Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Prayers this week:    God, come to my help. Lord, quickly give me assistance.
                You are the one who helps me and sets me free: Lord, do not be long in coming. (Ps 69:2.6)
                              
 Father of everlasting goodness, our origin and guide, be close to us and hear the prayers of all who praise you.
                          Forgive our sins and restore us to life. Keep us safe in your love.
        We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God.

(August 5)  Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica (St. Mary of the Snows)
    First raised at the order of Pope Liberius in the mid-fourth century, the Liberian Basilica was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III shortly after the Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God in 431. Rededicated at that time to the Mother of God, St. Mary Major is the largest church in the world honouring God through Mary. Standing atop one of Rome’s seven hills, the Esquiline, it has survived many restorations without losing its character as an early Roman basilica. Its interior retains three naves divided by colonnades in the style of Constantine’s era. Fifth-century mosaics on its walls testify to its antiquity. St. Mary Major is one of the four Roman basilicas known as patriarchal cathedrals in memory of the first centres of the Church. St. John Lateran represents Rome, the See of Peter; St. Paul Outside the Walls, the See of Alexandria, allegedly the see presided over by Mark; St. Peter’s, the See of Constantinople; and St. Mary’s, the See of Antioch, where Mary is supposed to have spent most of her life.
    One legend, unreported before the year 1000, gives another name to this feast: Our Lady of the Snows. According to that story, a wealthy Roman couple pledged their fortune to the Mother of God. In affirmation, she produced a miraculous summer snowfall and told them to build a church on the site. The legend was long celebrated by releasing a shower of white rose petals from the basilica’s dome every August 5.
        Theological debate over Christ’s nature as God and man reached fever pitch in Constantinople in the early fifth century. A chaplain to Bishop Nestorius began preaching against the title Theotokos, “Mother of God,” insisting that the Virgin was mother only of the human Jesus. Nestorius agreed, decreeing that Mary would henceforth be named “Mother of Christ” in his see. The people of Constantinople virtually revolted against their bishop’s refutation of a cherished belief. When the Council of Ephesus refuted Nestorius, believers took to the streets, enthusiastically chanting, “Theotokos! Theotokos!”
                “From the earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honoured under the title of Mother of God, in whose protection the faithful take refuge together in prayer in all their perils and needs. Accordingly, following the Council of Ephesus, there was a remarkable growth in the cult of the People of God towards Mary, in veneration and love, in invocation and imitation...” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 66).  (Saints)

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Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23;  Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-14, 17;  Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11;  Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12:13-21)

   In the daily news of the modern world the economy features prominently. The possession and use of the material goods of life is of profound importance to man, and his happiness depends to a fair extent on the degree to which he meets his needs by gaining and using these goods. We need food and clothing. We need material shelter. We need to be able in some form to store up what we have for our future security and also in order to enjoy some leisure. All this means that our happiness in life depends to a greater or lesser extent on our possessing things or having them at hand for our use. However, while material possessions can bring a certain happiness, as is obvious from what  we see around us their possession and use can cause strife and suffering. A person can work so exclusively at gaining many possessions that he can easily neglect other more important things. For instance, a person who works night and day to gain a lot of money — perhaps for good purposes too, such as to provide a quality education for his children — can easily neglect putting in time to be with his family and time for his relationship with God. His desire to gain things could in due course seriously affect his relationships with many others, and nations have gone to war because of their desire for material goods. It does not take much ordinary human reasoning to appreciate that it is all too possible to become over-attached to material things, in a word to become quite avaricious to the neglect of a life of unselfish love. About two and a half thousand years ago Buddha in India set out on a quest to find the key to happiness. He decided that it consisted in detachment from all desire for things and the attainment of what he called Enlightenment. There is a certain truth in what he said, but it did not go far enough. God wants us to be rich, but the question is, rich in what sense? What does God really want us to have, and how does the possession of material things fit into this?

      In our Gospel passage today a person in the crowd asks our Lord to adjudicate justly on his behalf with his brother who would not share the inheritance. Our Lord told him he had not come to perform that kind of service, but went on to warn against avarice of any kind. If our life, our Lord explains, is given over just to the acquisition of material goods, what will happen to them when we die? Whose will they be then? Let us often ponder on our Lord’s very simple story of the “rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest” (Luke 12:13-21). The rich man of the parable thought of nothing else, wanted nothing else, and prepared for nothing else. He forgot that he was mortal, indeed that life was short and very precarious, and that following death there is the judgment of God. In thinking of death and the judgment of God we think of the climax of life and all we do during life ought be done in light of it. This thought will teach us that few things are needed, indeed only one and that is God and living in a way that is pleasing to him. If that is all that matters ultimately then that is all that matters here and now and every day of our life. It means that in all our daily efforts to gain the material things we need for ourselves and for our families what matters is God and doing all this in a way that is pleasing to him. In other words we should strive to be totally attached to God and his holy will, and committed to gaining and using material things only to the extent and only in the way that God wants. What matters is God, God in Christ our Lord, and being pleasing to him. The truly important thing in life is succeeding in the love of God, not succeeding in simply gaining plenty of money and in the process losing God. If we are indeed successful in gaining money, all the money that we gain ought be used for the love and service of God, whatever that will mean in the context of our particular calling.

     This is an extremely important lesson to be learned by every man or woman in the world. In all our dealings with the world and all it offers, the important thing is Christ our Lord and all that he offers. What he offers is friendship with him. This is the one thing necessary and it is this which should be at the heart of all the work we put in to gain the material possessions we undoubtedly need. This lesson can be learnt in large part by reflecting often on the precariousness and shortness of life to be followed by the judgment of God. If our life is marked by a profound attachment to Christ and a detachment from the other things we must necessarily deal with in life, our death will be the supreme moment of union with Jesus when we surrender all into his keeping. Our death will be the final act of detachment from this world and total abandonment to the will and the care of God. It will be the supreme act of union with Jesus, a share in his supreme act of union with his Father in his sacrifice at Calvary. Let us then resolve to make holy all our use of this world’s goods so that this world’s goods will serve their true purpose, which is our sanctification. Let us so deal with the things of this world that we and the world are sanctified.                             

                                                                                                                        (E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no 2534-2550, 1681-1683, 988-1014.
     

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What a wretched man am I! Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death?' The cry is Saint Paul's. — Courage: he too had to fight.
                                          (The Way, no.138)

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            What are the principal sins against chastity?
Grave sins against chastity differ according to their object: adultery, masturbation, fornication, pornography, prostitution, rape, and homosexual acts. These sins are expressions of the vice of lust. These kinds of acts committed against the physical and moral integrity of minors become even more grave. (CCC 2351-2359, 2396)
             (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.492)
 

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(August 6) Feast of the Transfiguration

 

 

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At the time of temptation think of the Love that awaits you in heaven: foster the virtue of hope — this is not a lack of generosity.
                                                               (The Way, no.139)

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Although it says only “you shall not commit adultery” why does the sixth commandment forbid all sins against chastity?

Although the biblical text of the Decalogue reads “you shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14), the Tradition of the Church comprehensively follows the moral teachings of the Old and New Testaments and considers the sixth commandment as encompassing all sins against chastity. (CCC 2336 )
                              (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.493)
 

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Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time II

(August 7)  Pope St. Sixtus  (XYSTUS).  Elected 31 Aug., 257, martyred at Rome, 6 Aug., 258. His origin is unknown. The "Liber Pontificalis" says that he was a Greek by birth, but this may be a mistake, originating from the false assumption that he was identical with a Greek philosopher of the same name, who was the author of the so-called "Sentences" of Xystus. During the pontificate of his predecessor, St. Stephen, a sharp dispute had arisen between Rome and the African and Asiatic Churches, concerning the rebaptism of heretics, which had threatened to end in a complete rupture between Rome and the Churches of Africa and Asia Minor. Sixtus II, whom Pontius (Vita Cyprian, cap. xiv) styles a good and peaceful priest (bonus et pacificus sacerdos), was more conciliatory than St. Stephen and restored friendly relations with these Churches, though, like his predecessor, he upheld the Roman usage of not rebaptizing heretics.
    Shortly before the pontificate of Sixtus II the Emperor Valerian issued his first edict of persecution, which made it binding upon the Christians to participate in the national cult of the pagan gods and forbade them to assemble in the cemeteries, threatening with exile or death whomsoever was found to disobey the order. In some way or other, Sixtus II managed to perform his functions as chief pastor of the Christians without being molested by those who were charged with the execution of the imperial edict. But during the first days of August, 258, the emperor issued a new and far more cruel edict against the Christians, the import of which has been preserved in a letter of St. Cyprian to Successus, the Bishop of Abbir Germaniciana (Ep. lxxx). It ordered bishops, priests, and deacons to be summarily put to death ("episcopi et presbyteri et diacones incontinenti animadvertantur"). Sixtus II was one of the first to fall a victim to this imperial enactment ("Xistum in cimiterio animadversum sciatis VIII. id. Augusti et cum eo diacones quattuor"—Cyprian, Ep. lxxx). In order to escape the vigilance of the imperial officers he assembled his flock on 6 August at one of the less-known cemeteries, that of Prætextatus, on the left side of the Appian Way, nearly opposite the cemetery of St. Callistus. While seated on his chair in the act of addressing his flock he was suddenly apprehended by a band of soldiers. There is some doubt whether he was beheaded forthwith, or was first brought before a tribunal to receive his sentence and then led back to the cemetery for execution. The inscription which Pope Damasus (366-84) placed on his tomb in the cemetery of St. Callistus may be interpreted in either sense. The entire inscription is to be found in the works of St. Damasus (P.L., XIII, 383-4, where it is wrongly supposed to be an epitaph for Pope Stephen I), and a few fragments of it were discovered at the tomb itself by de Rossi (Inscr. Christ., II, 108). The "Liber Pontificalis" mentions that he was led away to offer sacrifice to the gods ("ductus ut sacrificaret demoniis"—I, 155).
        St. Cyprian states in the above-named letter, which was written at the latest one month after the martyrdom of Sixtus, that "the prefects of the City were daily urging the persecution in order that, if any were brought before them, they might be punished and their property confiscated". The pathetic meeting between St. Sixtus II and St. Lawrence, as the former was being led to execution, of which mention is made in the unauthentic "Acts of St. Lawrence" as well as by St. Ambrose (Officiorum, lib. I, c. xli, and lib. II, c. xxviii) and the poet Prudentius (Peristephanon, II), may be a mere legend. Entirely contrary to truth is the statement of Prudentius (ibid., lines 23-26) that Sixtus II suffered martyrdom on the cross, unless by an unnatural trope the poet uses the specific word cross ("Jam Xystus adfixus cruci") for martyrdom in general, as Duchesne and Allard (see below) suggest. Four deacons, Januarius, Vincentius, Magnus, and Stephanus, were apprehended with Sixtus and beheaded with him at the same cemetery. Two other deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus, suffered martyrdom on the same day. The feast of St. Sixtus II and these six deacons is celebrated on 6 August, the day of their martyrdom. The remains of Sixtus were transferred by the Christians to the papal crypt in the neighbouring cemetery of St. Callistus. Behind his tomb was enshrined the bloodstained chair on which he had been beheaded. An oratory (Oratorium Xysti) was erected above the cemetery of St. Prætextatus, at the spot where he was martyred, and was still visited by pilgrims of the seventh and the eighth century.
        For some time Sixtus II was believed to be the author of the so-called "Sentences", or "Ring of Sixtus", originally written by a Pythagorean philosopher and in the second century revised by a Christian. This error arose because in his introduction to a Latin translation of these "Sentences". Rufinus ascribes them to Sixtus of Rome, bishop and martyr. It is certain that Pope Sixtus II is not their author (see Conybeare, "The Ring of Pope Xystus now first rendered into English, with an historical and critical commentary", London, 1910). Harnack (Texte und Untersuchungen zur altchrist. Literatur, XIII, XX) ascribes to him the treatise "Ad Novatianum", but his opinion has been generally rejected (see Rombold in "Theol. Quartalschrift", LXXII, Tübingen, 1900). Some of his letters are printed in P.L., V, 79-100. A newly discovered letter was published by Conybeare in "English Hist. Review", London, 1910. (Saints)

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Scripture today:  Numbers 12:1-13;  Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 6cd-7, 12-13; Matthew 14:22-36

Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.” After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When the men of that place recognized him, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought to him all those who were sick and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak, and as many as touched it were healed. (Matthew 14:22-36)

Who is there is all of history who can compare with Christ in his power and goodness? For instance, I am not aware of anyone in all of history who is recorded as having done what Jesus did on the occasion narrated in our Gospel of today. Our Lord, having dismissed the crowds, directed his disciples to go across the sea to the other side. He then went up the mountain to pray alone in the Spirit with his heavenly Father. Then “during the fourth watch of the night” he walked on the sea towards them in the midst of the wind and the tossing waves. Presumably there was moonlight, and what a spectacle for the disciples to behold! Think of the mightiest personages in the history of the world. Who of them have done this — not to mention the many other prodigies worked by Christ! But now, gaze upon him. There he stands speaking to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” (Matthew 14:22-36) What a voice to come to them from the midst of the sea, the waves, the darkness and the wind! Simon Peter appeals to Jesus in his impetuous and sinking faith and is sustained by the calm and strong hand of Christ who helps him, from the sea, back into the boat. The overwhelming impression that Christ gives to his disciples is of power, the power to be with them in any difficult circumstance and the power to save. It is the very power of Yahweh whose name means, I am I, the one who is and who is there with you. How similar to the words of Yahweh to Moses at the Burning Bush (“I am!”) are our Lord’s own words to his disciples from the midst of the wind and the waves: “It is I.” I am the ultimate source of strength and security, the one firm rock of all that is,  the one who is always with you and on whom you can rely. There is no need to fear, for I am with you. Therefore I bid you, do not be afraid. Christ’s words from the storm ought be our stay whatever life may bring. The one thing that will lead us to sink is if we do not believe them.

Christ enters the boat having helped Simon back into it, and takes his place. The wind forthwith dies down. Christ is lord not only of sickness and human afflictions but of the world and its unruly elements. It is a pointer to what he will say after his glorification following his resurrection, that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him. He takes his seat in the boat and his disciples in wonderment and veneration before him proclaim him as being truly the Son of God. Christ accepts the title for that is who he is. This man, so accessible, so humble, so meek, so compassionate and loving, is the living God in all its literal truth. He is the Powerful One. He is the one God, though not the Father who is also the one God. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and he has come to be with afflicted man amidst the storms of his precarious existence so beset with sin. He comes with the message man longs to hear: “Courage, it is I. Do not be afraid!” When we fail to believe he says to us, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Modern secular man does doubt, and doubts profoundly. Peter sank because he did not believe. If we do not believe, we shall sink also. We must appeal to Christ as the One who is most real, who is really out there and yet so very near. Christ is a fact, and the facts of our Gospel account of today were witnessed. I read an article once by a (a theist) professor of Philosophy who stated in passing that pure philosophy brings little that is certain. That was an interesting admission and one that I would cavil at. But it reminds us that Christianity is not a philosophical or religious theory. It is a religion based on hard facts, facts that happened. These facts were witnessed and the Christian accepts the testimony of the witnesses because it is trustworthy. The unique person of Jesus is the heart of the Christian religion, and he is a fact, and we have some of those facts in our Gospel passage today. Our faith in the midst of troubles is based on the hard fact of Jesus.
 
Let us place ourselves daily in the scenes of the Gospel and exult in the person of Jesus who is portrayed there in all his living reality. This same Jesus lives now and he is present with us above all in the Church his body. This Church, founded on the Apostles gathered around the Master, offers to everyone abundant access to the person and blessings of Jesus her head and bridegroom. Let us look to him always, hearing his consoling words, “Courage. It is I. Do not be afraid!”
                                                                                      (E.J.Tyler)

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Whatever happens, there is no need to worry as long as you don't consent. For only the will can open the door of the heart and let that corruption in.
                                                          (The Way, no.140)

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        What is the responsibility of civil authority in regard to chastity?
Insofar as it is bound to promote respect for the dignity of the person, civil authority should seek to create an environment conducive to the practice of chastity. It should also enact suitable legislation to prevent the spread of the grave offences against chastity mentioned above, especially in order to protect minors and those who are the weakest members of society. (CCC 2354)
                          (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.494)
 

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Wednesday of the eighteenth week of Ordinary Time II

(August 8) Blessed Mary MacKilllop 1842 — 1909 (Australia)  On January 15, 1842 Mary MacKillop was born of Scottish parents, Alexander MacKillop and Flora MacDonald in Fitzroy, Victoria. This was less than seven years after Faulkner sailed up the Yarra, when Elizabeth Street was a deep gully and Lonsdale Street was still virgin bush. A plaque in the footpath now marks the place of her birth in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Mary, the eldest of eight children, was well educated by her father who spent some years studying for the priesthood in Rome but through ill health had returned to his native Scotland until 1835 when he migrated to Australia with his parents. Unfortunately, he lacked financial awareness, so the family was often without a home of their own, depending on friends and relatives and frequently separated from one another. From the age of sixteen, Mary earned her living and greatly supported her family, as a governess, as a clerk for Sands and Kenny (now Sands and MacDougall), and as a teacher at the Portland school. While acting as a governess to her uncle's children at Penola, Mary met Father Julian Tenison Woods who, with a parish of 22,000 square miles/56,000 square kilometres, needed help in the religious education of children in the outback. At the time Mary's family depended on her income so she was not free to follow her dream. However, in 1866, greatly inspired and encouraged by Father Woods, Mary opened the first Saint Joseph's School in a disused stable in Penola.
    Young women came to join Mary, and so the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph was begun. In 1867, Mary was asked by Bishop Shiel to come to Adelaide to start a school. From there, the Sisters spread, in groups to small outback settlements and large cities around Australia, New Zealand, and now in Peru, Brazil and refugee camps of Uganda and Thailand. Mary and these early Sisters, together with other Religious Orders and Lay Teachers of the time, had a profound influence on the forming of Catholic Education as we have come to know and experience it today. She also opened Orphanages, Providences to care for the homeless and destitute both young and old, and Refuges for ex-prisoners and ex-prostitutes who wished to make a fresh start in life. Throughout her life, Mary met with opposition from people outside the Church and even from some of those within it. In the most difficult of times she consistently refused to attack those who wrongly accused her and undermined her work, but continued in the way she believed God was calling her and was always ready to forgive those who wronged her.
     Throughout her life Mary suffered ill health. She died on August 8, 1909 in the convent in Mount Street, North Sydney where her tomb is now enshrined. Since then the Congregation has grown and now numbers about 1200, working mainly in Australia and New Zealand but also scattered singly or in small groups around the world. The "Brown Joeys" may be seen in big city schools, on dusty bush tracks, in modern hospitals, in caravans, working with the "little ones" of God — the homeless, the new migrant, the Aboriginal, the lonely and the unwanted, in direct care and in advocacy, in standing with and in speaking with. In their endeavours to reverence the human dignity of others and to change unjust structures, the Sisters and those many others who also share the Mary MacKillop spirit continue the work which she began. This great Australian woman inspired great dedication to God's work in the then new colonies. In today's world, she stands as an example of great courage and trust in her living out of God's loving and compassionate care of those in need. (Saints)

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Scripture: Num 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35; Ps 106:6-7ab, 13-14, 21-23; Mat 15: 21-28

At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. (Matthew 15: 21-28)

It is especially when things are difficult that the ways of God seem incomprehensible. It was when the just man Job was struck with afflictions of all kinds that the problem of God and his ways bore down on him. Why is God allowing all this, since — if — he is the good God? It is a question which rises from the heart of man from generation to generation. What is to be said of 9/11, the great terrorist attack in the United States that destroyed the lives of thousands in a matter of moments? There is so much bewildering suffering borne by so many people who may not question the existence or goodness of God, but whose ways are a mystery to them. In the case of others, this unexplained suffering tempts them to reject God and they often do reject him. Others cannot understand how it is that God seems to ignore their prayers for relief. Terrorists capture a group of innocent tourists or aid workers and demand the release of their own people by the authorities. If they are not released they will begin executing the hostages. Full of anguish the families of those captured pray to God for the release of their hostage relatives. The terrorists begin executing them because their demands are not met. What was God doing in all of this? He was there, so why did he not stop it because, after all, he is God? In the case of so many persons in so many different situations of difficulty, God seems to make no difference despite all their prayers. It is the problem the apparent silence of God in the face of evil. To some God seems to be dead, and to others he seems to be strangely absent. To others he seems not to care. Others do not doubt the presence and goodness of God but it truly tests their faith. Can the Gospel portrayal of Jesus throw some light on God’s apparent lack of response to human need, and to his lack of response to prayer for help? 

