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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
January 2009 is: "That the family may become more and more a place of training
in charity, personal growth and transmission of the faith".
His mission intention
for January 2009 is: "That the different Christian confessions, aware of
the need for a new evangelization in this period of profound transformations,
may be committed to announcing the Good News and moving towards the full
unity of all Christians in order to offer a more credible testimony of
the Gospel".
Friday of the first week in Ordinary Time I
(January 16) St Berard and Companions (d. 1220)
Preaching the gospel is often dangerous work.
Leaving one’s homeland and adjusting to new cultures, governments and
languages is difficult enough; but martyrdom sometimes caps all the
other sacrifices. In 1219 with the blessing of St. Francis, Berard left
Italy with Peter, Adjute, Accurs, Odo and Vitalis to preach in Morocco.
En route in Spain Vitalis became sick and commanded the other friars to
continue their mission without him. They tried preaching in Seville,
then in Muslim hands, but made no converts. They went on to Morocco
where they preached in the marketplace. The friars were immediately
apprehended and ordered to leave the country; they refused. When they
began preaching again, an exasperated sultan ordered them executed.
After enduring severe beatings and declining various bribes to renounce
their faith in Jesus Christ, the friars were beheaded by the sultan
himself on January 16, 1220.
These were the first
Franciscan martyrs. When Francis heard of their deaths, he exclaimed,
"Now I can truly say that I have five Friars Minor!" Their relics were
brought to Portugal where they prompted a young Augustinian canon to
join the Franciscans and set off for Morocco the next year. That young
man was Anthony of Padua. These five martyrs were canonized in
1481. The deaths of Berard and his companions sparked a missionary
vocation in Anthony of Padua and others. There have been many, many
Franciscans who have responded to Francis’ challenge. Proclaiming the
gospel can be fatal, but that has not stopped the Franciscan men and
women who even today risk their lives in many countries throughout the
world.
Before St. Francis, the Rules of religious
orders made no mention of preaching to the Muslims. In the Rule of
1223, Francis wrote: "Those brothers who, by divine inspiration, desire
to go among the Saracens and other nonbelievers should ask permission
from their ministers provincial. But the ministers should not grant
permission except to those whom they consider fit to be sent" (Chapter
12). (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: Hebrews 4:1-5, 11; Psalm 95:6-11; 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)
Let
us notice something here. In Mark’s account, which is to say in Simon
Peter’s account, Christ’s ministry began in earnest in Capernaum when
he returned from Judaea following his Baptism and the arrest of John
the Baptist. We read in St Mark that following a spectacular beginning
in the synagogue of Capernaum (1:21-28) our Lord in the evening of that
same Sabbath cured numerous sick and
demon-possessed
of the town (1:32-34). Then he left to sojourn through Galilee,
preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils (1:39). In our
passage today he returns to Capernaum again, and “word went round that
he was back.” This time the town gathered such that “so many people
collected that there was no room left, even in front of the door.”
Perhaps it was once again at the home of Simon and Andrew (1:29) that
our event occurred. It appears that the people did not bring the sick
with them this time — perhaps because most had been cured by our Lord
on the occasion of his first Sabbath day in Capernaum. But not all had
been cured on that previous occasion because in the course of our
Lord’s teaching the crowds the roof above him began to be removed.
There from above a stretcher began to be lowered into the midst of the
packed throng down in front of our Lord. Our Lord paused and the crowd
in silence watched as a paralysed man on his stretcher was quietly
lowered to the feet of Jesus. Perhaps he had an advanced stroke, or
some long-standing injury that had incapacitated him. There had been no
remedy nor would there be and so the man’s friends or relatives had
resolved to bring him to Jesus. Let us conjecture that they had been
away from the town on the occasion of our Lord’s previous presence and
had heard of him once they had returned. Now Jesus was back, and they
were not going to miss the chance. Crowd or no crowd, they were
resolved to bring him to Jesus. Having brought him to Jesus, not only
was the man cured of his paralysis, but also of his sins.
An
immense benefit came to the paralytic because of the resolve of his
friends. The paralytic had faith, so much so that having merely
gazed at him Christ proceeded to forgive him his sins. By way of
validation of his own act of forgiveness he then proceeded to heal him
of his paralysis (Mark 2: 1-12).
