Friday of the thirteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Amos 8: 4-6.9-12;     Psalm 118;     Matthew 9: 9-13 

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. Follow me, he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'? On hearing this, Jesus said, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. (Matthew 9: 9-13)

The ordinary   In their analysis of the rise and establishment of kingdoms or great military success of certain conquerors, historians have often noticed the importance of a careful selection by the central protagonist of the right collaborators.  By that I mean collaborators who have certain outstanding abilities and who collaborate appropriately with him.  It could be said that at its height Napoleon Bonaparte’s military success was due in no small measure to the qualities of his chosen generals.  It stands to reason that the success of a democratic government will depend not only on the quality of the prime minister but on the calibre of the ministers he selects or on his judicious assignment of portfolios to those who have the relevant abilities.  However, whatever we may say about the importance of careful selection of the right people and a far‑sighted strategy, when we turn to Christ the matter is somewhat different.  His impact on the world is incalculable and we know that the Church he founded will be present till the end of time.  It will not be like the kingdoms of this world that rise and fall, perhaps into oblivion.  What has happened to the great empire of Rome? It has gone.  What has happened to the empire of Genghis Khan? It has gone.  What has happened to the Spanish empire of the sixteenth century?  It has gone.  What has happened to the British empire?  It has gone.  The kingdoms of this world come and go, but one kingdom will never end, a kingdom that is present in this world though not of it.  That is the kingdom of Christ present in his Church.  Christ came to establish God’s kingdom, and this he did.  The kingdoms of this world are established very often by conquest.  Christ established his kingdom by means of his own personal defeat.  That is to say, it was precisely by his passion and death that he entered into his glory and his kingdom was established on earth.  And what does he say to his commanders? He says that if they wish to follow him to glory they too must drink of his chalice, taking up their cross every day and following him to the end.  Dying daily is the path to victory. 

This pattern that seems in notable respects to fly in the face of the dynamics of worldly success is present also in Christ’s selection of his personnel.  He came to establish a kingdom and one would have expected him to invite the most outstanding persons to assist him.  In some cases he did — as in, say, the conversion of St Paul — but it cannot be described as his ordinary practice.  He chose the little people, those who were unnoticed and at times even despised.  This brings us to our Gospel passage today in which our Lord, going on from there stopped and simply invited a tax collector, no less, to follow him.  A tax collector, as all know, was scarcely admired and Matthew in particular had shown no outstanding talents.  He was, we might say, one of the little people.  Yet he was invited to become one of the foundation stones of Christ’s Church, far and away the most important institution in the history of the world because it is Christ’s ongoing vehicle of redemption.  By the simple call of today’s Gospel scene, Matthew the tax collector became one of the Twelve.  Apart from his lifelong apostleship he was the inspired author of the first Gospel, and through that Gospel will bring countless persons into union with Jesus till the end of time.  But our Gospel scene also shows our Lord “ having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples” (Matthew 9: 9‑13).  Those many tax collectors and sinners surely represent the countless sinners who have drawn near to Christ and have entered his enduring company over the course of time.  They have been invited by him to be his friends and to share in his mission according to their measure.  They have heard the call to sanctity and have responded according to the grace given to them.  The advance of the Kingdom has been brought about in large measure by the ordinary Christian, by Matthew the tax collector, by you and me.  This is because the great Evangelizer whom Christ has sent to sustain the ordinary Christian is the Holy Spirit.  In him we are all strong.  Without him we are nothing.

Let each of us, ordinary as we may be in our calling, in our profession, in our work and in our abilities, know that Christ has called us to his friendship and to share in his mission of bringing him to the world around us.  We might be ordinary, but we have with us an extraordinary resource to assist us in our friendship with the Master.  That divine resource is the very Spirit of God and of Christ, the Holy Spirit.  By his grace we are able to give to all that is ordinary in our lives a true grandeur, a share in the grandeur of Christ himself.  So then let us say, now I begin!

                                                                        (E.J.Tyler)

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Books. I put out my hand, like one of Christ's beggars, and I asked for books. Books, — that are nourishment for the Catholic, apostolic and Roman minds of many young students.

I put out my hand, like one of Christ's beggars, and each time had it brushed heedlessly aside! Why, Jesus, can people not understand the profound Christian charity of this alms, more effective than a gift of the finest bread.
                                                                         (The Way, no.467)

Saturday of the thirteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Amos 9: 11-15;     Psalm 84;      Matthew 9: 14-17

Then John's disciples came and asked Jesus, How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? Jesus answered, How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. No-one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. (Matthew 9: 14-17)

The Bridegroom    In our Gospel today our Lord is approached by persons who were not among his disciples, but who were excellent people and who truly loved God.  They were disciples of John the Baptist and had been well taught by John.  They were puzzled that, despite the high recognition and commendation accorded Jesus by John, Jesus did not seem to ask of his disciples that they fast.  Perhaps they saw the disciples of Jesus joyful and busy with the things of the Master, but not bothering to deny themselves food nor some delicacies.  What was our Lord’s response to this objection? He said, in effect, let us take one thing at a time.  The time would come when they will fast, but it is not the priority just now.  At this point, he is with them but when he is taken away from them, then would come the time to fast.  That is to say, the priority was that his disciples make him the object of their lives and that no other element in the practice of religion distract them from this.  This was something altogether new, that he himself be the priority in religion.  Why? He is the priority because he is the bridegroom.  Our Gospel passage is taken from the Gospel of St Matthew.  In the Gospel of St John, John the Baptist refers to our Lord as the bridegroom and himself as no more than the friend of the bridegroom.  Our Lord may have given the reply in today’s Gospel to John’s disciples to remind them of what John himself had said of him.  He is the bridegroom.  He is the object of the love of God’s people, as they are of his.  We remember, and the disciples of John would have remembered, that in the Prophets Yahweh God described himself as the Husband of his people.  They were his spouse.  He dwelt among them as their betrothed.  This was the true nature of the covenant between Yahweh God and his people.  Now here in our Gospel passage today our Lord describes himself as the bridegroom.  He says that there is good reason for his disciples not fasting, for in him they have all of God’s blessings.  It is not yet the time to fast.

Thus it is that an altogether new element has entered the religion of historical revelation.  For this reason our Lord tells John’s disciples that “No‑one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.  Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins.  If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.  No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9: 14‑17).  So the wine is new, as are the wineskins.  The new and altogether dominating element in the religion revealed by God is precisely the person of Jesus.  He himself does not simply point to God as did all the prophets, and above all John the Baptist, exhorting the people and their disciples to pray, fast and do good works in obedience to the God of Israel.  No, our Lord points to himself, and in doing that he points to God his heavenly Father.  He is the object and the focus of revealed religion.  He is the Bridegroom.  Revealed religion is a relationship of love with him.  His disciples had first to realize this and to make it the overriding factor in their religion.  Then, with him gone from their sight, they would indeed fast.  But the fasting and the praying and the good works would then be part and parcel of their love for him who is the Bridegroom.  Let us pass on from the immediate context of our Gospel passage (Matthew 9: 14‑17) and relate this important point to our own lives.  Jesus Christ is the object of our religion.  He himself is the one we are called to love and worship and serve.  He is the one who loves us and he is the one we ourselves love.  He himself is the Redeemer of man.  He himself is the one we are called to know, love and serve with all our mind, heart, soul and strength.  It is in him and in imitation of his example that we are called to love one another.  I think it could be argued that a uniquely distinctive teaching of Christianity is that the Creator is not only Father, but is the Bridegroom.  Is there any other religion that imagines the one God to be Bridegroom to man? Christ is that Bridegroom.  The Christian religion is distinctive indeed. 

