18-22 NIV)

In today’s Gospel our Lord makes use of a term that is full of meaning in describing himself and his relationship to us. He says he is the bridegroom. “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast” (Mark 2: 18-22). In the Old Testament, especially in the Prophets, God repeatedly refers to himself as the Bridegroom, and his chosen people as his spouse. In today’s first reading the prophet Hosea speaks of God betrothing his people with faithfulness. We are his people. We ought think long and often of what God has revealed to us about himself. Like a husband, he is one and there is no other. He cannot be replaced by some other thing in our life. I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other god in place of me. So our first duty in life is to make sure that we go after nothing that will replace him, and that in our hearts we worship him alone. The God we worship is constant, unchangeable, always faithful and just, always good and holy, without any evil. He is almighty, merciful and infinitely good, rich in compassion and mercy. All our faith, hope and love, then, ought be in him. As our Lord put it, quoting the Old Testament, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” There is to be no other god in our life but God, for he is our only bridegroom.

Faith in God, then, and acceptance of all he has revealed about himself is our first obligation, and St Paul teaches that “ignorance of God” is the source of moral deviations. This ignorance of God will come if we allow our faith in what he has revealed to weaken or be lost. We must be vigilant, then. In Australia people tend to pride themselves on their secular culture where there is no religious fanaticism. Religion is publicly regarded as a private matter and must not be imposed. But one downside to this is that it can encourage a kind of public attitude that turns God and religion into matters of purely personal opinion with little objective reality about them. The very idea of God is regarded as open to debate and to doubt, and it is seen as acceptable even to deny God’s existence as an objective fact. So it is that the culture around us and what it permits, can contain many temptations to religious doubt. If one were knowingly and willingly to entertain such doubts, and deliberately to cultivate them, one could be led into a spiritual blindness which would be sinful. And it is very easy, when hearing such doubts expressed, to go on to entertain or even cultivate them. There are novels and movies and television discussions that express or at least insinuate doubt as to the truth of what God has revealed, and the truth of what the Church teaches. Freely to entertain or cultivate these doubts, without very serious reasons and without  special vigilance, would expose oneself to insidious temptations against faith. One’s imagination would be laid open to impressions that could go deep and become a permanent incitement within the mind to disbelieve. Then in moments of inner weakness, one’s affected and infected imagination could prompt one to reject this or that doctrine of the Faith.

An example might be choosing to read the novel, The Da Vinci Code, a novel full of errors, but which, with its vivid and intriguing plot, might profoundly affect one’s religious imagination. That inner stain on the mind might then secretly do its work, predisposing a person against holding the Faith. Then could follow disbelief  in our Lord and the Church, and then the gift of faith could be lost. Spiritual blindness could follow which might be very difficult to dispel. We must guard the knowledge of God we have received from our gift of faith in what he has revealed about himself. The case is the same with the virtue of hope. We can be tempted against hope by feelings of giving up and even despair on the one hand, and on the other by presuming on God or on our own capacities. So too, we can be tempted against our love for God by feelings of indifference, of lukewarmness, of sloth or of dislike of God. Let us resolve to live resolutely in the knowledge of who God is and what he has revealed, as it comes to us in the witness and teaching of the Church. Let us be vigilant against every kind of temptation that may undermine our full acceptance in faith of all that God has revealed to us about himself, our full hope in him and our love for him.

                                                                                                                                (E.J.Tyler)

Further Reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.2084-2094

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“So long as the groom stays with them, they cannot fast.”  (Mark 2: 18-22)
Comment by St Ephrem (306 – 373), Deacon in Syria, Doctor of the Church (Hymns on Faith, 14)

Lord, I invite you to a wedding banquet in songs. In Cana, there was not enough wine, which expresses our praise. You, the guest who filled the jars with good wine, fill my mouth with your praise!

The wine in Cana is the symbol of our praise, because those who drank of it marveled. At that wedding banquet, which was not your own, you, the truly righteous, filled six jars to overflowing with a delicious wine. So at the banquet to which I am inviting you, you can fill a crowd’’s ears with your sweetness.

In times past, you were invited to others’’ weddings. Here now is your own banquet. It is chaste and beautiful. May it give joy to your people! May your songs delight your guests; may my zither accompany your song!

Our soul is your betrothed; our body is your bridal chamber; our senses and our thoughts are the guests. If for you one single person is a wedding banquet, how great will be the banquet for the whole Church!

