February2 2009

From 6th week in Ordinary Time to Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Click on any date to go to the Thought for that Day

Morning Offering: O Jesus, through the most pure heart of Mary, I offer you all the prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of your divine heart, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass. I offer them especially for the Holy Father's intentions:

Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for February 2009 is: "That the pastors of the Church may always be docile to the action of the Holy Spirit in their teaching and in their service to God's people".

His mission intention for February 2009 is: "That the Church in Africa may find adequate ways and means to promote

reconciliation, justice and peace efficaciously, according to the indications of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops".

Prayers this week: Lord, be my rock of safety, the stronghold that saves me. For the honour of your name, lead me and guide me. (Psalm 30: 3-4)

God our Father, you have promised to remain for ever with those who do what is just and right. Help us to live in your presence. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(February 15) St. Claude la Colombière (1641-1682)

This is a special day for the Jesuits, who claim today’s saint as one of their own. It’s also a special day for people who have a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a devotion Claude la Colombière promoted, along with his friend and spiritual companion, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The emphasis on God’s love for all was an antidote to the rigorous moralism of the Jansenists, who were popular at the time. Claude showed remarkable preaching skills long before his ordination in 1675. Two months later he was made superior of a small Jesuit residence in Burgundy. It was there he first encountered Margaret Mary Alacoque. For many years after he served as her confessor. He was next sent to England to serve as confessor to the Duchess of York. He preached by both words and by the example of his holy life, converting a number of Protestants. Tensions arose against Catholics and Claude, rumoured to be part of a plot against the king, was imprisoned. He was ultimately banished, but by then his health had been ruined. He died in 1682. Pope John Paul II canonized Claude la Colombière in 1992. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Lev 13:1-2, 44-46; Ps 32:1-2, 5, 11; 1 Cor 10:31-11:1; Mark 1:40-45

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

One of the best modern chronicles of the French Revolution which I can think of is Simon Schama’s Citizens (Penguin, 1989). The French Revolution was one of the most cataclysmic social and political upheavals in the long history of Europe. One of the many things it surely illustrates is the chaos and harm that occurs when legitimate authority deteriorates, becomes corrupted, is overthrown and is replaced by arbitrary authority based not on law but on power. The powerful who have seized authority

themselves succumb to the more powerful and a dictatorship emerges. With the coronation of the able and ambitious Napoleon there followed what might be called a protracted world war that came to an end only with his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Various perspectives can be taken in respect to the thirty years between, say, 1785 and 1815, but one is surely the question of the exercise of and attitude to authority in European and in particular French society. The point I am illustrating here is that society pivots around authority and depends on it. Authority is that quality by virtue of which persons or institutions make laws, give orders, and expect obedience. The history of mankind shows that every society requires a legitimate authority which is functioning well. As Pope John XXIII once wrote (in Pacem in Terris, 46), “Human society can be neither well-ordered nor prosperous unless it has some people invested with legitimate authority to preserve its institution and to devote themselves as far as is necessary to work and care for the good of all.” The unity of the community and its common good require an authority, and this shows that the foundation of authority in society lies in human nature itself. If man is to live in society — which he must in one sense or another — then in the very nature of things society has a moral and practical necessity for authority. Without a legitimate authority it would not be possible to live in society.

Among the many things that are clear in the life of Jesus Christ is his respect for legitimate authority. In our Gospel passage today (Mark 1:40-45) we read that after curing a leper of his leprosy he sent him off with the warning not to tell anyone of his healing. Then he added, “go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Our Lord was directing the leper to fulfil the religious requirement to show himself to the priest and to fulfil the law of Moses stipulating the offering of sacrifices for his cleansing. On another occasion our Lord stated that he had not come to abolish the Law but to fulfil it. We remember how when the Temple officer asked Simon if his master paid the Temple tax, Simon said that he certainly did. Again, in response to the challenge of the religious leaders our Lord told them that they were to give back to Caesar what belonged to Caesar and to God what belonged to God. This same Christ-like respect for legitimate authority we see in the letters of St Paul. For instance, as he writes in his Letter to the Romans (ch.13:1-2), “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” Of course, St Paul is referring to legitimate authority and its legitimate exercise. Those exercising authority in society are bound to exercise it in accordance with morality and the law of God. No authority has the right to command what is unjust or morally wrong. An example would be the enactment of a law allowing the destruction of unborn human life, or the prohibition of any acceptance and profession of the Christian religion. In this case, whatever be the cost, as Peter and the apostles said to the high priest and his council, one “must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Most people in society have some sphere in which they exercise limited authority. In other spheres they are themselves subject to authority. As with every element of life, the exercise of and respect for authority should be constantly sanctified and made the means of attaining holiness and growth in moral goodness. That is to say, it is God whom we should be serving when we must command and when we must obey. Christ should be our model whenever we have authority or whenever we are subject to it. It is in this way that authority will be a blessing to society and in the process sanctify and assist us on our way to heaven.
(E.J.Tyler)

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

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It hurt you not to have been thanked for that favour. Answer me these two questions: Are you so grateful towards Christ Jesus? Did you actually do that favour in the hope of being thanked for it on earth?
(The Way, no.693)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty second chapter Thoughts on the Misery of Man

When you are troubled and afflicted, that is the time to gain merit. You must pass through water and fire before coming to rest. Unless you do violence to yourself you will not overcome vice.

So long as we live in this fragile body, we can neither be free from sin nor live without weariness and sorrow. Gladly would we rest from all misery, but in losing innocence through sin we also lost true blessedness. Therefore, we must have patience and await the mercy of God until this iniquity passes, until mortality is swallowed up in life.

How great is the frailty of human nature which is ever prone to evil! Today you confess your sins and tomorrow you again commit the sins which you confessed. One moment you resolve to be careful, and yet after an hour you act as though you had made no resolution.

We have cause, therefore, because of our frailty and feebleness, to humble ourselves and never think anything great of ourselves. Through neglect we may quickly lose that which by God's grace we have acquired only through long, hard labour. What, eventually, will become of us who so quickly grow lukewarm? Woe to us if we presume to rest in peace and security when actually there is no true holiness in our lives. It would be beneficial for us, like good novices, to be instructed once more in the principles of a good life, to see if there be hope of amendment and greater spiritual progress in the future.
(Concluded)

(February 16) St. Gilbert of Sempringham (c. 1083-1189)
Gilbert was born in Sempringham, England, into a wealthy family, but he followed a path quite different from that expected of him as the son of a Norman knight. Sent to France for his higher education, he decided to pursue seminary studies. He returned to England not yet ordained a priest, and inherited several estates from his father. But Gilbert avoided the easy life he could have led under the circumstances. Instead he lived a simple life at a parish, sharing as much as possible with the poor. Following his ordination to the priesthood he served as parish priest at Sempringham. Among the congregation were seven young women who had expressed to him their desire to live in religious life. In response, Gilbert had a house built for them adjacent to the Church. There they lived an austere life, but one which attracted ever more numbers; eventually lay sisters and lay brothers were added to work the land. The religious order formed eventually became known as the Gilbertines, though Gilbert had hoped the Cistercians or some other existing order would take on the responsibility of establishing a rule of life for the new order. The Gilbertines, the only religious order of English origin founded during the Middle Ages, continued to thrive. But the order came to an end when King Henry VIII suppressed all Catholic monasteries.
Over the years a special custom grew up in the houses of the order called "the plate of the Lord Jesus." The best portions of the dinner were put on a special plate and shared with the poor, reflecting Gilbert's lifelong concern for less fortunate people. Throughout his life Gilbert lived simply, consumed little food and spent a good portion of many nights in prayer. Despite the rigours of such a life he died at well over age 100. When he came into his father’s wealth, Gilbert could have lived a life of luxury, as many of his fellow priests did at the time. Instead, he chose to share his wealth with the poor. The charming habit of filling “the plate of the Lord Jesus” in the monasteries he established reflected his concern. Today’s Operation Rice Bowl echoes that habit: eating a simpler meal and letting the difference in the grocery bill help feed the hungry. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Genesis 4:1-15, 25; Psalm 50:1 and 8, 16bc-17, 20-21; Mark 8:11-13

The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it. Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. (Mark 8:11-13)

There is a terrible warning implicit in our Gospel passage today. Let me place my point in its more general context. Jesus Christ is God-with-us, the incarnate God, a magnificent man who is not only truly man but in very truth the great God as well. The mere fact of God being one of us is revelatory of the extraordinary love of the Creator for fallen man and of his desire to reach out to us and to be with us at the most intimate level. There are so many indicators of this in the Gospels and in our Lord’s teaching.

Our Lord speaks of himself as the Good Shepherd who seeks out the stray till he finds it, and then returns rejoicing with it on his shoulders. He is the loving father in the parable of the prodigal son, prodigally showering his wayward son with gifts and welcoming him back with overflowing love when he returns from his life of sin and foolishness. Christ eats with sinners and associates with them. He invites himself to dine in the house of Zacchaeus the chief tax-collector. In his public ministry he drove himself to the limit to bring the good news of the kingdom, which is to say the good news of himself, to all of the House of Israel. On rising from the dead he charged his disciples to make of all the nations his disciples. God has taken extraordinary measures to be with us his people, so much so that St Paul writes that nothing, nothing, can separate us from the love of God in Christ. But there is an ominous warning to all in various scenes of the Gospels, and our passage today is an example of this. Christ can turn away from us if our hearts are deliberately hardened towards him. We read that the Pharisees came to test him. Their hearts were hard in his presence and they demanded a sign from heaven to satisfy them. What was our Lord’s response? He turned away from them and passed on. We read that “He sighed deeply and said, Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it. Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side” (Mark 8:11-13). It appears that they were incorrigible, and he left them. Another example — when in the presence of Herod during his Passion, Christ refused to speak to him.

Yes, there have been many extraordinary conversions. People who have lived a wayward and sinful life have been snatched from the jaws of a terrible eternity at the last moment. A priest has come and has somehow succeeded in opening their hearts to the grace of Christ. Or a relative has said the right thing decisively at the last moments and all has changed. The person ends with a prayer of contrition on his lips and he dies with Christ. Alternatively, it happens not at the point of death but relatively early in life and this one who had been a confirmed sinner undergoes a spectacular conversion and goes on to a life of sanctity and apostolic fruitfulness. There are plenty of stories of inspiring conversions in the history of the Church. But there are also sad tragedies of persons dying out of Christ and out of the Church. We cannot be sure, but our Lord’s departure from the company of the Pharisees in our Gospel scene today (Mark 8:11-13) may have had its parallel in their case. The greatest of the heresies in the early Church was the Arian. It denied the divinity of Christ and it lasted for the greater part of the fourth century and well beyond despite two Ecumenical Councils which condemned it and its variants. It passed out of the Catholic church into the barbarian peoples and continued on. Its founder and persistent advocate was a priest, Arius. He died suddenly, and while still in his heresy. Had his life reflected the spiritual stubbornness of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel? As we read, Christ had left them. Take another case of a different era. One of John Henry Newman’s friends during the late 1820s at Oxford was Blanco White, a refugee from Spain who had abandoned the Catholic priesthood and who wrote vigorously against the Catholic Church. He died not only out of the Catholic Church, but out of the Christian Faith, refusing to accept Christ’s divinity. He died a Unitarian. One gets the impression that his blindness was sincere, in the sense that he had lost sight of his error. But at root, had his life reflected the spiritual stubbornness of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel? Christ had left them.

Let us not presume on the grace and the patience of God. Let us not presume that all will be well if we engage in deliberate sin, ignoring the warnings and summonses of conscience. We can become hard of heart and in one sense or another somewhat like the Pharisees in today’s Gospel passage. Due to our own inner infidelity we can reach the point of being left to ourselves by Christ in the way he left the Pharisees and passed on. The Gospel of today contains an implicit warning. At every point in life we ought aim at repentance. Let us then continually ask for the grace to repent and begin again. So then, now I begin!

(E.J.Tyler)

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I don't know why you're amazed: Christ's enemies were never very reasonable.

When Lazarus was raised from the dead, they might have been expected to give in and confess the divinity of Jesus. But no! 'Let us kill him who gives life', they said!

And now, as then.
(The Way, no.694)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ           (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty third chapter         Thoughts on Death

VERY soon your life here will end; consider, then, what may be in store for you elsewhere. Today we live; tomorrow we die and are quickly forgotten. Oh, the dullness and hardness of a heart which looks only to the present instead of preparing for that which is to come!

Therefore, in every deed and every thought, act as though you were to die this very day. If you had a good conscience you would not fear death very much. It is better to avoid sin than to fear death. If you are not prepared today, how will you be prepared tomorrow? Tomorrow is an uncertain day; how do you know you will have a tomorrow?
                                                                        (Continuing)

(February 17) Seven Founders of the Order of Servites (13th century)
Can you imagine seven prominent men of Boston or Denver banding together, leaving their homes and professions, and going into solitude for a life directly given to God? That is what happened in the cultured and prosperous city of Florence in the middle of the thirteenth century. The city was torn with political strife as well as the heresy of the Cathari. Morals were low and religion seemed meaningless. In 1240 seven noblemen of Florence mutually decided to withdraw from the city to a solitary place for prayer and direct service of God. Their initial difficulty was providing for their dependents, since two were still married and two were widowers. Their aim was to lead a life of penance and prayer, but they soon found themselves disturbed by constant visitors from Florence. They next withdrew to the deserted slopes of Monte Senario. In 1244, under the direction of St. Peter of Verona, O.P., this small group adopted a religious habit similar to the Dominican habit, choosing to live under the Rule of St. Augustine and adopting the name of the Servants of Mary. The new Order took a form more like that of the mendicant friars than that of the older monastic Orders. Members of the community came to the United States from Austria in 1852 and settled in New York and later in Philadelphia. The two American provinces developed from the foundation made by Father Austin Morini in 1870 in Wisconsin. Community members combined monastic life and active ministry. In the monastery, they led a life of prayer, work and silence while in the active apostolate they engaged in parochial work, teaching, preaching and other ministerial activities. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10; Psalm 29:1-4, 9c-10; Mark 8:14-21

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. Be careful, Jesus warned

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

In passing let us imagine the traveling community life that existed among Jesus and the Twelve. They had been selected to be with him and to share in his mission. We can imagine the various tasks involved. Judas, for instance, had been entrusted with the financial management of things: he had charge of the purse. Peter was the leader among them. The young John had a special intimacy with our Lord. Peter, James and John seem to have had a closer association with our Lord than the others:

he took them with him on certain occasions, such as up the mountain where they saw him transfigured, and when he raised the small girl from the dead. We are told elsewhere that certain women also on occasions went with them and attended to what was needed, supporting them from their means. In our Gospel scene today following the hectic ministry and our Lord’s all-consuming work, the disciples had forgotten to bring food for the band. Perhaps they are quite hungry and we read that on another occasion they were so busy with our Lord that they had no time even to eat. On the water now and away from the crowd, they turn their thoughts to some repast. But no, they have forgotten to bring any food — except for a single loaf. We can imagine how Jesus, observing their discovery of the bread having been forgotten, quietly says to them, "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." Our Lord is thinking beyond the present, and one commentator writes that "yeast" in Judaism was used also as an analogy for one’s dispositions. Our Lord is thinking of the evil dispositions in the hearts of the Pharisees and the Herodians who resisted so resolutely his person and his work. Those same dispositions were to some extent spreading and, characterizing as they did the attitude of the religious leaders, were always likely to spread insidiously both by what they were saying and by force of their example. Our Lord was warning his own disciples to be on guard against that perverse influence. Perhaps — who knows! — he saw something of it already taking root in Judas.

But our Lord’s words not only highlight the dark opposition in the hearts of the Pharisees and the Herodians. He then refers to the incomprehension he had to face, the slowness to understand — even among his chosen ones. Having warned against the Pharisees and the Herodians, our Lord rebukes his own disciples for their lack of understanding of what he is referring to. Importantly, he indicates that this lack of understanding had its roots in the state of their hearts. So while our Lord’s disciples loved and followed him and the Pharisees and Herodians rejected him, nevertheless the hearts of his disciples too were not without fault. They were not opposing him but they were failing to understand his warning against the "yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod," and there were many other things they failed to understand. Now, while we read that on occasion our Lord manifested anger at the hardness of heart of the Pharisees, I tend to think that he smiled while he rebuked his own disciples. Perhaps he could see not only the slowness of their hearts but the funny side of their crass incomprehension of his analogy. But let us notice what our Lord says in his rebuke of them: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? Twelve, they replied" (Mark 8:14-21). Our Lord is telling his disciples that despite what they have seen him do, they are slow of understanding because their hearts are hard. When our Lord rose from the dead he rebuked his disciples for not having believed the testimony of the first witnesses. Their hearts were hard, he told them. Our Lord’s battle in taking away the sin of the world was with the heart of fallen man. He had come to change the heart of mankind, to take its sin away, and to renew it in the life of grace.