This question cannot be answered in a few lines. Cardinal Newman in his Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1864) openly acknowledges the daunting problem of evil and states that were it not for the instinctive and unmistakable testimony of his conscience assuring him of the reality of God, the problem of evil would probably have led him into unbelief. Well then, does our Gospel passage of today help us in any way? Consider the setting (Matthew 15: 21-28). Christ has sought a temporary respite from his public ministry by going with his disciples to a Gentile territory, that of Tyre and Sidon. It was not his intention to engage in ministry at that point. That is to say, it was in the plan of God to leave untouched by miracles the needs of those who were suffering in that region. But somehow word reached the ears of the desperate Canaanite woman and she pursued our Lord refusing to accept any rejection. Our Lord answered her not a word. On this occasion he was silent in the face of need and requests. Why was this? We are not told. In view of the upshot we can say that he was testing her. But also, in view of his prior intention, it was simply not our Lord’s intention to engage here and now in the healing ministry that was part and parcel of his mission to the House of Israel. Furthermore, he was sent only to the chosen people. He would reach the Gentiles in due course through the activity of his Church. So for various reasons our Lord was silent before the pleas of the crying woman and neither the woman nor our Lord’s disciples understood his reasons. The lesson is that there are various reasons — known only to him — why from generation to generation our Lord remains seemingly silent before the pleas of this or that suffering man, woman or society, for whom he died on the cross. But what did the Gentile woman do in the face of this silence? She did not simply give up and leave full of disappointment and resentment. She kept up her petitions. Her clamours increased because she knew that our Lord was powerful and very good. Our Lord joyfully gave in, and commended the woman for her great faith. She was persistent and her wish was granted. 

There is no one answer to the problem of evil, and what happened in the case of the Canaanite woman here is not the way God necessarily works in all cases. But our Lord does teach elsewhere in the Gospel that we are to pray unceasingly and never lose heart. In her own way that is what the woman of our scene did. The message is that if we pray to God perseveringly and not lose heart he will answer our prayers not necessarily in the way we have asked, but in a way that will surprise and truly benefit us. He is our loving Father.

                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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You seem to hear a voice within you saying. 'That religious prejudice!' And then the eloquent defence of all the weaknesses of our poor fallen flesh: 'Its rights!'

When this happens, tell the enemy that there is a natural law and a law of God... and God! And also hell.
                                         (The Way, no.141)

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          What are the goods of conjugal love to which sexuality is ordered?
The goods of conjugal love, which for those who are baptized is sanctified by the sacrament of Matrimony, are unity, fidelity, indissolubility, and an openness to the procreation of life. (CCC  2360-2361, 2397-2398)
                  (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.495)
 

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Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time II

(August 9) St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) (1891-1942)
       A brilliant philosopher who stopped believing in God when she was 14, Edith Stein was so captivated by reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a spiritual journey that led to her Baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Teresa by becoming a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), Edith abandoned Judaism in her teens. As a student at the University of Göttingen, she became fascinated by phenomenology, an approach to philosophy. Excelling as a protégé of Edmund Husserl, one of the leading phenomenologists, Edith earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1916. She continued as a university teacher until 1922 when she moved to a Dominican school in Speyer; her appointment as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure from the Nazis. After living in the Cologne Carmel (1934-38), she moved to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands. The Nazis occupied that country in 1940. In retaliation for being denounced by the Dutch bishops, the Nazis arrested all Dutch Jews who had become Christians. Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on August 9, 1942. Pope John Paul II (himself with a background in phenomenology) beatified Teresa Benedicta in 1987 and canonized her in 1998.
    The writings of Edith Stein fill 17 volumes, many of which have been translated into English. A woman of integrity, she followed the truth wherever it led her. After becoming a Catholic, Edith continued to honour her mother’s Jewish faith. Sister Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D. , translator of several of Edith’s books, sums up this saint with the phrase, “Learn to live at God’s hands.” In his homily at the canonization Mass, Pope John Paul II said: “Because she was Jewish, Edith Stein was taken with her sister Rosa and many other Catholics and Jews from the Netherlands to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, where she died with them in the gas chambers. Today we remember them all with deep respect. A few days before her deportation, the woman religious had dismissed the question about a possible rescue: ‘Do not do it! Why should I be spared? Is it not right that I should gain no advantage from my Baptism? If I cannot share the lot of my brothers and sisters, my life, in a certain sense, is destroyed.’” Addressing himself to the young people gathered for the canonization, the pope said: “Your life is not an endless series of open doors! Listen to your heart! Do not stay on the surface but go to the heart of things! And when the time is right, have the courage to decide! The Lord is waiting for you to put your freedom in his good hands.” (Saints)
 (Let it be noted that, as mentioned above, the occasion for Edith’s deportation and that of numerous others was the denunciation of the Nazis by the Dutch bishops. In view of this course of events the saintly Pius XII was urged to be prudent in the matter of denunciation of the Nazi regime lest it lead to a further great loss of life. He ought never be simplistically blamed for refraining from rashly doing what had already proved to be harmful.)

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Scripture today:   Numbers 20:1-13;      Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9;      Matthew 16:13-23

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” (Matthew 16:13-23)
                     
Consider the great personages of human history and ask yourself, whose claims are the most arresting and who, more than anyone in history, must each person make a decision over? There are some who have dominated the stage in a political, military, economic or literary sense and yet about whose identity there is no issue or question. Take Alexander the Great, or Julius Caesar, or Aristotle, or any one of a number of great figures of the past, and of course they have come and gone. They do not claim the loyalty of our hearts and there is no discussion as to their ultimate personal authority. The case is somewhat different with certain outstanding religious figures who have initiated entire religions. A religion necessarily commands the soul of its adherent. Consider Zoroaster, or Buddha, or Confucius, or Mahomet, and many other founders of religious traditions and movements who have lived since them. Their persons live on in their teachings and legacies and they command the allegiance of the hearts of their followers who choose to shape their lives according to their doctrine and example. But who is there among this select category of persons in human history whose claims transcend all others, and the quality of whose life no one can dismiss? The one that stands out is Jesus Christ. Mahomet made claims  to a unique revelation — although to many observers it appears clear that his religious experiences were interpreted in dependence on elements of Christian and especially Jewish revelation. Islam claims for Mahomet the status of greatest of prophets, but — incidentally — was that Mahomet’s own claim, or that of those who followed him? Whatever of that aside, the claims of Jesus Christ transcend all others as does the moral stature of his person. His figure, as presented by those who witnessed him and as presented by the great Tradition about him, is the most arresting of all. It all means at least this that, if one professes to seek the truth, one must turn to consider the person of Jesus Christ. 

Ponder on the Gospel passage of today in which our Lord directly asks the question which, because of his own greatness, may be asked in any generation. “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” This question cries out for an answer because one’s whole life is at stake in it as is the life of nations. We can ask the same question of the greatest of philosophers, writers, economists, statesmen and military commanders and the answer is given as to his identity without more ado. Not so with Jesus Christ. The disciples give our Lord various answers that can be expected of any era: basically that he is a great religious teacher and leader, one who is in touch with God and who gives God’s word to mankind. In a word, that he is a true and great prophet. Plenty of persons before him laid successful claim to being a prophet, but for Christ this was in no way the answer to his question.  “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father” (Matthew 16:13-23). Christ claimed to be the promised Messiah and the very Son of the living God. He came bearing in his own person the kingdom of heaven which is God’s lordship over men. He now moves to establish his Church on a visible rock as the means for all to attain entry into this divine kingdom. Simon is that rock and to him Christ gives the keys to this kingdom. Everything is at stake here. All this means that every person must take seriously the person of Jesus Christ for his claims are utterly unique and carry enormous ramifications. By implication each must take seriously the Kingdom he claimed to establish here on earth, the Church  he built as the means to access this Kingdom, and the one rock on whom Christ built his Church and to whom he gave the keys. Our Gospel passage of today is such that the person of Christ cannot be taken casually. Everything hinges around and on him.

Let us place ourselves in the company of the living risen Jesus to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given. He is Lord of lords and King of kings. His empire will never be destroyed. Each of us can say with Thomas after the resurrection that he is “my Lord and my God.” There is no one like him and as St Paul writes, in him is to be found every heavenly blessing. Let us then cast our whole lot with him and allow nothing to lead us from him.
                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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“On this rock I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:13-23)
  St Leo the Great (? –461), Pope and Doctor of the Church (Anniversary of his Ordination as Bishop)

     Brothers, when it comes to fulfilling my duties as bishop, I discover that I am  weak and slack, weighed down by the weakness of my own condition, while at the same time, I want to act generously and courageously. However, I draw my strength from the untiring intercession of the almighty and eternal Priest who, like us but equal to the Father, lowered his divinity to the level of man and raised humankind to the level of God. The decisions he made give me a just and holy joy. For when he delegated many pastors to care for his flock, he did not abandon watching over his beloved sheep. Thanks to that fundamental and eternal help, I in turn have received the protection and support of the apostle Peter, who also does not abandon his function. This solid foundation, on which the whole of the Church is built, never grows tired of carrying the whole weight of the building that rests on it.

      The firmness of faith, for which the first of the apostles was praised, never fails. Just as everything that Peter professed in Christ remains, so what Christ established in Peter remains… The order willed by God’s truth remains. Saint Peter perseveres in the solidity that he received; he has not abandoned the governance of the Church, which was placed in his hands. That, my brothers, is what that profession of faith inspired by God the Father obtained in the heart of the apostle. He received the solidity of a rock, which no assault can shake. In the entire Church, Peter says every day: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

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'Domine! — Lord — si vis, potes me mundare, — if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.'

What a beautiful prayer for you to say often, with the faith of the poor leper, when there happens to you what God and you and I know! You will not have to wait long to hear the Master's reply: 'Volo, mundare! I will: be thou made clean!'
                           (The Way, no.142)

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                    What is the meaning of the conjugal act?
The conjugal act has a twofold meaning: unitive (the mutual self-giving of the spouses) and procreative (an openness to the transmission of life). No one may break the inseparable connection which God has established between these two meanings of the conjugal act by excluding one or the other of them. (CCC 2362-2367)
                      (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.496)
 

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Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr

(Friday of the eighteenth week of Ordinary Time II)

(August 10) Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr   Saint Lawrence was one of seven deacons who were in charge of giving help to the poor and the needy. When a persecution broke out, Pope St. Sixtus was condemned to death. As he was led to execution, Lawrence followed him weeping, "Father, where are you going without your deacon?" he said. "I am not leaving you, my son," answered the Pope. "in three days you will follow me." Full of joy, Lawrence gave to the poor the rest of the money he had on hand and even sold expensive vessels to have more to give away. The Prefect of Rome, a greedy pagan, thought the Church had a great fortune hidden away. So he ordered Lawrence to bring the Church's treasure to him. The Saint said he would, in three days. Then he went through the city and gathered together all the poor and sick people supported by the Church. When he showed them to the Prefect, he said: "This is the Church's treasure!" In great anger, the Prefect condemned Lawrence to a slow, cruel death. The Saint was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted his flesh little by little, but Lawrence was burning with so much love of God that he almost did not feel the flames. In fact, God gave him so much strength and joy that he even joked. "Turn me over," he said to the judge. "I'm done on this side!" And just before he died, he said, "It's cooked enough now." Then he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus and that the Catholic Faith might spread all over the world. After that, he went to receive the martyr's reward. Saint Lawrence's feast day is August 10th. (Saints)

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Scripture today:   2 Corinthians 9:6-10;     Psalm 112:1-2, 5-6, 7-8, 9;       John 12:24-26

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honour whoever serves me.”  (John 12:24-26)

The outstanding twentieth century preacher, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, used to write that Christ was born in order to die. He was pointing out that Christ’s death was the supreme goal of his life and the principal means of attaining his redemptive mission for it was precisely by his death that he expiated for mankind’s sin. We could perhaps say that just as the high point of a plant’s life is its production of its flower, so is the high point of mankind’s history the death and resurrection of Christ. That is mankind’s flower, its greatest achievement and its most acceptable offering to God. There is nothing more beautiful that has been done and its fragrance permeates the history of the peoples and rises continually to the highest heavens. It has also transformed the meaning of death and has made of death the greatest manifestation of love, a love from which flows life. While as St Paul says death is the wage of sin, I would suggest that the death of Christ also throws light on why God permits death to abound, and our Lord alludes to this in his reference to the grain of wheat falling to the ground. The grain of wheat dies and produces fruit. Consider all of life. Those things that live have their lives snatched from them in order that others things may live. The living grass is eaten by the deer, and so it dies in order that the deer may live. Its life is unthinkingly sacrificed for the sake of the other — a dim reflection of the love that is the Creator, and a dim reflection of the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross in order that we may live. The deer, having eaten of the grass and the herbs, is killed and eaten by the lion or the tiger. It too, then, is sacrificed in order that the other may live. The lion is then perhaps killed by man for his own purposes. This difficult pattern could be seen as an ubiquitous cruelty, or it could be seen as an all-pervasive reflection in creation of the life of sacrificial love that is God, a love revealed in the life and death of Jesus Christ. What of man? He finds his truest happiness in pouring out his life in the service of others. Sacrificial love, I suggest, is the ultimate meaning of Nature’s pattern and that pattern reflects the Revelation that has come from God in Christ.

Our Lord asks us to look at the grain of wheat and observe how it dies to produce its fruit. He says that “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life” (John 12:24-26). We often see our Lord using dramatic and picturesque language to make his point forcefully. He says we must “hate” our life in order to preserve it, which is to say we must act towards our life in the way one might act towards something he hates. If a person hates something he does away with it. So too does the person who truly loves his life: he does away with it — he gives it up — out of love for God and others. The heart and soul of such a life is the following of Jesus the Master. “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honour whoever serves me” (John 12:24-26). Every day the one who has placed his faith in Jesus and who wishes to be his friend and servant sets out to follow him in his self-sacrificial death. We are called to make of our daily life a sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ. We do this by our prayer and by our work. The great St Benedict was the founder of Western monasticism, and as such he was one of the great founders of Christian Europe for the monasteries were decisive in gradually forging an all-pervasive Christian culture. He provides us with a great example for our day when the Church has been calling on all to be part of a new evangelization. Now St Benedict’s proposals (as in his Rule) hinged on the life of prayer and work and it is through our daily prayer and our daily work, each pervading the other, that our self-denying following of Christ will be lived out. It is through our prayer and our work that the grain that is each of us in Christ falls to the ground and dies, and in the process bears fruit. It is by prayer, expiation and work that Christ lives in us and we in him.

A great modern saint for the laity was the Spanish priest St Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer. He strove to teach the laity that they are called to be saints in the world of their everyday work. Through our prayerful and expiatory work we share in Christ’s sacrificial death and in this way the fruit of sanctity, sanctity in oneself and sanctity in the other, flowers to the glory of God.
                                                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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To defend his purity, Saint Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow, Saint Benedict threw himself into a thorn bush, Saint Bernard plunged into an icy pond... You..., what have you done?
                                     (The Way, no.143)

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     When is it moral to regulate births?

The regulation of births, which is an aspect of responsible fatherhood and motherhood, is objectively morally acceptable when it is pursued by the spouses without external pressure; when it is practised not out of selfishness but for serious reasons; and with methods that conform to the objective criteria of morality, that is, periodic continence and use of the infertile periods. (CCC 2368-2369, 2399)
                       (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.497)
 

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Saturday of the eighteenth week of Ordinary Time

(August 11) Saint Clare, virgin Clare was born in 1193 to the wealthiest and most powerful family in Assisi. Yet she longed for more than earthly riches. She spent most of her youth serving the needs of others and giving food to the poor. By the age of sixteen, Clare knew that she wanted to become the bride of Christ. She shared her longing for holiness with Francis di Bernardone, who has recently given up his frivolous ways and had embraced a life of Gospel simplicity. For two years Clare was counseled by Francis. Then, on Palm Sunday in her eighteenth year, Clare left her family home forever and joined the poor men of Assisi. Francis greeted her at the chapel of the St. Mary of the Angels and Clare consecrated herself to the Lord. Soon other women came to join Clare in her desire to live the poverty of Christ. A community of sisters formed at the tiny sanctuary of San Damiano, where Clare remained in contemplation and service until her death in 1253 at the age of 60. The community continued to grow and many new monasteries of "Poor Clares" have been established throughout the world. Saint Clare of Assisi was canonized two years after her death. In 1958, she was named by Pope Pius XII as the "patroness of television" in honour of a particular vision that she had one Christmas Eve.(Saints)

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 Scripture today:  Deuteronomy 6:4-13;   Psalm 18:2-4, 47 and 51;    Matthew 17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:14-20)

For a considerable length of time there has been an assumption among numerous circles of thought that there is only one valid way of coming to know something with certitude, and that is through what we might call demonstration. Positions have to be scientifically or mathematically demonstrated before one can be sure of their truth. This is seen to be the true process of “reason” and if one is to be “reasonable” and “rational” then one’s convictions need to be entirely “demonstrable” in a “scientific” or mathematical sense. This view of the truly reasonable approach to truth and its requirements is an assumption requiring justification. What is to be said of other forms and instances of certitude, certitudes that are well grounded and that do not involve demonstration? A husband might be certain of his wife’s love for him and her love for his children and this certain knowledge is the foundation of most of his life’s activities. His faith in her is sure. He would be at a loss to demonstrate scientifically either to himself or to others this certitude he has — and he would regard it as laughable that he would have to do so. But much more seriously, this assumption as to the requirements of certain and valid knowledge has ominous implications for religion and the knowledge of God and his will. It can set up a profound prejudice against faith. Many discount faith as valid knowledge and behind these dismissals lurk entire philosophies which discount faith, and in particular religious faith. For instance, for the best part of the twentieth century Marxism dominated the regimes of many countries and despite its fall in Russia and other countries of Easter Europe, it still commands the allegiance of the government of China and other countries such as Cuba. Religion is despised in the Marxist system and those who perpetrate these oppressions consider that they are enlightened and rational. In the name of reason faith is not allowed and, indeed, is hated.

The true relationship between faith and reason is a vast topic, and the Church has a body of teaching on the subject. Pope John Paul II pronounced on it in his Encyclical Fides et Ratio and Pope Benedict discussed it in his outstanding speech at Regensburg in September of 2006, a speech which the University of Turbingen voted as being the greatest speech anywhere in the world of that year. The point of my raising this matter, though, is that in our Gospel today our Lord insists on the crucial importance of faith. If one is ever to be his disciple, if one is ever to act as his disciple and ambassador, if one is ever to do the good and great things God wants to see done, faith in him is necessary. We must believe in his person and assent to his word. A man came to our Lord asking him to cure his son, saying that his own disciples were not able to. Our Lord’s response? “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” There and then he cured the boy, and went on to tell his disciples that they were unable to cast out the demon because of their little faith. “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:14-20) Throughout the Gospel accounts we see our Lord asking for faith. The problem he constantly encountered and which restricted his work was the lack of faith. He asked people to observe what he was like and what he was doing, his own goodness and his miracles and good works, and to place their total faith in him. This faith is entirely reasonable, and yet it is faith. Christ makes it clear that we shall make no headway in the Kingdom of God which he brings in his own person unless we place our faith in him. We must accept his person and his claims, we must accept as a result his word and his teaching and do so totally. So critical is faith in relation to the Christian religion that if we have faith then in respect to God’s plans for us “nothing will be impossible for you”.

Let us pray for the fundamental gift of faith and to be rid of all notions that can prejudice us against it. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit inclining us to place our faith in the person of Jesus and his word. The Holy Spirit supports this faith and from this act flows a steadfast hope and love and it becomes the rock on which the edifice of our Christian life is built. It is the foundation of holiness and fidelity to Jesus in the midst of sufferings. Let us be very aware of the high importance of faith in knowing and loving Christ. It places us in Christ now and will blossom  in eternal life in him hereafter.
                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

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The spotless purity of John's whole life makes him strong before the Cross. The other apostles fly from Golgotha: he, with the Mother of Christ, remains.

Don't forget that purity strengthens and invigorates the character.
                                                   (The Way, no.144)

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           What are immoral means of birth control?
Every action — for example, direct sterilization or contraception — is intrinsically immoral which (either in anticipation of the conjugal act, in its accomplishment or in the development of its natural consequences) proposes, as an end or as a means, to hinder procreation. (CCC 2370-2372)
                     (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.498)

 

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Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Prayers this week:    Lord,  be true to your covenant, forget not the life of your poor ones for ever.
                  Rise up, O God, and defend your cause; do  not ignore the shouts of your enemies. (Ps 73:20.19.22.23)
                              
            Almighty and ever-living God, your Spirit made us your children, confident to call you Father.
                        Increase your Spirit within us and bring us to our promised inheritance.
        We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God.