The paralytic in all of this had been entirely dependent on his friends
to bring him to Jesus. Is not his dependence on his friends a lesson for the daily life of the
Christian in the world? The Christian works in the world and in his
work he rubs shoulders daily with his fellows. He is not just an
automaton but a human being who brings to his daily relationships an
effort at building personal friendships. Natural reason and morality,
quite apart from what Christ would expect, requires that we work with
our fellows as a friend. We are called to work in solidarity with
others and as a brother interested in their needs. If all would
recognize this, how much more so does Christ expect of his Faithful
that they endeavour to be a friend to those with whom they associate
daily, be it in family or work or whatever. He wants us to love others
as he loves us. Now, what greater way of being a friend than to assist
others to meet Jesus, even if only that they might gain from Jesus what
they truly need? Whatever be the need in life, to whom could anyone
better go than Jesus? Could not we each of us be like the friends of
the paralytic who with initiative, imagination and determination
brought their helpless friend to Jesus? They were his true friends
and their friendship was demonstrated by their bringing him to the feet
of Jesus. Moreover, in doing this their sick friend received from our
Lord one of the most central of blessings he came to offer mankind: the
forgiveness of sins. If therefore in any sense we bring a friend or
acquaintance to Jesus where above all he is to be found — namely, in
the Church he founded — then who is to know the range of blessings he
may receive from Christ! Who is to know how far Christ may take that
person and what that person may come to do for Christ in his turn!
Let
this thought of the friends of the paralytic bringing their helpless
friend to Jesus be a stimulus to every member of Christ’s Faithful to
bear witness to Christ before others and to do whatever is possible to
bring others in their need to the feet of Jesus. What a service we do
to the person whom we help to come into the presence of the living
Jesus! Where is Jesus? He, as God, is everywhere. But he is most
especially present in his body the Church, the Church built on Peter
and the Apostles as the foundation. The whole Church and each member of
it have the mission to bring Christ to the world and to everyone in it.
Let us take up the challenge every day and meet the challenge especially through our practical friendship.
(E.J.Tyler)
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You ask me to suggest a cure for your sadness. I'll give you a prescription from an expert adviser, the Apostle Saint James:
Tristatur aliquis vestrum, are you sad, my son? Oret! Pray! Try it and you will see.
(The Way, no.663)
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On the Assumption
"The Lord Humbles the Proud and Raises the Humble"
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 15, 2008 .- Angelus address by Benedict XVI
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
In
the heart of what the Latins called "feriae Augusti," August holiday,
from which stems the Italian word "ferragosto" -- the Church celebrates
today the Assumption of the Virgin into heaven in soul and body. In the
Bible, the last reference to her earthly life is found at the beginning
of the book of the Acts
of the Apostles, which presents the Virgin Mary gathered in prayer with
the disciples in the Cenacle in anticipation of the Holy Spirit (Acts
1:14).
Subsequently, a twofold tradition -- in Jerusalem and
Ephesus -- attests to her "dormition," as the East says, that is, her
"falling asleep" in God. That was the event that preceded her passage
from earth to heaven, confessed by the uninterrupted faith of the
Church. In the eighth century, for example, John Damascene, great
doctor of the Eastern Church, established a direct relation between
Mary's "dormition" and Jesus' death, affirming explicitly the truth of
her corporal assumption. In a famous homily he wrote: "It was necessary
that she who bore the Creator in her womb when he was a baby, should
live with him in the tabernacles of heaven" (Second Homily on the
Dormition, 14, PG 96, 741 B). As mentioned, this firm conviction of the
Church found its crowning in the dogmatic definition of the Assumption,
pronounced by my venerated predecessor Pius XII in the year 1950.
As
the Second Vatican Council teaches, Mary Most Holy is always situated
in the mystery of Christ and of the Church. In this perspective, "the
Mother of Jesus, being in heaven, now glorified in body and soul, is
the image and first fruits of the Church which will have its
fulfillment in the age to come, now shines on the earth as a sign of
sure hope and consolation for the people of God, pilgrims until the day
when the Lord will return (cf. 2 Peter 3:10)" (Constitution "Lumen
Gentium," 68). From paradise Our Lady always continues to watch over
her children -- whom Jesus entrusted to her before dying on the cross
-- especially in the difficult hours of trial. How many testimonies of
her maternal solicitude one sees when visiting shrines dedicated to
her! I am thinking especially at this moment of the singular world
fortress of life and hope that is Lourdes, where, God willing, I will
go in a month to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Marian
apparitions that took place there.
Mary assumed into heaven
shows us the ultimate end of our earthly pilgrimage. She reminds us
that the whole of our being -- spirit, soul and body -- is destined to
the fullness of life; that he who lives and dies in the love of God and
of his neighbour will be transfigured in the image of the glorious body
of the Risen Christ; that the Lord humbles the proud and raises the
humble (cf. Luke 1:51-52). Our Lady proclaims this in eternity with the
mystery of her Assumption. May you always be praised, O Virgin Mary!
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Saturday of the first week in Ordinary Time I
(January 17)
St. Anthony of Egypt (251-356)
The life of Anthony will remind many people of St. Francis of Assisi.