Let us ask our Lord to show us the state of our heart as he sees it, with a view to renewing it in the likeness of his own. St Paul writes that we are to let this mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus. Christ referred explicitly to his own heart. He asked all to come to him who laboured and he would give them rest. He said that we are to learn from him for he is meek and humble of heart. Let us resolve, by the aid of God’s grace, to model our hearts on that of Christ.

(E.J.Tyler)

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In the moments of struggle and opposition, when perhaps 'the good' fill your way with obstacles, lift up your apostolic heart: listen to Jesus as he speaks of the grain of mustard-seed and of the leaven. And say to him: 'Explain the parable to me.'

And you will feel the joy of contemplating the victory to come: the birds of the air lodging in the branches of your apostolate, now only in its beginnings, and the whole of the meal leavened.
(The Way, no.695)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

What good is it to live a long life when we amend that life so little? Indeed, a long life does not always benefit us, but on the contrary, frequently adds to our guilt. Would that in this world we had lived well throughout one single day. Many count up the years they have spent in religion but find their lives made little holier. If it is so terrifying to die, it is nevertheless possible that to live longer is more dangerous. Blessed is he who keeps the moment of death ever before his eyes and prepares for it every day.

If you have ever seen a man die, remember that you, too, must go the same way. In the morning consider that you may not live till evening, and when evening comes do not dare to promise yourself the dawn. Be always ready, therefore, and so live that death will never take you unprepared. Many die suddenly and unexpectedly, for in the unexpected hour the Son of God will come. When that last moment arrives you will begin to have a quite different opinion of the life that is now entirely past and you will regret very much that you were so careless and remiss.
(Continuing)

(February 18) Blessed John of Fiesole (c. 1400-1455)
The patron of Christian artists was born around 1400 in a village overlooking Florence. He took up painting as a young boy and studied under the watchful eye of a local painting master. He joined the Dominicans at about age 20, taking the name Fra Giovanni. He eventually came to be known as Fra Angelico, perhaps a tribute to his own angelic qualities or maybe the devotional tone of his works. He continued to study painting and perfect his own techniques, which included broad-brush strokes, vivid colors and generous, lifelike figures. Michelangelo once said of Fra Angelico: “One has to believe that this good monk has visited paradise and been allowed to choose his models there.” Whatever his subject matter, Fra Angelico sought to generate feelings of religious devotion in response to his paintings. Among his most famous works are the Annunciation and Descent from the Cross as well as frescoes in the monastery of San Marco in Florence. He also served in leadership positions within the Dominican Order. At one point Pope Eugenius approached him about serving as archbishop of Florence. Fra Angelico declined, preferring a simpler life. He died in 1455. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22; Psalm 116:12-15, 18-19; Mark 8:22-26

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

If Christ did something once, he can do it again. Indeed, he can do it again and again. Let us place ourselves in the Gospel scene today and in our hearts watch what our Lord does. Some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. That is all they wanted: they wanted Jesus to touch him because they had seen and heard of how our Lord had time and again touched people who were sick, and that touch would leave them healed. That is all they wanted: a touch from Jesus and their blind

acquaintance would be healed. But Jesus did not simply touch him: he took him by the hand and led him outside the village. Contemplate the scene again in further detail. Our Lord is approached by the group of friends with their blind acquaintance. They introduce themselves and direct our Lord’s attention to their blind companion and ask that he touch him — that he place his hand on him. Our Lord gazes for a moment on them and on the blind man. Then, perhaps asking them to leave the blind man with him and themselves to go, he takes the blind man with him on a walk outside the village. Imagine our Lord holding the blind man by his hand and leading him along with him. Perhaps he gently converses with him about his family or life and thus establishes a personal relationship with him. Perhaps a few of our Lord’s disciples are in tow — this passage is from Mark, so possibly Simon Peter witnessed the event. They arrive outside the village. Then our Lord takes some trouble over this case. He repeatedly places his own spittle on the man’s eyes while asking the blind man if his sight is coming. It gradually comes and he finally sees with absolute clarity. He sends the blind man off, not back into the village, but home by another route. Presumably his original companions — as I mentioned earlier — had themselves been directed by our Lord to go home and not to wait. Our Lord had taken the blind man into his own care, led him by the hand himself, and with personal attention cured him.

Why did our Lord go through all this when he could have, at a word, sent the man and his companions off with their prayer answered? We do not know because we are not told. Why did our Lord, when on another occasion pressed by the crowd all around him and on his way to deal with a case of desperate need, suddenly stop and ask who touched him? The surging crowd had to stop, and our Lord spent minutes looking for the one who had “touched” him. Power had gone out of him, he said. Why had he bothered? Presumably he wanted to make personal contact with the one who had benefited by power going forth from him. Each person was important. Each individual is the object of Christ’s love. In our case today (Mark 8:22-26), our Lord spends time with the blind man. Of course, it is obvious that our Lord does not want his miracles to dominate the attention of the people. He does not want to be regarded simply as a miracle worker, merely as a source of physical betterment and healing. He wants this aspect of his ministry, at least at this point, to be kept more in the background. There are higher and greater things he was sent to bring to mankind, and he wishes the people to think on a higher plane. So he takes the blind man completely aside. Nevertheless, we are surely able to notice the greater care with an individual that is being exercised here. That blind man would never have forgotten his hand being held by Christ as they walked along, or perhaps the touch of Christ's hand on his shoulder as they walked. He depended on Christ leading him to wherever they were going. He would never have forgotten his conversation with Christ as they left the village. He would never have forgotten the finger of Christ pressing gently on his eyes, marking them with his own saliva. He would not have forgotten his sight returning and gazing on Christ for the first time. To see the face of Jesus of Nazareth, the author of his healing! This was his first sight. Christ had known him personally and had cared for him in all his individuality. In his need he had come to know Christ in a very personal manner. What might have come of this we do not know — perhaps little. But it was a personal gift nevertheless.

Now, as I remarked at the beginning, if Christ did something once, he can do it again and again. In fact, he does do it again and again. The living risen Jesus takes those who come to him or those who are presented to him and leads them on with him. If we place ourselves in his hands in all our need — whether we place before him a particular need, or our very selves in all our need — he will lead us by the hand, as it were. He takes us with him and gives us the gift of his grace. He shows us his personal concern and attention, and we begin life anew. Let us see ourselves exemplified in the blind man of today’s Gospel, and let us never drift out of the friendship of Jesus.

(E.J.Tyler)

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If you accept difficulties with a faint heart you lose your joy and your peace, and you run the risk of not deriving spiritual profit from the trial.
(The Way, no.696)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty third chapter Thoughts on Death

How happy and prudent is he who tries now in life to be what he wants to be found in death. Perfect contempt of the world, a lively desire to advance in virtue, a love for discipline, the works of penance, readiness to obey, self-denial, and the endurance of every hardship for the love of Christ, these will give a man great expectations of a happy death.

You can do many good works when in good health; what can you do when you are ill? Few are made better by sickness. Likewise they who undertake many pilgrimages seldom become holy.

Do not put your trust in friends and relatives, and do not put off the care of your soul till later, for men will forget you more quickly than you think. It is better to provide now, in time, and send some good account ahead of you than to rely on the help of others. If you do not care for your own welfare now, who will care when you are gone?
(Continuing)

(February 19) St. Conrad of Piacenza (1290-1350)
Born of a noble family in northern Italy, Conrad as a young man married Euphrosyne, daughter of a nobleman. One day while hunting he ordered attendants to set fire to some brush in order to flush out the game. The fire spread to nearby fields and to a large forest. Conrad fled. An innocent peasant was imprisoned, tortured to confess and condemned to death. Conrad confessed his guilt, saved the man’s life and paid for the damaged property. Soon after this event, Conrad and his wife agreed to separate: she to a Poor Clare monastery and he to a group of hermits following the Third Order Rule. His reputation for holiness, however, spread quickly. Since his many visitors destroyed his solitude, Conrad went to a more remote spot in Sicily where he lived 36 years as a hermit, praying for himself and for the rest of the world. Prayer and penance were his answer to the temptations that beset him. Conrad died kneeling before a crucifix. He was canonized in 1625. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Genesis 9:1-13; Psalm 102:16-21, 29 and 22-23; Mark 8:27-33

Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, Who do people say I am?

They replied, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets. But what about you? he asked. Who do you say I am? Peter answered, You are the Christ. Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Get behind me, Satan! he said. You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. (Mark 8:27-33)

In the modern secular world, a world that marginalizes God, the fundamental truths of the Christian Faith are nevertheless known. The one God, Christ his incarnate Son, the judgment of God on man, heaven and hell, eternity — all these things are part, we might say, of general literacy and ordinary education. Satan too is known about. If a morning TV host were to stop a person in the city

walking to his workplace and ask him on live air who Satan is, I think he would get a coherent answer. I remember years ago I was teaching religion in a State High School and I asked a boy in the class who God is. His answer was that he is a good spirit. It was an initial answer, the first thing that came to his mind. Probably if he were asked who the Devil is he would have said he is an evil spirit. It is also recognized that it is a little absurd for one who professes to be a Christian to deny the existence of Satan — which is exactly what I saw a minister of religion assert on television many years ago. He stated to his surprised audience that he would not accept the existence of Satan unless he appeared in visible form before him. Satan and his devils! If one sets the Gospels in the context of the entire Scriptures it is very clear that there is no one in all the Scriptures whose teaching and ministry revealed the reality of Satan more vividly than Jesus Christ. From the outset of his public ministry he is seen to be engaged in a harsh encounter with Satan. Where in the whole of the Old Testament is there anything to compare with Christ’s encounter with Satan in the desert immediately following his baptism and immediately prior to the commencement of his public ministry? I think the only comparable instance would be the encounter between Satan and Eve at the beginning of the Book of Genesis, in chapter 3. Satan is engaged with Job, but there is not much by way of an explicit portrayal of Satan amid the river of moral evil that is manifested in the inspired books of Old Testament. The case is different in the Gospels.

When we think of it, and especially when we situate the Gospels in the context of the Old Testament, it is very notable how open is the activity of Satan and his demons in the ministry of Christ. Christ refers to Satan repeatedly and is busy sending him packing from his unfortunate victims. Christ speaks of Hell more often than does any other personage in the Scriptures. But our Gospel passage today is especially revealing of Satan’s tactic in combating Christ. Let us listen to our Lord’s very harsh rebuke of Simon Peter who loved him so much and whom Christ himself loved so much. Simon had just made a magnificent profession of faith in Jesus, stating before all the others and speaking on their behalf, that he, Jesus, was the promised Messiah. There was no doubt in Peter’s heart that his beloved master was the long promised One, the One who would establish God’s promised kingdom. It must have been a great consolation to our Lord who was forging in his disciples the foundation of his Church. That Church would be the vehicle and repository and seed of his Kingdom. He immediately proceeded to indicate to his disciples the divine path he was to take in this grand mission. It was the path of suffering and death. At this, Simon vigorously tried to dissuade him. Our Lord turned, and in the presence of his disciples, delivered a powerful rebuke to Peter who loved him probably more than any of his other disciples. Our Lord called him “you Satan!” “Get behind me, Satan! he said. You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Mark 8:27-33). The exchange reveals many things, but it also tells us about Satan. Satan had been trying to tempt our Lord along a path different from the one he was taking — and his temptations had begun immediately following our Lord’s baptism. Here, though, our Lord heard it coming from his most important disciple, the rock of his Church. His rebuke was swift, and it is a fundamental lesson for every Christian.

Let us take to heart the two great realities in life: first of all, there is Christ. Then there is Satan. First of all there is good. Then there is evil. Let us make our choice for Christ and then very importantly let us with clear vision resolve to follow his way. That way is to take up our cross every day, the cross of obedience to the will of God in the midst of whatever difficulties this entails, and follow Christ in his path. The way to glory is through the door of Calvary. Therein lies the victory. Let us not be duped by the wiles of Satan.

(E.J.Tyler)

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Outside events have placed you in voluntary confinement, worse perhaps, because of its circumstances, than the confinement of a prison. You have suffered an eclipse of your personality.

On all sides you feel yourself hemmed in: selfishness, curiosity, misunderstanding, people talking behind your back. All right: so what? Have you forgotten your free-will and that power of yours as a 'child'? The absence of flowers and leaves (external action) does not exclude the growth and activity of the roots (interior life).

Work: things will change, and you will yield more fruit than before, and sweeter too.
(The Way, no.697)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ      (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty third chapter         Thoughts on Death

The present is very precious; these are the days of salvation; now is the acceptable time. How sad that you do not spend the time in which you might purchase everlasting life in a better way. The time will come when you will want just one day, just one hour in which to make amends, and do you know whether you will obtain it?

See, then, dearly beloved, the great danger from which you can free yourself and the great fear from which you can be saved, if only you will always be wary and mindful of death. Try to live now in such a manner that at the moment of death you may be glad rather than fearful. Learn to die to the world now, that then you may begin to live with Christ. Learn to spurn all things now, that then you may freely go to Him. Chastise your body in penance now, that then you may have the confidence born of certainty.
                                                                         (Continuing)

(February 20) Blessed Jacinta (1910-1920) and Francisco Marto (1908-1919)

Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three children, Portuguese shepherds from Aljustrel, received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. At that time, Europe was involved in an extremely bloody war. Portugal itself was in political turmoil, having overthrown its monarchy in 1910; the government disbanded religious organizations soon after. At the first appearance, Mary asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months. She also asked them to

learn to read and write and to pray the rosary “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism. Up to 90,000 people gathered for Mary’s final apparition on October 13, 1917. Less than two years later, Francisco Marto died of influenza in his family home. He was buried in the parish cemetery and then re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1952. Jacinta Marto died of influenza in Lisbon, offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world and the Holy Father. She was re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1951. Their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and was still living when Jacinta and Francisco were beatified in 2000. Sister Lucia died in February 2005 at the age of 97. The shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is visited by up to 20 million people a year.
In his homily at their beatification, Pope John Paul II recalled that shortly before Francisco died, Jacinta said to him, “Give my greetings to Our Lord and to Our Lady and tell them that I am enduring everything they want for the conversion of sinners.” (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 33:10-15; Mark 8:34-9:1

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take

up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels. And he said to them, I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power. (Mark 8:34-9:1)

I remember years ago reading a Phantom comic — a comic book in which the Phantom character was the protagonist. There was one scene in it that showed the Phantom at a graveside, and the burial plot was marked by a cross. I was intrigued by that detail because the Phantom, of course, was a completely secular character and his world of fighting crime was completely secular. There was never the slightest reference to anything beyond this world, let alone to God or Christ. I remember a scene in one Phantom

comic in which the Phantom marries — and of course it was a civil marriage. But that scene of the graveside had a cross to mark the tomb of the one buried there. Now, the cross at a graveside is ultimately a reference to the cross of Christ even if this has been forgotten by our secular culture, and was certainly lost on the Phantom. It reminds us that one of the most famous things that Christ did was to transform the meaning of suffering and death in human understanding. In our Gospel scene today our Lord calls not only his disciples to him but — the text suggests — in the first instance the entire crowd in order to give them a central teaching about what it is to be his disciple. What he had to say was meant for all. Many followed him and undoubtedly for a great range of motives and with varying degrees of commitment, a fact reflected in our Lord’s parable of the seed being sown in various kinds of soil. It is only the good soil that enables the seed to produce a harvest. So our Lord called the crowd to him together with his disciples and used what must have been a riveting image to explain what true discipleship entailed. It entailed denying oneself, taking up one’s cross and precisely in this condition following him. All would have been familiar with the ghastly method of execution employed by the Roman empire. The condemned man would take up his cross, carry it along, be crucified on it and there to die a terrible death. Christ said that following him meant carrying one’s cross.

The Christian religion at its heart involves the love for and the following of the person of Jesus Christ. As the Founder and Object of the most profound religion in the history of the world our Lord put the cross of suffering and death at its centre. Thus the cross has come to stand for Christ and for Christianity. For this reason a wonderful way to begin and end prayer and to bear witness to Jesus is by making the Sign of the Cross. In this sign the Christian makes the gesture of the cross across his own person by touching with his open hand his forehead, chest and each shoulder while invoking the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yes, the cross is at the centre of the Christian religion. Our Lord told the crowd — meaning all without exception — that the following of him means accepting and even embracing (as he did) the cross which leads to death to self. Our Lord is not merely saying that he expects all who follow him to be prepared for suffering and even death in the way some great general might expect the same thing of his troops. Napoleon Bonaparte was prepared to lead thousands of his troops to their death to gain his goals. Christ meant much more than tremendous love and loyalty for his person, a love that was prepared to accept suffering. He also meant to reveal that this suffering itself was life-giving when endured in (i.e., in union with) him. This was the remarkable feature of Christ’s teaching on the suffering that is part and parcel of discipleship. What could possibly be counted as positive in the appalling spectacle of someone being led out carrying his cross, being nailed to it and then dying as a result? But this was what Christ said following him was like. “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34-9:1) The sufferings and death of the Christian will be life-giving if endured in union with Christ because it will constitute a share in his sufferings, and it was by his obedient sufferings that he redeemed the world. Christ has given to obedient suffering a life-giving significance.