(August 12) St. Euplius  On August 12, 304 A.D., during the persecution of Diocletian at Catania, in Sicily, a deacon named Euplius was brought to the governor's hall and staunchly professed his faith. With the Book of Gospels in his hand, he was called before the governor Calvisian and commanded to read from it. The saint read the passage: "Blest are they who suffer persecution for justice's sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Euplius then read the passage: "If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Questioned by the governor as to what this meant, the youth replied: "It is the law of my Lord, which has been delivered to me." Calvisian asked: "By whom?" Euplius replied: "By Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God." With that, the governor ordered that he be led away to be tortured. At the height of his torment Euplius was asked if he still persisted in Christianity. The saintly youth answered: "What I said before, I say again: I am a Christian and I read the Sacred Scriptures." The governor realized that he would never give up his faith, and ordered him to be beheaded. St. Euplius died April 29, 304 A.D., praising God all the while. (Saints)

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Scripture today:   Wisdom 18:6-9;   Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-22;  Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19;   Luke 12:32-48

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” (Luke 12:32-48)   

          Of decisive importance for the way we live are our notions. If we have a notion of life that sees a person’s existence as ending at death, then that notion will affect the way we live. I have known elderly people who think that nothing awaits them beyond death, no more than for a dog or any animal. Many people have few religious notions, while others have religious notions that are decisive. A person who has the notion that Mahomet is God’s greatest prophet will live a life very different in many respects from one who is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that Mahomet is in fact not a prophet in the Judaeo-Christian sense. Many of our notions can be hidden from our view because we have not explicitly turned our attention to them, and yet they are at work in our life without our realizing it. One such notion is our understanding of man. To take an obvious example, all of society can be profoundly affected by the death of a group of people in some accident while not at all affected by the death of a much larger number of cattle. Why is this? It is because all understand man to be an essentially different and superior being to the animal. As against the animal man is seen as an end in himself with inherent and inalienable rights. It is actually immensely important that all of society think through its notion of the human person because if this is not done false notions will supplant true ones. This is what is happening in the passing of legislation that allows for experimental research on embryonic stem cells, which is a form of abortion done for the sake of research. At work here is our understanding of man.

         There are notions of man that are perfectly correct and indeed fundamental, but which in the way they are entertained can be inadequate. One of the many fine results of Greek philosophical thought was its notion of man as a rational animal. In this notion the reason (with its accompanying power of choice) is identified as the distinguishing element in man marking him off from other creatures which in other respects are very like him. An enormous amount of important philosophical thought has flowed from this definition of man. However, in a culture and an era when rational thought is often dissociated from morality and religion, this notion can be happily entertained in a way that does not support or open people to ethics and religion. A person can take pride in his power of  thought and choice and as a result regard himself as eminent in his humanity, all the while neglecting his moral and religious sense. Cardinal Newman preferred to emphasize the conscience as the distinguishing feature of man. I would like to suggest a slightly different notion provided it is understood as including man’s rationality and conscience. If we consider the sweep of human history and cultures, yes, we see obvious products of man’s power to reason and to choose, just as we see obvious products of his sense of moral obligation. But very noticeable is his sense of the divine however vague and ill formed it may be. Religion distinguishes human cultures. Consider the work of anthropologists of primal and indigenous societies. Consider the work of archaeologists of past civilizations. Consider the work of sociologists and historians of the various peoples across the centuries and across the world. Religion is one of the most prominent subjects of their researches. At least it is unavoidable. All this is to say that man is shown in his life and works to be a religious being. If he is a rational animal, he is also a religious animal. Religion distinguishes the human being, even if, like his rationality and power of choice, his religious life can be neglected and profoundly deformed.

      All this is to say that in creating man in his own image God has not only given him the power to understand and to choose what is right, but also to want to see and know him. By means of this innate desire for God that characterizes the heart and the mind of man God never ceases to draw man to himself, and we see evidence of this in the cultures and religions of man throughout history. We have been created to find only in God the fullness of our happiness for which we long. This intimate bond with God and our desire and right to know him gives to us our fundamental dignity. This capacity to know God, and to live in and for him marks us off from all other living things in the world. If it is frustrated or unfulfilled, our life will be frustrated and unfulfilled. It means that we ought every day be striving to be on the look-out for God’s presence and his will, and using our innate power of mind and choice above all to know, love and serve him in our everyday life. When we nourish and keep alert our God-given religious sense we are nourishing the deepest roots of our humanity. We nourish this sense by contemplating the world and its dependence on God, and this religious sense blossoms in the consideration of  God’s revelation to us especially in the Jesus his Son our redeemer. In this way we remain open to the presence and comings of Christ into our life. As our Lord says to us in today’s Gospel, “be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.” He tells us that we must “be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (Luke 12,35-40) Let us fan into a very great and unquenchable flame the desire for God he himself has planted within us. It will take us to him and to heaven.
                                                                                                                          (E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.27-35

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The battle front. A group of some twenty officers, singing together in gay and noble comradeship. The songs come quickly, one after another.

That young lieutenant with the brown moustache only heard the first:

'I have no use for divided hearts: I give mine whole, and not in parts.'

'What reluctance to give my whole heart!' And his prayer rose up in a broad and peaceful flow.
                                                     (The Way, no.145)

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         Why are artificial insemination and artificial fertilization immoral?
They are immoral because they dissociate procreation from the act with which the spouses give themselves to each other and so introduce the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Furthermore, heterologous insemination and fertilization with the use of techniques that involve a person other than the married couple infringe upon the right of a child to be born of a father and mother known to him, bound to each other by marriage and having the exclusive right to become parents only through each another. (CCC 2373-2377)
                            (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.499)
 

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Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time II

(August 13) Saints Pontian and Hyppolitus (d. 235)  Both died for the faith after harsh treatment and exhaustion in the mines of Sardinia. One had been pope for five years, the other an antipope for 18. They died reconciled.
     Pontian. Pontian was a Roman who served as pope from 230 to 235. During his reign he held a synod which confirmed the excommunication of the great theologian Origen in Alexandria. Pontian was banished to exile by the Roman emperor in 235, and resigned so that a successor could be elected in Rome. He was sent to the “unhealthy” island of Sardinia, where he died of harsh treatment in 235. With him was Hippolytus (see below) with whom he was reconciled. The bodies of both martyrs were brought back to Rome and buried with solemn rites as martyrs.
     Hippolytus. As a presbyter in Rome, Hippolytus (the name means “a horse turned loose”) was at first “holier than the Church.” He censured the pope for not coming down hard enough on a certain heresy — calling him a tool in the hands of one Callistus, a deacon — and coming close to advocating the opposite heresy himself. When Callistus was elected pope, Hippolytus accused him of being too lenient with penitents, and had himself elected antipope by a group of followers. He felt that the Church must be composed of pure souls uncompromisingly separated from the world, and evidently thought that his group fitted the description. He remained in schism through the reigns of three popes. In 235 he was also banished to the island of Sardinia. Shortly before or after this event, he was reconciled to the Church, and died with Pope Pontian in exile.
     Hippolytus was a rigorist, a vehement and intransigent man for whom even orthodox doctrine and practice were not purified enough. He is, nevertheless, the most important theologian and prolific religious writer before the age of Constantine. His writings are the fullest source of our knowledge of the Roman liturgy and the structure of the Church in the second and third centuries. His works include many Scripture commentaries, polemics against heresies and a history of the world. A marble statue, dating from the third century, representing the saint sitting in a chair, was found in 1551. On one side is inscribed his table for computing the date of Easter, on the other a list of how the system works out until the year 224. Pope John XXIII installed the statue in the Vatican library. Hippolytus was a strong defender of orthodoxy, and admitted his excesses by his humble reconciliation. He was not a formal heretic, but an overzealous disciplinarian. What he could not learn in his prime as a reformer and purist, he learned in the pain and desolation of imprisonment. It was a fitting symbolic event that Pope Pontian shared his martyrdom. Hyppolytus writes, “Christ, like a skillful physician, understands the weakness of men. He loves to teach the ignorant and the erring he turns again to his own true way. He is easily found by those who live by faith; and to those of pure eye and holy heart, who desire to knock at the door, he opens immediately. He does not disdain the barbarian, nor does he set the eunuch aside as no man. He does not hate the female on account of the woman’s act of disobedience in the beginning, nor does he reject the male on account of the man’s transgression. But he seeks all, and desires to save all, wishing to make all the children of God, and calling all the saints unto one perfect man” (Hippolytus, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist). (Saints)

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Scripture today:    Deuteronomy 10:12-22;    Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20;   Matthew 17:22-27

As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were overwhelmed with grief. When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.” (Matthew 17:22-27)

Our Gospel scene opens with Jesus and his disciples — meaning, in the main, the Twelve — gathering in Galilee. Our Lord told them, to their consternation, that “the Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” We are informed elsewhere in the Gospels that our Lord had told his disciples this on other occasions but they had not understood what he meant. They could not imagine that their Master, the long promised Messiah, would have such an end as he had described. But this time, it seems, our Lord’s meaning got through to them. He was to be handed over to his enemies who would put him to death. They  were “were overwhelmed with grief.” (Matthew 17:22-27) It seems too that having understood that our Lord was foretelling his own death, they did not take in his prediction of his resurrection. So then, Christ  was entirely aware of what was coming and he made sure his own disciples were fully aware of it too. We read of great figures of history whose deaths came upon them despite their intentions to the contrary. Vercingetorix, the great Gaulish chieftain who put up such a stout resistance to Julius Caesar, was finally captured, in due course exhibited by Caesar and then executed. Caesar himself was assassinated. Many examples could be given of great personages unable to avoid the death that was imposed on them. The case with Christ, though, is different. Christ possessed a clear foreknowledge of his terrible end. He shared this foreknowledge with his closest disciples. He constantly manifested the power easily to avoid it had he so chosen. But he willed to submit to it, indeed to embrace it. He did so because it was the will of his heavenly Father, and because the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets had predicted that this was the way in which he, the Messiah, would fulfil his mission to save the world from sin and enter into his glory.

There are religions which have flowed from founders who have been successful in a very temporal sense. Mahomet was successful in his influence and in his victories. Now Christ, who displayed supernatural powers and a spiritual authority no other person in history could rival, was unsuccessful in a temporal sense. That is to say, of the many distinctive things about the Christian religion perhaps the doctrine of the Atonement for the world’s sin by Christ dying on the Cross is the most arresting. Christ was born to be finally put to death. His unsuccessful end was the supreme moment of his life. His acceptance and embrace of the death imposed on him because of his personal claims was the greatest of his many great acts. It had cosmic significance for it expiated for the sins of the world and opened the gates of heaven, unleashing the life of God for those who turn in faith to the Redeemer who died for them. That having been said, there is a notable follow-on for his disciples. It is that they too, if they wish to take their stand with him, must follow in his footsteps. The disciples in their grief at hearing the predictions of Christ in respect to his sufferings and death, had to learn that this too was to be their path to sharing in Christ’s glory. The Christian religion is not only a religion which preaches a crucified Christ but it is a religion which expects a crucified Christian. St Paul writes that with Christ I am nailed to the cross. The one who loves Christ and who wishes to follow him closely must pray for the grace to do so because it means drinking a very special cup that is bitter-sweet. On one occasion two of our Lord’s closest disciples approached him and asked that they be given places one at his right and the other at his left in his kingdom. Christ asked if they were ready to drink the cup he had to drink. That is what the Christian religion involves. It means drinking Christ’s chalice, and that chalice is the chalice of suffering. It means embracing the suffering that is involved in doing the will of God and in following the way of Christ.

The cross of Christ is a very notable feature of the Christian religion and it is so easily avoided. It can be avoided in the portrayal of Christ, and it can be avoided in the portrayal of the religion he founded and continually sustains. It can be avoided by the one who wants to take his stand with Jesus. But it must not be avoided. We who are Christians must pray for the grace to embrace with love the cross that is present in everyday life and in the fulfilment of the will of God so that God’s plan in our life may bear abundant fruit.
 
                                                                                    (E.J.Tyler)

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You give me the impression that you are carrying your heart in your hands, as if you were offering goods for sale. Who wants it? If it takes no creature's fancy, you will come and give it to God.

Do you think that is how the saints acted?
                                       (The Way, no.146)

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             How should children be considered?
A child is a gift of God, the supreme gift of marriage. There is no such thing as a right to have children (e.g. “a child at any cost”). But a child does have the right to be the fruit of the conjugal act of its parents as well as the right to be respected as a person from the moment of conception. (CCC 2378)
                   (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.500)
 

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Tuesday of the nineteenth week of Ordinary Time II

(August 14) Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr  St. Maximillian was born in the Poland in 1894. He entered the novitiate of the Conventual Franciscans in 1910. In 1914 and three years later help organized the association The Militia of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. He was ordained in Rome in 1918. In 1922, he began publishing the magazine, "Knight of the Immaculate," first in Polish and then in other languages. In 1927, he began building a whole town with property donated by a wealthy nobleman, called the "Town of the Immaculate," outside of Warsaw. There he began training people with vocations among the laity and prospective Religious and Priests, to become apostles of Mary. The first Marian Missionaries to Japan were trained in the "Town of the Immaculate." In 1930, Maximillian opened a Marian publication apostolate in Nagasaki, Japan one of the two cities in Japan which would later be ravaged by a nuclear bomb during the Second World War. As popes have been saying ever since, God chose His most faithful people as a sacrifice to insure future peace in the world. In 1939, Maximillian was arrested by the Nazis who had taken over Poland and sent to Auschwitz. Two years later, in July of 1941, at Block Fourteen, where Saint Maximilian was being kept, revealed that a prisoner had escaped. The policy was to assemble all the prisoners from the block in the yard where they would stand at attention the whole day. If, by the end of the day, the escapee had not been recovered, ten others would be chosen at random to die in his place. By three o'clock the prisoner was still not found. One of the ten chosen to die was Francis Gajowniczek. Mr. Gajowniczek cried out, "My poor wife, my poor children! What will happen to my family!" That is when Fr. Kolbe came forward, asked to exchange places with Gajowniczek and took the place of the condemned man. Father Kolbe was sent to the starvation bunker. He lead those with him in prayer. After two weeks, he was still alive. On the morning of August 14, 1941 a lethal dose of carbolic acid was injected into him. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982.  (Saints)

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Scripture today:  Deut 31:1-8;   Deut 32:3-4ab, 7-9 and 12;   Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
                                                 
The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” (Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14)

One of the intriguing features of the animal kingdom is the quest for dominance. In a pride of lions the male characteristically dominates and will not tolerate a challenger. If the challenger wins the confrontation it too will not allow another to share the field. The same applies to apes, dogs, wild camels and many other categories of animals driven by the impulse to be at the top — to be, as we say, the “top dog”. The case is not noticeably different within mankind  even though the drive to attain superiority over others is restrained by other factors such as civil legislation. Entire eras of history can be understood as driven by the desire for power and dominance of man over man and, conversely, by the recurring attempt to control this urge by legislation inspired by the rights of each person. It has been the source of immense suffering and is one of the evidences of a profound moral flaw in the human constitution. The revelation of an original sin transmitted to all and impacting on the world throws light on this fundamental feature in history. We can see projections of this dominance in the images of the gods and higher beings of many religions. Consider the myths of the Greek, Roman, Germanic, Nordic and various primal religions, and observe the quest for pride of place among the higher powers to which man has appealed for help. This image of celestial dominance has supported man in his pride before God and men, and its awful fruits reveal it to have a touch of the demonic. But now, how different is the case of revealed religion! While the one and only God allowed no other god to be worshipped, he himself is revealed as compassionate and loving. His intimate friends such as Moses and his servants the prophets are humble. Yahweh will not allow the quest for power and dominance and he stands for the humble and the oppressed. His pattern is to cast aside the proud and to raise up the lowly. That is his love.

How clearly is this shown in the full revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ! While in kingdom after kingdom the desire has been to be the greatest, Christ lays it down that the greatest in his kingdom — the kingdom of God and heaven — is the one who chooses to be lowly like a child. “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1-5). The model and archetype is Christ himself. “Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened,” he tells us elsewhere, “and learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” The great God become man is meek and humble of heart. He who was in the “form of God”, St Paul writes, set that glory aside and became as we are and humbler still, even to dying on a cross. Man desires power and  domination while God reveals himself to be meek and humble and as wanting to serve. Christ is the one who washes people’s feet and therefore the Father is this too because Jesus said that he who sees me sees the Father.  The Holy Spirit is meek and humble also because he is the Spirit of the God who is humble. While our Gospel passage gives us our Lord’s instructions to his disciples, they also reveal the love of his own heart and that of the Father. God is humble and he loves humility. Therefore the revelation of Christ shows that the ascent from the lowest levels of reality to the highest in God is an ascent from pride and dominance to the purest and most perfect humility. It is this humble service that our Lord puts before his disciples and exhorts them to emulate. The Kingdom of heaven on earth is peopled by those who strive to be like him in his humility.

In this sense we must strive to become, as our Lord explains, like little children. Let us recognize in ourselves the fallen impetus for power, dominance and superiority. It may be veiled from the eyes of many others but it is there and were it not for so many constraints it would probably be as evident as that of so many in the past — and with similar fruits. There is the old saying, there go I but for the grace of God. Let us then out of love for Jesus choose his path, the path of humility.
                                                                                       (E.J.Tyler)

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Creatures for you? Creatures for God: if for you, then let it be for God's sake.
                                    (The Way, no.147)

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        What can spouses do when they do not have children?
Should the gift of a child not be given to them, after exhausting all legitimate medical options, spouses can show their generosity by way of foster care or adoption or by performing meaningful services for others. In this way they realize a precious spiritual fruitfulness. (CCC 2379)
                    (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.501)

 

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The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary  C

(August 15) (Pope Pius XII on the Assumption:) In their sermons and speeches on the feast day of the Assumption of the Mother of God, the holy fathers and the great doctors of the church were speaking of something that the faithful already knew and accepted: all they did was to bring it out into the open, to explain its meaning and substance in other terms. Above all, they made it most clear that this feast commemorated not merely the fact that the blessed Virgin Mary did not experience bodily decay, but also her triumph over death and her heavenly glory, following the example of her only Son, Jesus Christ. Thus St John Damascene, who is the greatest exponent of this tradition, compares the bodily Assumption of the revered Mother of God with her other gifts and privileges: It was right that she who had kept her virginity unimpaired through the process of giving birth should have kept her body without decay through death. It was right that she who had given her Creator, as a child, a place at her breast should be given a place in the dwelling-place of her God. It was right that the bride espoused by the Father should dwell in the heavenly bridal chamber. It was right that she who had gazed on her Son on the cross, her heart pierced at that moment by the sword of sorrow that she had escaped at his birth, should now gaze on him seated with his Father. It was right that the Mother of God should possess what belongs to her on and to be honoured by every creature as the God’s Mother and handmaid. St Germanus of Constantinople considered that the preservation from decay of the body of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, and its elevation to heaven as being not only appropriate to her Motherhood but also to the peculiar sanctity of its virgin state: It is written, that you appear in beauty, and your virginal body is altogether holy, altogether chaste, altogether the dwelling-place of God; from which it follows that it is not in its nature to decay into dust, but that it is transformed, being human, into a glorious and incorruptible life, the same body, living and glorious, unharmed, sharing in perfect life. Another very ancient author asserts: Being the most glorious Mother of Christ our savior and our God, the giver of life and immortality, she is given life by him and shares bodily incorruptibility for all eternity with him who raised her from the grave and drew her up to him in a way that only he can understand. All that the holy fathers say refers ultimately to Scripture as a foundation, which gives us the vivid image of the great Mother of God as being closely attached to her divine Son and always sharing his lot. It is important to remember that from the second century onwards the holy fathers have been talking of the Virgin Mary as the new Eve for the new Adam: not equal to him, of course, but closely joined with him in the battle against the enemy, which ended in the triumph over sin and death that had been promised even in Paradise. The glorious resurrection of Christ is essential to this victory and its final prize, but the blessed Virgin’s share in that fight must also have ended in the glorification of her body. For as the Apostle says: When this mortal nature has put on immortality, then the scripture will be fulfilled that says “Death is swallowed up in victory”.
          So then, the great Mother of God, so mysteriously united to Jesus Christ from all eternity by the same decree of predestination, immaculately conceived, an intact virgin throughout her divine motherhood, a noble associate of our Redeemer as he defeated sin and its consequences, received, as it were, the final crowning privilege of being preserved from the corruption of the grave and, following her Son in his victory over death, was brought, body and soul, to the highest glory of heaven, to shine as Queen at the right hand of that same Son, the immortal King of Ages. (Saints)
    (Excerpt from the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII  Munificentissimus Deus (Nov. 1950) which proclaimed the Assumption of Mary as a dogma of faith.)