Let us resolve to spend time with Jesus, quality time, all through life, being with him, coming to know him and love him, learning that he is the Bridegroom of our souls, the Bridegroom of the Church, our Bridegroom in eternity.  We must learn that religion is not simply its practices.  Religion is not simply fasting, nor is it simply good works — though these are necessary for authentic religion.  At its heart the religion that God has revealed and established among men is that which has for its object the living person of Jesus Christ.  He is the Bridegroom.  Life is a personal friendship with him, and holiness consists in the generous growth in that friendship.  Let us resolve then to make Jesus Christ the love of our hearts, and to live this in our in everyday life.

                                                                                (E.J.Tyler)
 

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You were too naive: you tell me that there are very few who really practise charity, and that to be charitable does not mean to give away old clothes or coppers...

And you tell me your tale of woe and your disillusionment.

Only one thing will I say: let you and me give and give ourselves unstintingly. And we will spare others your sad experience.
                                                 (The Way, no.468)

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Prayers this week:   Within your temple, we ponder your loving kindness, O God. As your  name, so also your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; you right hand is filled with justice. (Psalm 47:10-11)
                                                                                                                   
Father, through the obedience of Jesus, your servant and your Son, you raised a fallen world. Free us from sin and bring  us the joy that lasts for ever. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

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Scripture today: Zechariah 9:9-10;    Psalm 144;     Romans 8: 9.11-13;     Matthew 11: 25-30

At that time Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. All things have been committed to me by my Father. No-one knows the Son except the Father, and no-one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11: 25-30)

The Father   I once saw a notice of a book about the birth of Moses and the birth of Buddha.  It was an exercise in comparative religion, comparing the figures of Moses and Buddha and the differences in significance of each.  In the past forty or fifty years there has been a great increase in the academic study of religion in universities and secondary schools, and this study has been largely comparative.  For the convinced Christian a comparative study of religion can be valuable in that it can enable a person to appreciate even more the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.  It can be a hazard if the student picks up and makes his own the view that all religions are of equal validity as the truth and that, in effect, all are of equal value in the attainment of man’s end.  Be that as it may, the most distinctive thing in the religion brought to man by Christ is the revelation that God is a loving Father, and that he is Father within a trinity of divine Persons.  There is at least one prominent and extensively published Buddhist scholar in England who firmly maintains that classic Buddhism does not accept the existence of a loving Creator.  He himself is a convert to Christianity from Buddhism, so not only has he studied Buddhism extensively, but has been a Buddhist himself.  His position is that Buddhism does not allow the doctrine of a God who is our Father.  There are many who maintain that while Islam insists on the unique transcendence of the one only God, it will not allow that we ought look on him as our Father, a Father with whom we can be on terms of intimacy.  It will not, of course, admit the Trinity, considering this to be polytheism.  This reinforces its denial of the doctrine that God is Father to us because it denies that God is uniquely Father to Jesus his only‑begotten divine Son.  The religion of Judaism is set forth in the books of the Old Testament and in them the fatherhood of the one God is progressively revealed.  But it is Jesus Christ who reveals the true sense in which God is our Father.  He is his own Father.  He is the Father of Jesus Christ his Son, and the two persons are united in the love of the Holy Spirit, the third divine Person.  By baptism we are made children of God our Father.

In our Gospel today, our Lord praises the Lord God of heaven and earth, addressing him as Father.  He is his own Father from all eternity, and as a true Father he cares for the little ones of the world, revealing to them the truth of what Jesus teaches about him.  Our Lord prays, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.  All things have been committed to me by my Father.  No‑one knows the Son except the Father, and no‑one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11: 25‑30).  It is Jesus, the second divine Person of the Holy Trinity, who reveals the Father, just as Jesus himself is revealed by the Father.  No-one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  This statement ought be remembered by the Christian who reads in the field of comparative religion or who finds himself with an interest in it.  If we want to know God our Father, we should draw near to Jesus.  Indeed, he said to his disciples at the Last Supper that he who sees me sees the Father.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  And so our Lord in our Gospel passage today invites all to come to him.  “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart.  You will find rest for your souls.” Among the many things we ought approach Jesus for, is the grace of knowing the Father.  Most especially we ought treasure the Prayer he taught us to pray to the Father.  In the Lord’s Prayer we pray that the Father’s name will be hallowed and that the Father’s kingdom will come.  We pray that our Father will answer our daily needs and that he will forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those who offend us.  We pray that he will keep us from temptation and sin.  All this is to say that Christ has taught us to look on the great and infinite God as truly our Father. 

Let us cultivate a loving intimacy with God our Father in heaven.  Let us not make this a matter of mere words, but let us draw near to Jesus, staying ever close to him and being taught by him to think of God as he thinks of him, to speak to God as he speaks to him, to love God as he loves him.  That is to say, let us become devoted to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, his Father and our Father, his God and our God.  He, Jesus, is himself God because he is God’s Son, and so he is, in a way that is absolutely beyond any other teacher of religion, man’s teacher of the Fatherhood of God.

                                                                                            (E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2786-2793 (Our Father)

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'Salute all the saints. All the saints send you greetings. To all the saints who are at Ephesus. To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi.' — What a moving name — saints! — the early Christians used to address to each other!...

Learn to be a brother to your brothers.
                                                                (The Way, no.469)

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Monday of the fourteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Hosea 2: 16-18.21-22;     Psalm 144;      Matthew 9: 18-26

While Jesus was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live. Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed. Jesus turned and saw her. Take heart, daughter, he said, your faith has healed you. And the woman was healed from that moment. When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep. But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region. (Matthew 9: 18-26)

The heart of God   If you were to ask the average person who is not very religious to reflect on what are his impressions of God, I suspect that he would think of some vague and distant Spirit, some Reality of power that is quite remote from him.  If he were pressed to recollect that God is commonly considered as the Father Almighty, he would grant that he is.  He is the Father of everyone and everything in the sense that he is the world’s ultimate origin.  I suspect, though, that he would think that God is not personally very interested in him.  If questioned further, I think he would say that God expects us to revere and worship him as the highest Being.  He expects that we do what he has commanded, and if we do not, then we shall be judged and condemned.  How could we put all this, in a colloquial way? We might say that the average person would instinctively think that God does not have much of a heart.  While I am speaking here of the average non‑religious Western man, the man of the modern secular culture, I nevertheless think something of this can be found in the history of man’s religions.  If we bear this in mind, we are led to wonder at the Incarnation.  The Incarnation is the wonder of wonders.  God was so interested in man that he commissioned his very own Son to leave the divine glory behind and to become as men are, and humbler still.  I remember when Mel Gibson’s great movie came out, The Passion of the Christ, I went to it with many others.  While the portrayal of the Christ’s Passion was moving and gripping, what struck me more when watching, say, the scourging, was the fact that here we had God being scourged.  There he was in the movie, covered with blood and prostrate on the floor of the scourging area.  Who was it that had been so beaten up?  It was the Son of God made man, the most high God, the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, the eternal Son of the eternal Father.  God had become man out of love for sinful man.