Let us pray for the grace to appreciate what our Lord is teaching in our Gospel passage today. This is a signal example of how grace is needed to understand and accept with one’s mind and heart what Christ has revealed. Any person who wishes to do good in life and to make of his or her life something life-giving and of benefit to the world must take to heart Christ’s teaching on the cross of obedient suffering. Out of love for Christ, then, let us follow him closely as he leads the way to Calvary. As he repeatedly insisted, therein lies the door to glory.
(E.J.Tyler)

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So you have been hauled over the coals? Don't follow the advice of pride and lose your temper. Say to yourself: how charitable they are towards me! When I think of all they must have left unsaid!...
(The Way, no.698)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ        (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty third chapter       Thoughts on Death

Ah, foolish man, why do you plan to live long when you are not sure of living even a day? How many have been deceived and suddenly snatched away! How often have you heard of persons being killed by drownings, by fatal falls from high places, of persons dying at meals, at play, in fires, by the sword, in pestilence, or at the hands of robbers! Death is the end of everyone and the life of man quickly passes away like a shadow.

Who will remember you when you are dead? Who will pray for you? Do now, beloved, what you can, because you do not know when you will die, nor what your fate will be after death. Gather for yourself the riches of immortality while you have time. Think of nothing but your salvation. Care only for the things of God. Make friends for yourself now by honouring the saints of God, by imitating their actions, so that when you depart this life they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.
                                                                      (Continuing)

(February 21) St. Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Maybe because he was orphaned and had been treated shabbily by one of his brothers, Peter Damian was very good to the poor. It was the ordinary thing for him to have a poor person or two with him at table and he liked to minister personally to their needs. Peter escaped poverty and the neglect of his own brother when his other brother, who was archpriest of Ravenna, took him under his wing. His brother sent him to good schools and Peter became a professor. Already in those days Peter was very strict with himself. He wore a hair shirt under his clothes, fasted rigorously and spent many hours in prayer. Soon, he decided to leave his teaching and give himself completely to prayer with the Benedictines of the reform of St. Romuald at Fonte Avellana. They lived two monks to a hermitage. Peter was so eager to pray and slept so little that he soon suffered from severe insomnia. He found he had to use some prudence in taking care of himself. When he was not praying, he studied the Bible. The abbot commanded that when he died Peter should succeed him. Abbot Peter founded five other hermitages. He encouraged his brothers in a life of prayer and solitude and wanted nothing more for himself. The Holy See periodically called on him, however, to be a peacemaker or troubleshooter, between two abbeys in dispute or a cleric or government official in some disagreement with Rome. Finally, Pope Stephen IX made Peter the cardinal-bishop of Ostia. He worked hard to wipe out simony, and encouraged his priests to observe celibacy and urged even the diocesan clergy to live together and maintain scheduled prayer and religious observance. He wished to restore primitive discipline among religious and priests, warning against needless travel, violations of poverty and too comfortable living. He even wrote to the bishop of Besancon, complaining that the canons there sat down when they were singing the psalms in the Divine Office. He wrote many letters. Some 170 are extant. We also have 53 of his sermons and seven lives, or biographies, that he wrote. He preferred examples and stories rather than theory in his writings. The liturgical offices he wrote are evidence of his talent as a stylist in Latin. He asked often to be allowed to retire as cardinal-bishop of Ostia, and finally Alexander II consented. Peter was happy to become once again just a monk, but he was still called to serve as a papal legate. When returning from such an assignment in Ravenna, he was overcome by a fever. With the monks gathered around him saying the Divine Office, he died on February 22, 1072. In 1828 he was declared a Doctor of the Church.
“...Let us faithfully transmit to posterity the example of virtue which we have received from our forefathers” (St. Peter Damian). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Hebrews 11:1-7; Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 10-11; Mark 9:2-13

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there

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

The course of human history depends in large measure on leaders. The common run of men depend on leaders. Of course, in asserting this we must allow for a great diversity in leadership, and in saying this we do not assert everything depends on leaders. For from another point of view history depends on the common man and on the mass of common men. Granted this, nevertheless what would Buddhism be without the Buddha? What would Islam be without Mahomet? So human history and in particular the

history of man’s religions brings us to the thought of the great religious leaders of mankind. Now, inasmuch as the validity of man’s religion depends on the fact of the divine — and more explicitly, on God and what he has revealed — the question that arises in our minds is, has God himself had anything definite to say about the various leaders and founders of religion? Has God himself in the presence of witnesses pointed to any one of the greatest religious teachers and prophets and said, “Listen to him!”? Has God pointed to any one and himself given to that person a unique standing and authority shared by no other? It helps us to appreciate our Gospel scene today if we place it in these broader contexts. Our passage describes our Lord taking the three disciples — those whom Paul would later describe as the pillars of the infant Church — and going up the mountain with them. We are perhaps reminded of Moses ascending the mountain to be with God. But our Lord does not go alone. He takes with him, we might say, the Church in embryo to witness what will happen. There his glory is made manifest and the Father speaks, pointing to him as he did to no other prophet or personage in the Old Testament, and as he never has to any other person in the history of mankind. This man shown in glory is his own Son, he says. He does not describe him as his servant (as he did the prophets) nor as his friend (as he did Moses) but as his Beloved Son. Our Gospel scene of the Transfiguration is unique in human history and in it God confers a unique and incomparable authority on Jesus Christ.

The next extraordinary thing about our passage today, apart from the uniqueness of Jesus Christ shown forth by God himself, is the path to be followed by this singular teacher and leader of mankind. Let us ponder on what our Lord said following his transfiguration in the presence of his disciples. We read that “Suddenly, when they looked round, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” So, the important thing ahead was to be, not a tremendous influence in the world such as, say, to win for him the surname of Great, but death and resurrection. His disciples were not to tell others of what the Father had said until he had died and risen. So, we read, “They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what rising from the dead meant. And they asked him, Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first? Jesus replied, To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?” (Mark 9, 2-13). Jesus is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, and his path is one of suffering and rejection. This is surely an extraordinary revelation of the ways of God. God had pointed to him as his own Beloved Son. All were to listen to him. Having made that crystal clear, it is now made clear that this his Beloved Son must suffer much and be rejected. He must die. Then he will rise again. That is the path for the greatest person in the history of the world, the path for the one whom God himself had pointed to in the presence of witnesses, the one to whom God wanted all men to listen. Christ’s teaching is of far greater import than that of the world’s best philosophers, thinkers and religious leaders, and essential to his life and mission is that he die and then rise again. Moreover, in his teaching he makes the carrying of one’s cross after him essential to the following of him. So Christ’s personal status is unique, and his path and his teaching are extraordinary.

How could anyone go wrong by taking his stand with Jesus? This is the path to life for humanity. As St Paul writes in one of his Letters, before the world began God chose us in Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight. Man’s truest calling is to live in union with Christ. Let us do that then! But let us follow through with it and follow in Christ’s footsteps, taking up our cross each day and making his path our own. The path to the cross in union with Jesus is the path to glory.

(E.J.Tyler)

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Cross, toil, anguish: such will be your lot as long as you live. That was the way Christ went, and the disciple is not above his Master.
(The Way, no.699)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty third chapter Thoughts on Death (concluded)

Keep yourself as a stranger here on earth, a pilgrim whom its affairs do not concern at all. Keep your heart free and raise it up to God, for you have not here a lasting home. To Him direct your daily prayers, your sighs and tears, that your soul may merit after death to pass in happiness to the Lord.

Prayers this week: Lord, your mercy is my hope, my heart rejoices in your saving power. I will sing to the Lord, for his goodness to me. (Psalm 12: 6)

Father, keep before us the wisdom and love you have revealed in your Son. Help us to be like him in word and deed. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

Scripture: Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24b-25; Psalm 41:2-5, 13-14; 2 Cor 1:18-22; Mark 2:1-12

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic,

carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralysed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . . He said to the paralytic, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home. He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this! (Mark 2:1-12)

We often read in the Gospels how people were amazed at the things our Lord said and did. We read that Christ directed Simon to throw his net out for a catch and so great was the haul that he had to signal to his companions to hurry to his aid. Simon was overcome with the sense of Christ’s divine power and professed his sinfulness before him. Various other examples of amazement

in both his disciples and in the crowds are reported in the Gospels. Interestingly, we do not read of this amazement characterising our Lord’s enemies, such as the Pharisees. Rather, we see them being progressively filled with jealousy: even Pilate could see that they had handed Jesus over to him out of jealousy. They were disposed to be harshly critical of him at every opportunity. This very fact is, incidentally, illustrative of the profoundly authentic nature of the Incarnation. God was so truly man that all his opponents could see was a man and one whom they felt free to subject to their hostility. In this spirit they were watching all that he did. We also see our Lord sovereignly free of any desire to court their favour: he acted with full and supreme authority in both his teaching and in his works. It was this manifest authority which the people especially noticed and spoke of. They were amazed at his authority. He acted and spoke with authority, and not like the scribes — and so it is in our Gospel scene today. A paralysed man is silently and dramatically lowered from the roof and placed before Jesus. The faith of the friends of the paralytic was manifest, and what was the first thing our Lord did for the unfortunate man? He openly and calmly forgave all his sins. It may be that the paralytic regarded himself as having been ultimately responsible for his physical affliction because of the sins of his life. Perhaps he had even said as much to his friends. We do not know, but possibly others too had thought this. This may have been part and parcel of his suffering. Well, the very first thing our Lord said to him was, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” It would have brought on a powerful, immediate and very evident consolation. Our Lord then proceeded to cure him of his paralysis and all were amazed.

Where in the entire Old Testament had there been an example of a prophet or any great man of God taking it on himself to forgive the sins of another? There is no record of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob doing this. Moses did not. Nor did David or Isaiah, or Jeremiah or Ezechiel. It was unheard of because only God could forgive one’s own sins and the sins of another person. I do not think any of the founders of other religions attempted this either. Yet here (Mark 2:1-12), in the presence of his enemies who were looking for the slightest thing to accuse him of, our Lord calmly and publicly forgave the sins of another, of one who may have himself considered that his sins were the ultimate cause of his own sufferings. Christ showed he had the divine power to forgive sins, and he exercised that power more than once in his public ministry. It was a harbinger of what was to come. He was bringing the forgiveness of sins to mankind, and it would be a distinguishing element of Christian belief to proclaim the forgiveness of sins. It is a formal part of the Christian creed. Well now, how did Christ mean to bring to the world this gift of forgiveness of sins which he exercised for the benefit of this particular paralytic? He revealed his plan to his Apostles on the evening of the very day he rose from the dead, having just died for the sins of mankind. The first thing our Lord did, as we read in the Gospel of St John, was to endow them with the Holy Spirit. He breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. Then he gave to them the power to do what he had done during his public ministry. Whoever’s sins you forgive they are forgiven them, he told them. Whoever’s sins you retain they are retained. What his disciples had seen him do, what the public had seen him do, and what his enemies had seen him do, and what all knew to be so extraordinary a power — the forgiveness of a person’s sins — Christ was now empowering his Apostles to do in his name. It was the first thing he enabled his apostles to do on rising from the dead and on giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is what the Church calls the Sacrament of Penance, administered by the one who has received the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

What this means is that just as a person approaching our Lord during his public ministry could receive from him the forgiveness of sins — and some did receive this blessing — so now any baptized member of Christ’s Church may receive from the ordained priest the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Penance. In this Sacrament the unseen Christ, acting through and in the priest, forgives the sins of the one who approaches him, confesses his sins, is truly repentant, and who fulfils the penance stipulated by the priest as a token personal reparation. Let us have a profound appreciation for this stupendous gift so readily available. We too can receive this gift, provided we approach this Sacrament with the dispositions laid down by the Church. The forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Penance is so available. Let us not neglect this gift, then!
(E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.1450-1460.(Acts of the penitent and the forgiveness of sins [sacrament of reconciliation])

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Agreed: there is a lot of pressure from outside and that excuses you in part. But there is also complicity within — take a good look — and there I see no excuse.
(The Way, no.700)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ       (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty fourth chapter         Judgment and the Punishment of Sin

IN ALL things consider the end; how you shall stand before the strict Judge from Whom nothing is hidden and Who will pronounce judgment in all justice, accepting neither bribes nor excuses. And you, miserable and wretched sinner, who fear even the countenance of an angry man, what answer will you make to the God Who knows all your sins? Why do you not provide for yourself against the day of judgment when no man can be excused or defended by another because each will have enough to do to answer for himself? In this life your work is profitable, your tears acceptable, your sighs audible, your sorrow satisfying and purifying.

The patient man goes through a great and salutary purgatory when he grieves more over the malice of one who harms him than for his own injury; when he prays readily for his enemies and forgives offences from his heart; when he does not hesitate to ask pardon of others; when he is more easily moved to pity than to anger; when he does frequent violence to himself and tries to bring the body into complete subjection to the spirit.
                                                               (Continuing)

Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle (February 22)

Entrance Antiphon Lk 22: 32 The Lord says to Simon Peter: I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and, once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

Collect Grant, we pray, almighty God, that no tempests may disturb us, for you have set us fast on the rock of the Apostle Peter's confession of faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

(February 22) The Chair of Peter the Apostle
This feast commemorates Christ’s choosing Peter to sit in his place as the servant-authority of the whole Church (see June 29).

After the “lost weekend” of pain, doubt and self-torment, Peter hears the Good News. Angels at the tomb say to Magdalene, “The Lord has risen! Go, tell his disciples and Peter.” John relates that when he and Peter ran to the tomb, the younger outraced the older, then waited for him. Peter entered, saw the wrappings on the ground, the headpiece rolled up in a place by itself. John saw and believed. But he adds a reminder: “..They did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead”(John 20:9). They went home. There the slowly exploding, impossible idea became reality. Jesus appeared to them as they waited fearfully behind locked doors. “Peace be with you,” he said (John 20:21b), and they rejoiced. The Pentecost event completed Peter’s experience of the risen Christ. “...They were all filled with the holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4a) and began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them. Only then can Peter fulfil the task Jesus had given him: “... Once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). He at once becomes the spokesman for the Twelve about their experience of the Holy Spirit—before the civil authorities who wished to quash their preaching, before the council of Jerusalem, for the community in the problem of Ananias and Sapphira. He is the first to preach the Good News to the Gentiles. The healing power of Jesus in him is well attested: the raising of Tabitha from the dead, the cure of the crippled beggar. People carry the sick into the streets so that when Peter passed his shadow might fall on them. Even a saint experiences difficulty in Christian living. When Peter stopped eating with Gentile converts because he did not want to wound the sensibilities of Jewish Christians, Paul says, “...I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.... They were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel...” (Galatians 2:11b, 14a). At the end of John’s Gospel, Jesus says to Peter, “Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18). What Jesus said indicated the sort of death by which Peter was to glorify God. On Vatican Hill, in Rome, during the reign of Nero, Peter did glorify his Lord with a martyr’s death, probably in the company of many Christians.
Like the committee chair, this chair refers to the occupant, not the furniture. Its first occupant stumbled a bit, denying Jesus three times and hesitating to welcome gentiles into the new Church. Some of its later occupants have also stumbled a bit, sometimes even failed scandalously. As individuals, we may sometimes think a particular pope has let us down. Still, the office endures as a sign of the long tradition we cherish and as a focus for the universal Church. Peter described our Christian calling in the opening of his First Letter, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...” (1 Peter 1:3a). (AmericanCatholic.org)

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

W

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

The Church One of the great insights brought to modern Christian thought by John Henry Newman was his answer to the puzzle presented by the variance existing between early Christian doctrine and contemporary Christian doctrine. At first sight, there is a notable difference. For instance, there is not a formal declaration in the New Testament that Simon Peter is “infallible,” and that he would have “successors” in his office as “chief pastor” of Christ’s Church, each bearing a gift of “infallibility” in certain situations. But this is a

doctrine of the Catholic Church. The response of many to this doctrinal phenomenon was that this was due to an accretion of corruptions which had to be pruned away back to the original revelation. Indeed, the same point has been made by objectors about the Creeds, especially the Creed of Nicea and Constantinople. Where in the New Testament are the declarations of that Creed set forth explicitly and sanctioned? This Creed also, then, is the product of corruptions in the original revelation. What the Churches have to do is get back to what Christ originally taught, and keep faithfully to that. The Church which succeeds in doing this is a “true Church.” Many things could be said about this position, but Newman gave his great answer which has been, in principle, accepted among many Churches of the modern era: doctrine develops in response to reflection. The Church takes time to understand more fully the original revelation granted to the Twelve by Jesus Christ, and this progressive understanding, reflected in the Church’s growing teaching, is guided by the Holy Spirit. The Church, too, often acts on the basis of a doctrine (say, papal infallibility) without the doctrine being yet declared. The time then comes for it to be declared as part of the original revelation. It is known to be true, without it having been formally declared as such - till, perhaps it is challenged. The declaration of the doctrine is the fruit of a natural, yet divinely-guided development. It is an assumption to hold the view that a doctrine must be formally stated in the text of Scripture for it to be known to be divinely revealed (“sola Scriptura”). Scripture itself does not formally state or require this.