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Scripture: Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; Psalm 45:10-12, 16; 1 Cor 15:20-27;  Luke 1:39-56

Mary set out and travelled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.” Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. (Luke 1:39-56)

Anyone who understands the Christian religion knows one thing about it, and that is that Jesus Christ is its head and heart. A Jew who studies the Gospels carefully will see that the striking thing about Jesus is his claim about himself. Yahweh is the object of the religion of Israel. Jesus occupies that position in Christianity. Why? Because he himself is Yahweh God made man — not Yahweh God the Father, of course, but Yahweh God the Son. And in him we have access to the Father in the Spirit. Now, while Christ is the centre of Christianity, Christianity includes all who are in him. I remember over thirty years ago sitting in the Ecce Homo hostel in Jerusalem. I met a person from Switzerland there and asked him what he did for a living. He said to me that he was only a tailor, but more importantly that he was a member of Jesus Christ. Now, the one who more than any person who is in Jesus Christ is his holy and blessed Mother. She is the queen mother, the mother of the Messiah, the mother of God the Son made man.

Today is the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary body and soul into heaven at the end of her mortal life. On two occasions during the last two centuries the Catholic Church in the person of the Pope of the day has defined a dogma of the faith in relation to the Virgin Mary. A dogma is an infallible declaration requiring the assent of the faithful that something is divinely revealed. In 1854 Pope Pius IX defined as a dogma that the Virgin Mary was conceived free of original sin. Uniquely for a human person (and Christ was a divine person with a human nature) she was, by the grace of God, untouched by original sin at the beginning of her existence. Nearly a century later, on November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined it as an infallible dogma of the Catholic faith that Mary was taken body and soul into heaven at the end of her mortal life. It is this which we celebrate today. We could say that this dogma of the Assumption speaks of Mary’s pure holiness during the entire course of her life. St Paul writes that the wages of sin are death. Inasmuch as sin never touched her in any sense whatever during the course of her life, so neither did the corruption of death which is the result of sin.

Many things could be said about the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven.  To begin with, it is an instance of a revealed doctrine coming to us not so much in the explicit text of Scripture (as does, say, the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, or the doctrine of the Church’s power to forgive sins), but coming to us in the Church’s Tradition. Prior to the writing of the Gospels and the New Testament Letters, revelation came to the faithful through the Church’s preaching and Tradition. It was this declaration and witness of the Church that brought to the faithful the content of what had been revealed. Its infallible truth was guaranteed by Christ in his gift of the Holy Spirit whose task was to remind the Church of all that Christ had taught and lead her to the full truth. Or again, it was a few centuries before the Church finally declared what was the canon or official list of inspired books of the New Testament. The New Testament itself did not declare this canon. It was the Church’s Tradition. This scriptural canon was accepted by the faithful because the Church, guided by the Spirit of Christ, had so declared. For the same reason the faithful accepts the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, because the Church declares it to be revealed and implied in the content of the Scriptures.

So then, what do we think of when we think of the Assumption into heaven, body and soul, of the Virgin Mary? We think, as I have already said, of Mary’s sinlessness. But we think especially of the power and the goodness of God. It was by his power and grace that so beautiful, so faithful and so perfect in sanctity a person as Mary was the mother of Christ. As she said in her prayer in the presence of Elizabeth, the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name (Luke 1:39-56). She is the mother and the model for every Christian and for the entire Church and we can look to her, glorious now in heaven with her Son, as the radiant embodiment of what we may expect in eternity if we too are faithful to Christ. May I invite you to pray often a simple and very scriptural prayer to Mary the Mother of God. It is the Hail Mary in which we begin by praising what God has done in her, and we end by asking her to pray for us now and at the hour of our death. She has been given to us by Christ to be our mother and our model. She is the Help of Christians. Let us take her into our hearts and abide with her constantly. She is the queen mother and our mother too.

                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

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Why stoop to drink in the pools of worldly consolation when you can quench your thirst in waters that spring up into life everlasting.
                                                      (The Way, no.148)

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           What are the offences against the dignity of marriage?
These are: adultery, divorce, polygamy, incest, free unions (cohabitation, concubinage), and sexual acts before or outside of marriage. (CCC 2380-2391, 2400)
                (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.502)

 

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Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time II

(August 16)  St. Stephen of Hungary (975-1038)      The Church is universal, but its expression is always affected—for good or ill—by local culture. There are no “generic” Christians; there are Mexican Christians, Polish Christians, Filipino Christians. This fact is evident in the life of Stephen, national hero and spiritual patron of Hungary. Born a pagan, he was baptized at about the age of ten, together with his father, chief of the Magyars, a group who migrated to the Danube area in the ninth century. At 20 he married Gisela, sister to the future emperor, St. Henry. When he succeeded his father, Stephen adopted a policy of Christianization of the country for both political and religious reasons. He suppressed a series of revolts by pagan nobles and welded the Magyars into a strong national group. He sent to Rome to get ecclesiastical organization—and also to ask the pope to confer the title of king upon him. He was crowned on Christmas day in 1001. Stephen established a system of tithes to support churches and pastors and to relieve the poor. Out of every 10 towns one had to build a church and support a priest. He abolished pagan customs with a certain amount of violence, and commanded all to marry, except clergy and religious. He was easily accessible to all, especially the poor. In 1031 his son Emeric died, and the rest of his days were embittered by controversy over his successor. His nephews attempted to kill him. He died in 1038 and was canonized, along with his son, in 1083. (Saints)

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Scripture today:   Joshua 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17;    Alleluia!    Matthew 18:21–19:1

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him ten thousand talents. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan. (Matthew 18:21–19:1)
 
One gets the impression that certain religions provide their adherents with little incentive to forgive. The incentive goes in a different direction, such as in the direction of justice. If the priority is justice and if one’s cause is just then injustices of the past must be put right and avenged. The issue hangs largely on the image of the divine for that image will shape one’s life. Pope Benedict’s first Encyclical set forth the nature and image of God revealed by Christ. Christ revealed a God who is love. Christ’s life, his teaching and ministry, and finally his death reveal what this love entails. In parable after parable the love of God our Father — which Christ himself embodies and reveals — is described, and our parable today is a case in point. The master in the parable has owing to him a debt of impossible proportions and his debtor could only implore his master to allow him time. What did the master do? He was moved with compassion at the distress of the servant and set aside the entire debt. He forgave him everything. That is the God and Father whom Christ has revealed, extravagant in his forgiveness beyond imagining. All he asks is genuine repentance. It is the same in other parables. The prodigal son loses his entire heritage in wasteful living and returns to his father looking for employment. The response of the father is overwhelmingly forgiving. He is a father of love. Indeed, this is the teaching of the entire sweep of Scripture. At times it is said that the God of the Old Testament is a God of Justice and wrath. He punishes the wrongdoer while the God of the New Testament is loving and forgives. Not at all. The God of both testaments is the same, a God rich in mercy, compassion and love while holy and refusing to accept sin. The New Testament offers the fullest revelation of the same God and Lord and this revelation is given in the person of Christ. The one true God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is love.

But there is a critically important corollary to this, and it is that we who are God’s children must strive to be like him if we wish to be accepted by him. While our Lord’s parable today describes what God is like, its main purpose is to tell us what we must be like and to give us the incentive to do this. Christianity is a religion which places forgiveness for those who wrong us at the forefront of life. There is no doubt that the servant in the Gospel had reason to feel aggrieved at his fellow servant for not repaying him his debt of one hundred denarii. This was not an insubstantial sum, and we remember that in another of our Lord’s parables the workers were paid one denarius for their day’s work. One hundred denarii in that parable would have been, I suppose, the equivalent of about fourteen weeks’ work. This is what was owed to the servant of the master. But the point of the parable is that he forgot what his master had done for him and what his master was like. His master was compassionate and forgiving, and he, the servant should have striven to be like that too. He should have modelled himself on his master out of gratitude and admiration. Our Lord tells us time and again in the Gospels that we ought strive to be true children of our Father in heaven and we have the perfect revelation of him in his Son Jesus Christ. That is why the Christian way is to imitate Christ. St Paul writes to his readers in one Letter exhorting them to imitate him just as he imitates Christ. In imitating Christ we shall be imitating our heavenly Father. Furthermore our Lord makes very plain that this is not just an exhortation for those who wish to be generous. It is a grave commandment and the failure to comply will bring severe consequences. Our Lord concludes his parable by saying, “then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”  (Matthew 18:21–19:1)

Let us set out each day with the ambition to forgive all injuries, past, present and future. It is the test of true discipleship for the Christian. Our goal ought be to go to God with everyone sincerely forgiven, from the heart. God has loved us so much and forgiven us for so much. Further, we ought always remember that if we do not forgive our brother from the heart, our heavenly Father will not forgive us either. Let us then strive to be true children of the God who has revealed himself to be rich in mercy.
                                                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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Detach yourself from people and things until you are stripped of them. For, says Pope Saint Gregory, the devil has nothing of his own in this world, and naked he comes to battle. If you go clothed to fight him, you will soon be pulled to the ground: for he will have something to catch you by.
                                             (The Way, no.149)

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          What is set forth by the seventh commandment?
The seventh commandment requires respect for the universal destination and distribution of goods and the private ownership of them, as well as respect for persons, their property, and the integrity of creation. The Church also finds in this Commandment the basis for her social doctrine which involves the correct way of acting in economic, social and political life, the right and the duty of human labour, justice and solidarity among nations, and love for the poor. (CCC 2401-2402)
             (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.503)

 

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Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time II

(August 17)  Saint Hyacinth, the glorious apostle of Poland and Russia, was born of noble parents in Poland, about the year 1185. In 1218, being already Canon of Cracow, he accompanied his uncle, the bishop of that place, to Rome. There he met St. Dominic, and received the habit of the Friar Preachers from the patriarch himself, of whom be became a living copy. So wonderful was his progress in virtue that within a year Dominic sent him to preach and plant the Order in Poland, where he founded two houses. His apostolic journeys extended over numerous regions. Austria, Bohemia, Livonia, the shores of the Black Sea, Tartary, and Northern China on the east, and .Sweden and Norway to the west, were evangelized by him, and he is said to have visited Scotland. Everywhere multitudes were converted, churches and convents were built; one hundred and twenty thousand pagans and infidels were baptized by his hands. He worked numerous miracles, and at Cracow raised a dead youth to life. He had inherited from St. Dominic a most filial confidence in the Mother of God; to her he ascribed his success, and to her aid he looked for his salvation. When St. Hyacinth was at Kiev the Tartars sacked the town, but it was only as he finished Mass that the Saint heard of the danger. Without waiting to unvest, he took the ciborium in his hands, and was leaving the church. As he passed by an image of Mary a voice said: "Hyacinth, my son, why dust thou leave me behind? Take me with thee, and leave me not to mine enemies." The statue was of heavy alabaster, but when Hyacinth took it in his arms it was light as a reed. With the Blessed Sacrament and the image he came to the river Dnieper, and walked dry-shod over the surface of the waters. On the eve of the Assumption he was warned of his coming death. In spite of a wasting fever, he celebrated Mass on the feast, and communicated as a dying man. He was anointed at the foot of the altar, and died the same day, 1257. (Saints)

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Scripture today:   Joshua 24:1-13;    Psalm 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22 and 24;  Matthew 19:3-12

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” His disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.” (Matthew 19:3-12)

Few things can be thought of that are so fundamental to life and to society than marriage. It is surely one of the most basic aspirations of what we might call Everyman that he or she will marry, and the instinctive sense of mankind is that marriage and family offer what are among the greatest joys of life. The natural understanding of those who marry is that their union in its very idea is for life and that it would be a tragic and unintended upshot if this sacred union were to break down. The instinctive sense of things is that, permanence being the natural intention in marrying, there is an obligation on the parties to respect its unbreakable character. Yet all through history divorce has been a feature of human society and it was even legislated for God’s chosen people by decree of Moses. Let us notice the very form of the question put to Jesus by his crafty opponents the Pharisees. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” It seems to betray a sense that marriage in its very notion excludes divorce but that inasmuch as divorce was actually lawful, what was to be made of it? They were testing Jesus, engaging in strategies to trap him. Christ’s response was unhesitating and decisive, and manifested yet again  the authority he possessed and which the people so marvelled in him. They said of him that he spoke as one having authority and not like the scribes. The scribes discussed, argued, quoted authorities and presented their case with supposed learning. Christ simply pronounced as to the meaning of the word of God, appealing to no other final authority than himself. “I tell you,” he says time and again, including in our Gospel text today. In this passage he immediately quotes Genesis implying that it was a text to be regarded as fundamental and uniquely clear, throwing authoritative light on all other texts. God made man and wife one flesh and every valid marriage is indissoluble. It contravenes the will of God to terminate such a union in the sense of then regarding oneself as free to remarry. In such a case to remarry is tantamount to adultery.

We are reminded of Christ’s statement that he had not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. As it turned out, in the Mosaic law the word of God in respect to marriage had not been fulfilled. By the gift of the grace he won for us in his death and resurrection marriage as intended by God would be able to be faithfully lived. But in our passage our Lord goes on to give a further high and demanding teaching. He speaks a gift that some are “granted.” It is granted to some that for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven — which is nothing other than the lordship of God — marriage itself be renounced. We are speaking here of a gift, a charism that is granted to “some” — not the majority, but to many nevertheless. Moreover, our Lord concludes, “Whoever can accept this ought to accept it” (Matthew 19:3-12). Our Lord is pointing to a higher gift than the gift of marriage, one which if granted “ought” be accepted. In it a person chooses to give his or her heart to God directly for the kingdom of heaven which is nothing other than God being Lord of all and particularly the Lord of one’s own heart and soul. For this reason countless persons in the history of the Church have accepted the gift of celibacy in which they give their hearts directly to God. In this they are, of course, following Christ himself. Who could think of Christ being married? He belonged to God his Father and to the Church his bride. Just as Yahweh God described himself as husband to Israel, so Christ described himself as the bridegroom. He is Yahweh God the Son become man, the head and bridegroom of the Church. He tells us in our passage today that there are some who are granted the gift of following him in his undivided love for the Father and for his bride the Church. Let us then esteem this gift, let us pray for its flourishing in the life of the Church, and respond to it if it is offered.

More than anything, let us contemplate the person of Jesus who pronounces on the word of God in his own name and by his own authority. Let us take our stand with him and choose to be Christ’s friend totally in the ordinary duties of our everyday life.
                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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  Created out of love and for love  (Matthew 19:3-12)             Pope Benedict XVI
    Address on occasion of the Fifth World Meeting of Families to Valencia (Spain), 8 July 2006 

      "God, who is love and who created man and woman for love, has called them to love. By creating man and woman he called them to an intimate communion of life and love in Marriage. ‘So they are no longer two but one flesh’" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Compendium, 337). This is the truth that the Church tirelessly proclaims to the world. My beloved predecessor Pope John Paul II said that "man has been made ‘in the image and likeness of God’ (Gn 1:27) not only by his being human, but also by the communion of the persons that man and woman have formed since the beginning. They become the image of God, not so much in their aloneness as in their communion" (Catechesis, 14 November 1979)…

      The family is an intermediate institution between individuals and society, and nothing can completely take its place. The family is itself based primarily on a deep interpersonal relationship between husband and wife, sustained by affection and mutual understanding. To enable this, it receives abundant help from God in the sacrament of Matrimony, which brings with it a true vocation to holiness. Would that our children might experience more the harmony and affection between their parents, rather than disagreements and discord, since the love between father and mother is a source of great security for children and its teaches them the beauty of a faithful and lasting love.

       The family is a necessary good for peoples, an indispensable foundation for society and a great and lifelong treasure for couples. It is a unique good for children, who are meant to be the fruit of the love, of the total and generous self-giving of their parents. To proclaim the whole truth about the family, based on marriage as a domestic Church and a sanctuary of life, is a great responsibility incumbent upon all.

 

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It's as if your guardian Angel were saying to you: 'You fill your heart with so much human attachment!... And that, then, is what you want your Guardian to guard!'
                                     (The Way, no.150)

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          Under what conditions does the right to private property exist?
The right to private property exists provided the property is acquired or received in a just way and that the universal destination of goods for the satisfaction of the basic needs of all takes precedence. (CCC 2403)
                  (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.504)

 

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Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time II

(August 18)  St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Picture)  Foundress of the Order of the Visitation of The Blessed Virgin Mary (1572-1641) At the age of sixteen, Jane Frances de Fremyot, already a motherless child, was placed under the care of a worldly-minded governess. In this crisis she offered herself to the Mother of God, and secured Mary’s protection for life. When a Protestant sought her hand in marriage, she steadily refused to marry “an enemy of God and His Church.” Later, as the loving and beloved wife of the noble Baron de Chantal, she made her house the pattern of a Christian home. But God had marked her for something higher than domestic sanctity. Two children and a dearly beloved sister died, and then, in the full tide of their prosperity, her husband’s life was ended by an accident, through the innocent hand of a friend, when a small group went hunting in the forest. For seven years the sorrows of her widowhood were increased by ill usage from servants and inferiors, and the cruel importunities of those who urged her to marry again. Harassed almost to despair by their entreaties, she branded on her heart the name of Jesus, and in the end left her beloved home and children, to live for God alone. It was on the 19th of March, 1609, that Madame de Chantal bade farewell to her family and relatives. Pale and with tears in her eyes, she passed around the large room, sweetly and humbly taking leave of each one. Her son, a boy of fifteen, used every entreaty, every endearment, to induce his mother not to leave them, and finally flung himself passionately across the doorsill of the room. In an agony of distress, she passed over the body of her son to the embrace of her aged and disconsolate father. The anguish of that parting reached its height when, kneeling at the feet of the venerable old man, she sought and obtained his last blessing, promising to repay his sacrifice in her new life by her prayers. Well might Saint Francis de Sales call her “the valiant woman.” She founded under his direction and patronage the great Order of the Visitation. Sickness, opposition and want beset her, and the deaths of children, friends, and of Saint Francis himself followed, while eighty-seven houses of the Visitation rose under her hand. Nine long years of interior desolation completed the work of God’s grace in her soul. The Congregation of the Visitation, whose purpose was to admit widows and persons of fragile health, not accepted elsewhere, was canonically established at Annecy on Trinity Sunday of 1610. The Order counted thirteen houses already in 1622, when Saint Francis de Sales died; and when the Foundress died in her seventieth year, there were eighty-six. Saint Vincent de Paul saw her soul rise up, like a ball of fire, to heaven. At her canonization in 1767, the Sisters in 164 houses of the Visitation rejoiced. (Saints)

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Scripture today:   Joshua 24:14-29;    Psalm 16:1-2a and 5, 7-8, 11;   Matthew 19:13-15

Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away. (Matthew 19:13-15)

Consider the scene of our Gospel today in which children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. How powerful our Lord’s prayer over them must have been! The power of our Lord’s prayer is seen in other instances when the benefit bestowed by his prayer was such as to be perfectly visible. He stopped the funeral procession going out of the town of Nain and raised the young man to life and returned him to his widowed mother. Such was the power of his prayer. He raised the young girl at a word, as he did with Lazarus who had been dead for four days. He drove out demons, cured the sick, the blind, the lame and the lepers. He calmed storms and walked on water. He fed thousands of people on at least two occasions with just a handful of food. There was nothing he could not do at a word. In our scene today children are brought to him so that he might pray over them which he did, and he encouraged people to do this, rebuking his disciples for preventing people from bringing their children to him (Matthew 19:13-15). They would have wanted to spare our Lord this added — and perhaps seemingly needless — request. Perhaps the disciples, seeing no obvious result in such requests, tried to discourage it. But our Lord delighted in the children being brought to him and perhaps regarded the opportunity to pray over each child as a special opportunity to grant what he could foresee the child would need in the years ahead especially in the way of spiritual favours. Who knows! Perhaps our Lord prayed that each child he prayed over would receive the gift of faith in him at some point in the years ahead. The point I would make, though, is that our Lord’s prayer would have been powerful in their regard, just as it was in respect to other requests. Who knows what benefits came to each child as a result of our Lord praying over him! Our Lord told his disciples that if they asked they would receive, so how much more would those children have received a great blessing from his prayer.

The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that Christ is our great High Priest in heaven, forever interceding for us with his Father, at whose right hand he sits. Just as those parents brought their children before our Lord and asked him to pray over them and receive his blessing, so too we have a host of others who can intercede for us with Christ, who is himself our great Intercessor. We ought join constantly with the prayer of the entire Church on earth and benefit from the prayer of the Church for us. There is the opportunity to do this every time we participate in Mass. The Church prays to Christ for her children, just as those parents asked our Lord to pray for their children. We have the vast throng of those in heaven whom we can call upon to pray for us. We have those saints in heaven to whom we feel especially drawn. We ought ask them to pray for us. We have our Guardian Angels who can intercede with us. Above all we have the Virgin Mary glorious in heaven. She is our mother and we ought regularly ask her to keep us before her son, asking that he pray over us and give us his blessing. Mary and the saints and angels are our intercessors, just as those parents were intercessors on behalf of their children, bringing them to Christ so that he  might intercede himself on their behalf. Moreover, just as those parents brought their children to Jesus, so we ought bring to Jesus the many whom we know and have known. We ought pray for them, asking Christ to pour out his blessings on the ones we are bringing to him in our prayers. All this springs from the communion that exists between all who are in Christ, whether they live still here on earth, whether they are being purified still in Purgatory in preparation for their final entry into heaven, or whether they reign with Christ already in heaven. There is a communion among all the saints — saints here being understood in St Paul’s sense as all those who are truly in Christ. All in this communion with Christ can pray one for the other.  