That is to say that God has a heart and every page of the Gospels portrays the heart of God.  In our Gospel passage today (Matthew 9: 18‑26) our Lord was speaking, and a ruler came up and told him that his daughter had just died.  The ruler had faith in Jesus’ power, and our Lord immediately got up and went with him.  He was showing his personal interest in this individual.  He did not simply send him off assuring him that his daughter would live — he went with him to his home.  Jesus had a heart, as we might say.  But then on the way, a woman who had been long sick came up behind him to touch his cloak.  Full of faith, she grasped his garment and she was healed.  Our Lord turned and gave her his personal attention.  He assured her that her faith had healed her.  Jesus had a heart, as it were.  Every person counted.  Every person was precious.  Arriving at the house, our Lord went to the room where the dead girl lay.  He made personal and individual contact with her.  He was in no way remote from the individual in need.  He took her by the hand and helped her up, raising her from the dead.  We are speaking here of the heart of Jesus, the sacred heart of Jesus.  He, more than anyone else who ever lived, had a heart and he has that heart now, still.  The heart of Christ reveals the heart of God and shows that God has a heart.  That is the great revelation that has occurred and it is the message of the Christian religion.  In Christ God reveals his heart, full of love for sinful man, man not in general, but man in particular.  Each and every man and woman is the object of the boundless and tender and interested and compassionate love of God.  The same Jesus who accompanied the distressed ruler to his home, the same Jesus who healed the sick woman, the same Jesus who raised the girl from the dead, this same Jesus is with us still, living and risen from the dead.  Where is he? He is present in his body the Church, and there in the Church’s life, in the Church’s sacraments and preaching and ministry, is present Christ full of love for each of us. 

Let us then seek to know the heart of God.  God has a heart, and the way to know the heart of God is to come to know the heart of Christ.  How do we do this? Most especially through a prayerful reading and rereading of the Gospels, and living in his love.  Every day we ought take time out to be in the presence of Jesus, placing ourselves in the scenes of the Gospels, coming to know the heart of Christ — and then abiding in it.  Let us pray for this gift of knowing the love of God present and revealed in the love of Christ.

                                                                                  (E.J.Tyler)

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And what of the means? — They are the same as those of Peter and of Paul, of Dominic and Francis, of Ignatius and Xavier: the Cross and the Gospel...

Don't they satisfy you?
                                                             (The Way, no.470)

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Tuesday in the fourteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Hosea 8: 4-7.11-13;     Psalm 113B;     Matthew 9: 32-38  

While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons. Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. (Matthew 9: 32-38)

The harvest   There is a revealing remark that arose from the hearts of the crowds when they saw all that Jesus was doing.  It was that “nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” Abraham had a great and foundational call from God.  He was the father in faith of his people, a hero of faith.  But in terms of personal powers and moral stature, he could not be compared with Jesus.  Consider any of the patriarchs, or any of the prophets.  Consider Moses.  Moses worked some very great miracles.  At God’s command he caused the disasters to come upon Egypt and forced the Pharaoh to allow his people to go.  He led his people through the Red Sea.  He went up the mountain to converse with God and received from him the Ten Commandments.  He was the greatest of the prophets, but Jesus, the new Moses who led the people out of the slavery of sin to a new life in God, was far greater and his works alone illustrated this.  With the greatest of ease, at a simple word, Christ drove out demons, he healed cripples and all forms of sickness, he effortlessly raised the dead, at a word he commanded and controlled storms, he walked on the sea, he fed thousands with a handful of food.  He “went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom”.  As John says in his Prologue, the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  Jesus was the greatest moral and religious personage ever to appear in Israel, and the one with most personal power over nature, the world and the underworld, a power he used strictly for the purposes of his spiritual mission.  The only way this can be denied is by gratuitously denying the authenticity of the Gospel accounts.  At the same time he was profoundly humble, and as we read in our Gospel passage today he was filled with compassion for the crowds, “because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Our Gospel passage places Jesus before us and invites us to say with the crowds that “nothing like this has every been seen in Israel.”

Let us place ourselves in his presence with the aid of the Gospel scene today (Matthew 9: 32‑38) and listen to his words.  He is gazing on the crowds before him and he sees the harvest ahead.  It is plentiful.  He is undoubtedly looking beyond the crowds before him to the entire world.  He looks ahead to when he has gone from their sight and is thinking of the salvation of the world, generation after generation.  Indeed, he thinks of each one of us.  St Paul writes that before the world began, God chose us in Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight.  God chose us before the world began.  He chose us with a vocation to be in union with Jesus.  Christ looks ahead to each of us and to each man and woman to come.  That is the harvest ahead and the harvest is great.  The greatest task ahead is that the person of Jesus be brought to each man and woman of each generation.  That is the great work of God, for salvation is to be found in Jesus.  Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world, and as Peter said before the Sanhedrin, there is no other name by which men are to be saved.  If those who have not known Jesus are found to be saved — as we most certainly expect will be the case in countless instances — then it has been through the one Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ.  The great harvest to be reaped is bringing the world of each generation to the knowledge and love of Jesus.  As our Lord says in our Gospel today, the workers are few.  That is to say, all those who believe in Jesus and who therefore belong to him are called to enter the work.  That work is to bring him to others.  All the disciples of Christ share in the mission of the Master.  The labourers are few, so we must pray to the Lord of the harvest that he will send more and more labourers into the harvest.  The missionary dynamism which we see portrayed in the person of Jesus in our Gospel scene today ought characterise the life of every Christian.  Every Christian is called to share in the work of Jesus, so clearly portrayed in our Gospel of today.

Let us gaze on the person of Jesus.  Nothing like him was ever seen in Israel.  He is the jewel of our race and is the Saviour of the world.  Let all who understand this, willingly accept his friendship and resolve to grow in it.  On the basis of that friendship, let us enter into his mission of bringing him to the world.  Therein lies the hope and salvation of man.

                                                                           (E.J.Tyler)

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In your apostolic undertakings you are right — it's your duty — to consider what means the world can offer you (2+2=4), but don't forget — ever! — that, fortunately, your calculations must include another term: God+2+2...
                                                                   (The Way, no.471)

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Wednesday of the fourteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Hosea 10: 1-3.7-8.12;     Psalm 104;      Matthew 10:1-7 

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' (Matthew 10:1-7)

Judas   In our Gospel passage today our Lord is laying the foundations of his Church.   He has chosen the Twelve and now he is entrusting them with a share in his mission and endowing them with a portion of his divine powers.   “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” He sent them out, saying “As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near’” (Matthew 10:1‑7).  As we can see from various passages in the Gospels, they were not yet fully clear as to what the kingdom of heaven really was or entailed.   This would come.   The kingdom of heaven was present in its fullness in the person of Jesus, and entry into that kingdom is achieved by receiving the gift of his Spirit and the union with him that results from this.   But let us consider one of the Twelve, one of his chosen disciples who was endowed with a share in both his mission and his powers and who, in the event, did not enter the kingdom.   The names of the twelve apostles are given, and at the end of the list is the ominous and sad addition of Judas Iscariot, to which is added the terrible description, the one “who betrayed him.” So let us consider Judas.   Consider him as a boy, growing up in his town, a young man presumably in his late twenties or so when he began to follow our Lord as a disciple.   We are told in the Gospels of how the moment came when our Lord, having spent a night in prayer came to his disciples and chose twelve of them to be his apostles.   Judas was one of those he chose.   Our Lord did not make a mistake for he was the Son of God made man.   Judas had a high calling and he must have had all the qualities that were needed.   He must have had the love for our Lord and the desire to follow him that characterised the others, together with defects.   Others too, had faults including Simon the leader, the one who was to be the rock of the Church.   Judas was called to be one of the foundation stones of Christ’s Catholic Church. 