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The power of working miracles! How many dead - and even rotting - souls you will raise, if you let Christ act in you. In those days, the Gospel tells us, the Lord was passing by; and they, the sick, called to him and sought him out. Now, too, Christ is passing by, in your Christian life. If you help him, many will come to know him, will call to him, will ask him for help: and their eyes will be opened to the marvellous light of grace.
                                                 (The Forge, no.665)

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Monday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 27)  Today let us think of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows    (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:      1 Peter 1: 3-9;       Psalm 111: 1-2, 5-6, 9-10;       Mark 10: 17-27.

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10: 17-27 NIV)

One of the characteristics of modern Western culture is the pervasive reluctance and difficulty in believing in the supernatural. It is what can be vindicated empirically that is accepted as fact. Accordingly, many theistic philosophers spend much of their time proving the possibility of the supernatural. Now, even for those who do accept the supernatural, it is a further thing to be convinced of its paramount importance. For in fact, the supernatural world of God and of heaven and hell is a far greater realm than the material which is continually changing and will assuredly pass away. Life is short and eternity long. God’s judgment is, or should be, life’s defining thought. Cardinal Newman once wrote that the first principle of religion is the thought of a judgment — that is, God’s judgment.

Our Gospel today presents us with the young man who “ran up” to Jesus, “knelt down before him and put this question to him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’” (Mark 10: 17-27). This young man lived in the thought of the supernatural. He was young with his life ahead of him and a with great deal he could look forward to, in view of his wealth. Nevertheless he knew that life would end, and then there would be the judgment of God. Either heaven or hell would follow that judgment, and he was determined that it would be heaven. He appears to have lived in the thought of the supernatural from his earliest days because he told our Lord that he had always kept God’s commandments. He wanted to do more “to inherit eternal life.” This young man has to be regarded, then, as having been exceptionally promising at the time of his meeting with Jesus. This is confirmed by the fact that our Lord, after his initial reserve at his open enthusiasm, looked on the young man and loved him.

                                                                                                                                  (E.J.Tyler)

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“Go, sell what you have, ..... then come, follow me” (Mark 10: 17-27)
Comment Leo XIII, Pope from 1878 to 1903 (Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum, 20)

May those who have been disinherited of wealth learn from the Church that, according to the judgment of God himself, poverty is not a disgrace, and that there is no need to blush with shame if you have to earn your daily bread through work. Jesus Christ Our Lord confirmed this by his example, he who for the salvation of men “made himself poor though he was rich.” (2 Cor 8:9) He who was the Son of God and God himself wanted to be taken for the son of a worker in the eyes of the world. He went so far as to spend a large part of his life in doing paid work. “Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary?” (Mk 6:3)

Whoever keeps his eyes on the divine model will understand…… that true human dignity and excellence dwells in a person’s habits, that is to say, in his virtue. Virtue is the common patrimony of mortals; it is available to everyone, to the small and to the great, the poor and the rich. Wherever they are seen, virtue and merit alone will obtain the reward of eternal beatitude. Even more, it seems that God’s heart is more inclined towards the less fortunate classes. Jesus Christ calls the poor blessed (Lk 6:20). With love he invites all who suffer and weep to come to him so that he might console them (Mt 11:28); he embraces with a more tender charity those who are small and oppressed. These teachings are certainly given in order to humble the haughty soul of the rich and to make him more compassionate, to raise the courage of those who suffer and to inspire them with trust.

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You insist on doing your own thing, and so your work is barren. Obey: be docile. Each cog in a machine must be put in its place. If not, the machine stops, or the parts get damaged. It will surely not produce anything, or if it does, then very little. In the same way, a man or a woman outside his or her proper field of action will be more of a hindrance than an instrument of apostolate.
                                                                                                       (The Forge, no.666)

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Tuesday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time II

(February 28)   Today let us think of St Oswald of Worcester    (Saints)

See also this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:     1 Peter 1: 10-16;          Psalm 98: 1-4;        Mark 10: 28-31.

Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:28-31 NIV)

Whatever be the commitment a person makes, that person will have to give up some things in pursuit of his chosen goal. He may have chosen to dedicate himself to prowess in a particular sport that takes up many years of his life. In doing this he gives up his vaguely considered dream of being a medical doctor — or it could be vice versa. The same pattern will be found in choosing to serve Christ and share in his mission in a way appropriate to one’s calling in life. A housewife and mother takes up the call to be a catechist in order to serve God, or to assist in a range of other apostolic activities. Gradually she becomes more involved and committed, consciously foregoing many other things she could have done that would have been to her material advantage. She foregoes taking on part-time paid work that also keeps up certain professional skills she once had. Or, taking yet another example, a young person chooses to consecrate his or her life to Christ and the Gospel totally. Many things are given up: family, a lucrative and interesting career, full scope for his own legitimate independence in life. Many things are left behind in choosing to follow Christ.