Christ is our high priest and he constantly intercedes for each of us before his Father, at whose right hand he sits forever. He also intercedes for us as head of his body the Church, and the Church, made up of all those in Christ whether in heaven, purgatory or still here on earth, joins with Christ in praying for all. Let us do what those parents did for their children. Let us place all before Christ, knowing that his blessing and his prayer bring untold benefits.
 

                                                                                                               (E.J.Tyler)

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"The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, 'Let the children come to me' " (Matthew 19:13-15)
Pope Benedict XVI (Address during Fifth World Meeting of Families, Valencia (Spain),8 July 06)

       Father and mother have said a complete "yes" in the sight of God, which constitutes the basis of the sacrament which joins them together. Likewise, for the inner relationship of the family to be complete, they also need to say a "yes" of acceptance to the children whom they have given birth to or adopted, and each of which has his or her own personality and character. In this way, children will grow up in a climate of acceptance and love, and upon reaching sufficient maturity, will then want to say "yes" in turn to those who gave them life…

      Christ has shown us what is always be the supreme source of our life and thus of the lives of families: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one had greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends" (Jn 15:12-13). The love of God himself has been poured out upon us in Baptism. Consequently, families are called to experience this same kind of love, for the Lord makes it possible for us, through our human love, to be sensitive, loving and merciful like Christ.

      Together with passing on the faith and the love of God, one of the greatest responsibilities of families is that of training free and responsible persons. For this reason the parents need gradually to give their children greater freedom, while remaining for some time the guardians of that freedom. If children see that their parents — and, more generally, all the adults around them — live life with joy and enthusiasm, despite all difficulties, they will themselves develop that profound "joy of life" which can help them to overcome wisely the inevitable obstacles and problems which are part of life. Furthermore, when families are not closed in on themselves, children come to learn that every person is worthy of love, and that there is a basic, universal brotherhood which embraces every human being.

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Detachment. How hard it is! Oh, to be fastened by nothing but three nails and to have no more feeling in my flesh than the Cross.
                                                        (The Way, no.151)

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           What is the purpose of private property?
The purpose of private property is to guarantee the freedom and dignity of individual persons by helping them to meet the basic needs of those in their charge and also of others who are in need.
(CCC 2404-2406)
              (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.505)

 

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Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Prayers this week:    God, our protector, keep us in mind; always give strength to your people.
              For if we can be with you even one day, it is better than a thousand years without you (Ps 83:10-11)
                              
                             God our Father, may we love you in all things and above all things
                 and reach one day the joy you have prepared for us beyond all our imagining.
        We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God.

 (August 19)  St. John Eudes (1601-1680)  How little we know where God’s grace will lead. Born on a farm in northern France, John died at 79 in the next “county” or department. In that time he was a religious, a parish missionary, founder of two religious communities and a great promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He joined the religious community of the Oratorians and was ordained a priest at 24. During severe plagues in 1627 and 1631, he volunteered to care for the stricken in his own diocese. Lest he infect his fellow religious, he lived in a huge cask in the middle of a field during the plague. At age 32, John became a parish missionary. His gifts as preacher and confessor won him great popularity. He preached over 100 parish missions, some lasting from several weeks to several months. In his concern with the spiritual improvement of the clergy, he realized that the greatest need was for seminaries. He had permission from his general superior, the bishop and even Cardinal Richelieu to begin this work, but the succeeding general superior disapproved. After prayer and counsel, John decided it was best to leave the religious community. The same year he founded a new one, ultimately called the Eudists (Congregation of Jesus and Mary), devoted to the formation of the clergy by conducting diocesan seminaries. The new venture, while approved by individual bishops, met with immediate opposition, especially from Jansenists and some of his former associates. John founded several seminaries in Normandy, but was unable to get approval from Rome (partly, it was said, because he did not use the most tactful approach). In his parish mission work, John was disturbed by the sad condition of prostitutes who sought to escape their miserable life. Temporary shelters were found but arrangements were not satisfactory. A certain Madeleine Lamy, who had cared for several of the women, one day said to him, “Where are you off to now? To some church, I suppose, where you’ll gaze at the images and think yourself pious. And all the time what is really wanted of you is a decent house for these poor creatures.” The words, and the laughter of those present, struck deeply within him. The result was another new religious community, called the Sisters of Charity of the Refuge. He is probably best known for the central theme of his writings: Jesus as the source of holiness, Mary as the model of the Christian life. His devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary led Pius XI to declare him the father of the liturgical cult of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
       Holiness is the wholehearted openness to the love of God. It is visibly expressed in many ways, but the variety of expression has one common quality: concern for the needs of others. In John’s case, those who were in need were plague-stricken people, ordinary parishioners, those preparing for the priesthood, prostitutes and all Christians called to imitate the love of Jesus and his mother. “Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desires and his disposition live and reign there. All our religious exercises should be directed to this end. It is the work which God has given us to do unceasingly” (St. John Eudes, The Life and Reign of Jesus in Christian Souls). (Saints)

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 Scripture today:  Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10;  Psalm 40:2-4, 18;  Hebrews 12:1-4;  Luke 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53)
 

  One of the most striking features of human history and society is the constant recurrence of war. Inasmuch as man has a profound need for society and for relationships with others one would have thought that human history would have been distinguished by peace. Of course, this indeed is how things ought to have been, but due to man’s original fall it is not so. So obvious and notable is this fact that many general histories have been written from the perspective of the ebb and flow of wars. Peace is man’s need, but it is constantly elusive. I remember when the Berlin wall fell and the communist countries of Russia and Eastern Europe began to crumble, all hoped for a transformation of the cold war into a new era of peace. But suddenly out of nowhere began the era of Islamic terrorism and nothing seems able to stop it from growing. Peace seems to be constantly escaping our grasp.

  There has been a view of Jesus Christ which looks on him simply as a man of peace.  He was a peacemaker, and required of his followers that they be makers of peace. This is perfectly correct if properly understood. After all, our Lord solemnly tells his disciples that “Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Throughout Christian history there have been countless examples of holy Christians who out of love for Christ have distinguished themselves for their sowing of peace and replacing strife with concord. But these holy builders of the peace of Christ did not see themselves as keeping just any kind of peace in the sense of avoiding all conflict. Nazism grew in Germany in the 1920s because many persons were not vigilant, and others just wanted to avoid difficulty. Thus Nazism was allowed to gain power. There is an old saying which states that evil flourishes when good people do nothing. Doing little in the face of evil and human need does not safeguard the peace that God desires for the world. The peace Christ came to bring involves conflict with what the Christian tradition has identified as the values of the world, the flesh and the devil. It involves a courageous and persevering struggle for the truth.

  Our Lord proclaimed the obligation to build peace, but look at what happened in his own life and ministry. One might say, if only he had said nothing things would have been more peaceful! If only he had remained in Nazareth and let things be! Instead he aroused great opposition from the religious leaders and division of opinion about him among the people because of his bearing witness to the truth above all about himself. His claims and his doctrine led to his rejection and death. Our Lord caused strife. Indeed, in our Gospel today our Lord, having told his disciples in a much earlier chapter that they were to be builders of peace, tells them that “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” He asks “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father” (Luke 12:49-53). The division was caused by his proclamation of the truth. At the beginning of our Lord’s life when he was presented in the Temple, the holy Simeon took the child Jesus into his arms and solemnly foretold that he would be a sign of contradiction and that many would rise and fall because of him. Furthermore, a sword would pierce the soul of the Virgin Mary, the first and greatest Christian. That is to say, being a true Christian and witnessing to Christ and his truth in the world will not be easy. It will bring contradiction and division.

   In his meeting with Pilate our Lord defined his life’s mission as bearing witness to the truth. Those who love the truth listen to his voice. There we have the key to that true peace on earth which the mission of the Christian is to build and promote. The key is Christ and his truth. The path to peace lies in embracing and living in Jesus and in his truth, and in bearing witness to it before others even if in doing so one becomes a sign of contradiction. Of course, putting this great key into practice is a complex daily challenge. But one at least must understand what that key is.  The key lies in knowing and putting into practice the truth revealed by Jesus. The world needs Christ, and the lay person must bring this message to the world of his everyday life. The Church in her social and moral teaching spells out what this means in practical detail, and it is incumbent on the lay person to try to gain an adequate knowledge of this teaching so as to know what the truth of Christ really entails for life and society. He must know the Church’s teaching and must accept that it will involve the cross and contradiction. How many Catholics who are in politics stand up for what the Church firmly and clearly teaches as being the truth of Christ? A very small minority. Let that sad fact be a great reminder for all members of Christ faithful that the danger lies in doing nothing while evil grows. The true peace God intends requires a great struggle and will involve the cross and various forms of rejection. But the true Christian is prepared to carry that cross in the footsteps of Jesus. Let us then take to heart our Lord’s words in the Gospel, and be prepared for what it takes to follow him wherever his providence places us in life.
                                                                                                   (E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.2302-2317

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Don't you feel that greater peace and closer union await you when you respond to that extraordinary grace which demands your total detachment?

Struggle for him, to please him: but strengthen your hope.
                                                       (The Way, no.152)

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            What does the seventh commandment require?
The seventh commandment requires respect for the goods of others through the practice of justice and charity, temperance and solidarity. In particular it requires respect for promises made and contracts agreed to, reparation for injustice committed and restitution of stolen goods, and respect for the integrity of creation by the prudent and moderate use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe with special attention to those species which are in danger of extinction. (CCC  2407, 2450-2451)
                     (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.506)
 

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Monday of the twentieth week of Ordinary Time II

(August 20) Saint Bernard, abbot and doctor of the Church  Bernard was born in 1090 at Fontaines les Dijon, the family castle near Dijon, Burgundy, the third son of seven children. He was sent to study at Chatillon and after a frivolous youth decided, on the death of his mother, to pursue a religious life. In 1112, he persuaded thirty-one of his friends and relatives (including four of his brothers) to go with him to Citeaux, which had been founded in 1098, the first Cistercian monastery, which observed a strict interpretation of the Benedictine rule. They were most welcomed by the abbot, St. Stephen Harding. In 1115 Bernard was sent with twelve monks to found a Cistercian house at Langres, with Bernard as the abbott. Though there were initial difficulties because of Bernard's strict discipline and austerities, his holiness soon attracted scores of disciples. The name was changed from the Vallee d'Absinthe to Clairvaux and was to become the mother house of some sixty-eight Cistercian monasteries established by its monks. Bernard soon became involved in matters outside the monastery as his reputation for learning and wisdom spread, and he soon was one of the most powerful influences in Europe, consulted by rulers and Popes. He supported the legitimacy of Pope Innocent II's election in 1130 against the claims of antipope Anacletus II and successfully led the struggle that led to Innocents's acceptance as Pope. Bernard was the leader in convincing the Lombards to accept Lothaire II as Emperor. In 1140 Bernard began preaching in public and was soon regarded with awe for the miracles attributed to him and for the eloquence of his preaching, for which he was acclaimed as the greatest preacher of his times. He was the leader in the attacks on Abelard, questioning his rationalism and extreme exaltation of human reason and opposed it with his own certitude of faith and reliance on traditional authority. He was instrumental in having Abelard condemned at the council of Sens and forcing him into retirement. In 1142, Bernard arbitrated the disputed succession to the see of York in England, and in the same year he saw the abbot of the Cistercian Tre Fontane monastery in Rome, whom he had brought to Clairvaux as a postulant, Peter Bernard Paganelli, elected Pope as Eugene III. In 1145 the papal legate asked him to go to Languedoc in southern France to combat the Albigensian heresy, and his preaching was most successful, though not enduring. In 1146 he helped stop a series pogroms in the Rhineland, and in the same year, at Eugene's request, he preached a crusade against the Turks, who had captured Edessa on Christmas in 1144. He roused all of Europe to the Second Crusade, headed by Emperor Conrad III and Louis VII of France, which was to end in disaster — a fate he blamed on the wickedness and lack of dedication of the crusaders. In 1153 Bernard left Clairvaux to effect a peace between the duke of Lorraine and the inhabitants of Metz, which had been attacked by the duke. He was stricken on his return and died at Clairvaux on August 20 of that year. Bernard is considered the second founder of the Cistercians, and from the time at twenty-five when he became abbot of Clairvaux he soon became the dominant influence in the religious and political sphere of Western Europe. His influence during the last forty years of his life was enormous and he was prominently involved in practically every major event of those years. His mystical writing, especially De Diligendo Deo, one of the outstanding medieval mystical works, formed the mysticism of the Middle Ages, and his other writings, his more than three hundred sermons, his treatise De Consideratione, written for Pope Eugene's guidance, some five hundred known letters, his reflections on Scripture, and his deep devotion to Mary and the Infant Jesus all had a profound effect on Catholic spirituality. Called the Mellifluous Doctor, he was canonized in 1174, was formally declared a Doctor of the Church in 1830, and is considered the last of the Fathers of the Church. (Saints)

    The Memorare of St. Bernard: Remember, O most compassionate Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your assistance, or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of Virgins, my Mother; To you I come; before you I stand sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your clemency hear and answer them. Amen.

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Scripture today:  Judges 2:11-19;  Psalm 106:34-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44;   Matthew 19:16-22

A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honour your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. (Matthew 19:16-22)

It is hard to think of questions that are more important than the two questions asked of our Lord by the “young man” in our Gospel passage today who “had many possessions.” If there is an eternal life at all, the great question is, what must we do to gain it? Inasmuch as the stages we progress to during this life depend very much on the choices we make, this pattern would lead us to expect as probable that the stage we progress to beyond this life will depend on the choices we make in this life. Furthermore, the sense of those peoples who have believed in an Afterlife is that its character will depend on the choices made here. Even those peoples who have believed in a transmigration of souls — such as Buddhism — accept that our moral choices have consequences for where one’s soul migrates to after this present life. But of course God himself has revealed with greatest clarity that the Afterlife will depend on what we choose to do in this life. Christ brings to completion the divine revelation that life is a Trial and a Test. Well then, our “young man” of the Gospel approaches him with the all-important question of what he must do to gain eternal life. This young man has interpreted the Scriptures well and knows that life eternal hangs on what he chooses to do. The Sadducees, we are informed elsewhere in the Gospels, did not accept the doctrine of the resurrection. This young man takes it as a given that not only is there a resurrection but that an eternal life of happiness is in prospect. Our Lord gives his answer: If you wish to gain heaven, you must obey God and do what he has revealed. “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Everything hinges on obedience to God’s known will. Perhaps thinking of the numerous Jewish stipulations and religious requirements for everyday life, the young man asks our Lord to be more specific. Our Lord’s reply refers him to God’s revealed will in the Ten Commandments. It was unnecessary to remind this good young man that he must worship God alone, that he must reverence his name, and that he must observe in the Sabbath day. The practical issue was how each day he chose to treat his neighbour.

But then there follows something very new. Our young man has observed the commandments that bear on one’s neighbour and is clearly on his way to eternal life. He is a good soul who is looking for more and our Lord divines that he has a longing for perfection. Our youth wants to go much further and in him we can see embodied the longing of the human heart for moral and religious excellence. He is not sure what he still lacks, but he is conscious of a great vacuum even though he has fulfilled the commandments of God. “ What do I still lack?” he asks (Matthew 19:16-22). What is the human heart made for that will truly fill its need for God, for goodness and for eternal life? Our Lord gives his precious answer having a universal application. The human heart was made to love and to follow Christ and if it detaches itself from all other things and truly loves and follows him, its longings and its vocation will be fulfilled. We are reminded of what St Paul says in one of his Letters, that before the world was made God chose us, chose us in Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight. Our Lord in reply to a question elsewhere in the Gospel states that the first and greatest commandment is that we love God with all our heart and soul. In his answer to the young man our Lord is implicitly placing himself in God’s place in that he is asking for the love of his whole heart. He is saying to the young man and to all men that if he wishes to be perfect in the sight of God this perfection will be found in following the one to whom he is now speaking. The young man was being offered an immense privilege and he failed. His heart was discovered to be set on other things. Let us in our minds turn to another young man our Lord met at the beginning of his public ministry. It was John the beloved disciple, referred on to our Lord by his master to that point, John the Baptist. He met our Lord, stayed with him that day, and left all to follow him.

Let us contemplate the figure of Jesus and hear his words to us inviting us to follow him closely. He is the source of the perfection to which we are called, and the source of our truest happiness. Let us not allow anything to distract or deter us from throwing in our entire lot for Jesus. By doing this our treasure will be in heaven, and we shall be on our way to the perfection intended for us by God.
                                                                                             (E.J.Tyler)

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Go, generously and like a child ask him: 'What can you mean to give me when. you ask me for "this"?'
                                            (The Way, no.153)

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             What attitude should people have toward animals?
People must treat animals with kindness as creatures of God and avoid both excessive love for them and an indiscriminate use of them especially by scientific experiments that go beyond reasonable limits and entail needless suffering for the animals. (CCC 2416-2418, 2457)
                   (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.507)

 

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Tuesday of the twentieth week of Ordinary Time II

(August 21)  St. Pius X  (1835-1914)   Pope Pius X is perhaps best remembered for his encouragement of the frequent reception of Holy Communion, especially by children. The second of 10 children in a poor Italian family, Joseph Sarto became Pius X at 68, one of the twentieth century’s greatest popes. Ever mindful of his humble origin, he stated, “I was born poor, I lived poor, I will die poor.” He was embarrassed by some of the pomp of the papal court. “Look how they have dressed me up,” he said in tears to an old friend. To another, “It is a penance to be forced to accept all these practices. They lead me around surrounded by soldiers like Jesus when he was seized in Gethsemani.” Interested in politics, he encouraged Italian Catholics to become more politically involved. One of his first papal acts was to end the supposed right of governments to interfere by veto in papal elections—a practice that reduced the freedom of the conclave which elected him. In 1905, when France renounced its agreement with the Holy See and threatened confiscation of Church property if governmental control of Church affairs were not granted, Pius X courageously rejected the demand. While he did not author a famous social encyclical as his predecessor had done, he denounced the ill treatment of the Indians on the plantations of Peru, sent a relief commission to Messina after an earthquake and sheltered refugees at his own expense. On the eleventh anniversary of his election as pope, Europe was plunged into World War I. Pius had foreseen it, but it killed him. “This is the last affliction the Lord will visit on me. I would gladly give my life to save my poor children from this ghastly scourge.” He died a few weeks after the war began.
           His humble background was no obstacle in relating to a personal God and to people whom he loved genuinely. He gained his strength, his gentleness and warmth for people from the source of all gifts, the Spirit of Jesus. In contrast, we often feel embarrassed by our backgrounds. Shame makes us prefer to remain aloof from people whom we perceive as superior. If we are in a superior position, on the other hand, we often ignore simpler people. Yet we, too, have to help “restore all things in Christ,” especially the wounded people of God. Describing Pius X, a historian wrote that he was “a man of God who knew the unhappiness of the world and the hardships of life, and in the greatness of his heart wanted to comfort everyone.” (Saints)

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Scripture today:    Judges 6:11-24a;     Psalm 85:9, 11-12, 13-14;     Matthew 19:23-30

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” (Matthew 19:23-30)

Our Lord taught that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Ordinary experience of life indicates that it is almost inconceivable that a person with a great love for material possessions will at the same time have a great love for God. Putting it simply, his heart is divided. In his teaching, our Lord extols the poor in spirit, the one whose spirit does grasp at and cling to the things of this world, as would one who regards his real wealth as being there. The one who earnestly hopes to gain a deep friendship with Christ has to be focussed and not seeking one thing, while hoping for the other. I remember watching a nature documentary and the camera followed a lion intent on making his kill. It stalked a herd of deer which, once it sensed the stealthy approach of the lion broke out into flight from the scene. The lion made  his charge after a fleeing deer, but then saw another and chased it, then saw another and chased that one. The result was that it gained nothing with all the deer making a successful getaway from the scene. The lion did not remain focussed. By contrast in another nature film a cheetah stalked a herd of deer and, having focussed on one, broke out into its charge. All the herd fled but the cheetah kept its eye on the one it had selected and that one was doomed. The cheetah gained its prey. God asks us to be totally attached to him and not to have any god other than He. He is to be the one Lord of our hearts, but the trouble is that it is so very easy for us to become attached to the material things of this world and to make our love the riches that come our way or which by our efforts we can gain. What does our Lord say about this?  “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-30). It is hard, indeed very hard to attain the holiness intended for us if we are “rich” in the things of this world because our hearts can be so easily divided.