So we see Judas, one of the Twelve, privileged to be a special companion of Jesus, a special associate of him in his divine mission, being sent out ahead of him to represent him and to exercise divine powers on his behalf.   So he went forth and announced Christ’s message as he had been instructed, that the Kingdom of heaven was near at hand.   In Jesus’ name he would have healed the sick and driven out demons.   He would have experienced for himself the power of Christ’s name by his own exercise of that power.   He returned with the others to tell our Lord what had transpired and would have had our Lord gazing at him, listening to him, encouraging him, giving him the inestimable gift of his friendship.   But our Lord would have seen the ominous signs of infidelity beginning in his soul.   St John tells us that our Lord could see what was in man, and so he would have seen what was beginning to happen in the heart of Judas.   Satan was gaining a foothold.   Well now, if Christ was God could he not have seen the upshot of his call of Judas, and simply not called him, or at least put him out? This is one of the mysteries of the divine foreknowledge and election that is beyond our poor minds, but the facts are that Christ called Judas, and yet Judas fell away from him and allowed Satan gradually to enter his heart and soul.   Fulton Sheen once wrote that the turning point came when our Lord announced the doctrine of the Eucharist in the synagogue at Capharnaum, for on that occasion our Lord stated that one of his own chosen Twelve was a devil.   How and when Judas’s change occurred is not altogether clear, but Judas chose to abandon the pearl of great price, the very kingdom of heaven which consists in union with Christ and living in his friendship, all for a paltry personal gain.   Judas’s tragic choice is an immense and powerful lesson for all time.   It is possible to enjoy the friendship of the Son of God himself, God made man, and nevertheless to turn away from it for a miserable and fleeting personal advantage.   How awesome is the mystery of personal and free choice!

Christ calls each person to friendship with him and to a share in his life.   That life comes with the gift of grace at baptism into his Church.   We enter the kingdom of heaven when we are placed by grace in Christ.   Thereupon Jesus lives in us and we live in him.   But we can fall away.   In our daily life it is possible to be another Judas in respect to Christ.   Let us guard our hearts and drive out temptation.   Let us resolve by the grace of Christ never to sin deliberately, and whenever we do sin, to repent, returning immediately to Christ to renew and grow in his friendship.

                                                                                   (E.J.Tyler)

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Serve your God unwaveringly, be faithful to him, and worry about nothing else. For it is indeed true that 'if you set your hearts on the kingdom of God and on his righteousness, he will give you all these other things — material necessities, the means — as well'.
                                                               (The Way, no.472)

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Thursday of the fourteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Hosea 11: 1-4.8-9;     Psalm 79;     Matthew 10: 7-15

Jesus said to the Twelve, As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. (Matthew 10: 7-15)

The mission   One of the distinguishing features about the Christian religion as it appeared in history was its missionary dynamism.  By that I do not simply mean that it happened to spread among the peoples.  This could be said of Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism and Islam.  I mean, rather, that those who adhered to the Christian religion from the very beginning knew that they were bound by their Founder to be missionary.  They were obligated to bring “the kingdom of heaven,” which was nothing other than union with Jesus with all its implications, to others and to the entire world.  We see the beginnings of this in our Lord’s public ministry, and our Gospel passage today is an instance of it.  “Jesus said to the Twelve, As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near’.” This directive would reach its final formulation just before our Lord ascended into heaven when he commanded his disciples to go to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations.  From the beginning, the Christian religion was revealed by Christ to be the religion of the entire world.  A few things can be said about this.  To begin with, while it is firstly and above all the religion that will take people to heaven, it is nevertheless concerned for their life here on earth.  Our Lord told the Twelve to go and preach the coming of the Kingdom of heaven, but as well as this they were to “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” Union with God and entry into heaven was the great promise, but benefits to suffering man here on earth would be immediately evident, and so it is that wherever the Church has gone in her missionary impulse, she has aimed to bring with her an enlightened and vigorous service of needy man.  Furthermore, by the intent of her Founder, the Church has proclaimed Christ in a spirit of poverty.  She does not compel with arms.  “Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.” She relies on the acceptance by the peoples of the truth she proclaims.

Typically the Church does not compel but proposes.  Typically she rejects the use of arms and force in the spread of her message.  Nevertheless she is under no illusions about the consequences  of the choice people make in respect to her message.  John Henry Newman once criticized liberalism in religion as not fearing to make mistakes.  The Church does not consider her message as but one among many and as if it were something to be treated as one might treat any matter of opinion.  No, there are awesome consequences flowing from the acceptance or the rejection of the message of Christ — which means the acceptance or rejection of the person of Jesus himself.  It is a question of salvation or damnation.  Just as Christ was sent by the Father to save the world, so the Church is sent by Christ to bring him who is the Saviour to all mankind so that the world might be saved.  And so we read our Lord’s words to his disciples before he sends them out.  “As you enter the home, give it your greeting.  If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.  If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.  I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town” (Matthew 10: 7‑15).  Christ is referring to the judgment of God and of damnation that a person risks by taking lightly the message that is brought to him by the Church.  Let those who know and love Christ take this to heart.  Christ depends on them to bring him to others, and the salvation of others is dependent on their hearing the word and person of Christ.  The person who loves the living Jesus will want to introduce others to him, be they members of his family, friends of his workplace, acquaintances, all.  In this respect, there is a serious question to be considered.  It is, why has the message of Christ not been brought to more, and why has it not penetrated the cultures of the world more deeply? To a considerable extent it has been because too many of those who know Christ or should know him have not borne witness to him before others.

Pope Pius XII taught that the missionary element is absolutely essential to the Christian life.  We see this element in our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel.  Let us pray for the grace to share actively in our Lord’s desire to bring all others into union with him, for therein lies man’s salvation.  Therein man is liberated from the sin that leads to death.  To use our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel, “Go, and preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.” That kingdom is nothing other than union with Jesus.

                                                                                       (E.J.Tyler)

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Forget that despair produced by the realization of your weakness. — True: financially you are a zero, in social standing another zero, and another in virtues, and another in talent.

But to the left of these noughts, stands Christ. And what an incalculable figure we get!
                                                                  (The Way, no.473)

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Friday of the fourteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Hosea 14: 2-10;     Psalm 50;      Matthew 10: 16-23

Jesus said to the Twelve, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10: 16-23)

Bearing witness    There are very many passages in the Gospels in which our Lord speaks of the witness he expects of his disciples.  It is generally recognized that the success of the Church over the first three centuries of the Christian era was due very largely to the ordinary and obscure Christian.  It was especially the ordinary lay member of the Church who through his everyday witness spread the word and person of Christ in the towns, the villages and cities of the Roman Empire.  It involved three centuries of frequent and savage persecution, but at the end of it, Christianity was not only accepted but declared to replace paganism as the religion of the Empire.  But now, let us concern ourselves with the present day.  What is the average Christian doing to bear witness to the message of Christ?  The fundamental problem is that all too many are only nominally Christian and hence are not genuinely interested in representing Christ in their everyday lives.  They lack a sufficient love for him.  What was achieved in the Roman Empire and then repeated among the new peoples when the Roman Empire collapsed, is the Christian challenge of today.  Our very secular world is to be evangelized, and it will depend on the daily life and witness of the little person, the ordinary Christian who is out there in the world by the side of secular and religiously indifferent man, as well as those others of various non‑Christian religions.  This brings us to our Gospel passage today in which our Lord sends the Twelve out to be “like sheep among wolves.” In the process, he gives them instructions as to how to prosecute the mission with which he is entrusting them.  Let us who are Christians listen to these instructions and consider how they can be applied to our everyday lives.  The first thing that our Lord tells us to do is to have our wits about us when bringing him and his truth to others.  We are to be careful and not to be naive.  “Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.  Be on your guard against men.” To be successful in bearing witness to Jesus requires all our powers.  It is an immensely important and quite difficult work.