At 20, Anthony was so moved by the Gospel message, “Go, sell what you
have, and give to [the] poor” (Mark 10:21b), that he actually did just
that with his large inheritance. He is different from Francis in that
most of Anthony’s life was spent in solitude. He saw the world
completely covered with snares, and gave the Church and the world the
witness of solitary asceticism, great personal mortification and
prayer. But no saint is antisocial, and Anthony drew many people to
himself for spiritual healing and guidance. At 54, he responded to many
requests and founded a sort of monastery of scattered cells. Again like
Francis, he had great fear of “stately buildings and well-laden
tables.” At 60, he hoped to be a martyr in the renewed Roman
persecution of 311, fearlessly exposing himself to danger while giving
moral and material support to those in prison. At 88, he was fighting
the Arian heresy, that massive trauma from which it took the Church
centuries to recover. “The mule kicking over the altar” denied the
divinity of Christ. Anthony is associated in art with a T-shaped cross,
a pig and a book. The pig and the cross are symbols of his valiant
warfare with the devil—the cross his constant means of power over evil
spirits, the pig a symbol of the devil himself. The book recalls his
preference for “the book of nature” over the printed word. Anthony died
in solitude at 105. (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture
today: Hebrews
4:12-16; Psalm
95:6-11; Mark 2:13-17
Once
again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he
began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus
sitting at the tax collector's booth. Follow me, Jesus told him, and
Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's
house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his
disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of
the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax
collectors, they asked his disciples: Why does he eat with tax
collectors and 'sinners'? On hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is
not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to
call the righteous, but sinners.
(Mark 2:13-17)
It
is said that a key factor in the ultimate success of Genghis Khan in
establishing so rapidly the Mongolian Empire was his policy of
appointing his military officers from those who displayed great ability
rather than from those who had an inherited status. Thus it was that
his vast hordes of galloping warriors were led by true leaders.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s success was due not only to his
own
brilliance but
in a measure to his generals, and these were appointed on the basis of
their proven merit. It is interesting to see in the Gospel accounts how
from the earliest days of his public ministry our Lord was calling his
key associates to follow him — sooner, we may even say, than most great
leaders. The Gospel of St John (in Chapter 1) makes clear that even
before our Lord began his public ministry he was gathering to himself
some of the Twelve without it constituting at this stage a formal call.
I refer to Andrew and John, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael. But we
are not given the impression that they possessed outstanding talent. In
the Gospel of
St Mark (from which our passage today is drawn) the formal call of the
Twelve occurs after our Lord began his public ministry (1:16-20), and
our passage today gives us one instance of his call. It is the call of
Levi, or Matthew, the son of Alphaeus. There is no mention of
outstanding talent. Matthew was a publican, and was sitting at his work
when he was invited by our Lord to follow him. We have no idea why he
was chosen. He was being invited to be the companion and associate of
the Son of God made man, a Personage beyond compare, far transcending
in moral worth, in personhood, and in mission than any other in the
history of the world. One would think that only the best would have
received such a call, the best in every sense. But no. There would have
been talent among them, as in Levi too, but there is no indication that
it was outstanding talent. In view of the transcendent importance of
the divine enterprise, it is a bit of a mystery — the mystery of
each person’s call by Christ to be with him and to share in his
mission. So it has been from age to age. Its foundation lies in God’s
free choice.
I
have been referring to the call of the Twelve. But even more mysterious
to a certain kind of observer was Christ’s invitation of a more general
kind. We read that “while Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many
tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for
there were many who followed him” (Mark 2:13-17).
He willingly admitted into his company what many would call the
religious riff-raff, almost the scum, we might say. If Christ was in
the business of holiness — which was the work of a prophet — what
was he doing with the likes of these? We read that “when the scribes of
the Pharisee party saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors,
they asked his disciples: Why does he eat with tax collectors and
'sinners'?”. What sort of a Kingdom was Christ intending to inaugurate
and establish if these were the types who were going to be part of it?
Well, the fact was that the Kingdom of God that had long been foretold and
which Christ was now in the process of launching was for sinners. That
is to say, Christ came to call sinners to repentance and to associate
them with him in faith and in this way to share the life of God. The
“sinners” who were “eating with him and his disciples” represented, in a sense not
divined by the Pharisees, all of mankind. All are under the power of sin and Christ came to save sinful
mankind. Salvation comes from hearing the invitation of Christ to love
and serve him, and then following in his footsteps by keeping his
commandments. The invitation is not extended because one is seen to
have special talent. It is extended because the person who receives the
call is loved and chosen. Its origins lie in the inscrutable choice of
God. St Paul writes in one of his Letters that before the world began,
God chose us in Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight.
Whatever be the particular vocation a person has as a follower of
Christ, each and all are chosen personally by him to live in his
friendship. This call has its origins not in any merit of our own, but
in God’s free choice.