As a matter of fact, very significant passages of Scripture can be overlooked or explained away. The plain sense of the extensive passages of John chapter 6 on the Holy Eucharist, in which our Lord states with extraordinary bluntness and clarity that his flesh has to be eaten and his blood has to be drunk, can be ignored and placed on the same symbolic footing as our Lord’s description of himself as a “shepherd” leading his “sheep.” In other words our Lord’s teaching that his flesh is real food and his blood real drink has been reduced by some to a mere, though important, metaphor. The case can be the same with our passage today (Matthew 16:13-19), plainly one of capital significance. It is one of the extremely few passages in the Gospels where the word “church” is used by our Lord, and it is one in which the term is accompanied by a wealth of direct associations. In speaking of the “church” here, our Lord makes it clear that it is “his” church - and not just an accidental product of historical circumstances coming together to change his “movement” into an institution. It is “his” church, something he is about to “build.” As Yahweh built the House of Israel, so Christ will build his Church. Christ had been preaching incessantly on the Kingdom of Heaven. Suddenly now, with his disciples before him, and with Simon Peter having professed before him the true faith, Christ announces that he is to create a new people, a new House - “his Church.” No prophet had done this before him. So the “church” which Christ will build is essential to the Christian religion, and to entry into the Kingdom announced by him. Moreover, nothing will destroy this “Church” of his. The powers of Hell will not prevail over it. Further, the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” will be found in his church, and specifically in the hands of Simon Peter. Peter is its Rock, and he will be empowered by heaven to bind and to loose - to declare God’s Law. John Henry Newman, writing to a friend on April 24, 1875, said that the Vatican Council of 1870 had declared that Peter’s successor is not merely the instrumental head of the Church in determining what has been revealed, “but that in him lies the root of the matter, that his decision, viewed separate even from the Bishops, is gospel.”

Our passage today is to be counted as extremely significant and will be remembered and pondered till the end of the world. St Matthew’s Gospel has many features distinctive to it, and this is one of those features. We ought be grateful to him for recording the event and the words of Christ uttered on that occasion. No other Gospel does so. The Christian loves and accepts what Christ teaches, and Christ manifestly teaches the fact of his Church and certain essential features of it. We should, for Christ’s sake then, love the Church as he loves her. Christ is the head, the Church his body, and we are the members of the Church by baptism and members of Christ’s body. Let us serve the Church as we would serve Christ who gave himself up for her.

(E.J.Tyler)

(February 23) Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr (d. 156)
Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey), disciple of St. John the Apostle and friend of St. Ignatius of Antioch was a revered Christian leader during the first half of the second century. St. Ignatius, on his way to Rome to be martyred, visited Polycarp at Smyrna, and later at Troas wrote him a personal letter. The Asia Minor Churches recognized Polycarp’s leadership by choosing him as a representative to discuss with Pope Anicetus the date of the Easter celebration in Rome—quite a controversy in the early Church. Only one of the many letters written by Polycarp has been preserved, the one he wrote to the Church of Philippi, Macedonia. At 86, Polycarp was led into the crowded Smyrna stadium to be burned alive. The flames did not harm him and he was finally killed by a dagger. The centurion ordered the saint’s body burned. The “Acts” of Polycarp’s martyrdom are the earliest preserved, fully reliable account of a Christian martyr’s death. He died in 156. Polycarp was recognized as a Christian leader by all Asia Minor Christians—a strong fortress of faith and loyalty to Jesus Christ. His own strength emerged from his trust in God, even when events contradicted this trust. Living among pagans and under a government opposed to the new religion, he led and fed his flock. Like the Good Shepherd, he laid down his life for his sheep and kept them from more persecution in Smyrna. He summarized his trust in God just before he died: “Father... I bless Thee, for having made me worthy of the day and the hour... .” (Martyrdom, Chapter 14).
“Stand fast, therefore, in this conduct and follow the example of the Lord, ‘firm and unchangeable in faith, lovers of the brotherhood, loving each other, united in truth,’ helping each other with the mildness of the Lord, despising no man” (Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Sirach 1:1-10; Psalm 93:1-2, 5; Mark 9:14-29

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. What are you arguing with them

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

I remember reading during the years that Pope John Paul II was with us that on more than one occasion he took the initiative of exorcising individuals who were presented before him. That is to say, on at least a few occasions people who were possessed to some degree by a demon came to be in his presence and he took the step of successfully commanding the demon to depart. But this immediate success in exorcism was not attained every time, it seems. I remember reading that on one occasion the Pope

repeatedly commanded the demon to depart from a possessed person, but it did not. It jeered the Pope, and defiantly said that not even he, the chief, could drive him out. What was the Pope’s answer? He assured the person who was afflicted in this way that he would pray for him and say Mass for him. What are we to make of this? Pope John Paul II was at his death recognized as a saint and his cause for canonization is in progress. What an event such as that reminds us of is what our Lord teaches his disciples at the end of today’s Gospel passage. We read that after our Lord drove the demon out of the boy, he “took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, Why couldn't we drive it out? He replied, This kind can come out only by prayer”. So God allows that certain kinds of demons cannot be thrown out simply by a powerful command given in his name. It requires prayer, and that is exactly what Pope John Paul II understood to be needed on that occasion. He promised prayer and I think we may suppose that his prayers for that intention were fruitful. We can also be sure that his prayer was filled with and issued from his great faith. Now this is the point to be taken from our text today. The father of the boy said to Jesus, “if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. 'If you can'? said Jesus. Everything is possible for him who believes.” The faith that our Lord here expects of the father he also requires of the prayer which he later and in private teaches his disciples is necessary in this kind of case.

So we are brought to think of the power of prayer, the prayer of faith. Consider the man whose life lacks prayer. What must be his practical understanding of the world of which he is a part? Generally speaking — and certainly in the modern secular age — his understanding must be that this world is all that there is. All that there is, is what he sees, or is attainable by the senses in some fashion. If he has a penetrating mind he will see that in no way is he the master of his world but that the world is governed by its own laws, whatever they may ultimately be discovered to be. At most he can hope successfully to manage the laws of the universe according to his own ends but in the final analysis he himself is subject to them. After all, there is the law of death, and that is one law that cannot be surmounted. There are moral laws too which if flouted will bring natural consequences. So powerful have seemed the laws of the universe that many religions in human history have deified these natural forces and laws and made of them their imaginary gods and goddesses. But the case is different with the man of Revealed Religion. By the power of religious faith he has come to know that transcending the visible world, yet all the while immanent to it, is the loving and infinite God. This world of laws that seem hard and inexorable is moment by moment dependent on its Creator. This Creator is personal, loving, good and holy. He can be appealed to. More still, he wants to help and protect. More still, he has — unbelievable news! — entered his world himself and became as men are, and humbler still, even to death on a cross. Where is he? There he is: he is Jesus, the Jesus of our Gospel passage today who showed by his action and especially by his teaching the power of prayer, the prayer of faith. “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. 'If you can'? said Jesus. Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:14-29). This is because faith, and as our Lord later tells his disciples in private, the prayer of faith, turns to the great God incarnate in Jesus Christ. In the prayer of faith we rely not on this world but on God. How great are the resources of the man of faith and prayer!

Let us take to heart our Lord’s final words of our Gospel passage today. Let us invoke the help of God almighty constantly during life by our unceasing prayer, a prayer of faith in his goodness and power. It is the most natural thing in the world for man to pray because the world all too often is a threat and in any case it cannot be simply dominated. God is not a threat if we recognize by our obedience that he is God. On the contrary he is our Father and Friend and he wants to help. Let us then believe in him and express and nourish this belief by constant prayer.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Have you not heard the Master himself tell the parable of the vine and the branches? Here you can find consolation. He demands much of you, for you are the branch that bears fruit. And he must prune you 'to make you bear more fruit'.

Of course: that cutting, that pruning hurts. But, afterwards, what richness in your fruits, what maturity in your actions.
(The Way, no.701)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ           (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty fourth chapter              Judgment and the Punishment of Sin

It is better to atone for sin now and to cut away vices than to keep them for purgation in the hereafter. In truth, we deceive ourselves by our ill-advised love of the flesh. What will that fire feed upon but our sins? The more we spare ourselves now and the more we satisfy the flesh, the harder will the reckoning be and the more we keep for the burning.

For a man will be more grievously punished in the things in which he has sinned. There the lazy will be driven with burning prongs, and gluttons tormented with unspeakable hunger and thirst; the wanton and lust-loving will be bathed in burning pitch and foul brimstone; the envious will howl in their grief like mad dogs.
                                                                         (Continuing)

(February 24) Blessed Luke Belludi (1200-c. 1285)
In 1220, St. Anthony was preaching conversion to the inhabitants of Padua when a young nobleman, Luke Belludi, came up to him and humbly asked to receive the habit of the followers of St. Francis. Anthony liked the talented, well-educated Luke and personally recommended him to St. Francis, who then received him into the Franciscan Order. Luke, then only 20, was to be Anthony's companion in his travels and in his preaching, tending to him in his last days and taking Anthony's place upon his death. He was appointed guardian of the Friars Minor in the city of Padua. In 1239 the city fell into the hands of its enemies. Nobles were put to death, the mayor and council were banished, the great university of Padua gradually closed and the church dedicated to St. Anthony was left unfinished. Luke himself was expelled from the city but secretly returned. At night he and the new guardian would visit the tomb of St. Anthony in the unfinished shrine to pray for his help. One night a voice came from the tomb assuring them that the city would soon be delivered from its evil tyrant. After the fulfilment of the prophetic message, Luke was elected provincial minister and furthered the completion of the great basilica in honour of Anthony, his teacher. He founded many convents of the order and had, as Anthony, the gift of miracles. Upon his death he was laid to rest in the basilica that he had helped finish and has had a continual veneration up to the present time. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Sirach 2: 1-13; Psalm 36; Mark 9: 30-37

They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his

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

Let us place ourselves in the scene of the Gospel and contemplate the events that are recounted. Our Lord is passing through Galilee with the Twelve, and is doing so somewhat secretly. His public ministry had reached a critical point and he could see its climax looming before him. His Passion and death were nigh. Our passage today is taken from chapter 9 of Mark, it is chapters 8 and 9 that bring to the forefront of our Lord’s ministry his predictions of his coming Passion. In Chapter 8, having elicited from his

disciples — specifically from Simon Peter — their profession of faith in him as the Messiah, he began to teach them of his coming Passion. Their profession of faith and his teaching concerning his Passion and their following him along the path of the cross (8:31-38) make of that chapter a central component of Mark’s Gospel. The transfiguration follows in the next chapter, from which our Gospel today is drawn. There follows a dramatic healing, but then our Lord resumes the all-important work of forming the Twelve. They know he is the Messiah. They must now understand that his Passion is at the heart of his mission. “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” (Mark 9: 30-37). Now, what is the reaction of this group, his disciples and closest friends, on whom so much depended? We read that “they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.” He was putting it plainly before them, but so great were their expectations of something entirely different that they could not grasp it. They expected a mighty kingdom of this world, and it is a tribute to them that they had full faith in Jesus as their messianic King. They could see that Jesus was the fulfilment of the prophecies and the one who would bring about all that God had promised for man, going back to his promise to Abraham and to Adam. But their conceptions needed a radical enlightenment. Let us contemplate the patience of Christ and his forbearance, for it will helps us trust in his forbearance with us.

We see even more of this forbearance in our passage. They reach Capernaum — perhaps slipping quietly into the town and into the house. Our Lord is aware of the drift of the conversation of his disciples during their journey and he asks them, “what were you arguing about along the road?” He must have been walking slightly ahead or apart from them, possibly in thought and prayer, and they had been arguing among themselves. Again, we notice the patience of Christ in the face of his disciples’ limitations. He had noticed it, had allowed it to continue, and later now in the house he raises the matter explicitly. All embarrassed, they fall silent because they had been arguing about who was the greatest among them. They know it is childish and altogether contrary to the mind of their Master. So he proceeds to instruct them on humble service. “Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all. He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me” (Mark 9: 30-37). The disciple of Christ must aim at humble service. He must aim not to be the greatest but the least in the sense that he must be the servant of all. He must serve the least person, knowing that in that person he is serving Christ. St Paul writes that we are to let this mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus, and his mind was to serve not only by his life but above all by his death. The passion and death that he had been telling his disciples of was his supreme service of the least of his brothers. In his passion and death he took upon himself the sins of the world and made up for them all. This was the ideal our Lord instilled into his disciples, and he did so with patience, knowing that the Holy Spirit would come to give them the profound enlightenment they so obviously needed.

We too need the wisdom that comes from above. St Luke in describing Jesus during his years of growth at Nazareth narrates that he grew and was full of wisdom. This heavenly wisdom is what the disciples so evidently needed, and it is what we too so evidently need. Let us pray for the wisdom to appreciate our Lord’s true and distinctive mission. Let us pray for the grace to understand what it really is to follow him. It is humility and Christ-like service that God expects of us. So then, now I begin!

(E.J.Tyler)

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You are worried. Listen: happen what may in your interior life or in the world that surrounds you, never forget that the importance of events or of people is very relative. Take things calmly; let time pass; and then, as you view persons and happenings dispassionately and from afar, you will acquire the perspective that will enable you to see each thing in its proper place and in its true size.

If you do this, you will be more objective and you will spare yourself many causes of anxiety.
(The Way, no.702)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ     (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty fourth chapter         Judgment and the Punishment of Sin

Every vice will have its own proper punishment. The proud will be faced with every confusion and the avaricious pinched with the most abject want. One hour of suffering there will be more bitter than a hundred years of the most severe penance here. In this life men sometimes rest from work and enjoy the comfort of friends, but the damned have no rest or consolation.

You must, therefore, take care and repent of your sins now so that on the day of judgment you may rest secure with the blessed. For on that day the just will stand firm against those who tortured and oppressed them, and he who now submits humbly to the judgment of men will arise to pass judgment upon them. The poor and humble will have great confidence, while the proud will be struck with fear. He who learned to be a fool in this world and to be scorned for Christ will then appear to have been wise.
                                                                             (Continuing)

Scripture today: James 4:13-17; Psalm 49:2-3, 6-11; Mark 9:38-40

John said to Jesus, Teacher, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us. Do not stop him, Jesus said. No-one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment speak ill of me, for whoever is not against us is for us. (Mark 9:38-40)

The unknown exorcist Our few verses from the Gospel of St Mark (Mark 9:38-40) constitute a precious passage, for a couple of reasons. To begin with, it shows the power of the very name of Jesus at the time of his public ministry, pointing to its power in the future. The Apostle John tells our Lord that “we” — himself and perhaps his brother James and even others —

saw someone whom they did not know at all, calling on the name of Jesus and casting out demons. He did this, then, with several demons. Perhaps that individual had seen this or that one among the Twelve casting out demons in the name of Jesus, as Jesus had instructed them to do. Further, in Luke 10: 17 we are informed that the seventy disciples that Jesus sent out returned to him exulting in their success in driving out demons. Our Lord’s evangelical activity was intense, and part of it was the fanning out of his Apostles and disciples to prepare the way ahead of him. They announced the coming of the kingdom, they asked that all repent, they healed the sick and they cast out demons. It was all a preparation for the arrival of our Lord himself, and a training for the Church’s future mission after Pentecost. Further, our incident today seems to have occurred well into our Lord’s public ministry. Galilee had been filled with talk of Jesus and his doings. His name was in the air everywhere. It is not at all surprising that someone was found doing what the Twelve and very many of Christ’s disciples were seen doing. He may have thought that there was nothing more to it than that he himself do what they were seen doing, and he, doubtlessly like numerous others, certainly believed in the power of Jesus of Nazareth. So, away now by himself and seeing some poor unfortunates in the grip of the demonic, he proceeded to do for them what he had seen done for others. It was a further witness of the power of Christ’s name. It is not unlike the case of the woman suffering from her malady. Unknown to Christ, she grasped his garment in faith, and was healed. She was silently calling on his name for a miracle. Our unknown exorcist also called on Jesus’ name to cast the demons out. Apart from anything, the incident is a prelude to the later proclamation by Simon Peter before the Sanhedrin that the name of Jesus is the only name by which men may be saved.