But though it is difficult, our Lord continues, though it will bring inconveniences and perhaps great suffering (for he says that “they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues”), there is a great consolation ever at work.  It is the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit.  And so our Lord advises the Twelve that “when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.  At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10: 16‑23).  The greatest gift of God among the numerous gifts he has given us is just this, the Holy Spirit.  He will be present in the heart and soul of the one who endeavours to bear witness to Jesus in everyday life and in the midst of difficulties.  It is clear from our Lord’s words that the Holy Spirit is a Person and not just a vague force or divine energy assisting the Christian in his suffering.  He will be present in the Twelve to whom our Lord is speaking, and he will speak through them.  He is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son.  He is the gift of God to us by the merits of the Son.  Christ died for us, entered his glory, and sent the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever.  One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to sustain the Christian when he is persecuted or in any difficulties deriving from his witness to Jesus.  He will sustain him and he will assist him in speaking of Jesus during his sufferings.  So the Christian is not to worry about what to say or how to say it.  The main thing to do is to remain close to Jesus and to ask the protection, the guidance and the help of the Holy Spirit.  Let him then trust in the Spirit of the Father and the Son.  Let him be devoted to the divine Spirit, for he abides within him.  This is a wonderful thought, that the Spirit of God abides within the soul of the Christian and is ever ready to speak from within, guiding and sustaining and even giving words to the Christian during those moments when he is called to witness to Jesus. 

The greatest ambition in this life is so to live and speak as to bear witness to Jesus.  We do this in everyday life, exploiting the occasions and opportunities that present themselves in the ordinary events that constantly occur.  To do it well requires all our gifts, but the greatest resource is the Holy Spirit who sustains and guides the Christian in this great work.  Let us then pray constantly to the Holy Spirit that he lead us to Jesus, and that he empower and guide us in our own work of bearing witness to him before the world.

                                                                  (E.J.Tyler)

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So you are a nobody. And others have done wonders, are still doing them, in organisation, in publicity, in the press. And they have all the means, while you have none? Well then, Just remember Ignatius. Ignorant, among the doctors of Alcala; penniless, among the students of Paris, persecuted, slandered...
That is the way: to love and to believe and... to suffer! Your Love and your Faith and your Cross are the infallible means to give effect — eternal effect — to the longing for apostolate that you bear in your heart.
                                                              (The Way, no.474)

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Saturday of the fourteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Isaiah 6: 1-8;     Psalm 92;     Matthew 10: 24-33 

Jesus said to his disciples: A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household! So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10: 24-33)

Trust    Let me observe in passing that many of Christ’s instructions in the Gospels seem to be like sayings or aphorisms brought together in the one passage.  They are not always connected with one another in strict logical sequence.  Perhaps in many cases they were conclusions of longer instructions, repeated on many occasions and illustrated in different ways.  They could have been summaries of our Lord’s teaching.  I wonder whether our Lord even had his disciples repeat to him some or even many of these sayings.  Some of the sayings may have been drawn from other contexts and given a new or higher meaning by our Lord.  For instance, at the beginning of our passage today, St Matthew tells us that our Lord told his disciples that “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.” This sounds like a proverb or maxim that may even have come from a different context, and given a specific sense by our Lord when he applies it to his being accused by the scribes and Pharisees of being in league with Satan.  If this sort of thing happens to the teacher and master, the student and servant must not expect anything less: “If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household! So do not be afraid of them.” That having been said, let us begin with that maxim and ask what it suggests to us.  It surely reminds us of the imitation of Christ that should characterize the Christian life.  If Jesus himself was unreasonably and maliciously maligned, the Christian ought remain calm and unafraid if the same befalls him.  Let not the fear of misrepresentation and rejection inhibit the witness to Jesus.  Bear witness to him openly and without fear even if it means bearing the lot that befell the Master.  “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.  What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.  Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10: 24‑33)

Our Lord carries his point further, indicating why the disciple need not be afraid.  He is being cared for in every way by his heavenly Father.  God cares for the least living thing.  The whole of creation rests in his loving hand.  Not a thing escapes his fatherly attention.  How much more, then will he care for his own children! “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” In the midst of difficulty and rejection when bearing witness to Jesus by word and example, remember that your heavenly Father is caring for you.  Our Lord is telling us that in our sharing in his friendship and in his work, we must also share in his complete trust in the Father.  It was this that took him through the most terrible sufferings ever to be experienced in the history of the world.  The scale of these sufferings is to be measured not by what we can imagine of a crucifixion, for there were countless crucifixions in the ancient world.  Rather, the measure of our Lord’s sufferings is grasped by thinking of the sins of the whole world.  It is that which is truly immeasurable.  Christ suffered and died for the sins of the whole world, and so his sufferings cannot be measured by us.  Now, what was it that took him through such an unparalleled ordeal? It was his unshaken trust in the love and care of his heavenly Father.  Our Lord tells his disciples that those who share in his life and mission are also to share in his trust in the love of his heavenly Father.  A great reward awaits those who bear witness to Jesus, and for those who refuse to do so the prospects are grim.  Our Lord’s conclusion is both consoling and ominous.  “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” At the end, all will out.  God’s judgment will reveal all.

The fundamental thing we must do is come to know Jesus Christ personally.  Knowing him personally will open our hearts to the love of him and the desire to follow him and bear witness to him in the midst of whatever trials may come.  Let us then every day spend time with Jesus, asking for the grace of knowing him personally.  On that basis we shall have the wherewithal to accompany him in everything and thus be vindicated before the throne of God at the Judgement.

                                                                                    (E.J.Tyler)

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You realise you are weak. And so indeed you are. In spite of that — rather, Just because of that — God has chosen you.

He always uses inadequate instruments, so that the 'work' will be seen to be his.

Of you, he only asks docility.
                                                (The Way, no.475)

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Fifteenth Sunday Ordinary Time A

Prayers this week:  In my justice I shall see your face, O Lord; when your glory appears, my joy will be full. (Psalm 16:15)
                                                                                                                   
God our Father, your light of truth guides us to the way of Christ. May all who follow him reject what is contrary to the gospel. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

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Scripture today: Isaiah 55: 10-11;     Psalm 64;     Romans 8: 18-23;      Matthew 13: 1-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear. The disciples came to him and asked, Why do you speak to the people in parables? He replied, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  (Matthew 13: 1-23)

Good soil   Our Lord’s parable today is his famous story of the farmer going out to sow his seed.  It describes the farmer scattering his seed to right and left, with some falling on the path, some on rocky areas, some among thorns and some again on good soil.  The climax of the story is its explanation, and in particular the explanation of the seed that fell on the good soil.  This is the man who hears the word and understands it.  He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  Now, there is this interesting feature about the parable, that the focus or attention seems to be the soil on which the seed fell.  The seed is the word and grace of God, but in his explanation our Lord chooses to talk of the soil — which is to say the person — that receives it.  The one who receives the seed that falls among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life choke it, making it unfruitful (Matthew 13: 1‑23).  A person reading this may think that the whole of the Christian life depends, therefore, on the reception of the word of God by the one hearing it.  In a certain sense this is correct, but this may be understood by some in a way that leaves out what our Lord teaches elsewhere in the Gospel to be fundamental — baptism and the grace of new birth which baptism brings.  That teaching, together with other elements of Christ’s teaching, is encompassed by the image of the seed that is sown.  There is a current within Christian thought that looks to a person’s conversion to Christ as the necessary condition and the occasion of the coming of that grace that redeems and sanctifies.  That is to say, the grace that makes a man newborn and just in God’s sight is understood by such persons to come and do its work when a person hears the word of God and wholeheartedly converts to Jesus.  Repentance and the act of conversion is understood to be the occasion that justifies.  It is only then that by grace a person becomes a Christian.  Without that repentance from sin and conscious conversion to Jesus the new life promised in the gift of the Holy Spirit has not yet begun in the soul, but with it the new birth is, by the power of the Holy Spirit, effected.  Such is the notion that some have of justification.