Let
us place ourselves in the Gospel scene of today and understand that we
are in the company of Christ by his choice and invitation. He has
placed within our heart a love for him as the gift of his grace. From
before the world began God has had each of us in mind to be loving
followers of his divine Son. Let us not fail him! Let us not drift out
of his friendship! Let us not squander such a priceless pearl! Judas
did this. How horrible the thought, and how sad the result.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Don't be gloomy. Let your outlook be more 'ours', — more Christian.
(The Way, no.664)
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The Imitation of Christ. (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul.)
Chapter 1: Imitating Christ and despising all vanities on earth.
HE
WHO follows Me, walks not in darkness," says the Lord.[1] By these
words of Christ we are advised to imitate His life and habits, if we
wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart. Let
our chief effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ.
The
teaching of Christ is more excellent than all the advice of the saints,
and he who has His spirit will find in it a hidden manna. Now, there
are many who hear the Gospel often but care little for it because they
have not the spirit of Christ. Yet whoever wishes to understand fully
the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of
Christ.
What
good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking
humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that
makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to
God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For
what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the
principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the
love of God? Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love
God and serve Him alone.
This is the greatest wisdom -- to seek
the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world. It is vanity,
therefore, to seek and trust in riches that perish. It is vanity also
to court honour and to be puffed up with pride. It is vanity to follow
the lusts of the body and to desire things for which severe punishment
later must come. It is vanity to wish for long life and to care little
about a well-spent life. It is vanity to be concerned with the present
only and not to make provision for things to come. It is vanity to love
what passes quickly and not to look ahead where eternal joy abides.
Often
recall the proverb: "The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear
filled with hearing."[2] Try, moreover, to turn your heart from the
love of things visible and bring yourself to things invisible. For they
who follow their own evil passions stain their consciences and lose the
grace of God.
(Continuing)
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time B
Prayers this week: May all the earth give you worship and praise, and break into song to your name, O God, Most High. (Psalm 65: 4)
Father of heaven and earth, hear our prayers, and show us the way to peace in the world. We ask this
through
our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God
for ever and ever.
(January 18) St. Charles of Sezze (1613-1670)
Charles thought that God was calling him to be a
missionary in India, but he never got there. God had something better
for this 17th-century successor to Brother Juniper. Born in Sezze,
southeast of Rome, Charles was inspired by the lives of Salvator Horta
and Paschal Baylon to become a Franciscan; he did that in 1635. Charles
tells us in his autobiography, "Our Lord put in my heart a
determination to become a lay brother with a great desire to be poor
and to beg alms for his love." Charles served as cook, porter,
sacristan, gardener and beggar at various friaries in Italy. In some
ways, he was "an accident waiting to happen." He once started a huge
fire in the kitchen when the oil in which he was frying onions burst
into flames. One story shows how thoroughly Charles adopted the spirit
of St. Francis. The superior ordered Charles — then porter — to give
food only to travelling friars who came to the door. Charles obeyed
this direction; simultaneously the alms to the friars decreased.
Charles convinced the superior the two facts were related. When the
friars resumed giving goods to all who asked at the door, alms to the
friars increased also. At the direction of his confessor Charles wrote
his autobiography, The Grandeurs of the Mercies of God. He also wrote
several other spiritual books. He made good use of his various
spiritual directors throughout the years; they helped him discern which
of Charles’ ideas or ambitions were from God. Charles himself was
sought out for spiritual advice. The dying Pope Clement IX called
Charles to his bedside for a blessing. Charles had a firm sense of
God’s providence. Father Severino Gori has said, "By word and example
he recalled in all the need of pursuing only that which is eternal"
(Leonard Perotti, St. Charles of Sezze: An Autobiography, page 215). He
died at San Francesco a Ripa in Rome and was buried there. Pope John
XXIII canonized him in 1959.
Father Gori says
that the autobiography of Charles "stands as a very strong refutation
of the opinion, quite common among religious people, that saints are
born saints, that they are privileged right from their first appearance
on this earth. This is not so. Saints become saints in the usual way,
due to the generous fidelity of their correspondence to divine grace.
They had to fight just as we do, and more so, against their passions,
the world and the devil" (St. Charles of Sezze: An Autobiography, page viii). (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-10; 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20; John 1:35-42
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, Look, the Lamb
of God! When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
Turning round, Jesus saw them following and asked, What do you want?