There are many saints who have given outstanding witness to the Church and to the world of poverty of spirit by their choice of actual poverty. From St Benedict of Nursia to St Francis of Assisi to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, the renunciation of possessions and the choice of a poor way of life for the love of Christ has been a distinguishing feature of so many ardent members of the Church. Their desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who said that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head has led them to take such a generous path. Now, while our Lord stresses in our Gospel passage the difficulty of attaining true holiness if one is rich, he is not saying that those who have many material possessions cannot be holy. The crucial issue is that of attachment. To what is our heart attached? When a bush fire rages through vast swathes of wooded mountains and destroys homes and villages, it is indeed a terrible experience for so many persons. But notice the response of those who escape with nothing but their children. Some are profoundly grateful that their whole family was saved and in view of that all-important benefit do not care for the rest even though they have to start again in life. Others escape with their families but are psychologically crippled by the loss of their material possessions. Their lack of detachment is shown in their lack of capacity to recover. Whatever of that parallel, my point is that it is clearly possible to have many possessions and yet to be detached from them in view of what is truly necessary. So too in our relationship with God. By our vocation in life and the circumstances of our duties and situation we may need many possessions, but we must be on guard lest our heart cleave to them rather than God and his holy will. St Thomas More who was martyred by Henry VIII in 1535 was a fairly well-off family man. As far as I recall he had a small private zoo and kept a good home. But his heart was given to God and he worked at detachment of spirit. His poverty of spirit and his supreme attachment to Christ was proved in the great crisis which led to his execution because he would not deny the supreme authority of the Pope over the Church.

By the grace of God we can achieve that the attachment to him and detachment from other things that God asks of us. As our Lord tells us in today’s Gospel, for us men this might be impossible but it is not so for God. All things are possible for him. Let us ask then his aid as we work at making God the centre of our life and at learning to view and use all other things in and for God. If we do this, our Lord tells us that we shall receive a hundred times more, and eternal life.
                                                                                      (E.J.Tyler)

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You are afraid of becoming cold and distant towards everyone. For you want to be so detached!

There is no need to worry: if you belong to Christ — completely to Christ! — from him you will get fire, light and warmth for all men.
                                            (The Way, no.154)

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                             What is forbidden by the seventh commandment?
Above all, the seventh commandment forbids theft, which is the taking or using of another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner. This can be done also by paying unjust wages; by speculation on the value of goods in order to gain an advantage to the detriment of others; or by the forgery of checks or invoices. Also forbidden is tax evasion or business fraud; willfully damaging private or public property ; usury; corruption; the private abuse of common goods; work deliberately done poorly; and waste. (CCC 2408-2413, 2453-2455)
                             (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.508)

 

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Wednesday of the twentieth week of Ordinary Time II

(August 22) Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
        Our Lady's Burial: (as described by Anne Catherine Emmerich)   Before reaching the grotto, the litter was set down. Four of the Apostles bore the coffin in, and placed it in the hollow of the tomb. All went, one by one, into the grotto where they knelt in prayer before the holy body, honoring it and taking leave of it. Then the tomb was shut in by a wicker screen that extended from the front edge of the tomb to the top of the vaulted wall above. Before the entrance of the grotto, they made a trench which they planted so thickly with blooming flowers and bushes covered with berries that one could gain access to it only from the side, and that only by making his way through the under-wood.
         On the night following the burial, took place the bodily assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven. I saw on this night several of the Apostles and holy women in the little garden, praying and singing Psalms before the grotto. I saw a broad pathway of light descend from heaven and rest upon the tomb. In it were circles of glory full of angels, in the midst of whom the resplendent soul of the Blessed Virgin came floating down. Before her went her Divine Son, the marks of His Wounds flashing with light. In the innermost circle, that which surrounded the holy soul of Mary, the angels appeared like the faces of very young children; in the second circle, they were like those of children from six to eight years old; and in the outermost, like the faces of youths, I could clearly distinguish only the face, the rest of the figure consisting of perfectly transparent light. Encircling the head of the Blessed Virgin like a crown, was a choir of blessed spirits. I know not what those present saw of all this. But I saw that some gazed up in amazement and adoration, while others cast themselves prostrate in fright upon the earth. These apparitions, becoming more and more distinct as they approached nearer, floated over the grotto, and another pathway of light issued from it and arose to the heavenly Jerusalem. The blessed soul of Mary, floating before Jesus, penetrated through the rock and into the tomb, out of which she again arose radiant with light in her glorified body and, escorted by the entire multitude of celestial spirits, returned in triumph to the heavenly Jerusalem. (Saints)
(FROM THE VISIONS OF ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH (Picture), FROM THE BOOK: THE LOWLY LIFE AND BITTER PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND HIS BLESSED MOTHER)

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Scripture today:    Judges 9:6-15;    Psalm 21:2-3, 4-5, 6-;    Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:1-16)

However one might hope that people will do the right thing simply because it is right, life and society would not function were there not rewards and punishments. Imagine the chaos if traffic rules were proclaimed without there being any sanctions for infringements. Think of the difference traffic cameras make to the observance of speed limits. Ask yourself how well people would work in their everyday occupations were there not the incentive of salary rises or the hope of promotion as a result of performance. A reward is offered for information leading to the arrest of a known criminal and it has its effect. Someone comes forward with the information and the reward is given. Rewards and sanctions are part and parcel of human life and they flow from the fact of freedom. Every action man takes has its consequences and he must take responsibility for those consequences. This universal fact of human society ought lead man to expect something similar beyond the grave. If such has been the pattern in this life, why should it not be the pattern in the next? What is there that would lead man to expect anything else, simply because the Afterlife has not been witnessed and reported on by anyone in this life? Ah! But it has been reported on by Someone in this life and that One is Jesus Christ the Son of God made man. He comes from the bosom of the Father and has made these things known to us. He has told us that just as there is reward and punishment in this life so there will be in the next, only then it will be far more awful because everything then will be eternal. The reward for what we do in this life will be eternal, and the punishment — if it is ultimately to be a matter of punishment — will also be eternal. Our Lord spoke time and again of rewards and punishment and in his proclamation and description of the Kingdom of heaven he made it abundantly clear that an important feature of this Kingdom will be that we shall be rewarded or punished. What we do here on earth will have eternal consequences.

Our parable today is a case in point. Our Lord says that the kingdom of heaven — or God being present and active as Lord — is like a landowner going out at various points during the day and hiring persons to work in his vineyard. This very setting suggests immediately that life is for work, working for God and his interests. The high point of the story comes when the labourers are summoned to receive their wage, and each is paid justly and some very generously. The punch line that sets forth the point our Lord wants to make is contained in his last words, words that are a repetition of what he says at the end of the previous chapter, “Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:1-16). Those who were all day in the vineyard were not as well favoured as those who arrived late, in the sense that in giving the late arrivals a whole denarius the landowner showed them special favour. Who are the ones who are in the vineyard all day? Our Lord seems to be commenting on those who were regarded as being, and who prided themselves on being, the first in matters pertaining to God and his work — the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees perhaps, and many others who took pride in themselves and their work in life. We think of the Pharisee in the parable our Lord told of the Pharisee and the Publican praying in the Temple. Who was first? The Pharisee was first, but in fact unbeknown to him and indeed to the Publican, he was in fact last and the Publican was first — that is to say, in God’s sight. The Publican went home rewarded with justification while the Pharisee remained in his sins. Our Lord is saying that it is never too late to begin our service in the vineyard of the Lord, in our quest for holiness of life. We ought begin now, repent and place our trust in the mercy of God. He will be bounteous. If we have been in the service of God all our life, we ought regard that as a great mercy and be conscious of how we have sinned despite God’s mercy. We too ought begin again.

Every day we all ought begin again in the vineyard of the Lord, serving the Master with love and gratitude, regarding ourselves as the last and not as the first. Every day he invites us anew, and every day ought be a renewal of our vocation to belong to the Lord and to serve the Kingdom. Let us never regard ourselves as the first in the vineyard of the Lord, always as the last, knowing that whatever we might have done we have done no more than our duty. So then, now I begin!
                                                                                                  (E.J.Tyler)

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Jesus isn't satisfied 'going halves': he wants the lot.
                               (The Way, no.155)

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                                      What is the content of the social doctrine of the Church?
The social doctrine of the Church is an organic development of the truth of the Gospel about the dignity of the human person and his social dimension offering principles for reflection, criteria for judgment, and norms and guidelines for action. (2419-2423)
                      (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.509)

 

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Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time II

(August 23)   St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617)  The first canonized saint of the New World has one characteristic of all saints—the suffering of opposition—and another characteristic which is more for admiration than for imitation—excessive practice of mortification. She was born to parents of Spanish descent in Lima, Peru, at a time when South America was in its first century of evangelization. She seems to have taken Catherine of Siena as a model, in spite of the objections and ridicule of parents and friends. The saints have so great a love of God that what seems bizarre to us, and is indeed sometimes imprudent, is simply a logical carrying out of a conviction that anything that might endanger a loving relationship with God must be rooted out. So, because her beauty was so often admired, Rose used to rub her face with pepper to produce disfiguring blotches. Later, she wore a thick circlet of silver on her head, studded on the inside, like a crown of thorns. When her parents fell into financial trouble, she worked in the garden all day and sewed at night. Ten years of struggle against her parents began when they tried to make Rose marry. They refused to let her enter a convent, and out of obedience she continued her life of penance and solitude at home as a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic. So deep was her desire to live the life of Christ that she spent most of her time at home in solitude. During the last few years of her life, Rose set up a room in the house where she cared for homeless children, the elderly and the sick. This was a beginning of social services in Peru. Though secluded in life and activity, she was brought to the attention of Inquisition interrogators, who could only say that she was influenced by grace. (Saints)
        What might have been a merely eccentric life was transfigured from the inside. If we remember some unusual penances, we should also remember the greatest thing about Rose: a love of God so ardent that it withstood ridicule from without, violent temptation and lengthy periods of sickness. When she died at 31, the city turned out for her funeral. Prominent men took turns carrying her coffin. It is easy to dismiss excessive penances of the saints as the expression of a certain culture or temperament. But a woman wearing a crown of thorns may at least prod our consciences. We enjoy the most comfort-oriented life in human history. We eat too much, drink too much, use a million gadgets, fill our eyes and ears with everything imaginable. Commerce thrives on creating useless needs to spend our money on. It seems that when we have become most like slaves, there is the greatest talk of “freedom.” Are we willing to discipline ourselves in such an atmosphere? “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna” (Matthew 18:8–9).

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Scripture today:    Judges 11:29-39a;     Psalm 40:5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 1;        Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:1-14)

It is surprising how often our Lord speaks of God’s judgment on those who have been called to spend their eternity with him. He speaks of God’s judgment and of the possibility of being condemned to hell for failing to do his will. If our Lord speaks of this so insistently it is because it is of immense importance that we think about it and live accordingly. In our Gospel passage today once again our Lord tells a story. Our Lord does not speak abstractly as might a philosopher nor indeed as might a theologian. He speaks concretely with numerous images and expressed in simple and common language. His terminology is not unusual. He makes use of the analogy and the metaphor, having recourse to the imagination more than to abstract reason. The result is that his divine teaching is immensely accessible across the ages. So then, our Lord tells his story of the king who gave a wedding feast for his son. Our Lord often makes use of the venerable image of a marriage  to describe the Kingdom of heaven and his own central place in it. He is the bridegroom and his spouse is — as was the case with Yahweh’s bride in the Old Testament — the people of God. St Paul writes that before the world began God chose us, chose us in Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight. Now, this choice and this divine calling is liberally granted and we gain a sense of this in the many persons of the parable who are invited to the wedding.  “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast”’ (Matthew 18:8–9). Many are invited and of course we ourselves are among them.

But the sad story of human freedom is that the invitation is so often rejected. “Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.” Our Lord is probably alluding to the pattern of infidelity that characterized the history of God’s people in the Old Testament, resulting in the periodic calamities which were visited on them and reaching its most terrible moment some decades after our Lord when the city was destroyed. “The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.” But that was not the end of it because the king was resolved on celebrating the wedding. Such was the great plan, and so even greater numbers were invited to the wedding — presumably an allusion to the universal mission of the Church to go out to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. And so “the servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.” Even so, while it is one thing to be brought as a guest to the wedding hall, there are requirements for admission to the actual feast. There is a dress code. One must be properly attired. There will be a judgment and admission will depend on one’s state. Those who do not meet those requirements will be cast outside despite the liberal invitations that were so widely broadcast. “But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’” Many are invited to the kingdom of God both now and hereafter, but entry is granted only to those judged worthy.   

Let us bear in mind constantly the great final things that are coming. Our Lord repeatedly warns us of them. We are invited to a wonderful eternity with him and that calling is proclaimed by the Church which is the body and the bride of Christ. The wedding will be the eternal marriage of Christ with his Church. But just having the invitation is not enough. God will judge us on whatg we have done with the invitation. He will judge us on our deeds following our death, and again definitively at the end of time. For those judged not to be worthy because of what they have done or failed to do, eternal damnation will follow. Let us bear this solemn doctrine constantly in mind.

                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

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You won't submit to the will of God... and yet you fall in with the will of the most insignificant creature!
                                  (The Way, no.156)

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             When does the Church intervene in social areas?
The Church intervenes by making a moral judgment about economic and social matters when the fundamental rights of the person, the common good, or the salvation of souls requires it. (CCC 2420, 2458)
                  (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.510)

 

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Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Friday of the twentieth week of Ordinary Time

(August 24) Saint Bartholomew, Apostle  Saint Bartholomew, Bar-Tolmai or son of Tolmai, was one of the twelve Apostles called to the apostolate by our Blessed Lord Himself. His name is more adequately rendered by his given name, Nathanael. If one wonders why the synoptic Gospels always call him Bartholomew, it would be because the name Nathanael in Hebrew is equivalent to that of Matthew, since both in Hebrew signify gift of God; in this way the Evangelists avoided all confusion between the two Apostles. He was a native of Cana in Galilee, a doctor of the Jewish law, and a friend of Philip. Philip, advised by Peter and Andrew, hastened to communicate to his friend the good news of his discovery of Christ: “We have found Him whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, wrote! Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile.” (Cf. John 1:45-49) His innocence and simplicity of heart deserved to be celebrated with this high praise in the divine mouth of Our Redeemer. And Nathanael, when Jesus told him He had already seen him in a certain place, confessed his faith at once: “Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel!”     Being eminently qualified by divine grace to discharge the functions of an Apostle, he carried the Gospel through the most barbarous countries of the East, penetrating into the remoter Indies, baptizing neophytes and casting out demons. A copy of the Gospel of Saint Matthew was found in India by Saint Pantænus in the third century, taken there, according to local tradition, by Saint Bartholomew. Saint John Chrysostom said the Apostle also preached in Asia Minor and, with Saint Philip, suffered there, though not mortally, for the faith. Saint Bartholomew’s last mission was in Greater Armenia, where, preaching in a place obstinately addicted to the worship of idols, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom. The modern Greek historians say that he was condemned by the governor of Albanopolis to be crucified. Others affirm that he was flayed alive, which treatment might well have accompanied his crucifixion, this double punishment being in use not only in Egypt, but also among the Persians. (Saints)

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Scripture today:    Revelation 21:9b-14;      Psalm 145:10-13, 17-18;    John 1:45-51

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:45-51)

One of the winning things about the Gospel of St John is the presence of detail in the events portrayed. John remembered the details and his mind and heart lingered on them. Especially heart-warming are the accounts of the Apostles’ first meetings with our Lord. We remember how in his  first chapter St John describes the two disciples leaving John the Baptist to follow Jesus, how Jesus turned and invited them to come and visit where he was staying, and how they stayed with him for the rest of that day. They believed. Andrew, one of the two, went to his brother Simon and told him they had found the Messiah. What a momentous conclusion to reach after a few hours of meeting! What led to this? In our Gospel today from the same first chapter we have the same sort of thing being described. Philip was called by our Lord, and his association with our Lord led him to a full and total conviction that “we have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” Again, what led to this? He went to Nathanael and told him. Nathanael was sceptical but went to meet Jesus. Christ said he saw him under the fig tree and his scepticism changed to a full and enlightened faith: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Again, what led to this? Our Lord himself said to Nathanael that he had come to belief on simple grounds: “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” (John 1:45-51) These Apostles quickly and very early on arrived at a true faith in Jesus, a faith that needed to be developed of course, but nevertheless it was the authentic faith our Lord was seeking. The grounds for their faith were simple but sufficient and it arrived at a true knowledge of who Jesus is. It can only be accounted for as due to their being properly disposed. They were marvellously disposed for God and for whatever he might do and reveal. That is an important lesson for us in the matter of faith.

Our Gospel passage not only tells us important things about the dispositions needed to be a ready and true disciple of Christ. More importantly it tells us about Christ himself. Consider the Person who so quickly showed to Philip that he was the long predicted Messiah. Consider the Person who changed Nathanael’s scepticism at his first words to him. In terms of its turnabout it can be compared to the change wrought in Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus. But this occurred not as a result of a dramatic heavenly intervention but because of a simple meeting with the man Jesus. Nathanael immediately saw that Jesus was not only the Messiah (the King of Israel) but somehow and in some sense the Son of God. There was something about Jesus that made him so utterly convincing, so utterly unique, so utterly exalted in every way to the one who was properly disposed to see it. Theirs was an immense privilege to have come to know Jesus so early. Our Lord had lived in Nazareth for thirty years and only his mother and foster-father knew who he really was and of course they knew far more clearly than any of our Lord’s disciples at this point. But with just a little association with him our Lord revealed his person to these new disciples to such an extent that there was no doubt in their minds that he was the centre of all history and of God’s plan for mankind. It is surely difficult to think of anyone his like in the annals of history. The lesson for us? We must strive to be with Jesus and to get to know him. We must live with him with our hearts truly open to his Person and to the light of God. We must meet with Jesus in faith and live in his company in faith and prayer, asking the Father and the Holy Spirit to enlighten our hearts and minds as to the person of Jesus just as the hearts and minds of these first disciples were so wonderfully and rapidly enlightened. They had a long way to go, but their start was true and authentic and it reached a true knowledge of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Let us place ourselves in the simple Gospel scene of today and share in the meeting with Jesus experienced by his first disciples, disciples who became members of the Twelve. Life is to be described as a friendship with Jesus, a friendship that includes an authentic and true knowledge of him. Our whole life is to be based on and shaped by that friendship. It is a friendship forged in daily prayer and fidelity to the person of the Master. He lives now and he calls us to be his friends.
                                                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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Surely there must be something wrong somewhere! If God gives himself to you, why are you so attached to creatures?
                                             (The Way, no.157)

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              How should social and economic life be pursued?
It should be pursued according to its own proper methods within the sphere of the moral order, at the service of the whole human being and of the entire human community in keeping with social justice. Social and economic life should have the human person as its author, centre, and goal. (CCC 2459)
                      (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.511)

 

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Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