But there is another obvious feature of our scene today. The Gospels are clear that Christ did not found a mere “movement” of followers who admired his teaching and example and perhaps on their own initiative called on his name out of veneration for his person. He founded a visible body, the Church, which was to be the bearer and dispenser of his Kingdom. As we read in the Gospel of St Matthew, he gave to Simon, the Rock of his Church, the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. After his resurrection he would give the Twelve the charge to make disciples of all the nations — entry into the Kingdom would come with discipleship. Christ instituted a definite body, the Twelve and the disciples. They identified with him and he with them. They were his body and he was their head. What, then, was to be said of the case brought before our Lord by the Apostle John? Here was someone acting in the name of Jesus, and not one of their number. He was outside their body. Humanly speaking, it seems that our Lord did not know him. There is no reason to think that our unknown exorcist ever met our Lord, though it is, I suppose quite likely that he had seen him, or at least that he had seen his disciples exorcising in his name. But our exorcist must have believed in the name of Jesus, and to that extent must have loved him and had faith in him. He acted in good faith, perhaps not altogether aware that there was a formal body of disciples and of the Twelve, carrying Christ’s authority to act in his name. He certainly would not have been speaking against our Lord, nor against the Twelve, nor against Simon the Rock, nor against his disciples, nor against the authority which they professed to have to act in his name. It all suggests good faith — and our Lord magnanimously said to his disciples: look on him kindly. Do not be harsh. Look on him as a brother, separated, but a brother nevertheless. He has a certain union with us, though we do not know him. Nor did our Lord say, do not talk with him, do not enlighten him about me. The case may have been altogether different had that person been opposing the Twelve, opposing Simon Peter, opposing the disciples commissioned by Christ to preach — as would have, doubtlessly, the Pharisees and scribes. This unknown person did not mean to be an enemy of the Twelve.

Let us take our stand with Jesus Christ and, recognizing him as the one and only name by which we can be saved — as the Saviour of the world, that is — let us do all we can to introduce his name to all. Let us do so in brotherly and charitable fashion, recognizing the complexity of life and the limited opportunities and background of many who are of good faith and good will. Let us put on the mind of Jesus Christ in everything, and never be a stumbling block preventing others, who do not have our opportunities and background, from coming closer to the Lord.

(E.J.Tyler)

Scripture today: James 5: 1-6; Psalm 48; Mark 9:41-50

Jesus said to his disciples: I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will

certainly not lose his reward. And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other. (Mark 9:41-50)

Sin I once was asked to examine a high school program that introduced to the students the Christian vision on love and human sexuality. It was a good program, and it showed very well that human sexuality is essentially oriented towards marital love, which has for its model the life of love that reigns in the Blessed Trinity. It brought out for young readers that sexual relations are reserved for marriage, and that a very good way of preparing for marriage is to develop wholesome friendships and the capacity for selfless love. But

I was very intrigued to notice that in the whole of its treatment of this fundamental matter, there was scarcely any mention of the word “sin.” For example, at one point it was said that “if we pursue an inappropriate passion or relationship we will be making a bad decision.” The “bad decision” — the context seemed to suggest — was a decision that would cause great disappointment and unhappiness. “Sin” was not at the forefront of its evil. Original sin came into the explanation of why a world capable of much beauty was scarred by war and hatred. Even here, I noticed, original sin was confused somewhat with personal sin, without personal sin being explicitly treated. All up, the theological and philosophical argument that was lightly and simply developed over the course did not refer much to God’s commandments, nor to sin. I say this about what was a good program, but this particular feature is symptomatic of the absence of discussion of “sin” from general discourse. We do not refer to sin. Imagine yourself in a discussion with one of your neighbours in your street. I think it is most unlikely that the word “sin” would ever come into it. Can you imagine the term “sin” coming into public discussion — say in a typical newspaper article or television program? Could you imagine a political leader referring to “sin”? It is the deepest, the most common, and the most serious matter in human life, and yet it is an embarrassment if referred to openly. It is a tribute to the power of Western secularism that it has quietly imposed this taboo on open discussion of such a matter. Sin is judged to be a purely subjective preoccupation — as is, for that matter, God himself.

In our Gospel today (Mark 9:41-50), our Lord is clear that sin is the worst thing that can afflict us. It can take us to hell, and so we must be rid of it whatever be the cost. “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.” Of course, our Lord is speaking with typical Semitic hyperbole. When he urges us to cut off our hand if it leads us to sin, he means that we are to cut off from us anything that leads us into sin. Now, for the person who believes in God and who lives a religious life, and who, therefore recognizes the reality of sin, there is still the problem of its deeper recognition. We must work at seeing the extensive presence of sin in our lives. I am convinced that there are very many people who are fairly religious but who have real difficulty seeing much presence of sin in their lives. They think that, inasmuch as they lead quiet lives, therefore there is not much sin in them. There is a grave danger that such persons can go right through life with little sense of personal sin, and little acknowledgement of it before God. God wishes us to ask for his favours and his graces, and one of those favours for which we have very great need is the forgiveness of sins. Christ sent the Church forth to bring the forgiveness of sins to the nations, but this requires repentance and the seeking of pardon. If we have little sense of sin we shall have little spirit of repentance and little incentive to seek the pardon of God. In fact, we ought seek God’s pardon every day because as Scripture says, the just man falls seven times a day (Proverbs 24:16). In the Lord’s Prayer we are directed to ask for God’s pardon for our transgressions, and if we think we have transgressed him but seldom, we shall scarcely be led to ask for his pardon. The danger here is that we shall go before God’s judgment with many hidden sins, ourselves blind to them, and unconsciously proud of our rarely having sinned. Unbeknown to ourselves, we shall in that case be very like the Pharisee, and very unlike the Publican of our Lord’s parable.

Let us pray for a deeper sense of the evil of sin, of where it leads us to, and of how much we have sinned. Let us be alive to the fact that a peculiarly modern peril is to think that there is no sin, or that if there is sin, it does not matter. Allied to this is the danger for the believer of thinking that while there is, of course, sin, he himself is not a great sinner because he can’t seem to think of many sins in his life. He needs the grace of the Holy Spirit to see himself as God sees him, with the stain of his sins upon him. Let us examine our consciences every day, and every day make a hearty act of sorrow for sin. Let the Catholic avail himself of the blessing of the Sacrament of Penance frequently and devoutly. Sin is our enemy. We must unmask it and destroy it with the grace of God.

(E.J.Tyler)

Scripture today: James 5: 9-12; Psalm 102; Mark 10:1-12

Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his

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

Christ and marriage Consider the literature of the world, its poetry, its drama, its stories. The beauty of nature is extolled, various human experiences and tragedies are narrated and dramatized, significant events are retold. But there is one thing which is most commonly sung, and that is human love. Love is the subject of sonnets, of plays, of novels, epics and stories of one kind or another. Boethius (Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius) was a Roman statesman and philosopher, often styled "the last of the Romans"and

regarded by some Christian traditions as a martyr. A Christian, he was born at Rome in 480 and died at Pavia in 524 or 525. Once a highly placed counsellor to Emperor Theodoric, Boethius was suddenly toppled from his position, accused of treason, and thrown into prison. While in prison before his execution he wrote his celebrated On the Consolation of Philosophy (524 A.D.). In it he sets forth Love ― the love of the Creator God ― as the governing force of the planets, the tides, the changes of seasons, the treaties between nations, and the human bonds of fealty, marriage, and friendship. That was Boethius’s famous Consolation. In the best judgment of man, love is among the greatest of human experiences, and if truly unselfish it is one of the grandest things in creation. Its common, though not only, best expression is a very good marriage, and when man and woman give themselves to each other in marriage, it is one of the most beautiful things in the world. At the same time, it is the occasion of untold sorrows. Marriages break up and they vary in their structure among the peoples. In some societies polygamy is and has been the norm. Jacob Zuma, the third president of South Africa following Nelson Mandela, married five times, having three living spouses during his presidency. Taking a broad view of human history, it is manifest that marriage is a fundamental human aspiration, a fulfilment of man’s longing for love, while having sorrows and great disorder strewn along its trail. Notoriously, it has very often ended in divorce and remarriage.

All this brings us to our Gospel today (Mark 10:1-12). As ever, some of the Pharisee class pounded Christ with yet another test in religion. Can a man divorce his wife? By this was meant, of course, divorce allowing remarriage. Perhaps they had heard reports of our Lord denying the permissibility of divorce in this sense ― which would have contradicted various schools of thought among the Jews at the time. It seems that decades before, some rabbis (the Hillelites) had invented a new form of divorce called the "any cause" divorce. It liberalized divorce much further, while other rabbis (the Shammaites) disagreed, holding fast to the Mosaic stipulations which allowed divorce to a point. If this was so, still it was admitted on all hands that divorce and remarriage was a possibility in certain circumstances. Divorce, then, was a contended issue, and Christ is being brought into the controversy with a view to ensnaring him. Our Lord was master of the moment, and replied to them with his question about Moses’ teaching ― thus indicating that Moses was indeed a principal authority. But he then went on to show in masterly fashion that Moses had to be interpreted, and he, Jesus, was his interpreter. Specifically, Moses was to be understood in the light of the fundamental texts of Genesis which not only teach the indissolubility of marriage, but provide a theological foundation. Moses’s permission for divorce was only, our Lord told them, a practical compromise calculated to regulate the unwillingness of the people to conform to the Law of God. Fallen man did not follow the original divine decree, so Moses did his best with the people so as to ensure social stability. Christ was abrogating that allowance and restoring the original revelation. Man is made in the image of God, and for that reason is both male and female. He is created within a communion of persons and the very structure of his nature orients him to communion, thus reflecting the divine communion within the Godhead. Specifically, he is oriented by nature towards the communion that is marriage. The marital bond is absolute by nature. Its definitive and indissoluble character is profoundly natural, and as such it comes from the hand of the Creator. This permanence of the bond of marriage reflects the life of God himself. What God has united, let no-one sunder. Christ cut through the prevailing controversy, and declared divorce and remarriage impermissible.

Christ not only revealed the true nature of marriage, but raised it to be the sign and vehicle ― the channel we might say ― of the presence and grace of the triune God. It is a sacrament when sealed between baptised believers. The marriage of baptized Christians not only reflects the communion which is at the heart of the Godhead, but it makes it present and is a home for it. The Sacrament of Matrimony makes of the love between husband and wife, by nature indissoluble, a Temple and a channel of the holy Trinity and the divine love uniting the three divine Persons. Wondrous is the mission, then, of the married couple! Let them build their marriage assiduously, for a good marriage is of immense benefit to the world. Let us do all we can to protect married life.

(E.J.Tyler)

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

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

God’s blessing The Gospel scene today draws our attention to some little children being brought to Jesus by their parents who wanted him to lay his hands on them in blessing. They knew that the blessing of Jesus of Nazareth must confer grace and divine protection on their children. Further, our Lord himself wanted them brought to him so that he could do just that. One wonders what may have been the subsequent histories of those children thus blessed ― to say that it would have made no difference to them is absurd, in

view of who Jesus Christ was. But let us turn to a few other children and observe the power of grace in their lives. The Gospel of St Luke opens with the Angel Gabriel visiting Zechariah to announce to him the birth of his child, whom he would name John. The child would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. This occurred at the visit of Mary who bore in her womb the Messiah. As the adult Christ blessed the little children in our Gospel today, so the unborn Christ blessed the unborn John during the visitation of his mother Mary. As a result, John was filled with grace and the Holy Spirit. We read that the hand of the Lord was with him (Luke 1:66) ― reminding us of the hand of the Lord on the little children of our Gospel today. John grew and became strong in spirit, and prepared himself in the desert till his manifestation to Israel (1:80). He became a great prophet, and Christ declared that no-one born of women was greater than he. John the Baptist is a striking example of where grace can take a child who is blessed by God. There were other children of grace, as we might call them. In the Gospel of St John, after the Prologue, the scene opens with John the Baptist in full prophetic ministry denying that he is Elias or the Prophet or the Christ. He is a mere voice proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. He points Jesus out to two of his disciples who then follow our Lord. Consider these two ― consider at least one of them, John the beloved disciple. It is accepted that he was a very young man at the time of his encounter with Jesus Christ. Perhaps he was barely out of his teens, and he would live to a great age, perhaps near the end of the first century. Imagine his childhood, his youth, his very early manhood. He had been a child of grace.

John the Baptist shows what a child who bears the blessing of God can become. John the Evangelist followed our Lord ardently, and was known as the disciple Jesus loved. He became one of the three pillars of the infant Church, according to the testimony of St Paul, and wrote a wonderful Gospel expounding the divinity of Jesus Christ. Let us think of others. When Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus, Jesus said of him, there is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. Nathanael would have been a young man ― one imagines his childhood and youth to have been lived in a manner faithful to conscience and to grace. All of the Twelve responded to Jesus Christ by becoming his disciples, and were chosen by him to be Apostles. St Paul tells us that before the world began, God chose us in Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight. Each of the Twelve had been blessed from childhood with the grace of their future call, and they had grown in such a way as to be ready to respond to the call when it came. As we think of those children of our Gospel today being blessed by our Lord, let us think of each of the Twelve as the children they once had been. They responded to grace and the hand of the Lord was with them. This applied, assuredly, to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. He too was once a child ― a child of grace in view of his future calling. He had parents who may or may not have been living at the time of his call by Christ. Undoubtedly he had grown as a good child and youth ― perhaps an excellent one. He may have had brothers and sisters, and of course relatives and friends. In the plan of God, he was destined to receive a remarkable call. It was the call to be one of the first Christian saints, one of the Twelve, a foundation stone of Christ’s Church, a bearer of the Kingdom. Just as Christ had laid his hands in blessing on the little children of today’s Gospel, so God had blessed Judas from his childhood ― and he had grown in grace, sufficient to be ready for the call when it came. We read that Christ came down from the mountain after a night in prayer to God. He called his disciples to him and selected the Twelve. One of them was Judas. Another one remained among the disciples ― his name was Mathaias. He would, after the Ascension, be elected to replace Judas as one of the Twelve (Acts 1: 21-23).

How badly Judas turned out! In the very company of Jesus Christ he fell completely from grace, that grace he had been granted doubtlessly from childhood, that grace that accompanied him through his youth and early manhood, that grace that was his at the outset of his vocation as an Apostle. The blessing of God had been upon him, as was the blessing of Christ upon the little children of today’s Gospel (Mark 10:13-16). He began well, but came to choose badly. He turned away from Jesus Christ and ended his miserable life in despairing death. Tragically, he did not repent and return to Christ’s favour. Let us never imagine that God’s gifts and call ensure a happy end. We must work out our salvation in, to use St Paul’s words, “fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Let us trust in God, obeying his calls, repenting of sin, and always starting again.
(E.J.Tyler)

Prayers today: The Lord has been my strength; he has led me into freedom. He saved me because he loved me. (Psalm 17: 19-20)

Lord, guide the course of world events and give your Church the joy and peace of serving you in freedom. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

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

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

The one God For nearly a thousand years in the ancient world ― what we normally call ancient history ― there was a geographical locality which stood for the worship of one God. Polytheism, the worship of many limited gods, was the norm in the religions of man, but on the hills of Jerusalem there was a Temple that spoke of one God alone. Consider its history a little. For its beginnings we are dependent on the Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles ― in particular, 1 and 2 Samuel. Independent archaeological evidence is

extremely sparse and conjectural. After David captured the hill fortress of Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant was installed in a sanctuary on Mount Moriah. David's son Solomon constructed the First Temple, completed in 957BC. It had three rooms: a porch, the main room of worship, and the Holy of Holies where the Ark was kept. A storehouse surrounded three sides of the Temple. For nearly four centuries this Temple testified to the one God of Israel in a polytheistic world. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586BC, and the Temple treasures, including the Ark, were lost forever. The Second Temple was completed in 515BC. It was a rebuilding of the previous Temple, but on a more modest scale and it lasted nearly 500 years. Herod the Great rebuilt this Temple on a grand scale. It took 46 years to build, and was completed in 26AD ― perhaps just before our Lord began his public ministry. It was used not only for worship, but as a repository for the Scriptures and a meeting place for the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish law court. So extraordinary was this building of Herod’s that it was regarded as virtually a wonder of the world. It made the religion of the Hebrews famous. No other gods were worshipped in this magnificent building and for peoples and visitors accustomed to a pantheon of numerous gods it must have been a cause of wonder. An inscription from the Jerusalem Temple has been found excluding Gentiles under pain of death. I mention these details for one purpose, to illustrate the witness which for a millennium was given by the Temple of Jerusalem to the one and only God. This witness by the Temple lasted from David till the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD. This one God had given to his people ten great commandments, and the first of them was that they were to worship him alone. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have other gods before me. Indeed, he had said through the prophets, I am your Bridegroom.