They said, Rabbi (which means Teacher), where are you staying? Come, he
replied, and you will see. So they went and saw where he was staying,
and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and
who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his
brother Simon and tell him, We have found the Messiah (that is, the
Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You
are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas (which, when
translated, is Peter). (John 1: 35-42)
Principle and
Foundation I
have often thought that our scene from the Gospel of St John today is
one of the most beautiful scenes in the Sacred Scriptures, and it
occurs at the threshold of our Lord’s public ministry. John the Baptist
sees Jesus walking. He immediately directs the attention of two of his
disciples to him and says, “Look, the Lamb of God!” He was telling them
that he is the Messiah to whom he had been referring, the one who would
baptize with the
Holy
Spirit and who would take away the sin of the world. Without a word and
with John’s obvious approval, the two disciples begin to follow Jesus.
They leave the Precursor in order to follow the Messiah. On John’s
authority they knew that the one walking ahead of them was the pearl of
great price, the one not to be lost for anything. They silently follow,
led by the deepest yearnings of their mind, heart and soul. All they
could do was follow, perhaps too much in awe at the one before them to
do more. It is Jesus who takes the initiative. He stops, turns and
looks directly at them — presumably it is the first time the two young
men see Jesus face to face. What a face! What a look they receive! They
did not yet know it, but the one looking at them was God the Son
made man. Now, what are the first words of Jesus that are recorded in
the Gospel of St John from which our passage is taken today? It is
accepted that John was one of the two following Jesus. Undoubtedly our
Lord’s gaze and his first words lodged deep in his memory, never to be
forgotten. Our Lord’s first words were, “What do you want?” These are
words full of significance and they are directed not only to the first
two of our Lord’s disciples, but to every man and woman on the face of
the earth. What do you want? It is a question coming from the One who
presents himself as the answer to all that man wants. What does man
want? That is the crucial question and in a sense the world is saved or
ruined by the answer man chooses to give. Does man want material
possessions, or pleasure, or power, or whatever of this order? Is this
what he really wants? If the answer man gives is, yes, then profound
consequences will follow and it will not result in his happiness.
In
fact, generally man does not know very clearly what he wants. There
have been answers innumerable to this simple and momentous question.
Using unaided human reason alone on it, the jury remains out. God is
the one who truly knows. Let it be noted that our Lord did not receive
an answer to this question from his first two disciples, who clearly
already loved him. What do you want? All they could say in reply was,
Master, where are you staying? Our Lord’s next recorded words in this
Gospel are, Come and see! In other words, Follow me! Be with me!
Implicitly, our Lord was answering his own question, and implicitly he
was revealing to man the answer to all his deepest desires. What, man,
do you want? You are not sure? I can tell you what you want. I am what
you want! Follow me and remain with me, and your heart will be filled
with the happiness for which it was made. At the end of his Gospel St
John tells us the purpose for which he wrote it. It was that we might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and in believing this
to find life in his name. Jesus Christ is the object of man’s religious
yearnings. Life is to be found in him. God, in creating man in his own
image, wrote upon his heart the desire to see him. Even if this desire
is ignored and misinterpreted, God never ceases to draw man to himself
because only in God will he find and live the fullness of truth and
happiness for which he never stops yearning. By nature man is a
religious being, called to communion with God. This constitutes his
fundamental dignity. Now, in Jesus Christ is to be found the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. He is everything for man, the One for whom he was
made. To see him is to see the Father. He is the image of the invisible
God, the only way to the Father, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Our
Gospel passage today records our Lord’s first words — his first
question — directed, we might even say, to all mankind. It also
gives his answer: Follow me, be with me. The last words of our Lord
recorded in the same Gospel are the same. Our Lord says to Simon Peter:
“Follow me” (John 21: 22). God in Christ asks man what it is he wants, and he tells him the answer: it is the following of Christ.
Our
Gospel passage today presents we might say, the principle and
foundation of religion. At the level of his deepest self man is so
constituted as to desire God and will find his true happiness only in
attaining union with God. Christ turns to him and asks him, what do you
want? It is imperative that man come to understand that it is God he
really wants, and that God is none other than Jesus, the Son of God
made man. Who and where is God? He is the one John the Baptist pointed
to in our passage today. Jesus turns and gazes. Come and be with me, he
says. That is the answer to our yearnings. We must come to Jesus, be
with him, and follow him to the end.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 27-43
(Desire
for God)
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I want you to be happy always, for cheerfulness is an essential part of your way.
Pray that the same supernatural joy may be granted to us all.
(The Way, no.665)
EVERY
man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without
fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a
proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the
stars. He who knows himself well becomes mean in his own eyes and is
not happy when praised by men.
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Monday of the second week in Ordinary Time I
(January 19) St. Fabian (c. 250)
Fabian was a Roman layman who came into the city
from his farm one day as clergy and people were preparing to elect a
new pope. Eusebius, a Church historian, says a dove flew in and settled
on the head of Fabian. This sign united the votes of clergy and laity
and he was chosen unanimously. He led the Church for 14 years and died
a martyr’s death during the persecution of Decius in a.d. 250. St.