In this understanding, everything hinges on the act of conversion.  Such is the view that many have had of life in Christ.  But this is a profoundly incomplete account, because as it stands it leaves out the fundamental importance of baptism as the channel of grace.  Christ does not teach in the Gospels that the new birth that is necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven is granted only in an experience of conversion.  Essentially, the new birth required and promised by Jesus, and which gives to a person life in him comes at Baptism.  As our Lord explains to Nicodemus in the Gospel of St John, a person is then born again by water and the Holy Spirit.  It is then that the grace of the Holy Spirit which has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ, and which takes away our sins and makes us holy, is conferred.  This grace of being justified includes the gift of the supernatural virtue of faith in Christ and with it, the capacity to cooperate with the action of the Holy Spirit.  In the normal plan of God it comes essentially at Baptism.  It makes us participants in God’s Trinitarian life and able to act by his love.  It truly sanctifies us and makes us like God in our very soul.  It is a supernatural gift because it depends on God’s initiative and surpasses our natural abilities, and for this reason it normally escapes our experience.  So while the response of turning away from sin and converting wholly to Christ is an indispensable part of the Christian life, the grace that makes us newly born with God’s life comes from Baptism.  It is Baptism that is the channel of this fundamental grace.  The experience of conversion may, with the help of other actual graces, come before Baptism or, in the case of the baptism of infants, much later.  There may not even be a notable experience of conversion, but of course conversion there has to be.  Christ began his preaching with the call to repent and truly to believe.  Christ called for conversion and total belief in him.  The justifying grace of the Kingdom was yet to come, and baptism would be its channel. 

Let every baptized Christian rejoice in having received the grace that makes us holy and just in the depths of our being.  Let him work daily on turning away from sin and on receiving ever anew the good news of Christ’s salvation of him.  In this way let him be the good soil of today’s Gospel, thus responding to the seed of God’s powerful grace that has been implanted in him.  Let him look to God and his grace as his stay, asking the help he needs to respond with all his heart.

                                                                    (E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.1987-2011 (Justification, grace, merit)

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When you really 'give yourself' to God, there will be no difficulty that can shake your optimism.
                                                    (The Way, no.476)

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Monday of the fifteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Isaiah 1: 10-17;     Psalm 49;     Matthew 10:34-11:1

Jesus said to the Twelve, Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law — a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward. After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. (Matthew 10:34-11:1)

Our Gospel passage today contains more of our Lord’s instructions to the Twelve, and inasmuch as the Twelve were the foundations of Christ’s Church, we can take instructions given to them as especially intended for the Church. Our Lord tells them that they must not imagine that in being his disciples they would have a peaceful life. He did not come to “bring peace, but a sword.” What does our Lord mean? After all, he says elsewhere that it is peace he was giving them, a share in his own peace. He means, obviously, that the one who takes his stand with him, the one who chooses to walk with him, will be at odds with those who refuse to take their stand with Christ or are indifferent to him. It could be any one of several issues dominating a society’s moral life. A strong homosexual lobby mounts a sustained national campaign to accord to homosexual unions not only certain civil privileges but also the status of civil marriages. Christians publicly object and are viciously vilified. Or again, a parliament prepares to legislate allowing experimentation on the stem cells of embryos which, of course, will mean the destruction of many embryos in the earliest stage of their development. The Archbishop of the capital city where Parliament is domiciled objects strenuously and at length. He is ferociously insulted in Parliament itself and the measure is passed. A stand for Christ will not bring peace in the usual sense of this word, and our Lord is himself the great paradigm. He bore witness to the truth and accepted suffering and death as its consequence. This is the path he offers his disciples. “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law — a man's enemies will be the members of his own household'.” To be a disciple of Christ will mean being prepared on occasion to undergo the loss of the esteem others.

But there is something deeper to this than simply the readiness to suffer a certain amount of social rejection. We are speaking of a personal adherence to the Master. The disciple of Christ does not simply adhere to his teaching and bring it to others as one might adhere to that of a great philosopher or religious teacher. The disciple of Christ adheres to Christ’s very person. Christ calls us to his friendship. I have not called you servants but friends, he says elsewhere. So it is that our Lord speaks of a person being “worthy” of him. “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:34-11:1). If we are not prepared to endure the difficulty that bearing witness to Jesus might entail, then we are “not worthy” of him. This implies that the Christian must take steps to know Jesus himself and to love him. It is this which is at the heart of the Christian life and which if lacking renders a person absolutely unable to endure the difficulty, the tension and at times the opprobrium that taking a stand for Christ and his teaching may come to. If we are to love him we must come to know him. If we are to come to know him we must spend time with him, time in his company, in the company of the living unseen Jesus, time in prayer reading his word not just with the mind but with the heart. Soren Kierkegaard one wrote that we ought read the Scriptures as we would a letter written from a dear friend. Christ is the friend of the Christian. The Christian has been called to a personal friendship with him, and a most important way to grow in this friendship is to spend time with the Master listening to his word with the loving attention of the heart, attending to the Scriptures as one would a letter from a dear friend. In these ways one will become more worthy of the Christian calling, and more ready to undergo suffering in living it.

Let us take to heart the words of our Lord in our Gospel passage today, warning us of the difficulties that will certainly come the way of his disciple. If we are not prepared to bear those difficulties then we are certainly not worthy of being a disciple of Christ. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”, our Lord warns. Let the Christian take his stand with Jesus, and let him carry this through with a courageous witness to his teaching even if it means that the peace the word means to promise him is foregone.

Love for Jesus    Our Gospel passage today contains more of our Lord’s instructions to the Twelve, and inasmuch as the Twelve were the foundations of his Church, we can take instructions given to them as especially intended for the Church.  Our Lord tells them that they must not imagine that in being his disciples they would have a peaceful life.  He did not come to “bring peace, but a sword.” What does our Lord mean? After all, he says elsewhere that it is peace he was giving them, a share in his own peace.  He means, obviously, that the one who takes his stand with him, the one who chooses to walk with him, will be at odds with those who refuse to take their stand with Christ or are indifferent to him.  It could be any one of several issues dominating a society’s moral life.  A strong homosexual lobby mounts a sustained national campaign to accord to homosexual unions not only certain civil privileges but also the status of civil marriages.  Christians publicly object and are viciously vilified.  Or again, a parliament prepares to legislate allowing experimentation on the stem cells of embryos which, of course, will mean the destruction of many embryos in the earliest stage of their development.  The Archbishop of the capital city where Parliament is domiciled objects strenuously and at length.  He is ferociously insulted in Parliament itself and the measure is passed.  A stand for Christ will not bring peace in the usual sense of this word, and our Lord is himself the great paradigm.  He bore witness to the truth and accepted suffering and death as its consequence.  This is the path he offers his disciples.  “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter‑in‑law against her mother‑in‑law — a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” To be a disciple of Christ will mean being prepared on occasion to undergo the loss of the esteem of others.