(August 25)  St. Louis  King Louis IX (2 Pictures) was the only French king ever to be made a saint. He was a very popular monarch, noted for his kindness and fair dealings with his people. Louis led the Seventh Crusade in the mid-thirteenth century, and died on another crusade 20 years later. Louis was the fourth child of Louis VIII, but the eldest to survive the early years, and he enjoyed a privileged childhood. He learned hunting, history, geography and literature from the finest tutors. His mother, Blanche of Castile, raised him to be a thoughtful and enthusiastic Christian. He was known to have a temper, which he strived to control. Upon the death of his father in 1226, twelve-year-old Louis became king with his mother as regent. Blanche saw to it that he was crowned at Reims, even though many powerful nobles did not attend, and she successfully kept the nobles from rebelling. Continuing her late husband's efforts, she put an end to the Albigensian revolt. With Blanche's guidance, Louis successfully imposed a treaty on Raymond, the count of Tolouse, to settle a dispute over the Languedoc, and strengthened royal authority by temporarily shutting down the University of Paris to stop a student revolt. At age 15, Louis personally led troops to meet the invading Henry III, but the English king withdrew and truces were renewed. Blanche turned over governmental control to Louis in 1234. By this time he had developed a reputation as a chivalrous knight, a just king and a pious protector of the Church. His mother chose his bride: Margaret, daughter of the count of Provence, and Louis married in May. Louis was evidently devoted to Margaret--they had 11 children. Unfortunately, Blanche was jealous of the attention her son paid to his wife. In 1242 another rebellion flared up. Hugh of Lusignan, who had married the widowed mother of Henry III, was causing problems in Aquitaine. King Henry returned to France with a powerful force and most of the nobles in western France joined him; but Louis managed a nearly bloodless meeting at the bridge of Taillebourg and negotiated another truce. Not long after this victory, Louis came down with a form of malaria. It was while he was still recovering in December of 1244 that Louis decided to go on Crusade. His own kingdom was at peace and the Holy Land was in jeopardy, with Jerusalem in Muslim hands and Damascus recently seized by the Sultan of Egypt. It took more than three years of preparation, but when he set off in August of 1248 he took along 100 ships, 35,000 men, and his wife and children, leaving his mother to serve as regent once more. The Crusade started off well with the capture of Damietta, Egypt, but when Louis moved on to Cairo the flooding Nile made his next conquest, the capture of the citadel of al-Mansurah, a long-fought siege that exhausted his army. With most of his men struck by plague, Louis ordered a retreat to Damietta, a march during which the Egyptian forces harassed the ill crusaders and ultimately captured them in April, 1250. King Louis eventually negotiated his freedom and that of his barons for a costly ransom and, much to the chagrin of his Crusaders, he decided to remain in the Holy Land. There he was able to overcome the stigma of his military defeat by forging advantageous alliances. He stayed there four more years and only returned home when he learned of Blanche's death. Back in France, Louis had some work to do to correct the abuses made by officials in his absence. He appointed investigators and passed two famous ordinances that outlined the responsibilities and duties of royal officials. He also outlawed prostitution, ordeal by battle and judicial duels, and he imposed penalties on counterfeiting. His measures strengthened royal authority and justice and stabilized the currency, assisting in increased commerce and trade. Louis also took an interest in art, architecture and literature, sponsoring the construction of buildings and literary endeavors. He encouraged his chaplain, Vincent of Beauvais, to write an encyclopaedia (the Speculum majus). While Louis was king, the University of Paris was an unparalleled magnet for students from throughout Europe. His court was lively with pleasant conversation encouraged by the vivacious monarch. But though he led a happy and exemplary life, Louis was haunted by the situation in the Holy Land. In 1269 he decided to return to Africa, and chose Tunisia as the point to strike a serious blow against the Muslims. This would prove a dreadful mistake. After landing at Tunis at the beginning of July 1270 he scored a series of easy victories, taking Carthage in the process. But as on his previous expedition, his forces were struck by plague. Louis died in August at the age of 56. It is said that when his body was brought back to France, all along the way crowds gathered and knelt as the procession passed. His funeral was held at Notre-Dame de Paris, and he is buried in the tomb of the kings of France at the abbey of Saint-Denis. (Saints)

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Scripture today:   Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17;   Psalm 128:1b-2, 3, 4, 5;    Matthew 23:1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honour at banquets, seats of honour in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:1-12)

 Studies that have been made of indigenous religions across the world suggest that among the various notable elements at work in them is that of power and position. The secrets that are reserved to certain persons in the religion, the practices that are required of the general body of adherents, and various other features point all too often to the quest for honours, authority and influence by some over others. One ought not be surprised at this in view of the fact that man is fallen and in any case one ought not overstate its prevalence. In fact, one can see this factor at work in the history of religions generally. Indeed, it was present in the day-to-day workings of revealed religion too, according to the word of our Lord. In our Gospel passage today, he warns the crowds and his disciples against the example of the Pharisees. Do not, he warns, “follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honour at banquets, seats of honour in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi’.” (Matthew 23:1-12) The ones our Lord refers to sought honours and power and wished to be served. Their example must not be followed. On the contrary, our Lord says, “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” So our Lord is teaching that what ought distinguish those in positions of honour and authority in the religion revealed by God is humility and the service of others. Can we think of examples of the humility our Lord is speaking of? One example might be the humble apologies expressed by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II on behalf of the Catholic Church for various offences against other religions in the course of history.

But there is a second point made by our Lord in today’s Gospel (Matthew 23:1-12). It is the importance of authority in revealed religion. In his criticisms of the Pharisees our Lord is not in any way dispensing with the authority to guide and teach that is exercised by various persons in religion. In respect to the Pharisees, he actually supports their authority for he says to “the crowds and to his disciples” that the “scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.” Their position as teachers (“the chair”) has the sanction of sharing in the authority of Moses and our Lord recognizes this. Their position is legitimate in the Mosaic religion and should be truly respected as such. This has important implications. “Therefore” our Lord says, “do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you...” These words are significant for it shows that our Lord not only fully respected the central and enduring things of Old Testament religion such as the Ten Commandments and the Scriptures but he had a profound respect for the institutions of day-to-day religion in the life of God’s chosen people in his day. He reverenced authority in religion and insisted on respect for its exercise. While our Lord sharply criticised the Pharisees’ love for honours and certain details of what they required (such as certain stipulations respecting the observance of the Sabbath) his exhortation that his disciples and the crowds “observe all things whatsoever they tell you” shows that he did not dispute their legitimate authority nor in general their guidance. The point we can take from this is not, of course, the question of the Pharisees. The substance of our Lord’s teaching here in our passage today is, firstly, that authority in revealed religion is to be exercised humbly and in a spirit of service. Secondly this authority and those who exercise it are to be respected by all even if their personal example is far from adequate.

Authority of necessity pervades society at its various levels. Life cannot be lived without the exercise of authority. In the religion Christ has revealed and established authority is a fundamental component. Those in authority occupy the chair not of Moses but of Christ and have been given by him a share in his authority to teach and to guide. This must be respected. At the same time, those who exercise this authority must do so in a spirit of humble service as would Christ himself.
                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

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So now it's tears! It hurts, doesn't it? Of course, man! It was meant to.
                                                 (The Way, no.158)

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                              What would be opposed to the social doctrine of the Church?
Opposed to the social doctrine of the Church are economic and social systems that sacrifice the basic rights of persons or that make profit their exclusive norm or ultimate end. For this reason the Church rejects the ideologies associated in modern times with Communism or with atheistic and totalitarian forms of socialism. But in the practice of capitalism the Church also rejects self centred individualism and an absolute primacy of the laws of the marketplace over human labour.  (2424-2425)
                            (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.512)                           
                 
 

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Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Prayers this week:    Listen, Lord, and answer me. Save your servant who trusts in you.
                                  I call to you all day long, have mercy on me, O Lord (Ps 85:1-3)
                              
                    Father, help us to seek the values that will bring lasting joy in this changing world.
                       In our desire for what you promise make us one in mind and heart.
        We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God.

(August 26)   St. Joseph Calasanz (1556-1648)
   From Aragon, where he was born in 1556, to Rome, where he died 92 years later, fortune alternately smiled and frowned on the work of Joseph Calasanz. A priest with university training in canon law and theology, respected for his wisdom and administrative expertise, he put aside his career because he was deeply concerned with the need for education of poor children. When he was unable to get other institutes to undertake this apostolate at Rome, he and several companions personally provided a free school for deprived children. So overwhelming was the response that there was a constant need for larger facilities to house their effort. Soon Pope Clement VIII gave support to the school, and this aid continued under Pope Paul V. Other schools were opened; other men were attracted to the work and in 1621 the community (for so the teachers lived) was recognized as a religious community, the Clerks Regular of Religious Schools (Piarists or Scolopi). Not long after, Joseph was appointed superior for life. A combination of various prejudices and political ambition and manoeuvring caused the institute much turmoil. Some did not favour educating the poor, for education would leave the poor dissatisfied with their lowly tasks for society! Others were shocked that some of the Piarists were sent for instruction to Galileo (a friend of Joseph) as superior, thus dividing the members into opposite camps. Repeatedly investigated by papal commissions, Joseph was demoted; when the struggle within the institute persisted, the Piarists were suppressed. Only after Joseph’s death were they formally recognized as a religious community.
   No one knew better than Joseph the need for the work he was doing; no one knew better than he how baseless were the charges brought against him. Yet if he were to work within the Church, he realized that he must submit to its authority, that he must accept a setback if he was unable to convince authorized investigators. While the prejudice, the scheming, and the ignorance of men often keep the truth from emerging for a long period of time, Joseph was convinced, even under suppression, that his institute would again be recognized and authorized. With this trust he joined exceptional patience and a genuine spirit of forgiveness. (AmericanCatholic.org)

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Scripture today:  Isaiah 66:18-21;   Psalm 117:1, 2;    Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13;  Luke 13:22-30

Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from. And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (Luke 13:22-30)

      I have at various times come across people who do not believe in an Afterlife, which means that they do not believe in a God nor in his judgment on our deeds. Nor do they believe therefore that there is a heaven and a hell. I have even read of persons who do believe in an Afterlife but   in defiance of God have stated that they choose hell. I have also heard of Satanists who opt to befriend and collaborate with Satan against God and religion. Such attitudes almost defy comprehension if only because they fly in the face of self-interest. The overwhelming percentage of people, though, prefer and want to go to heaven. That is their preference, but the sad fact is that for a great number this is little more than just a preference. That is to say, they do not think much of heaven or hell, they are not concerned much about God’s judgment on their life, and they are fairly content to drift through life expecting that the bus that is life will take them to something pleasant hereafter. If an observer were to gaze at the kind of choices such a person makes every day, he would see little evidence of a notably religious conscience. Pope Benedict before he became Pope wrote once that if the atheist or agnostic were to live as if there is a God, his concrete decisions would be morally well formed. Well, I tend to think that many people who count themselves as believers live as if there is not, or may not, be a God, and as if Christ and his Church do not matter. They take a broad path not much affected by their religious persuasion.

      But what does our Lord say in today’s Gospel? He says that we are to “strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” (Luke 13:22-30) There is a narrow gate of entry, and there is a broad gate that many choose instead. The way to eternal life does not pass through a broad and easy gate but through a narrow one. That narrow gate is, in a word, the gate of seeking to do what is objectively right in everything. This means forming one’s conscience in such a way that one does arrive at the truth of what is to be done, and then actually does it whatever be the cost. It is not enough to say to oneself and to others that I am doing what I think is right. One can be mistaken and blind or half blind because one has culpably failed to take the appropriate steps to be able to perceive what is right. This can happen in all sectors of life right down to the most personal aspects of individual and married life. A person convinces himself it is acceptable to miss Sunday Mass. A person convinces himself it is  acceptable to be a little unfaithful in his marriage, or to engage in contraception. A person convinces himself it is acceptable to avoid legitimate taxes. A person convinces himself it is acceptable to defraud or to steal from the workplace. A person in political life allows legislation for abortion or for embryonic stem cell research or legislation confusing marriage and same sex unions, all the while convincing himself that he is doing right. He disregards the Church’s solemn teaching and the explicit warnings of the Church’s pastors. He is being influenced in his judgment by a desire for convenience, popularity or some other form of self-interest. He is taking the broad and easy path of self-interest in one or other of its numerous forms, a path in which the voice of the authentic and properly formed conscience is ignored, evaded and gradually silenced. He is learning to call evil good and what is good evil. His conscience is being rendered blind.

    When attentive to a well formed moral conscience, the prudent person can hear the voice of God who speaks to him or her. Elsewhere in the Gospel our Lord says that the one who is faithful in small things will be faithful in great. If we do not cultivate this sensitivity of conscience in our judgments concerning the little duties of everyday life, we shall be unable in conscience to judge on the great things. We shall become culpably blind. A wonderful example for every lay person with duties in the world is St Thomas More. There is now a statue of him in the New South Wales state parliament. He was a saint in the little things of his everyday life, and was able in conscience to judge the truth of the great things of state when they arrived on the scene. He had formed his conscience well and was able to see the truth of the issues that were so crucial for the Church and the nation of his time, issues that had ramifications for centuries to come. He entered by the narrow gate and that was the gate that led to life. We form in ourselves an upright and true moral conscience by educating ourselves in the Word of God and the teaching of the Church, and by conscientiously applying this to everyday life despite the disapproval of others. A true conscience is supported by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and helped by the advice of wise and holy people. Prayer and an examination of conscience can also greatly assist one’s moral formation.

    Let us take our Lord’s words to heart in every aspect of our daily lives, let us take the narrow gate of forming our moral conscience in a way that is pleasing to God, and then following it in our daily life, whatever be the cost. This and this only is the way to life.

                                                                                                        (E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.1776-1785

 

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Your heart weakens and you clutch at an earthly support. Very good: but take care that what you grasp to stop you from falling doesn't become a dead weight dragging you down, a chain enslaving you.
                                         (The Way, no.159)

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             What is the meaning of work?
Work is both a duty and a right through which human beings collaborate with God the Creator. Indeed, by working with commitment and competence we fulfil the potential inscribed in our nature, honour the Creator’s gifts and the talents received from him, provide for ourselves and for our families, and serve the human community. Furthermore, by the grace of God, work can be a means of sanctification and collaboration with Christ for the salvation of others. (CCC 2426-2428, 2460-2461)
                  (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.513)
 

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Monday of the twenty first week of Ordinary Time II

(August 27) St Monica (331-387) Born in Tagaste (Africa) of a Christian family, while still young she married Patricius and had children, one of whom was Augustine for whose conversion she prayed and suffered unceasingly. She is the example of a mother of outstanding virtue, great faith and efficacy in prayer. She died at Ostia (Italy).  (Saints)
               (If you wish to read more about St Monica, click here)

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Scripture today: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8b-10;  Psalm 149:1b-2, 3-6a and 9b;   Matthew 23:13-22

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’ Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’ You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it; one who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it; one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who is seated on it.” (Matthew 23:13-22)

    As is well known, prior to his election Pope Benedict often referred to what he called the dictatorship of relativism. He has brought into high relief the philosophical assumption that objective truth — especially religious truth — is either non-existent or unattainable and that any claim to possess the truth is necessarily a subjective opinion. Relativism has it that whatever be a person’s conviction as to reality, that conviction is just a personal impression lacking the means of objective validation. The “truth” is ultimately relative to each person. I suppose the occasion prompting the rise and prevalence of this assumption which acts as a prejudice against the notion of objective truth is the presence in human society of radically diverse convictions. How can one possibly be sure of having attained the truth if there is profound and strongly held disagreement? Now, whatever of certain philosophical discussions, to deny the validity of all claims to having the truth flies in the face of ordinary human convictions and of common sense. We are all aware that it is possible to be right and that it is possible to be wrong. It is like the philosophical discussions as to the existence of free will. The fact is that we know that to a greater or lesser extent people are free and may be held accountable for their choices. So too we know that one can attain the truth and that one can be in objective error. What the fact of disagreement points to is not that all are right and that no one is wrong and that therefore truth is relative, but that truth is very generally not attained. It requires a great effort to attain the truth and especially religious truth, and it is very possible to be blind to it. The obviously valid  philosophical principle that something cannot be right and wrong simultaneously means that some in the world — and in matters of religious truth probably only a minority — are right, and many others are wrong. Some see the light and others are blind to it. 

In our Gospel passage today (Matthew 23:13-22) our Lord inveighs against the scribes and Pharisees who, he charges, are blind. They are blind and they lead others blindly into perdition:. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves. Woe to you, blind guides..” There are two obvious features in that which Christ condemns in the scribes and Pharisees here.  Firstly that they are blind and so lead others into harm, and secondly that their blindness is very culpable. They are hypocrites, and woe is coming upon them: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.” This then is a warning to us all that we must strive conscientiously to seek the truth of God with hearts and minds open to the light of the Holy Spirit. As were the scribes and Pharisees we can very easily be in convinced error while thinking we are in the truth. Our mistaken blindness can be deeply culpable. How so? By secret disposition and choice our will can fail to be attuned to the will of God. Our starting points, our fundamental principles, our preferred assumptions can set us against the truth revealed by God and render us blind. That is the danger. Its root is the love of sin and self which prevents us from attaining the truth revealed by God in Christ, and being blind ourselves we lead others astray in the process. Because of our fundamentally social nature we do not go either to heaven or to hell alone. We bring others with us one way or the other. This is the awful responsibility we all have of sincerely seeking to attain the truth because it is the truth which will set us free now and hereafter. Let us take our cue from what Christ says to the scribes and the Pharisees standing before him. It is imperative that we not allow ourselves to be blind as to the truth of Christ, at least not culpably so. We have a responsibility to do all we can to attain the light of God with certainty and with clarity.

On one occasion the people brought a clamouring beggar into the presence of our Lord. The beggar had been importunately demanding with loud and unremitting cries that Jesus of Nazareth hear him. Christ asked him what he wanted of him. The beggar — Bar Tijmaeus by name — said, “Lord, that I may see!” Let that prayer be our own. Lord that I may see Christ who is the light of my life, and that I may be able to guide others to him who is the light of life and of the world.
                                                                                                 (E.J.Tyler)

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Tell me: is that... a friendship, or is it a fetter?
                                             (The Way, no.160)

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              To what type of work does every person have a right?
Access to secure and honest employment must be open to all without unjust discrimination and with respect for free economic initiative and fair compensation. (CCC 2429, 2433-2434)
                 (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.514)

 

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Tuesday of the twenty first week of Ordinary Time II

(August 28) St Augustine  (354-430)  A Christian at 33, a priest at 36, a bishop at 41: many people are familiar with the biographical sketch of Augustine of Hippo, sinner turned saint. But really to get to know the man is a rewarding experience. There quickly surfaces the intensity with which he lived his life, whether his path led away from or toward God. The tears of his mother, the instructions of Ambrose and, most of all, God himself speaking to him in the Scriptures redirected Augustine’s love of life to a life of love. Having been so deeply immersed in creature-pride of life in his early days and having drunk deeply of its bitter dregs, it is not surprising that Augustine should have turned, with a holy fierceness, against the many demon-thrusts rampant in his day. His times were truly decadent—politically, socially, morally. He was both feared and loved, like the Master. The perennial criticism leveled against him: a fundamental rigorism. In his day, he providentially fulfilled the office of prophet. Like Jeremiah and other greats, he was hard-pressed but could not keep quiet. “I say to myself, I will not mention him,/I will speak in his name no more./But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,/imprisoned in my bones;/I grow weary holding it in,/I cannot endure it” (Jeremiah 20:9).  (Saints)
         Augustine is still acclaimed and condemned in our day. He is a prophet for today, trumpeting the need to scrap escapisms and stand face-to-face with personal responsibility and dignity. “Too late have I loved you, O Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new! Too late I loved you! And behold, you were within, and I abroad, and there I searched for you; I was deformed, plunging amid those fair forms, which you had made. You were with me, but I was not with you. Things held me far from you—things which, if they were not in you, were not at all. You called, and shouted, and burst my deafness. You flashed and shone, and scattered my blindness. You breathed odours and I drew in breath—and I pant for you. I tasted, and I hunger and thirst. You touched me, and I burned for your peace” (St. Augustine, Confessions).

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Scripture today:   1 Thessalonians 2:1-8;    Psalm 139:1-3, 4-6;    Matthew 23:23-26

Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.” (Matthew 23:23-26)

There are many aspects of the life of man’s conscience. One aspect which has received sustained attention during the modern era is the freedom of each to act according to his conscience. This is especially pressing in a situation where civil authority is reluctant to allow full liberty of conscience because of what it believes to be its harmful effect on the common good. It is also a great issue within the life of the Church when the Church judges the individual conscience to be failing to respect the charism of the teaching authority in the Church to guide the faithful to revealed truth. But there are other aspects of the life of the conscience which have always been critically important. For instance, there is the question of the sensitivity of the conscience to matters beyond and behind observable practices. In many religions in the course of man’s history it is the observance of external rites and regulations which have preoccupied the conscience of religious man. A rule governing a society’s behaviour is observed — say, the observance of the Sabbath day, or the exclusion of worship of other gods — and the conscience of both individuals and the society is at peace. It could be a rule prohibiting adultery, or theft, or murder or calumny. Whatever is the issue, the conscience at this stage is satisfied when that rule governing external and especially social behaviour is observed. But of course, the action of man does not only encompass external behaviour. It originates in and embraces above all the inner world of his mind and heart. Man acts when he chooses to judge and when he approves or disapproves interiorly, when he accepts or rejects, whenever he exercises his mind and heart freely even if society is unable to observe this interior activity. Inasmuch as this interior activity is truly his own and is a product of his own free choice, it is subject to his conscience.

In fact, however unobserved by society our secret thoughts and intentions may be, God sees all. All is bare before the constant gaze of God who sustains all things in being. If anything in any sense exists it is so only because of the sustaining hand of God. This is one reason why sin is so much of an offence to the infinitely holy God. God sustains us in our freedom, and therefore sustains us while we sin. The great and holy God is, as it were, dragged in to witness and with infinite reluctance to creatively support actions that are morally evil. It is a profound offence to his holiness. The point being made here, though, is that man’s conscience must be directed to his secret thoughts and actions, the realm of his inner soul. What this means is that we must remember constantly that we live in the constant presence of God and our service of him must especially involve our thoughts and desires. We must strive to be clean and pleasing to him not only on the outside but especially on the inside. The religion of man must especially become a religion not only of external practices — and of course including that too — but of the heart as well. Indeed, it must in the first instance be a religion of the heart because from the heart proceed both the good and the bad, and in any case God sees all man’s secret actions, which are those of his heart. And this is exactly what our Lord condemns in the scribes and the Pharisees listening to him. He calls them hypocrites because their observable actions are very different from the action of their hearts.  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.” (Matthew 23:23-262) The religion revealed by God  requires a holiness of the heart, not only a holiness of observable behaviour.