Cyprian wrote to his successor that Fabian was an “incomparable” man
whose glory in death matched the holiness and purity of his life. In
the catacombs of St. Callistus, the stone that covered Fabian’s grave
may still be seen, broken into four pieces, bearing the Greek words,
“Fabian, bishop, martyr.” (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: Hebrews 5:1-10; Psalm 110:1-4; 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)
It
is clear from many passages of the Gospels that in the eyes of the
leading religious parties of Judaism, such as those of the Pharisees
and Sadducees, our Lord appeared as very different indeed. A rising
crescendo of irritation and misunderstanding concerned the way he
observed the Sabbath and his refusal to respect many of the traditions imposed on the people by the scribes
and Pharisees. For instance, he refused to be
bothered with some of the requirements of elaborate washing before
meals. He cured on the Sabbath. His teaching about his
own flesh being the Bread of eternal life led to a walk-out among many
of his own disciples. His unique claims about his own person aroused
implacable
opposition among the Pharisees and religious leaders. Incomprehension
bore down on our Lord from all sides and
this incomprehension had its final issue in the rejection of him by the
powerful. In our Gospel today it is a different issue and this time the
puzzlement comes from ordinary good people. We read that some people
came to
our Lord and put to him that the disciples of John the Baptist fast as
do the disciples of the Pharisees. They were observing that authorities
on all sides recognized that revealed religion
requires fasting and penance for one to be pleasing to God. Why, then,
did not Jesus require this of his disciples? These ordinary people are
sincerely puzzled, perhaps shocked. There is no indication that they
are in any way hostile to our Lord. Perhaps too they are perplexed by
the absence of fasting as a notable, obvious and prominent feature of
our Lord’s own life. On one occasion our Lord stated that while John
the Baptist came fasting, the Son of Man came eating and drinking. In
response to them, our Lord does not deny the necessity of
fasting. He simply says that at this point he is not requiring of
his own disciples that they make this a pronounced feature of their
following of him, as it was of the religion of John the Baptist and,
though with an imperfect spirit, that of the Pharisees. Fasting and
self-denial would be expected, but later.
Our Gospel passage today (Mark 2:18-22) once
again highlights and illustrates the newness of Christ and his
teaching. He is new and his teaching is new in the sense that
he is the unique fulfilment of all that God had been gradually
revealing to that point. In Christ the Bridegroom had come and it was a
time of appreciation and rejoicing. Our Lord may not yet have revealed
to
his disciples nor to the people how absolutely central to his person
and mission, and how absolutely central to discipleship, was
self-denial. The disciples of John the Baptist and the disciples of the
Pharisees had been taught to fast. They reflected the authentic law of
God that the Faithful were to be self-denying. On one occasion our Lord
spoke of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. He said that in all three of
these fundamental features of authentic religion the performance of
them must be absolutely sincere, done for God alone. Wash your face and
appear well and cheerful, our Lord says, so that no one will know you
are fasting except your heavenly Father. Our Lord in effect was
teaching the importance of fasting but directing that it be done in the
sight of God and not for the approval of men. He would go further. He
would go on to say that the distinguishing feature of the one who
aspires to follow him must be the carrying of one’s cross daily. His
own life would be crowned by his crucifixion, and we read that on one
occasion when the crowds were following him he turned to them and told
them bluntly that if anyone wished to be his disciple he must renounce
himself and take up his cross — the cross — and follow in his
footsteps. This would involve far more than mere fasting. Our Lord said
on another occasion that if anyone loves his life he will lose it, and
that the one who hates his life for his sake and the sake of the Gospel
will save it. The time for appreciation and celebration of the coming
of the Messiah, the Bridegroom of the chosen people, had arrived. Very
soon, though, earnest discipleship would be required. Then they would
fast.
Let
us rejoice in spirit with the disciples of our Lord as they celebrate
his very person. They (and we) love to be with him, love to contemplate
him, love to be of his company, love to participate in his mission. He
is the Bridegroom, the fulfilment of the Old and of all that God had
revealed. He is the new garment, the new wine, the new wineskin. At the
same time we ask for the grace to follow him in earnest and not just
superficially. He wants us to share in his cross, to follow in his
footsteps as he makes his way to Calvary, for it is at Calvary that he
redeems the world. We share in his redemptive work by sharing in his
sacrifice. This entails much more than mere fasting.
(E.J.Tyler)
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'Laetetur cor quaerentium Dominum. Let the hearts that seek Yahweh rejoice'.
There you have light, to help you discover the reasons for your gloominess.