Jesus Christ reaffirmed this with the utmost emphasis. His heavenly Father is this one God, and he, his divine Son is now the Bridegroom ― as we heard in today’s Gospel (Mark 2: 18-22). Both Father and Son are united in the Holy Spirit. We, Christ’s disciples, must guard and activate our love for God by striving to love him with all our strength. This means treasuring and nourishing our faith, our hope and our love for him. In respect to our faith in the one God who is three divine Persons, we must reject everything opposed to this faith, such as deliberate doubt, unbelief, heresy, apostasy and schism. Perhaps in our day we must especially be on guard against entertaining doubts about our Faith, and in particular doubts about the Church which is the divinely-appointed teacher of our Faith. He who hears you, hears me, our Lord told his disciples. We can expose ourselves to doubt by watching by needlessly programmes on television that sow seeds of cynicism, scepticism and suspicion towards the pastors of the Church and the Church as a divine institution. We can fall in with acquaintances who unhesitatingly talk in this vein, or read feature articles which promote cynicism and doubt in respect to the Faith. I have seen various programmes on television which, while speaking with respect of Jesus Christ, speak of him as much less than the divine person he is. If we allow such doubts to penetrate and lodge in our imagination, they can do a very dirty work there, subtly, quietly, gradually. We must protect the gift of faith that we have been given at our baptism. With this gift we entrust ourselves to the one and only God, fully accepting his word and his teaching. We must also avoid anything which can undermine the gift of hope, a supernatural virtue given to us at our baptism. By this gift we trustingly await the blessed vision of God and his help, while avoiding despair and presumption. We must especially beware lest we quietly give up hope of attaining sanctity, which is the will of God for us. Our hope in God must be exercised every day, and we must renew our conviction that he can sanctify us and those around us for whom we have been given a responsibility. It is a terrible thing to give up hope in God, and settle into spiritual mediocrity. On the other hand we must not presume on God’s benevolence, virtually abandoning belief in his justice and in his judgment. That too is a failure in hope.

Above all, we must treasure the gift we have received of Charity. Charity loves God above all things and therefore repudiates indifference, ingratitude, lukewarmness, sloth or spiritual indolence, and that hatred of God which is born of pride. It is love that we must especially concentrate on. Our aim in life must be to love God, and to love him with our whole being. This is a lifelong struggle, a lifelong work. There is no easy way to it, and it is imperative that we prosecute the work. Let us do all we can to make our lives a shining witness to the truth of the one and only God, the truth that the Lord is our God, and that no other gods of any description must take his place in our lives.
(E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.2084-2094 (Worship and serve God alone)

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

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone. You know the

commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10: 17-27)

One is good, God There are certain variations in the account of the rich man’s conversation among the three Synoptic Gospels. Our passage today is from the Gospel of St Mark (10: 17-27), and our Lord is on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem. He has entered the territory of Judea, is “beyond the Jordan,” and will soon reach Bethphage and Bethany near Jerusalem (Mark 11:1). The geography of the event is similar in Matthew (19:1). Jesus has departed from Galilee, has arrived at the borders of Judea beyond the

Jordan, and is on his way to Jerusalem (21:1). With Luke, our Lord has come from Galilee through Samaria (17:11). He is on his way to Jerusalem, and has not yet reached Jericho (19:1). So each of the three Gospels in which this incident is reported place it in Judea, during our Lord’s journey to Jerusalem where he will be crucified. It is part of our Lord’s expectation of generosity in the following of him. In Matthew’s account it is a “young man” (19:20), whereas in Mark it is simply “one” ― a man ― who comes to him. In Luke it is a “certain ruler” (18:18). There is a difference in the question asked of Jesus by the man who approached him. In Luke (18:18) the “ruler” asked our Lord, “Good Teacher (didaskale agathe), by doing what (thing) may I inherit eternal life?” It is the same in Mark (with a slight difference in the Greek wording): “Good Teacher (didaskale agathe), what ought I do that I may inherit life eternal?” (10:17). In both, Christ is the “Good Teacher.” But in Matthew, the “young man” addresses our Lord simply as “Teacher,” and asks “what good thing may I do that I may have life eternal?” So in Matthew it is the work to be done in order to gain eternal life that is called “good,” not Jesus. Accordingly, in Matthew our Lord’s answer is not quite the same as in Mark and Luke. Our Lord replies, “Why do you ask me about the good? One is the good.” Whereas in response to the question in Mark, our Lord says: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, God.” Luke is the same as Mark: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one, God.” Mark and Luke are nearest one another textually, with Matthew showing various differences from the other two. However, all three report our Lord pointing to God as the one who is good.

Perhaps Matthew expressed our Lord’s reply to the young man differently in order to pre-empt a possible clouding of Christ’s divinity in his narrative for Jewish readers. That is speculation. However, each of the three Evangelists took care to note the second part of that first sentence of our Lord’s reply: “No one is good but God.” Our Lord immediately refers to the goodness of God his Father. We are surely thereby reminded of what resonated in the depths of our Lord’s heart and soul: the utter, the infinite, the inexhaustible goodness of his heavenly Father. God is the Origin, and the Origin is all-good. At the centre of all, at the basis of all, at the origin of all, above and beyond and enveloping all, is the One who is good. Jesus Christ who had come from the bosom of the Father (John 1:18) has made him known, and he has told us that God our Father is all-good. Now, this needs to be appreciated, and not taken for granted. The fact is that in the religions of mankind ― say, of classical Greece and Rome ― the deity or the deities were not necessarily good. In fact, in terms of goodness, they were not a lot different from man. If one had to describe the heavens of pagan religions, which is to say the abode of the gods and goddesses, it was a sinful place ― not the underworld, assuredly, but not very admirable nevertheless. In fact, a case could be made for asserting that not one of the gods was truly good. The business of religion was to keep on the good side of the gods, not to incur their irritation, and to gain their favour in their respective spheres of influence. If a war was looming, one had better get to work with sacrifices to the gods of war. This had nothing to do with the goodness of the gods in question. It had only to do with their sphere of power. Into this confused and sad religious scenario, there had been a wondrous revelation ― that accorded to Abraham, the patriarchs, Moses and the Prophets. Their God was the Holy One. Not only was he the one and only God, but he alone was truly and absolutely holy. He would not bear sin. It is the goodness of God that fills the mind and heart of Jesus Christ. No one is good but God alone. Jesus is the fulness of the godhead bodily, God become man, and he has come to reveal and give us a share in the life of God, which is to say, his goodness.

So it is that our Lord looks on the man who had observed God’s commandments since his youth, and loved him (Mark 10:21). He was a good man. So it is that our Lord immediately opened up before him the magnificent prospect of seeking the heights of goodness. It consists in following him. “One thing you lack: .. come, follow me.” Sadly, the man failed. Each human being hears in his conscience the call to goodness. On this basis, Christ says to each person, one thing you still lack. Put aside all, and come, follow me. The following of Jesus Christ is the path to holiness, and it is the path for us all.

(E.J.Tyler)

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

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

Love for Christ There have been figures in history who have inspired tremendous devotion, and a willingness to follow through thick and thin to the bitter end. It is one of the qualities of a great leader that he is able to do this. It is said that towards the end of the contest between Wellington and Bonaparte, Wellington inspired a great loyalty in his troops. His military record was able to do this. But so did, of course, Bonaparte, and it is a mute point whether Bonaparte would have lost the battle of Waterloo had not the

Prussians arrived in the nick of time. Had not Blucher got there when he did, Wellington’s reputation may have been shattered. Subsequently he referred to the battle as "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life," and spoke of Napoleon with respect. Alexander the Great had this quality of inspiring loyalty, but his troops reached the end of their tether when they reached the river Hydaspes in India. Alexander had to turn back for Persia ― his men would go no further. Whatever of these famous men, if we are to consider the history of loyalty and devotion, it is surely the case that no one has inspired such heights of personal devotion, age after age, as has Jesus Christ. It is said that Bonaparte, approaching his solitary end on the island of St Helena in 1821, acknowledged just this. Our Lord was not just a teacher of a way of life, a high way of life that leads to union with God and excellent morality. His own person is the object of his message. The one setting out on the Christian life must make it his business not merely to follow the law of Christian morality. He must endeavour to contemplate the person of Jesus, to enter into a living relationship with him, to know and love him personally, and to make this love the inspiration of his whole life. Essential in the Christian religion is devotion and loyalty to the person of Jesus Christ, and if we wish to understand what this should mean for all, we ought look to the canonized saints. The saint exemplifies the Christian religion, and this is more than being a totally moral person after the manner of Jesus Christ. The saint is distinguished by his love and loyalty to the person of Jesus. This love is manifested in obedience to Christ’s command to do the will of God in all its detail ― nevertheless, at the heart of this life of obedience is devotion to the person of Jesus.

It is generally acknowledged that the best modern book on Jesus of Nazareth is that written by Pope Benedict XVI, published in its three volumes between 2007 and 2012. One of the many interesting sections of the first volume is Benedict’s reference to the writings of the Jewish scholar, Rabbi Jacob Neusner. In particular, the Pope takes up a scene in Neusner’s book, A Rabbi talks with Jesus. Having spent the whole day following Jesus, the Rabbi discusses Jesus with the Rabbi of a certain town. What did Jesus add to the commandments, which is to say, to the business of being holy as God is holy? Above all, the Rabbi replied, he adds himself. Perfection now consists above all in following Jesus. It is in this that there is a marked difference from the faith of Israel (Ch.4, p.103). Jesus’ claim to authority is the issue. Jesus himself is the Torah, the word of God in person. All of this brings us to our Gospel today, in which our Lord plainly promises the highest rewards for those who accord unqualified devotion to his own person: “I tell you the truth, no-one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:28-31). This is a new thing in the religion of Israel, or so it would seem to many ― and for this reason Neusner the Jew respectfully refuses the claims of Jesus Christ. No prophet had dared make anything like such a claim. All such devotion was due to God alone, and only God could request it. But this is exactly what Christ was expecting of his disciples. He expected it, and promised its due reward, the reward that comes from loving God with one’s whole heart and soul. Mahomet would never have dared such a thing, for he knew he was a mere man ― though he understood himself to be the greatest of the prophets. Nor would any other figure of substance in history. In this sense there is no religion like the Christian religion because it is much more than worship of and obedience to God or the gods. It is love for, worship of and obedience to the person of an historical man, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. He is our God ― literally our God ― and our Brother and Saviour as well.

Ah! Jesus! Jesus! In him do our hearts find their appointed rest. From before the world began, as St Paul writes, God chose us in Jesus Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight. We were made to belong to Jesus because Jesus is God incarnate. He is no mere historical figure of the past. Mahomet is long dead, and his tomb where his remains lie is venerated. Not so Jesus Christ ― his tomb is indeed venerated, but all know that there are no remains. He rose from the dead, and is present in all his human and divine reality in the Church, and in particular in the Eucharist. There he is loved and there he draws to himself undying devotion. In this devotion lies our salvation.

(E.J.Tyler)

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

The disciples were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. We are going up to Jerusalem, he

said, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise. Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. Teacher, they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. What do you want me to do for you? he asked. They replied, Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory. You don't know what you are asking, Jesus said. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with? We can, they answered. Jesus said to them, You will drink the cup I drink and be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared. When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:32-45)

Courage There are many examples of heroic courage in history - some for worthy causes, others not. In his “Second Oration concerning the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander the Great,” found in his The Morals, Vol. 1, Plutarch describes one extraordinary act of courage by Alexander the Great, not at all untypical of him. Alexander is leading his exhausted army through India, on the verge of mutiny. He directs them to storm the walls of yet another Oxydracian tribal stronghold, and they refuse. Alexander is furious and climbs

up a ladder himself to shame his men into action, cutting down the defenders on the wall. There he stands, the enemies’ arrows whistling about him. His men shout up at him to come back down. He looks at them for a moment and then jumps down alone, into the enemy stronghold itself, where he is attacked from all sides. His extraordinary act inspires and drives his troops to attack from outside and come to his aid. He emerges covered with serious wounds, but the victor. In his writings, Karl Von Clausewitz provides historians with judging criteria for matters of war, and he gives several criteria for genius. Courage is his first requirement (On War, 1989, 101-102). In his first Italian campaign, 1796-97, Napoleon showed tremendous physical courage against the Austrians at Lodi, prevailing and then pursuing them till they sued for peace. Again, one of his most famous later generals was Marshal Michel Ney, finally executed at the end of 1815 for siding with Napoleon at his unlawful return. Ney’s chief characteristic was his extraordinary, undaunted physical courage - right to the moment of his own execution. There are numerous examples in history of human courage in the face of difficulty and mishap to gain this or that prize. But consider the prospect not merely of being in the thick of fire and sword in battle, but of bearing and atoning for the sins of the whole world. What fire and brimstone pouring down, unseen withal, must this have been! The scale of such an affliction is impossible to imagine. The sins of but one person, sins venial and mortal - of thought, word and deed - are incalculable. If this is so, then how beyond all imagining must be the guilt of the whole world before God and man. How appalling must be the prospect facing the One whose mission is to be burdened with it all!

There was a Man in history whose mission was to be struck with the full force of the sin of the world, to bear it on his shoulders, and by his obedient endurance to atone for it all. He was utterly sinless, and he embraced his task freely, indeed lovingly. It was the greatest task conceivable, and involved the most terrible of sufferings. It was occasioned by his witness to the truth about himself. Whatever examples of courage might occur to us from the annals of history, the mere thought of the dimensions of the world’s sin ought indicate to us that the greatest courage was that possessed by Jesus Christ. He undertook to redeem the world from its sin by atoning for it all himself. How appalling a prospect! In our Gospel today we read that “The disciples were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. We are going up to Jerusalem, he said, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise” (Mark 10:32-45). We must not think of Jesus Christ as just bravely facing what he divined would be his death as a result of his confrontation with the leaders of the Jews. He was facing the full force, unseen to human eyes, of the sin of the world. He was about to place himself at the head of the human race of every time and place, and with arms wide open, accept in his own person the consequences of mankind’s sin. It would be a holocaust the like of which has never been seen - but virtually unseen nevertheless. All man would see would be a horrible crucifixion - but what was seen was the mere tip of the iceberg of suffering. Christ would bear it all, and allow it to work itself out till it was spent in his own obedient death. Thus would he atone for the sin of the world, and take it away. In him, each man and woman would be freed from its thraldom. The one task left after his work was over was to bring each man and woman into union with him by faith and baptism.

Let us marvel at the sheer courage of Jesus Christ, so calm, so steadfast, so silent, so enduring. He is the hero of all time. The trial ahead of him was of a proportion beyond compare. In the Garden this strongest and holiest of men sweated blood at the thought of it, while his closest disciples slumbered. He never faltered, never flinched, and the outcome was never in doubt. He passed through all grades of suffering and reached its depth and its height, but he remained undaunted. Magnificent Man! Splendid Man! Courage beyond compare! Never has the like been seen, nor will it ever be seen. He is our model, our friend as we strive by the aid of grace to follow in his footsteps.
(E.J.Tyler)

Scripture today: 1 Peter 2: 2-5. 9-12; Psalm 99; Mark 10: 46-52

Then Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. As they were leaving the city, together with a large crowd, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me! Jesus stopped and said, Call him. So they called to the blind man, Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you. Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asked him. The blind man said, Rabbi, I want to see. Go, said Jesus, your faith has healed you. Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10: 46-52)

Requests Consider our scene. Our Lord is drawing out of Jericho, on his way to Jerusalem and “a large crowd” is accompanying him. We can imagine the noise, the conversation, and the continual stream of persons making personal contact with Jesus as the assembly proceeds. A voice is heard above the hubbub, at first scarcely noticed. It is repeated, once, twice, three times, and again. It is a shout and is different from the noise of the conversing crowd. It is strident, and it is calling out a specific name - it calls for Jesus, the

Son of David. Our Lord himself stops - he has been conversing with a woman of the crowd as he walks along, giving her his full attention amid many others around him. Perhaps she has been telling him of her sorrow. Her conversation with Jesus finishes, and she slips back while another presses to speak with him. But Jesus gently stops to listen, and hears the insistent voice calling for him. Those around him draw to a halt too, and hear the voice - and Christ asks that the man be brought to him. We know the sequel. Hearing the plea above the crowd from someone unable to reach him, he granted the request. It is all in character. Jesus is all-powerful, all-merciful, compassionate and loving. The blind man knew this for he had been told about Jesus of Nazareth, and he was absolutely confident that if he could but make contact, he would have his sight again. Let us ask ourselves this. Might there not have been some other blind man in Jericho at that very time, on that very day, who missed out on a meeting with Jesus Christ - and so remained in his blindness? Had Jesus not passed by at that very location when Bar Timaeus was there, Bar Timaeus may have been blind for the rest of his life. Why did not Christ seek out all the others in Jericho who were blind, or sick, or in need? The simple fact is that we do not know. We do not know why God does not fix up all the evil that there is in the world, nor why he does not take the initiative in answering every petition according to the form in which it is lodged. If Jesus is around, why does he not do something about these problems? If he has the power, what is holding him up? He answers petitions such as that of the blind man once, twice, three times - so, why not every time?