Our Lord’s words remind us that the religious person can be a hypocrite. His external behaviour can be the opposite of his internal behaviour and if this is so then his internal behaviour will vitiate his entire religious practice, for God sees all. We must resolve to live constantly in the presence of God our Father knowing that he sees our inmost thoughts. We must resolve to please him in the sanctuary of our hearts. Therein lies the battleground of holiness. It is above all there that we must put on the likeness of Christ, taking to heart the exhortation of St Paul that we put on the mind of Christ. Let us make this our daily undertaking, to please God above all within.

                                                                                                    (E.J.Tyler)

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You are a squanderer of tenderness. And I tell you: charity towards your neighbour — yes, always. But — listen to me, apostolic soul — from Christ and for him alone is that other feeling which God himself has placed in your heart. Besides, isn't it a fact that the drawing back of any one of the bolts of your heart — and it needs seven of them has more than once left a cloud of doubt floating on your supernatural horizon..., and, tormented in spite of the purity of your intentions, you asked yourself: haven't I perhaps gone too far in my outward show of affection?
                                      (The Way, no.161)

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              What responsibility does the State have in regard to labor?
It is the role of the State to guarantee individual freedom and private property, as well as a stable currency and efficient public services. It is also the State’s responsibility to oversee and direct the exercise of human rights in the economic sector. According to circumstances, society must help citizens to find work. (CCC 2431)
                     (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.515)

 

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Memorial of the Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist

Wednesday of the twenty first week of Ordinary Time

August 29, 2007  Beheading of John the Baptist   The drunken oath of a king with a shallow sense of honour, a seductive dance and the hateful heart of a queen combined to bring about the martyrdom of John the Baptist. The greatest of prophets suffered the fate of so many Old Testament prophets before him: rejection and martyrdom. The “voice crying in the desert” did not hesitate to accuse the guilty, did not hesitate to speak the truth. But why? What possesses a man that he would give up his very life? This great religious reformer was sent by God to prepare the people for the Messiah. His vocation was one of selfless giving. The only power that he claimed was the Spirit of Yahweh. “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Scripture tells us that many people followed John looking to him for hope, perhaps in anticipation of some great messianic power. John never allowed himself the false honour of receiving these people for his own glory. He knew his calling was one of preparation. When the time came, he led his disciples to Jesus: “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God.’ The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus” (John 1:35-37). It is John the Baptist who has pointed the way to Christ. John’s life and death were a giving over of self for God and other people. His simple style of life was one of complete detachment from earthly possessions. His heart was centred on God and the call that he heard from the Spirit of God speaking to his heart. Confident of God’s grace, he had the courage to speak words of condemnation or repentance, of salvation. (Saints)
        Each of us has a calling to which we must listen. No one will ever repeat the mission of John, and yet all of us are called to that very mission. It is the role of the Christian to witness to Jesus. Whatever our position in this world, we are called to be disciples of Christ. By our words and deeds others should realize that we live in the joy of knowing that Jesus is Lord. We do not have to depend upon our own limited resources, but can draw strength from the vastness of Christ’s saving grace. “So they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.’ John answered and said, ‘No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said [that] I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease’” (John 3:26–30).

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Scripture today:   1 Thessalonians 2:9-1;   Psalm 139:7-8, 9-10, 11-12ab;    Mark 6:17-29

Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harboured a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias’ own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.” He even swore many things to her, “I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request, “I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. (Mark 6:17-29)

The daily news as it comes to us in the press or on television or radio is in large measure the news of tragedies. There is the tragedy of daily accidents, of murder, of war, of famines and various natural disasters leading to loss of life or injury. Life and human history is in large measure tragic, but its most tragic element is the presence and perpetration of sin. This was the tragedy present in man’s beginnings. If only at the beginning he had not sinned! God has revealed to us that at the beginning man sinned, and that sin brought death and more sin. It was a catastrophe of incalculable proportions and the most catastrophic element in the history of man since then has been the presence of sin. Now, how did it occur? Man sinned as a result of giving in to temptation coming from outside him. It was proposed to him that he disobey God. It was intimated by another that it would be in his own interest to disregard the expressed will of God. It was suggested from without that if he partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would be godlike in his own right and not subject in matters of right and wrong to Another. The man and the woman were placed in a garden, as it were, by their Creator and given commands for their life in the garden, but another approached and put to the woman who in turn put to the man that their course be rebellion. They freely and without any compulsion or interior impetus accepted the temptation. They sinned mortally as had Satan long before in heaven itself. But in the case of the woman, and then the man, the temptation came from without. Let us turn now to our Gospel text (Mark 6:17-29) and notice a parallel situation. Herod sinned by shutting up in prison the holy John who had reproved him for taking Herodias to himself as his wife. The situation escalated and sin led to sin.

Let us consider from what quarter came the prompting for these sins. We can just imagine the urging by Herodias that Herod gaol John and we are specifically told that she wanted to have John killed but Herod, superstitious before a holy man, would not allow it. The chance came with Herod’s birthday and the rivetting dancing by the daughter of Herodias. Herod in his bravado promises  the girl anything she wishes and Herodias seizes her chance. The girl demands the head of John the Baptist which she receives. A terrible crime and sin before God is proposed to Herod by another, and he falls. Due to his sensuality and his fear of what he thinks will be the judgment of others he gives in to the temptation. What the Church has traditionally called “the flesh” lays him open to fall before the temptation coming from “the world” of others, and undoubtedly behind both was the orchestration of “the devil”, so hateful of the person and witness of John. Temptation to sin comes from within ourselves and from Satan, but here we notice that which is so pervasive in everyday life, namely that others can and do often lead us into sin. The prevailing culture with its expectations and values, our workplace companions, even our friends and circle of relatives and even family members can prompt us to do what God forbids. We must be on guard against the occasions of sin coming from the suggestions and expectations and pressure from others. We must be on guard against those occasions of sin and if possible avoid them because if we are tempted we can fall. We are with a group of friends and the conversation turns impure or it is proposed that the group go to something grossly unchaste. There is a serious temptation afoot and we could fall unless we be on guard and be ready to resist a perhaps silent but very real pressure. It could be any one of a number of different kinds of sin which is at issue. We must be on guard.

Let us learn from this pattern to be ever vigilant and to understand that at every choice we stand at a crossroad. It is that of either loving and obeying God or loving self and sinning. God or sin, good or evil, that is the constant choice in life. That is the ultimate issue in the universe and the world and every human life hangs in the balance of these two. Let us make our choice now and resolve resolutely to live it out whatever be the temptation at hand.

                                                                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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Put your heart aside. Duty comes first. But, when fulfilling your duty, put your heart into it. It helps.
                                         (The Way, no.162)

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                   What is the task of business management?
Business managers are responsible for the economic and ecological effects of their operations. They must consider the good of persons and not only the increase of profits, even though profits are necessary to assure investments, the future of the business, employment, and the good progress of economic life. (CCC 2432)
                    (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.516)

 

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Thursday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time II

(August 30) Saint Jeanne Jugan and Saint Fiacre 

Jeanne Jugan (Pictured) was born on October 25, 1792 in a small fishing village of Brittany, France. She was the sixth of the eight children of Joseph and Marie Jugan. When she was three and a half, her father was lost at sea. Her mother struggled for years to keep the family together in their one room earthen-floored cottage. When Jeanne was about 16, she became the kitchen maid of the Viscountess de la Choue, a kind-hearted Christian woman, who took her on visits to the sick and the poor on and around her estate. Jeanne learned by example, the meaning of truly Christian charity and a refinement of manners not customary among those of the peasant class. When she was about 25, Jeanne took a job in the crowded hospital in the town of Saint Servan. After six years of devoted toil at the hospital, she was so worn out that she had to leave this work. She went to work for a good Christian woman named Mlle. Lecoq. Daily, the two women spent hours in prayer, and they assisted at Mass. They also instructed the town's children in their catechism. They also cared for the poor and other unfortunates until the elderly woman died. In 1837, the forty-five year old Jeanne and a seventy-two year old woman named Francoise Aubert rented part of a humble cottage. They were joined by Virginie Tredaniel, a seventeen year old orphan and the three formed a community of prayer. They taught catechism and assisted the poor. Whatever they had left over from their earnings, they gave to the poor. At age 47, with the approval of Francoise and Virginie, Jeanne turned her attention to the most pitiful of the poor-abandoned old ladies. In 1839, she brought home a blind widow named Anne Chauvin. Jeanne gave up her own bed to provide sleeping quarters for their guest. Henceforth, she was to share intimately in the sufferings of the poor, even physically, considering herself one of them. This characteristic is expressed in the name that eventually developed for Jeanne's charitable work: The Little Sisters of the Poor. As the number of guests grew, so also did her little community. Jeanne wrote a simple rule for them and herself. Putting aside personal pride, the Little Sisters daily went out door to door asking for food, clothing and money. In 1879 Jeanne was eighty-seven. At this time the community she had founded had 2,400 Little Sisters and had spread across Europe and across the Ocean. Toward the end of August, she was given the Last Sacraments. Her last words were, "O Mary, my dear Mother, come to me. You know I love you and how I long to see You!" After her peaceful death, Jeanne was buried in the graveyard at the motherhouse. She was beatified in Rome on October 3, 1982. (Saints)

Saint Fiacre is said to have been born in Ireland and that he sailed to France in quest of closer solitude. He arrived at Meaux and dwelled in a forest which was his own patrimony, called Breuil, in the province of Brie. There is a legend that Saint Faro, the Bishop of Meaux, offered him as much land as he could turn up in a day, and that Saint Fiacre, instead of driving his furrow with a plough, turned the top of the soil with the point of his staff. He cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell with a garden, built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin and made a hospice for travelers which developed into the village of Saint-Fiacre in Seine-et-Marne. Many resorted to him for advice and the poor came to him for relief. His charity moved him to attend those that came to consult him. In his hospice he entertained all comers, serving them with his own hands, and sometimes miraculously restored to health those that were sick. He never allowed any woman to enter the enclosure of his hermitage. Saint Fiacre extended the prohibition even to his chapel. The fame of Saint Fiacre's miracles of healing continued after his death and crowds visited his shrine for centuries. Mgr. Seguier, Bishop of Meaux in 1649, and John de Chatillon, Count of Blois, gave testimony of their own relief. Anne of Austria attributed to the meditation of this saint, the recovery of Louis XIII at Lyons, where he had been dangerously ill; in thanksgiving for which she made, on foot, a pilgrimage to the shrine in 1641. She also sent to his shrine, a token in acknowledgement of his intervention in the birth of her son, Louis XIV. Before that king underwent a severe operation, Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, began a novena of prayers to Saint Fiacre to ask the divine blessing. His relics at Meaux are still resorted to, and he is invoked against all sorts of physical ills, including venereal disease. He is also a patron saint of gardeners and of cab-drivers of Paris. French cabs are called fiacres because the first establishment to let coaches on hire, in the middle of the seventeenth century, was in the Rue Saint Martin, near the hotel Saint Fiacre, in Paris. Saint Fiacre's feast is kept in some dioceses of France, and throughout Ireland on this date. Many miracles were claimed through his working the land and interceding for others.  (Saints)

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Scripture today: 1 Thessalonians 3:7-13;  Psalm 90:3-5a, 12-14 and 17;  Matthew 24:42-59

Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
 (Matthew 24:42-59)

I remember watching a movie many years ago and in one of its scenes a woman was shown holding her small child. The child suddenly asked his mother, “Why isn’t there nothing?” The mother was nonplussed, but so important is that question that it is the only scene in the movie that I remember. We see all around us a wonderful world of unending variety and typically we take it for granted. Secular man subconsciously assumes that it always was, that it always will  be, and that it more or less has to be. But, why isn’t there nothing? There is nothing about this world that makes it necessary unless we assert (without justification) that the mere fact that it is  means that it has to be. The implications of this question for theism are obvious, but that is not why I raise it. We can ask the same question about life and one’s own existence. Why is it that I exist and live at all? There is nothing about my life and my existence that makes me necessary. The mere fact that I can cease to live shows that I am not necessary. We have plenty of reason to be grateful for the gift of life because there is no reason inherent to me why I have had to live nor is there any necessary reason why I must continue to live. That is why the first point our Lord makes in our Gospel passage today is so important. We must stand ready at every moment. Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” What is to prevent this day from being our very last, or this very night? We must stand ready as if this day or night were to be our last because we never know the day on which we may be suddenly called to appear before God for our judgment.

In our Gospel passage today (Matthew 24:42-59) our Lord goes on to tell us what it means in practice to stand ready for the sudden coming of Christ. It means to be found lovingly fulfilling the service that he has given us. “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.” If we do not fear the judgment of God then our conscience all too often will slumber in respect to his will. We will think there is no urgency about the fulfilment of our duties because we have plenty of time on our hands. The thought of a judgment as involved in the feeling of a guilty conscience will keep us returning to God and this in turn gives the time and the opportunity for the love of God to grow in our hearts. A heart attack or a stroke, or a car accident or whatever, and forthwith our life is over and nothing else is ahead of us but the judgment of God. That is to say, for the religious man the thought of death ought be ever before him together with what must follow death. This will help him to be at his work in life which includes all his responsibilities to God and to others and to his own spiritual life. I remember hearing a very good comment by a well-known radio talk-back host. He said that we are born to work and the purpose of our life is to work. Let us work all our lives at the task that God wants us to do and not at tasks that in his sight are a waste of our precious time. I remember when I asked a person once how his brother — a very well known TV personality many years ago — was going, he said that he was going well but that he was not working on his religious faith. Our religious faith is a work, the greatest work we have to do in life. When God calls us, he wants to find us at our work, the work he has given us to do.

I have seen paintings of saints with a skull on their desk. The point of this practice was to keep in mind that life is short and eternity long. These holy men and women worked well and constantly with a profound love for God in part because they remembered the transitoriness of life. That is to say, they remembered the judgment of God and they resolved so to live and to work as always to be ready for it even if it were to come suddenly. Let us so live that, as the saying goes, we shall not be caught napping.

                                                                        (E.J.Tyler)

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If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee! Your poor heart, that's what scandalizes you!

Press it, squeeze it tight in your hands: give it no consolations. And when it asks for them, say to it slowly and with a noble compassion — in confidence, as it were: 'Heart, heart on the Cross, heart on the Cross!'
                                           (The Way, no.163)

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            What are the duties of workers?
They must carry out their work in a conscientious way with competence and dedication, seeking to resolve any controversies with dialogue. Recourse to a non-violent strike is morally legitimate when it appears to be the necessary way to obtain a proportionate benefit and it takes into account the common good. (CCC 2435)
             (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.517)

 

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Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time II

(August 31) Saint Raymond Nonnatus Born 1200 or 1204 at Portello in the Diocese of Urgel in Catalonia; died at Cardona, 31 August, 1240. His feast is celebrated on 31 August. He is pictured in the habit of his order surrounded by ransomed slaves, with a padlock on his lips. He was taken from the womb of his mother after her death, hence his name. Of noble but poor family, he showed early traits of piety and great talent. His father ordered him to tend a farm, but later gave him permission to take the habit with the Mercedarians at Barcelona, at the hands of the founder, St. Peter Nolasco. Raymond made such progress in the religious life that he was soon considered worthy to succeed his master in the office of ransomer. He was sent to Algiers and liberated many captives. When money failed he gave himself as a hostage. He was zealous in teaching the Christian religion and made many converts, which embittered the Mohammedan authorities. Raymond was subjected to all kinds of indignities and cruelty, was made to run the gauntlet, and was at last sentenced to impalement. The hope of a greater sum of money as ransom caused the governor to commute the sentence into imprisonment. To prevent him from preaching for Christ, his lips were pierced with a red-hot iron and closed with a padlock. After his arrival in Spain, in 1239, he was made a cardinal by Gregory IX. In the next year he was called to Rome by the pope, but came only as far as Cardona, about six miles from Barcelona, where he died. His body was brought to the chapel of St. Nicholas near his old farm. In 1657 his name was placed in the Roman martyrology by Alexander VII. He is invoked by women in labour and by persons falsely accused. The appendix to the Roman ritual gives a formula for the blessing of water, in his honour, to be used by the sick, and another of candles. (Saints)

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Scripture today:  1 Thessalonians 4:1-8;   Psalm 97:1 and 2b, 5-6, 10-12;   Matthew 25:1-13

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:1-13)

If you wish to view a video broadcast of the following reflection on today's Gospel, click here

Take any day of the year and listen to or watch the news. It speaks of sudden death coming upon individuals and groups time and again, death without warning to persons of all ages, callings and conditions. The greatest persons can be suddenly snuffed out, from Julius Caesar in classical times to Lincoln in the nineteenth century, and Ghandi, the Kennedys and Martin Luther King in the twentieth. Death comes to all and to very many it comes suddenly whether by natural or unnatural means. Such is the human condition and our Lord warns his disciples to understand that they must take this into account because an enormous amount depends on how we are found at the moment death visits us. In this sense the whole of life is a preparation for the moment of death. Our Lord — as usual — tells a story to drive home the point. The setting is a wedding feast and the maids were awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom. There were foolish ones among them who did not foresee a sudden arrival of the bridegroom and wise ones who took this possibility into account. The upshot was that the foolish ones were left outside with the door locked to them. So apart from anything, wickedness is foolish. Living a life of sin is, as some might say, a bit dumb. It is foolish because even from the point of self-interest it shows poor thinking. We must think through our situation as vulnerable creatures whose lives are radically exposed to any number of threats which may at any point cut it off, and then what? Then comes the judgment and its upshot depends on our readiness for the bridegroom at the moment of his arrival. If death can come suddenly and if an unending eternity depends on the welcome we are able to give to the bridegroom — then the whole of our life ought be spent in standing ready for this arrival.

Our parable not only teaches us to stand ready lest death overtake us suddenly. It also and more importantly tells us who it is whose coming death announces (Matthew 25:1-13). It is the bridegroom. It is the bridegroom of the Church and therefore the bridegroom of the soul of each of the Church’s faithful. Christ describes himself as the bridegroom and the kingdom of heaven as a wedding feast. This ought be a wonderful thought all through life giving joy to the thought of death. Death is not just a loss, and possibly a sudden and catastrophic loss which we must be always ready for. Rather, it is a gain. The whole of life is not a dark preparation for a sudden loss. Rather it is a joyful preparation for a beautiful gain, the gain of entry into the wedding feast of Christ and sanctified mankind. Death in this light is something which can be viewed with serenity and optimism, and if life has many sorrows then death can be looked forward to as a great door to something far more beautiful to come. Indeed, we must develop the habit of looking on life and death in these terms because this is central to all that Christ has revealed. In death something beautiful can come upon us suddenly and that beautiful thing is the arrival of Christ to take us into the wedding feast of heaven with him. So let us stand ready to welcome him. Our whole life ought be tantamount to a readiness for heaven because of the way we are striving to live. Life is short no matter how long it is and eternity is unending no matter how long we choose to imagine it. This beautiful finale to death casts a bright and joyful light across the paths of life, provided, provided we live accordingly. If we do not death will indeed be a catastrophe. Every day counts, as does every moment. Let us live in the present as if the present were to be the last.

Every day we ought begin again. So then, now I begin! I must keep my lamp filled with the oil of faith in Jesus and good works done in him and for him. He, the bridegroom, could come at any moment. Let me not fool myself by saying that it will be some time yet. I simply do not know. My whole life should be lived in such a way that were he to come now I would be ready to welcome him with my bright and burning lamp.

                                                                                                 (E.J.Tyler)

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How is that heart of yours getting along? Don't worry: the saints — who were perfectly ordinary, normal beings like you and me — also felt those 'natural' inclinations. And if they had not felt them, their 'supernatural' reaction of keeping their heart — soul and body — for God, instead of giving it to creatures, would have had little merit.

That's why, once the way is seen, I think that the heart's weaknesses need be no obstacle for a determined soul, for a soul in love.
                                                        (The Way, no.164)

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          How is justice and solidarity among nations brought about?
On the international level, all nations and institutions must carry out their work in solidarity and subsidiarity for the purpose of eliminating or at least reducing poverty, the inequality of resources and economic potential, economic and social injustices, the exploitation of persons, the accumulation of debts by poor countries, and the perverse mechanisms that impede the development of the less advanced countries. (CCC 2437-2441)
                                (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.518)

 

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