(The Way, no.666)
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Continuing The Imitation of Christ (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
The Third Chapter The Doctrine of TruthHAPPY
is he to whom truth manifests itself, not in signs and words that fade,
but as it actually is. Our opinions, our senses often deceive us and we
discern very little.
What good is much discussion of involved
and obscure matters when our ignorance of them will not be held against
us on Judgment Day? Neglect of things which are profitable and
necessary and undue concern with those which are irrelevant and
harmful, are great folly.
We have eyes and do not see.
What, therefore, have we to do with questions of philosophy? He to whom the Eternal Word speaks is free from theorizing.
For from this Word are all things and of Him all things speak -- the
Beginning Who also speaks to us. Without this Word no man understands
or judges aright. He to whom it becomes everything, who traces all
things to it and who sees all things in it, may ease his heart and
remain at peace with God.
O God, You Who are the truth, make me
one with You in love everlasting. I am often wearied by the many things
I hear and read, but in You is all that I long for. Let the learned be
still, let all creatures be silent before You; You alone speak to me.
The
more recollected a man is, and the more simple of heart he becomes, the
easier he understands sublime things, for he receives the light of
knowledge from above. The pure, simple, and steadfast spirit is not
distracted by many labours, for he does them all for the honour of God.
And since he enjoys interior peace he seeks no selfish end in anything.
What, indeed, gives more trouble and affliction than uncontrolled
desires of the heart?
A good and devout man arranges in his mind
the things he has to do, not according to the whims of evil inclination
but according to the dictates of right reason. Who is forced to
struggle more than he who tries to master himself? This ought to be our
purpose, then: to conquer self, to become stronger each day, to advance
in virtue.
(Continuing)
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Tuesday of the second week in Ordinary Time I
(January 20) St. Sebastian (257?-288?)
Nothing is historically certain about St. Sebastian except that he was
a Roman martyr, was venerated in Milan even in the time of St. Ambrose
and was buried on the Appian Way, probably near the present Basilica of
St. Sebastian. Devotion to him spread rapidly, and he is mentioned in
several martyrologies as early as a.d. 350. The legend of St. Sebastian
is important in art, and there is a vast iconography. Scholars now
agree that a pious fable has Sebastian entering the Roman army because
only there could he assist the martyrs without arousing suspicion.
Finally he was found out, hauled before Emperor Diocletian and
delivered to Mauritanian archers to be shot to death. His body was
pierced with arrows, and he was left for dead. But he was found still
alive by those who came to bury him. He recovered, but refused to flee.
One day he took up a position near where the emperor was to pass. He
accosted the emperor, denouncing him for his cruelty to Christians.
This time the sentence of death was carried out. Sebastian was beaten
to death with clubs. (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today: Hebrews 6:10-20; Psalm 111:1-2, 4-5, 9 and 10c; Mark 2:23-28
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some ears
of corn. The Pharisees said to him, Look, why are they doing what is
unlawful on the Sabbath? He answered, Have you never read what David
did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of
Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the
consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also
gave some to his companions. Then he said to them, The Sabbath was made
for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the
Sabbath. (Mark 2:23-28)
Jesus
of Nazareth transcends all the prophets — and, we might say, the
religious leaders of all human history — especially by his claims. Yes, there were
his miracles. Who can be pointed to as having performed the miracles he
performed? Moses by a stroke of the staff brought water from the rock.
He also cleaved the Red Sea and enabled the children of Israel to pass
through ahead of the pursuing Egyptians. Elijah and Elisha performed
many miracles. But none of these
could match the abundance and range of miracles which Christ at a word — and
even without a word — effected. His greatest miracle was his own rising
from the dead, after predicting that he would freely lay down his
life and on the third day freely take it up again. And again, none
of the prophets could match his teaching in its sublimity. But more
than anything, Christ transcended them all by his claims. He himself
was at the centre of his teaching, and entry into the Kingdom of God
which he announced and was establishing was granted to those who
accepted in faith his claims as to his own Person. In his outstanding
book Jesus of Nazareth
Pope Benedict refers to the reflections of the Jewish Rabbi Neusner who
ponders on what “the sage Jesus” had to say of the commandments given
to Moses. Jesus left out nothing, Neusner writes, but he added
something altogether distinctive. It was himself. Perfection, “the
state of being holy as God is holy” — as required by the Torah — “now
consists in following Jesus” (2007, P.105). The Kingdom of God opens
to the one who believes in Jesus, who loves him, and who follows him,
and who keeps his commandments for love of him. What other prophet had
himself as the object of his teaching and who required of his disciples
that they make him the object of their life? What other prophet claimed
to be establishing God’s promised Kingdom with himself as its
centrepiece? As our Lord’s ministry gradually unfolded it became clear
that Christ’s claims were exalted beyond compare.