On another occasion a certain man, Lazarus, was seriously sick. He was, humanly speaking, a special friend of our Lord’s, together with his two sisters, Martha and Mary: “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus” (John 11: 5). An urgent message came from the two sisters to our Lord telling him that “he whom you love is sick” (11:3). It was a request that he come immediately. On an earlier occasion, Mary the mother of Jesus approached her son to tell him that they had no more wine at the wedding feast. That was all she said, and though it precipitated his timetable for commencing, he acted and miraculously endowed the wedding feast with a large quantity of magnificent wine. This time, he did not act. He did nothing. He sent back no message to the sisters, that he was on his way, or that Lazarus would be well. On other occasions he cured from a distance, or immediately accompanied the petitioner to the scene of need. Lazarus continued to fail, to the grief of his two sisters. Presumably they were in the full flower of life, still in their twenties, perhaps in their early thirties. Lazarus passed away - and there was no sign from our Lord, no message, nothing. To the anguish of the sisters, he succumbed and passed out of this life. One can imagine their sorrow as they looked upon the body, and as the funeral ceremonies were arranged, performed, and completed. There he lay in the tomb. Sadness seared their hearts - and Jesus had not come. Why? We happen to know, but they did not at the time. The silence of Jesus was inexplicable. Then, four days after the event, Jesus arrived on the scene: Lord, if you had been here, Martha said to him, my brother would not have died. Mary, arriving soon after, said exactly the same. Why did he not do something about it? He knew. They had asked him to come. But there had been silence. The reason was, he had explained to his disciples, that “this sickness is for the glory of God” (John 11: 4). But the sisters did not know that, and they went through a lot of anguish as a result. We do not know why our Lord acted as he did, allowing a lot of pain to flow through the hearts of those he loved. But he knew what was the best answer to a petition.

On an altogether different occasion, a cured demoniac from the Decapolis pleaded to be allowed to follow his divine Benefactor, but Jesus refused. His request was not granted. He was given a different order instead. Why? Why did not our Lord grant the request this grateful person made of him? We do not know - but Christ knows. He wants us to ask him for his help in all our needs. Let us then continue insistently to ask his help, and never lose heart. What God disposes will be for his glory. Let us entrust ourselves to his holy will, knowing that in all things we are in very good hands.

(E.J.Tyler)

Scripture today: 1 Peter 4: 7-13; Psalm 95; Mark 11: 11-26

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig-tree in leaf, he went to find

out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, May no-one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples heard him say it. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers'. The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. When evening came, they went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig-tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, look! The fig-tree you cursed has withered! Have faith in God, Jesus answered. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. (Mark 11: 11-26)

Christ the hero Thomas Carlyle, who in his writings was especially interested in heroes, summed up the basic causes of the French revolution: “Hunger and oppression lying heavy on twenty-five million hearts: this… was the prime mover in the French Revolution; as the like will be in all revolutions, in all countries.” In Carlyle’s vision, history turns primarily on the hero, but the masses matter. Marx and Engels regarded the common people as the creators of history. Lenin wrote that “Politics begins where the masses are; not where

there are thousands, but where there are millions, that is where politics begins.” While the politics may have begun with the millions, the problem was that once Lenin and the Bolsheviks gained power, the masses did not matter. It was the same with the French Revolution. Soon the masses were terrorized by the few, then there was the dictatorship of one man, Bonaparte. All that aside, the point here is that in human history there is the mass and there is the leader or hero. Saints are found in both, and history is shaped by both. On one occasion Bishop Ulathorne expressed frustration with the laity to Blessed John Henry Newman. Newman’s reply was that the Church would look foolish without them. Now, the leader and hero is dubbed as such largely because the work he does and the courage he displays is seen by the many. He exercises government, or leads armies, or otherwise wields power, publicly. He uses his visible position for the prosecution of notable and worthy goals. But there are also persons completely out of sight who are engaged in more important work, involving greater suffering, greater courage, and greater prudence. The unknown person may be a greater hero, and in a hidden sense, a much greater leader than the public hero. This is most especially the case in the realm of sanctity. Whatever be a person’s position before men, the work of personal sanctification involves heroic virtue. I say all this by way of introduction to the greatest leader, the most signal hero of all time, Jesus of Nazareth. He did not lead armies. He did not occupy government. He did not halt invading hordes. There are many who think of him simply as a wandering preacher who lost his life because of the envy and machinations of the religious authorities of his locality. Hero? Great leader? How was he this?

Of course, there are flashes and notices of the heroic quality of his leadership in the Gospel accounts of his public ministry. Our Gospel passage of today (Mark 11: 11-26) is one such. He has come to Jerusalem, acclaimed as a prophet of God. He enters the Temple and reviews the scene, sees the general irreverence, leaves for the night, and then returns the next day. His work of physical cleansing begins and a scene of great drama ensues, leaving the Temple in silence, free of the hubbub of business. We are given a glimpse of his greatness as a heroic leader by the attitude of the people and the fear of the religious authorities. “The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.” From the very beginning of his public ministry Christ displayed instant leadership and heroic courage. His work was incessant, praying by night, labouring by day. He did not flinch before the hostility of the religious leadership. In any confrontation they dared to initiate, they were put to confusion. His holiness was manifest to the people, as was his authority to teach. But if we are to appreciate his heroism and his quality as leader, we must think of his specific mission which was above all to take away the sin of the world. I am not sure that such a goal had ever been conceived in the annals of recorded history. I am not aware of any individual having such a professed aim. There have been many prophets, genuine or supposed. But where has there been a supposed liberator of the world’s sin - not just of this or that evil, but of the sin of the whole world? It is an original mission, original in conception and unique among human projects. Consider the vastness of such a presumed undertaking. It dwarfs military or political conquests. What is Alexander’s conquest of Persia and the lands east of Persia, or Caesar’s conquest of Pompey and Gaul, compared to the conquest of the sin of the world? Were we able to see with our eyes the struggle with the world’s sin and its victory, how it would outshine any other recorded struggle and victory! This was the undertaking which Jesus Christ met and over which he victoriously prevailed.

If we are to understand the stature of Jesus Christ in history, we must not simply view him as say, the founder of the greatest of man’s religions. He was not just a remarkably influential religious leader in history. He was the Redeemer of mankind. He took away the sin of the world by atoning for it himself. He broke the power of sin, a power far greater than any oppressive power in the history of mankind. The slavery of the children of Israel was an image of it, and Moses was an image of the Liberator to come. Christ’s heroism, his leadership, was exercised in his proper mission, and there was nothing like it in all of human history. He was the greatest of heroes and leaders, and he is our Friend. Let us give him our hearts and our total allegiance, then!

(E.J.Tyler)

Scripture today: Jude 17: 20-25; Psalm 62; Mark 11: 27-33

Jesus and his disciples arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in

the temple, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. By what authority are you doing these things? they asked. And who gave you authority to do this? Jesus replied, I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism— was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me! They discussed it among themselves and said, If we say, 'From heaven', he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' But if we say, 'From men;' They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, We don't know. Jesus said, Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. (Mark 11: 27-33)

By what authority? Our Lord and his disciples are walking in the Temple. In Mark’s account he has cast out the sellers and buyers, overturned and expelled the moneychangers and sent the sellers of the doves running. He would not allow any man to carry vessels (probably of merchandise) through the Temple. Then he

taught them. He has made himself Master of the Temple, the House of his heavenly Father, and has imposed reverence, prayer and a listening to the word of God. Then at evening he went out of the City, returning the next day to the Temple. He acted as one possessing full authority over what was at the heart of the nation - the Temple, and the people accepted this. He also acted as if he had supreme authority as the religious teacher of the nation. He appealed to no-one, teaching on his own word. The people saw this - he taught as one having authority, not like the scribes. He calmly forgave sins. No one had ever done this before, no prophet, no priest, no king. There were sin offerings and sacrifices for sin, but no individual had ever presumed to forgive a sinner his or her sins. Jesus of Nazareth did this calmly before the leaders, knowing that they were profoundly hostile to him. He acted as if he were far more than a prophet - and prophets had been resolutely opposed for what they had predicted and warned against. Jeremiah had immense sufferings to bear because of the opposition directed against his prophetic ministry. Jesus of Nazareth was presuming to do much more than a prophet. Moreover, his claims as to his own person were so much more exalted than any prophet before him. The Father and I are one, he said to the leaders. The Father continually works, and so do I - he said, to those who attacked him for curing on the Sabbath. Further, he was presuming to call God his own Father. The use he made of this word, “Father,” and the way he uttered it, and the meaning he manifestly gave to it, indicated without any doubt that he meant to place himself on a par with God. He was a man, they said, and yet he was making himself equal to God. There were so many unique claims he dared to make, and unique actions he dared to take, and with such confidence, that in everything he exuded authority.

So it is that we read, “Jesus and his disciples arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. By what authority are you doing these things? they asked. And who gave you authority to do this?” (Mark 11: 27-33). Their question was not at all sincere - they simply wanted to trap our Lord and to show him up as lacking all proper authority. This was shown in their response to our Lord’s question: “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism— was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!” Time and again in debate, our Lord reduced them to silence and it happened here again. They knew that they were in a corner: if they allowed that John was a prophet from God, then his identification of Jesus as the Messiah was vindicated. If they did not allow that he was a prophet, and so refused his testimony about Jesus, then the people - some of whom may have been present - would be shocked and indignant. So they refused to answer our Lord, showing their insincerity. But our Lord’s response to their question immediately pointed to one obvious source of his authority. John the Baptist was a great prophet, indeed our Lord said that no one born of woman had been greater than he - so he was the greatest of the prophets. Our Lord’s authority was vindicated by John, and behind him, by the prophets whose writings constituted so much of the Sacred Scriptures. But of course, there were other indications that our Lord had full authority from God his Father. At the beginning of his public ministry, the voice from the heavens had declared him to be his beloved Son. His works were beyond dispute. At the Last Supper our Lord told his disciples to look to his works. They vindicated that he was sent by God. When our Lord forgave the sins of the paralytic, he said to those watching, including the leaders who harboured such dark thoughts about him as they watched - “to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I tell you to get up.” The man got up and went home - so Christ’s authority to forgive sins was manifest. His very sanctity showed his divine authority: can any of you convict me of sin? he asked.

However, if we but get to know Jesus Christ as a living Person, his authority will be more and more obvious. The simple believer who loves Jesus Christ and who has day by day spent time with him in prayer, living the day in his company and doing all things for love of him - in other words, the one who comes to know him personally, will not need too many “proofs” of his authority. It will be more and more manifest. Let us resolve to know Christ Jesus, and to love him more and more.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Prayers this week: Lord, you are merciful to all, and hate nothing you have created. You overlook the sins of men to bring them to repentance. You are the Lord our God. (Psalm 12: 6)

Father, protect us in our struggle against evil. As we begin the discipline of Lent, make this season holy by our self-denial. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(February 25) Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio (1502-1600)
Sebastian’s roads and bridges connected many distant places. His final bridge-building was to help men and women recognize their God-given dignity and destiny. Sebastian’s parents were Spanish peasants. At the age of 31 he sailed to Mexico, where he began working in the fields. Eventually he built roads to facilitate agricultural trading and other commerce. His 466-mile road from Mexico City to Zacatecas took 10 years to build and required careful negotiations with the indigenous peoples along the way. In time Sebastian was a wealthy farmer and rancher. At the age of 60 he entered a virginal marriage. His wife’s motivation may have been a large inheritance; his was to provide a respectable life for a girl without even a modest marriage dowry. When his first wife died, he entered another virginal marriage for the same reason; his second wife also died young. At the age of 72 Sebastian distributed his goods among the poor and entered the Franciscans as a brother. Assigned to the large (100-member) friary at Puebla de los Angeles south of Mexico City, Sebastian went out collecting alms for the friars for the next 25 years. His charity to all earned him the nickname "Angel of Mexico." Sebastian was beatified in 1787 and is known as a patron of travelers.
St. Francis once told his followers: "There is a contract between the world and the friars. The friars must give the world a good example; the world must provide for their needs. When they break faith and withdraw their good example, the world will withdraw its hand in a just censure" (2 Celano, #70). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Joel 2: 12-18; Psalm 50; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6: 1-6.16-18

Jesus said, Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the

synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6: 1-6.16-18)

One of the first things we notice in our Gospel passage today is that our Lord assumes that in the practice of religion there will be prayer, fasting and assistance to the needy. The whole sweep of the Old Testament illustrates these features of revealed religion. The books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy and various prophets insisted on the life of prayer and worship in both the nation and

individuals. At the same time, the prophets repeatedly condemned a religion that was punctilious about ritual while practising injustice and neglect of the poor. Fasting and self-denial were institutions of religion. We read in the Gospels examples of all this. St Luke writes that Zechariah and Elizabeth were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord (1:6). He tells us of Anna the prophetess who “never left the Temple, but served God night and day with fasting and prayer” (2:37). John the Baptist in his prayerful and penitential life preached almsgiving towards the needy and justice towards all (3: 10-14). Our Lord assumes that this is understood, and the Church has always taught that prayer, self-denial as exemplified in fasting, and a life of active charity as manifested in almsgiving, are the pillars of an interior and genuine religion. The first question we may ask ourselves, then, especially at the threshold of the time of renewal which is the whole meaning of Lent, is, have I yet set in place within my own life these three foundations of a religious life? Our Lord’s words assume that we understand that there must be in our life genuine prayer, self-denial and active concern for the needy. If we are earnest in our religion the likelihood is that we will be strong in one respect and weak in another. Our prayer could be genuine while almsgiving could be very weak. Whatever be the case, a renewal of these great foundations in one or other respect will doubtless be necessary. During the season of Lent God offers us the grace to attain this needed renewal.

But our Lord’s words especially direct our attention to an ever-present danger in religion as in all human activity. What we do we can easily be doing for our own glory rather than for the glory of God. The temptation is to seek the esteem of our fellow-men rather than to seek the approval of God alone. Now, all know this. Even the non-religious, secular man will understand that religion is corrupted by practising it in order to gain the esteem of others. What our Lord also points out, though, is what in practice brings the danger of this corruption of religion: it is taking steps to do all this precisely in the sight of men. Let us listen again to our Lord’s words: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” The best thing, then, is to try to practise one’s almsgiving in secret, in the sight of God alone. This avoids the temptation of a corruption of our motives, of secretly doing it in order to gain the esteem of men. Our Lord repeats his point: “when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Of course, our Lord is not saying that we must not pray nor assist others unless we can do it away from the sight of others, but he is pointing to the special danger inherent in doing these things under the observation of our fellow-man. Our Lord makes this same point in relation to fasting: “when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6: 1-6.16-18). The danger will be to want to be seen doing these things, in order to win the esteem of those who observe us. Of course, at the same time we must bear witness before others to God and his holy will, but our Lord’s words remind us that our motive in everything is to serve and please God alone.

During the season of Lent we have the opportunity, accompanied by the grace of God, of working at a renewal of our Christian life. There are three foundations, three pillars of this life in Christ in terms of our own action: prayer, self-denial and works of mercy. Let us try to identify those areas in which we are deficient, and then take practical steps to grow strong in them. Let us depend on the grace of God, while being on guard against the secret desire to win the esteem of others. It will corrupt our religion and we will lose all reward from our Father in heaven.

(E.J.Tyler)

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A bad night, in a bad inn. That is how Saint Teresa of Jesus is said to have defined this earthly life. It's a good comparison, isn't it?
(The Way, no.703)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ      (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty fourth chapter          Judgment and the Punishment of Sin

In that day every trial borne in patience will be pleasing and the voice of iniquity will be stilled; the devout will be glad; the irreligious will mourn; and the mortified body will rejoice far more than if it had been pampered with every pleasure. Then the cheap garment will shine with splendour and the rich one become faded and worn; the poor cottage will be more praised than the gilded palace. In that day persevering patience will count more than all the power in this world; simple obedience will be exalted above all worldly cleverness; a good and clean conscience will gladden the heart of man far more than the philosophy of the learned; and contempt for riches will be of more weight than every treasure on earth.