But there is something deeper to this than simply the readiness to suffer a certain amount of social rejection.  We are speaking of a personal adherence to the Master.  The disciple of Christ does not simply adhere to his teaching and bring it to others as one might adhere to that of a great philosopher or religious teacher.  The disciple of Christ adheres to Christ’s very person.  Christ calls us to his friendship.  I have not called you servants but friends, he says elsewhere.  So it is that our Lord speaks of a person being “worthy” of him.  “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:34‑11:1).  If we are not prepared to endure the difficulty that bearing witness to Jesus might entail, then we are “not worthy” of him.  This implies that the Christian must take steps to know Jesus himself and to love him.  It is this which is at the heart of the Christian life and which, if lacking, renders a person absolutely unable to endure the difficulty, the tension and at times the opprobrium that taking a stand for Christ and his teaching may come to.  If we are to love him we must come to know him.  If we are to come to know him we must spend time with him, time in his company, in the company of the living unseen Jesus, time in prayer reading his word not just with the mind but with the heart.  Soren Kierkegaard once wrote that we ought read the Scriptures as we would a letter written from a dear friend.  Christ is the friend of the Christian.  The Christian has been called to a personal friendship with him, and a most important way to grow in this friendship is to spend time with the Master listening to his word with the loving attention of the heart, attending to the Scriptures as one would a letter from a dear friend.  In these ways one will become more worthy of the Christian calling, and more ready to undergo suffering in living it. 

Let us take to heart the words of our Lord in our Gospel passage today, warning us of the difficulties that will certainly come the way of his disciple.  If we are not prepared to bear those difficulties then we are certainly not worthy of being a disciple of Christ.  “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”, our Lord warns.  Let the Christian take his stand with Jesus, and let him carry this through with a courageous witness to his teaching, even if it means that the peace the world promises is foregone.

                                                                     (E.J.Tyler)

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Why do you overlook those corners of your heart? As long as you don't 'give yourself' completely, you can't expect to win over others.

What a poor instrument you are!
                                                                 (The Way, no.477)

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Tuesday of the fifteenth week in Ordinary Time II

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Scripture today: Isaiah 7: 1-9;     Psalm 47;      Matthew 11: 20-24 

Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you. (Matthew 11: 20-24)

Repentance  Our passage today shows how important in our Lord’s preaching was the message with which he began his public ministry, “Repent, and believe the good news!” St John the Baptist called on the people of the entire country to repent, for God, he said, was coming.  He instituted a baptism of repentance.  Christ himself submitted to that ceremony despite the active reluctance of John to baptize him, saying that it was he, John, who ought be baptized, and by Jesus.  Repentance was absolutely fundamental to the salvation that God was coming to effect.  Without it, the good news of salvation would not avail.  And so, here in our Gospel passage today, our Lord gives vent to his profound disappointment that the towns and cities in which most of his miracles had been performed would not repent.  They flocked to our Lord at the height of his ministry, benefiting in countless ways by his miraculous ministry.  No-one would have known how many had been healed.  Some had been raised from the dead.  Others had been fed when hungry.  Even the very town where our Lord lodged and made his base in Galilee, Capernaum, had failed to repent.  Their lives went on as before and they did not turn to God and his word as it came from Jesus, putting away their sins.  Once they benefited and received what they wanted from our Lord, they did not take to heart his preaching and instructions.  Our Lord delivered a sombre warning.  Their prospects were dim: “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.” Our Lord is warning of God’s judgment and of the “depths” to which they would be sent.  It is the same with Capernaum.  God’s judgment will be severe.  “But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you” (Matthew 11: 20‑24).

It is not easy to repent of one’s sins.  At the look of Christ during his Passion, Simon left the courtyard and wept bitterly.  He repented of his sin of denial.  But what of Judas?  He did not repent — he despaired.  He did not turn back to God and express sorrow to him.  Consider some sins that may hang on in one’s life due to a personal attachment to them.  How difficult it is to forego that attachment and genuinely to repent.  Consider the sin of unforgiveness.  As the years pass, one still does not forgive.  In one’s heart of hearts one does not want to forgive.  There is not even the will to do so.  Christ says that to the extent that we forgive others, to that extent will we be forgiven.  How difficult it is to repent of those sins we are attached to! There are probably many sins we are reluctant to repent of, and that we are not very clear of in our own minds.  We may be attached to our own ease, or we may have an inordinate love for money, or we may love our own way.  These sins and sinful tendencies we may scarcely be aware of, and so repentance will be out of sight.  But repentance from them is necessary if we are to enter the Kingdom of heaven, which is above all union with Jesus.  The towns and cities our Lord inveighs against in our Gospel passage refused to repent, and undoubtedly there was much in their lives that they were unaware required repentance.  But it meant that they remained in their sins and were in danger of dying in them.  How sad it is that a person despite repeated warnings might die in his sins.  The goal of life is so to live that we shall die having repented of our sins and having renounced them.  It is then that we can receive Christ wholeheartedly, and his grace can have its effect in our hearts.  Let us then place repentance at the forefront of our spiritual lives.  Every day and at the end of every day we ought try to repent of the sins of the day, both in general and in particular.  It takes a lifetime to learn the art of sincere repentance.

Repentance is not just sorrow for and turning away from grave sin.  It ought involve the frequent minor sins of every day.  We ought aim to repent of every minor or venial sin.  If we do, then we are preparing the way for grace to do its work in our souls.  This is why the frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is so important in the life of Christ’s Faithful.  But let us begin now.  Now I begin! Every day, ask God for the grace to repent, and act on that grace.

                                                              (E.J.Tyler)

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But, surely — at this stage — you don't mean to tell me that you need the approval, the favour the encouragement of the powerful, to go on doing what God wants?

The powerful often change, and you have to be constant. Be grateful if they help you. But go ahead, unperturbed, if they treat you with contempt.

                                                (The Way, no.478)

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Feast of St Thomas the Apostle

(July 3) St Thomas the Apostle
         Poor Thomas! He made one remark and has been branded as “Doubting Thomas” ever since. But if he doubted, he also believed. He made what is certainly the most explicit statement of faith in the New Testament: “My Lord and My God!” (see John 20:24-28) and, in so expressing his faith, gave Christians a prayer that will be said till the end of time. He also occasioned a compliment from Jesus to all later Christians: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29). Thomas should be equally well known for his courage. Perhaps what he said was impetuous—since he ran, like the rest, at the showdown—but he can scarcely have been insincere when he expressed his willingness to die with Jesus. The occasion was when Jesus proposed to go to Bethany after Lazarus had died. Since Bethany was near Jerusalem, this meant walking into the very midst of his enemies and to almost certain death. Realizing this, Thomas said to the other apostles, “Let us also go to die with him” (John 11:16b).
        Thomas shares the lot of Peter the impetuous, James and John, the “sons of thunder,” Philip and his foolish request to see the Father—indeed all the apostles in their weakness and lack of understanding. We must not exaggerate these facts, however, for Christ did not pick worthless men. But their human weakness again points up the fact that holiness is a gift of God, not a human creation; it is given to ordinary men and women with weaknesses; it is God who gradually transforms the weaknesses into the image of Christ, the courageous, trusting and loving one. “...Prompted by the Holy Spirit, the Church must walk the same road which Christ walked: a road of poverty and obedience, of service and self-sacrifice to the death.... For thus did all the apostles walk in hope. On behalf of Christ's Body, which is the Church, they supplied what was wanting in the sufferings of Christ by their own trials and sufferings (see Colossians 1:24)” (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, 5). (AmericanCatholic.org)
 

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Scripture today: Ephesians 2: 19-22;     Psalm 116;      John 20: 24-29

Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord! But he said to them, Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it. A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you! Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. Thomas said to him, My Lord and my God! Then Jesus told him, Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (John 20: 24-29)