Sooner or later the sacrifices involved in doing this for the sake of Christ and the Gospel will be felt. The question could then arise in that person’s heart, Is it worth it? What shall I get out of all this? This is the exact question that was put to our Lord in today’s Gospel by Peter: “What about us? We have left everything and followed you” (Mark 10:28-31).  Our Lord responds by guaranteeing a full recompense: “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much …. and in the age to come, eternal life.”  The greatest recompense will be the love of Jesus himself, in whom is found every heavenly blessing. Christ’s friendship and the care which he extends to his friends both here and hereafter will be the greatest reward — but Christ’s follower must not look back in a state of continuing attachment to the things that were given up. If he follows Christ with abandon, happiness will be his — that is Christ’s guarantee.

Let us make our choice for Jesus, and let us cheerfully give up whatever is required for that choice. Let us not look back, but rather keep our eyes on the pearl of great price, the treasure discovered that had been hidden in the field.

                                                                                                                                    (E.J.Tyler)

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“In this present age a hundred times as much…and in the age to come, everlasting life”
(Mark 10:28-31) Comment from Leo XIII, Pope 1878 to 1903 (Encyclical Rerum Novarum, 21)

These [social] teachings [of the Church] could diminish the distance that pride is pleased to maintain between the rich and the poor, but simple friendship is still too little. If we obey Christianity’s precepts, union will be brought about through fraternal love. On both sides, people will know and understand that absolutely all human beings have come forth from God, their common father; that God is their common and only goal, and that God alone is able to communicate perfect and absolute happiness to angels and to human beings. In addition, all have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and restored by him to their dignity as children of God, and thus a true bond of fraternity unites them, whether this be among themselves or to Christ their Lord, who is “the first-born of many brothers.” (Rom 8:29) Finally, they will know that all the goods of nature, all the treasures of grace belong in common and indiscriminately to the whole human race, and that only those who are unworthy will be disinherited of the heavenly goods. “If you are children, you are heirs as well: heirs of God, heirs with Christ.” (Rom 8:17)

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The apostle has no aim other than letting God work, making himself available.
                                                                                                                (The Forge, no.667)

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Wednesday of the eighth week of Ordinary Time II

See this Website's Details of Saints for Any Particular Day

Scripture today:     1 Peter 1: 18-25;          Psalm 147;        Mark 10: 32-45

   "Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over".  (Mark 10: 32-45)

One of the most difficult things man must deal with is human suffering. In the history of human thought it has proved an intractable problem, and has constituted a crisis time and again in the lives of individuals. Man recoils from it, attempts to eliminate it, and sees in it a phenomenon that is almost wholly negative. Now, what do we see Christ doing in the face of the indescribable suffering he knew awaited him in Jerusalem? We are told in the Gospel of today that “The disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem; Jesus was walking on ahead of them; they were in a daze, and those who followed were apprehensive.” (Mark 10: 32-45) Christ was pushing ahead in order to embrace his sufferings. In no way were they to be avoided. “Once more taking the Twelve aside he began to tell them what was going to happen to him: ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes’.

As a result of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection, a totally new light has been cast on the phenomenon of suffering and death. Without this light, we must take seriously those great minds in the history of human thought that have regarded suffering as a stunning blow against the possibility of belief in a good and all-powerful God. Mysteriously, it was precisely through his obedient suffering and death that Christ saved the world. His sufferings had an inestimable value when accepted in obedience to the divine will. Our Lord’s life was marked by total obedience to the Father from beginning to end, but the fulfilment of his redemptive mission was especially due to his Passion and Death. It was especially through his sufferings that the world was saved. Why is this so? We cannot say, ultimately, but we know that it is indeed so because that has been revealed. Christ died for sinners, and because of his death and resurrection the sin of the world was taken away.

We are called to share in Christ’s redemptive work and we do so by sharing in his sufferings. Our share in his resurrection will follow. In our Gospel today James and John asked for seats at his right and left in his glory. Our Lord asked them if they could drink the cup he was to drink. That is what the true disciple of our Lord must do, and do daily. Let us ask our Lord for the grace to share his cup, to take up our cross every day and follow in his footsteps.

                                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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The first Twelve, too, were strangers in the lands where they taught the Gospel. They came up against people whose world was built on foundations completely opposed to Christ’s doctrine. Look: despite these adverse circumstances, they knew that they had been entrusted with the divine message of the Redemption. And so the Apostle cries: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!”
                                          (The Forge, no.668)

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