Then you will find more consolation in having prayed devoutly than in having fared daintily; you will be happy that you preferred silence to prolonged gossip.
                                                                   (Continuing)

(February 26) St. Porphyry of Gaza (353-421)
We go far back in history today to learn a bit about a saint whose name is not familiar to most of us in the West but who is celebrated by the Greek and other Eastern churches. Born near Greece in the mid-fourth century, Porphyry is most known for his generosity to the poor and for his ascetic lifestyle. Deserts and caves were his home for a time. At age 40, living in Jerusalem, Porphyry was ordained a priest. If the accounts we have are correct, he was elected bishop of Gaza—without his knowledge and against his will. He was, in effect, kidnapped (with the help of a neighbouring bishop, by the way) and forcibly consecrated bishop by the members of the small Christian community there. No sooner had Porphyry been consecrated bishop then he was accused by the local pagans of causing a drought. When rains came shortly afterward, the pagans gave credit to Porphyry and the Christian population and tensions subsided for a time. For the next 13 years, Porphyry worked tirelessly for his people, instructed them and made many converts, though pagan opposition continued throughout his life. He died in the year 421. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Deuteronomy 30: 15-20; Psalm 1; Luke 9: 22-25

And Jesus said, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be put to death and on the third day be raised to life. Then he said to them all: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? (Luke 9: 22-25)

There are many mysteries in the Christian religion. That is to say, there are many things in it that cannot be explained by recourse to mere human reason. If it is understood who God is, God the Creator, Sustainer and Lord of the universe, what is to be made of the dogma — a dogma, mind you — that the man Jesus of Nazareth was and is this same God? It is a staggering proposition. It is not proposed as a species of myth, but as a hard, objective historical fact. Furthermore, the one God is three distinct Persons, of whom

Jesus of Nazareth is one. Moreover, the Christian religion states, as coming from Jesus of Nazareth, that he, Jesus, is the only way to God. “No one comes to the Father but through me.” And so we could go on. The Christian religion is a religion of divine mysteries revealed by God in history and transcending the power of human understanding, though not, of course, the power of human apprehension. We can apprehend that Jesus is God in the sense that we can be fully aware of it and accept the fact on the basis of his word, though we cannot understand how it could be so. On the basis of his word we can fully apprehend that the holy Sacrament is the living risen Jesus under the appearances — appearances only — of bread and wine, while not at all being able to understand how it could be so. In our Gospel today we are presented with a species of mystery in what our Lord describes as his necessary path. He says, “The Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be put to death and on the third day be raised to life.” Why in the divine plan was it necessary for the Son of Man to suffer and to die and then to rise, in order to enter into his glory, all the while remaining sovereignly free? I freely lay down my life, he tells us in the Gospel of St John, and I freely take it up again. These things are not explained to us, but the fact of the matter is revealed. It was the divine plan that God the Son made man suffer and die for us. It wrought our salvation and revealed the astounding love of God for us.

But now, there is a tremendous implication flowing from this for every person who aspires to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and our Lord spells it out in our Gospel passage today. Having set forth the necessary path which he as Messiah and Redeemer of man had in full freedom to follow, he explains with the utmost clarity the path his disciple had also in full freedom to follow. The disciple must follow in the path of the Master. He must follow in his footsteps. That is the way to glory. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Self-denial and the embrace of the cross is the daily route for the Christian. It is a very hard saying and it requires the grace not so much of understanding why it is so, but of apprehending that it is so because it is the path of the Master. It must be clearly apprehended if true progress in discipleship is to be made. On the word of the Master the disciple accepts this way of life, the way of the cross in union with Jesus. He, the true disciple, is very aware of it. He fully accepts it because his Master has followed this way and has taught it to be the condition of any true following of him. The vivid apprehension and acceptance of this is a great grace and one to be prayed for. It has distinguished the lives of the saints and their deepest joy consisted in their close following of the Master along the way of the cross. The embrace of the cross for love of Jesus due to faith in his word is the sign of the action of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, transforming their minds into the likeness of Christ. Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, St Paul writes. This especially applies to the apprehension and acceptance of the Christian doctrine of the Cross. And so our Lord continues, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9: 22-25). When Christ announced the doctrine of the Eucharist many left him. It was too hard. The doctrine of the cross is also hard, but it is the path to life and it is what distinguishes Christ’s disciple.

Naturally speaking one cannot be enthusiastic about suffering and self-denial. It requires a supernatural perspective. That perspective is the perspective of Christ. In our Gospel passage today our Lord makes it abundantly clear that essential to his mission was the cross, suffering and death. It was the summit and the source of the redemption he came to win for mankind. For this reason the Mass is the summit and the source of the Christian life, for the Mass is Calvary made present sacramentally. The implication of it for the Christian is, though, that his path is following Christ along his way, the way of the cross. Let us then pray for the grace to apprehend this with the utmost clarity, and to accept it in all its daily implications.

(E.J.Tyler)

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A visit to a well-known monastery. That foreign lady was moved to pity as she considered the poverty of the building: 'You lead a very hard life, don't you?' The monk's satisfaction was as obvious as his reply was short! He seemed to be speaking to himself. 'You wanted it, brother, and you got it. Now it's up to you to keep it.'

These words, which I joyously heard that holy man say, I can only repeat to you with sorrow when you tell me that you are not happy.
(The Way, no.704)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ      (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty fourth chapter           Judgment and the Punishment of Sin

Then holy works will be of greater value than many fair words; strictness of life and hard penances will be more pleasing than all earthly delights.

Learn, then, to suffer little things now that you may not have to suffer greater ones in eternity. Prove here what you can bear hereafter. If you can suffer only a little now, how will you be able to endure eternal torment? If a little suffering makes you impatient now, what will hell fire do? In truth, you cannot have two joys: you cannot taste the pleasures of this world and afterward reign with Christ.
                                                                    (Continuing)

(February 27) St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (1838-1862) Picture

Born in Italy into a large family and baptized Francis, he lost his mother when he was only four years old. He was educated by the Jesuits and, having been cured twice of serious illnesses, came to believe that God was calling him to the religious life. Young Francis wished to join the Jesuits but was turned down, probably because of his age, not yet 17. Following the death of a sister to cholera, his resolve to enter religious life became even stronger and he was accepted by the Passionists. Upon entering the novitiate he was given the name Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. Ever popular and cheerful, Gabriel quickly was successful in his effort to be faithful in little things. His spirit of prayer, love for the poor, consideration of the feelings of others, exact observance of the Passionist Rule as well as his bodily penances—always subject to the will of his wise superiors— made a deep impression on everyone. His superiors had great expectations of Gabriel as he prepared for the priesthood, but after only four years of religious life symptoms of tuberculosis appeared. Ever obedient, he patiently bore the painful effects of the disease and the restrictions it required, seeking no special notice. He died peacefully on February 27, 1862, at age 24, having been an example to both young and old. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was canonized in 1920. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture readings: Isaiah 58: 1-9; Psalm 50; Matthew 9: 14-15

Then John's disciples came and asked him, 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. (Matthew 9: 14-15)

One of the reasons why the Roman Empire lasted so long and successfully despite its various convulsions (such as its assassinations of emperors and its military coups) was its policy towards religions. It was tolerant of the various gods and goddesses of the peoples it subjected, and tried to incorporate them into its pantheon of heavenly powers. It saw this as a religious policy making for a religious empire. One emperor had among his religious statues and figures of gods Moses, Jesus, and various

other identities he thought were the object of the cult of various peoples. The empire recognized the problem it faced in Israel, for Israel was of course monotheistic. But while Israel continually chaffed at its political subjection and in due course openly rebelled, its monotheism was not especially aggressive. While it refused any recognition of other gods, it did not actively attempt to replace the gods of the empire with its own one only God. The case was different with the new sect, Christianity. To the empire the Christians appeared to claim that the only God was Christ, and they seemed actively to preach that all the gods of the empire were nothing. This was, for Rome, a form of atheism. The Christians had for their aim to bring all to acknowledge Christ alone, and they were prepared to die for this tenet. It was, then, perceived to be a major subversion of the religious fabric of the Roman civilization and had to be put down. All this serves to illustrate the newness of the person of Jesus Christ and the religion he revealed and founded. He was the founder of something extraordinarily new and it would become the basis of a new civilization that would conquer and transform the old. At its heart was the very person of Jesus. He was the Lord of the world and of the heavens. All depended on him, and all the nations were to be his disciples and to do what he had commanded. He was the King of an active and expanding kingdom, not a kingdom of this world, but certainly a kingdom in this world. All authority in heaven and on earth was his. Before him there was no rival. This was the new message and it proclaimed something very new.

Something of this utter newness of Christ and of what he was bringing to the world is suggested to us in our Gospel passage today. Why do your disciples not fast, the disciples of John asked him. They could not understand it, for Jesus was manifestly a prophet and teacher of the ways of God. John taught us to fast. The Pharisees teach their disciples to fast. It is clearly part and parcel of genuine religion, and yet you neglect to insist that your disciples fast. Our Lord does not deny their point that fasting and self-denial are a necessary part of true religion. He tells them that for the moment something else must be driven home to his disciples — and it his own person. His disciples must come to appreciate and love him. He is the centre of their life and religion, and they must learn that this is so. He is the bridegroom. Indeed, John the Baptist had told this to his own disciples. He had to decrease for the bridegroom had arrived, and he was merely the friend of the bridegroom. This expression, the bridegroom, had been used by the prophets to speak of Yahweh God. He was the one and only bridegroom of his people, and here our Lord was using it of himself. He was utterly unique, utterly new. His disciples had to appreciate this right to the core of their souls. For this reason, as our Lord said, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?” But the time would come when he would be gone, and then they would fast. Our Lord presses home his point that in him religion was altogether new. “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: 14-15). The religion Christ was revealing and founding was not just an a better version of what John and the Pharisees lived and taught. Though issuing from the old, his religion was entirely new, and he was its heart and soul.

Let us preserve in our hearts a lively sense of the wondrous newness of Christ and the Christian religion. He is incomparable, unique, altogether new. He is the new wine in the new wineskins. In him, as St Paul writes, resides every heavenly blessing. In him subsists the fullness of the Godhead bodily. There is one Lord of all reality, whether seen or unseen, and that Lord is Jesus. He is the divine Son of the Father, and shares with him the divine Spirit. He is God-with-us, and he dwells in his body the Church to bring to mankind the life of God. He is the treasure of every man and woman!

(E.J.Tyler)

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Worry? Never! For to do so is to lose one's peace.
(The Way, no.705)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ        (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty fourth chapter            Judgment and the Punishment of Sin

If your life to this moment had been full of honours and pleasures, what good would it do if at this instant you should die? All is vanity, therefore, except to love God and to serve Him alone.

He who loves God with all his heart does not fear death or punishment or judgment or hell, because perfect love assures access to God.

It is no wonder that he who still delights in sin fears death and judgment.

It is good, however, that even if love does not as yet restrain you from evil, at least the fear of hell does. The man who casts aside the fear of God cannot continue long in goodness but will quickly fall into the snares of the devil.
                                                                                   (Concluded)

(February 28) Blessed Daniel Brottier (1876-1936)

Daniel spent most of his life in the trenches—one way or another. Born in France in 1876, Daniel was ordained in 1899 and began a teaching career. That didn’t satisfy him long. He wanted to use his zeal for the gospel far beyond the classroom. He joined the missionary Congregation of the Holy Spirit, which sent him to Senegal, West Africa. After eight years there, his health was suffering. He was forced to return to France, where he helped raise funds for the construction of a new cathedral in Senegal. At the outbreak of World War I Daniel became a volunteer chaplain and spent four years at the front. He did not shrink from his duties. Indeed, he risked his life time and again in ministering to the suffering and dying. It was miraculous that he did not suffer a single wound during his 52 months in the heart of battle. After the war he was invited to help establish a project for orphaned and abandoned children in a Paris suburb. He spent the final 13 years of his life there. He died in 1936 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Paris only 48 years later. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Isaiah 58: 9-14; Psalm 85; Luke 5: 27-32

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. Follow me, Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'? Jesus answered them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5: 27-32)

Place yourself in this wonderful scene. Jesus “went out” — we are not told why. He just “went out” (Greek: exelthen). Perhaps, though, one reason was in order to pass by the tax booth of Levi, the tax collector. Perhaps he had seen him before and had discerned what was in him. Who knows! Or perhaps it was just a chance meeting. In any case, Christ “saw” Levi: he gazed at him, and with a simple invitation, the invitation he had extended to others of the Twelve, he said, “Follow me.” Two momentous

words, which if Levi had hesitated and delayed might have signalled the loss of a tremendous vocation. But no, he immediately got up from his chair and table, left everything and followed our Lord. The tax collector of the day was regarded as among the sinners of the day. Our Lord once told a parable of the Pharisee and the Publican praying in the Temple. It was contrasting the prayer of the supposedly good person with the prayer of the sinner. Levi the publican was called and he immediately answered. It was a magnificent turning point in his life and among other things it marked the abandonment of his dallying with sin. Yes, he remained a sinner and had to struggle with sin in his life, but now, having Jesus for his Master, this struggle was on in real earnest. The following of Christ involved a grand repentance from sin. We can imagine his joy at being invited to be a companion of Jesus Christ and to share in his work, the work of bringing redemption from sin to the world. Let us imagine him asking our Lord if he could hold a banquet for him in his home, a banquet to which he could invite his friends and associates so that they too could have the privilege of meeting and seeing Jesus. We remember how our Lord invited himself to the home of Zacchaeus, a leading tax collector. Zacchaeus welcomed him warmly and, most importantly, turned away in dramatic fashion from his life of sin. Could we not expect that many, perhaps most, even maybe all, of those “tax collectors and others” who were subsequently at Levi’s banquet, repented from their sinful lives?

This is conjecture, but what is not conjecture is the enormity of sin in the sight of God. Our Lord defined his mission in terms of the sin of the world. When challenged for associating with sinners our Lord said that this is why he had come, “to call sinners to repentance” (Luke 5: 27-32). All men (as St Paul stresses) are under the power of sin, and Christ had come to call all to repentance. As John the Baptist had said to his own disciples, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is sin which has ruined the world. It is sin which has brought death and suffering. Sin is the origin of evil in the world. The one thing necessary is that it be taken away. God was doing his side of it: he was taking upon himself the gigantic task of expiating for it all. Our side of it is to repent and we have received the grace of God to make this possible. How much there is to repent of! Sins innumerable mark our days and the one thing necessary is to repent of them. One of the characteristic features of age — that is to say, of getting older — is that memories seem to rise more frequently before us. These are memories of hurts, bitterness, regrets, together with happy memories too. One important area of memory is the memory of sins. Now this can be turned into an opportunity, as can the memory of hurts and injustices. The memory of hurts and injustices can be turned into a frequent opportunity to pray for those who have hurt and injured us. As the memory of those persons arises before us, so we can pray for them. So too the memory of past sins can be the opportunity to repent of them. We ought ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to repent of all the sins which we remember. Every sin that is remembered ought be repented of, seeking there and then the pardon of our Redeemer. The Catholic Christian also has the inestimable benefit of the Sacrament of Penance in which Christ is encountered precisely as forgiving our sins. Our past sins should be brought before him as they are remembered, and his pardon sought. With that gift of pardon comes the grace of resolving to turn away from sin in the future.

In our Gospel today our Lord explains why he has come. He has come to deal with the sin of the world and to call all to repentance. Let us understand clearly then that if we aspire to be a disciple of Christ, repentance from sin must distinguish our daily life. Let us pray for the grace to repent of all sin, all sin of the present and all sin of the past. Let our memories of past sins be turned to good account, by repenting of them as they are recalled — repenting of them in our hearts, and repenting of them in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which is a principal source of personal sanctification.

(E.J.Tyler)

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Physical collapse. You are worn out. Rest. Stop that exterior activity. Consult a doctor. Obey, and don't worry.

You will soon return to your normal life and, if you are faithful, to new intensity in your apostolate.
(The Way, no.706)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ     (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)

Twenty fifth chapter          Zeal in Amending our Lives

BE WATCHFUL and diligent in God's service and often think of why you left the world and came here. Was it not that you might live for God and become a spiritual man? Strive earnestly for perfection, then, because in a short time you will receive the reward of your labour, and neither fear nor sorrow shall come upon you at the hour of death.

Labour a little now, and soon you shall find great rest, in truth, eternal joy; for if you continue faithful and diligent in doing, God will undoubtedly be faithful and generous in rewarding. Continue to have reasonable hope of gaining salvation, but do not act as though you were certain of it lest you grow indolent and proud.
                                                                         (Continuing)

Liturgical Season	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
6th week Ordinary Time B-1	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
7th week Ordinary Time B-1 & Lent B-1	22 or Chair of St Peter	23	24	25 or Ash Wednesday	26 or Thur After AW	27 or Fri After AW	28 or Sat After AW
8th week Ordinary Time B-1 (For years when Easter is later)	Sun 8th Wk OT	Mon 8th Wk OT	Tues 8th Wk OT	Wed 8th Wk OT	Thur 8th Wk OT	Fri 8th Wk OT	Sat 8th Wk OT