Disposition    It is quite reasonable to believe what you see, provided you really do see what you think you are seeing.  I am out hunting rabbits that are proving to be a great pest and I see something move which appears to be a rabbit and I fire my gun.  I hit what turns out to be the neighbour’s valuable sheep dog.  I realize then that I did not see a rabbit, but something which I much too quickly interpreted to be a rabbit.  It was probably not reasonable to have shot at the moving object because I did not make sure I had seen it clearly.  So just because I think I have seen something it does not necessarily mean that I have.  Nevertheless the general principle may be taken to be correct that it is reasonable to believe what we do in fact see.  There is a profound limitation in modern culture and philosophy, however, and it is to limit what we believe to be real to what we can see.  That is to say, we insist that things be empirically verifiable before we allow it to be believable.  In much of life this is a perfectly reasonable working principle.  It governs much of law and admissible legal evidence.  But if we are dealing with matters that in the nature of the case cannot be verified empirically, then it is not reasonable.  It is not unreasonable to suggest the hypothesis of a transcendent and non material Maker and Sustainer of the universe.  If the existence of this Creator is to be demonstrated, in the nature of the case it cannot be by empirical testing.  Demonstration of the existence of a Reality such as this must come by a different kind of reasoning.  But there is another scenario to the question of verifiability.  God is beyond the empirical and is inaccessible to sense experience.  But he became man, and in his humanity aspects of his reality became empirically verifiable.  That is to say, in his humanity God could be seen, touched and heard.  Critical to the perception of his divinity was the observation of his personal holiness and his miraculous works, the greatest of which was his rising from the dead.  His rising from the dead was empirically verified because he was seen, heard and touched.  But this introduces the most important factor of all, that of readiness or disposition.

Enter the case of Thomas, who in the event attained a magnificent faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ  (John 20: 24‑29).  We are told in our passage that Thomas “was not with the disciples when Jesus came” on the evening of the very day he rose from the dead.  Not only had the group seen, heard and felt the risen Jesus in his flesh, but others had too.  Mary Magdalene had, so had the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, so had Simon, and possibly others had too.  And yet, Thomas, who knew his companions so well and who knew the Master so well, refused to believe their testimony.  In the case of the resurrection of Christ there had been, we might say, empirical tests.  Many had actually seen him with their own eyes, had felt him and had heard him, despite their group refusal to believe the first witnesses.  Thomas adamantly refused to believe and insisted that unless he himself administered the empirical tests, he would continue to reject their testimony.  Why did he do this?  The only reason possible is that he was simply indisposed to believe.  He did not have the readiness to accept perfectly reasonable testimony because of prior assumptions and prejudices.  He took it as absolutely impossible that what they were asserting could be true.  That was his starting point and his whole position was built on that.  It was itself not a verifiable nor demonstrable position.  It was simply an assumption, an assumed starting point, a first principle which proved in the event to be entirely mistaken.  It was similar to the assumption of the Apostles themselves when they were brought word by the initial witness (Mary Magdalene) that she had seen and spoken to the risen Jesus.  They refused to believe her.  It was impossible, for Christ had truly died.  When Christ did appear to them, he rebuked them for failing to believe the testimony they had been given.  At the very least, it was not reasonable — in view of who he had shown himself to be, in view of his own prior predictions, and in view of the credible testimony of the witnesses. 

The example of Thomas shows how a prior disposition can prove to be a tremendous obstacle to faith in the risen living Jesus.  Our starting points and first principles are so very important not only for faith in Christ but for growth in this faith.  The question is, where are we coming from? That may be hidden from our sight, but it is of immense importance in the matter of religious faith.  We must pray that by his grace God will lay the foundation that he knows is right and best, and that by his grace we will build on that foundation.  Let this mind be in you, St Paul writes, that was in Christ Jesus.  So we must put on the mind of Christ.  Let that be our prayer

                                                                     (E.J.Tyler)

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'Generally', you write, 'people are anything but generous with their money. Plenty of talk, of loud enthusiasm, of promises and plans. But at the moment of sacrifice few come forward to lend a hand. And if they do give, it has to be with "trimmings" attached: a dance, a raffle, a cinema or theatre show, or an announcement and subscription list in the newspapers.'

It's a sad state of affairs, but it has its exceptions. May you also be one of those who, when they give alms, don't let their left hand know what their right hand is doing.
                                                         (The Way, no.466)

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Sunday for Indigenous Peoples (Possible reading: Matthew 25: 34-40)
(In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday, generally the first Sunday in July)

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Possible Scripture reading:  Matthew 25: 34-40

Jesus said, Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25: 34-40)

Indigenous peoples      In 1970 Pope Paul VI addressed an Aboriginal congregation in Sydney in which he praised their indigenous culture.  Pope John Paul II gave a constant example of a Christ‑like mind towards indigenous peoples.  Wherever he went on his apostolic travels, he met  indigenous peoples.  He met native Eskimos, native American Indians, the Australian Aborigines, for they represented thousands of years of human thought and life.  Their venerable culture expressed the soul of their people.  Those native cultures are usually profoundly religious, in the sense that religion permeates their culture and way of life.  Thus they bear witness to the fact that man is naturally religious, and that he naturally turns to the supernatural for help and for salvation.  This is a powerful lesson for modern western culture, which is so secular, especially in Australia, Britain, and much of Europe.  Whatever might be the limited conceptions that indigenous societies had of the nature of the supernatural, they understood that all of life depended on the supernatural.  This conviction permeated their cultures for thousands of years.  This is a wholesome judgment on modern secular culture, for we tend to think that being agnostic and even godless is normal.  In terms of human history and the voice of mankind it is an aberration.  Indigenous culture also reminds us of man’s need for Revelation.  As we think of the striving of man and his cultures, whether indigenous or advanced, to understand his world and the supernatural, we realise that we need the light coming from God and his revelation, and this revelation comes in Christ.  He is the way, the truth, and the life, even though there are indeed seeds of his revelation scattered throughout human and indigenous cultures.

Christ became man at a particular time in history and within a particular culture.  In becoming man he became Jewish.  But as the risen head of the Church he unites himself now with the Church’s members and in a certain sense with every man and woman all over the world, in all their varying cultures.  The Second Vatican Council says that by his Incarnation Christ unites himself with every man.  Every man is his brother.  And so, as Pope John Paul II often said, Christ is now Indian, Eskimo, and Aboriginal.  And whatever we do to the least we do to Christ because of Christ’s union with all.  For all these reasons and for many more, we ought have a profound respect for the least person, for the least cultural or ethnic group.  In a special way we ought love with the love and the mind of Christ, those who come from a stock which has inhabited one’s  land for tens of thousands of years.  The Pope once said in a now famous speech to the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, “you are like a tree standing in the middle of a bush‑fire sweeping through the timber.  The leaves are scorched and the tough bark is scarred and burned, but inside the sap is flowing, and under the ground the roots are still strong.  Like that tree you have endured the flames, and you still have the power to be reborn” (Alice Springs).  We should all respect, encourage and assist in that rebirth.  But there is more.  The Pope also said, speaking to the same indigenous people on the same occasion, “You are part of Australia and Australia is part of you.  And the Church herself in Australia will not be fully the Church Jesus wants her to be until you have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others.” On this, as on everything, let us bring to bear the mind and heart of Christ.

In many countries the Church gives one Sunday during the year to reflection on the indigenous peoples of the country.  In Australia every year there is a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday.  On such a day Christ’s faithful are invited to grow in a Christian appreciation of indigenous people, remembering St Paul’s dictum, “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” The teaching of Christ is clear.  Our judgment will depend on how we have treated our neighbour, especially the least.  “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25: 34-40)

                                                                         (E.J.Tyler)