Our Gospel passage today (Mark 2:23-28) is
all of a piece with this. The Pharisees notice that his disciples pick
ears of corn as they make their way through the cornfield on the
Sabbath day. Hungry after their service in the Synagogue with our Lord
undoubtedly speaking and ministering there, they help themselves to
ears of corn. They are violating the stipulation laid down by certain
traditions that this amounted to harvesting on the Sabbath day. The
Pharisees go straight to our Lord and object, perhaps thinking that
with their Master allowing such a violation to go uncorrected the wider
public may follow suit. Our Lord in his reply makes two points. He says
that their interpretation goes beyond Scripture and the practice
of the great and holy ones of Israel. In the circumstances he was in,
David regarded himself as free to do what was formally not allowed. But
more significantly, our Lord pointed to himself. Whatever about David,
he was the Lord. Indeed, he was the Lord of the very Sabbath! What
prophet ever made such a claim? No one in all of sacred history had
said such a thing, and here was Jesus calmly stating it before the
leaders of the people. He was Lord of the Sabbath, even of the Sabbath!
It was for him to decide how the Sabbath was to be observed. He carried
in his person the authority of God. Jesus claimed to be Lord. This
reached its culmination when our Lord rose from the dead and appeared
to his disciples, this time Thomas being with him. He called Thomas to
him and showed him his hands and his side, at which Thomas cried, “My
Lord and my God!” Jesus is Lord. This is the proclamation of the
Christian religion. He is not only the Lord of the Sabbath, but the
Lord of everything. As risen he told his disciples that all authority
in heaven and on earth had been given to him. They were to go, then,
and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe all the
commands he had given.
Let
us place ourselves in the scene of today’s Gospel, gazing on the figure
of Jesus of Nazareth as he addresses himself to the Pharisees who come
to him criticizing his disciples, and by implication, himself. He tells
them that he has full authority to interpret God’s law. His reply,
though, reflects the heart and soul of his entire teaching which more
than anything is about himself. He is Lord. He is the Messiah, the Son
of God, himself God from God, and Saviour of the world. In having him
we have every heavenly blessing.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Acts of Faith, Hope and Love are valves which provide an outlet for the fire of those souls that live the life of God.
(The Way, no.667)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Continuing The Imitation of Christ (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
The Third Chapter The Doctrine of Truth (cont)
Every
perfection in this life has some imperfection mixed with it and no
learning of ours is without some darkness. Humble knowledge of self is
a surer path to God than the ardent pursuit of learning.
Not that learning is to be considered evil, or knowledge, which is good
in itself and so ordained by God; but a clean conscience and virtuous
life ought always to be preferred. Many often err and accomplish little
or nothing because they try to become learned rather than to live well.
If
men used as much care in uprooting vices and implanting virtues as they
do in discussing problems, there would not be so much evil and scandal
in the world, or such laxity in religious organizations. On the day of
judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we
have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived.
Tell
me, where now are all the masters and teachers whom you knew so well in
life and who were famous for their learning? Others have already taken
their places and I know not whether they ever think of their
predecessors. During life they seemed to be something; now they are
seldom remembered. How quickly the glory of the world passes away! If
only their lives had kept pace with their learning, then their study
and reading would have been worth while.
How many there are who
perish because of vain worldly knowledge and too little care for
serving God. They became vain in their own conceits because they chose
to be great rather than humble.
He is truly great who has great
charity. He is truly great who is little in his own eyes and makes
nothing of the highest honour. He is truly wise who looks upon all
earthly things as folly that he may gain Christ. He who does God's will
and renounces his own is truly very learned.
(Chapter concluded)
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Wednesday of the second week in Ordinary Time I
Prayers this week: May all the earth give you worship and praise, and break into song to your name, O God, Most High. (Psalm 65: 4)
Father of heaven and earth, hear our prayers, and show us the way to peace in the world. We ask this
through
our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God
for ever and ever.
(January 21) Saint Agnes, Virgin and martyr (d. 258?)
Almost nothing is known of this saint except that she was very young—12
or 13—when she was martyred in the last half of the third century.
Various modes of death have been suggested—beheading, burning,
strangling. Legend has it she was a beautiful girl whom many young men
wanted to marry. Among those she refused, one reported her to the
authorities as being a Christian. She was arrested and confined to a
house of prostitution. The legend continues that a man who looked upon
her lustfully lost his sight and had it restored by her prayer. She was
condemned, executed and buried near Rome in a catacomb that eventually
was named after her. The daughter of Constantine built a basilica in
her honour.
Like that of modern Maria Goretti,
the martyrdom of a virginal young girl made a deep impression on a
society enslaved to a materialistic outlook. Like Agatha, who died in
similar circumstances, Agnes is a symbol that holiness does not depend
on length of years, experience or human effort. It is a gift God offers
to all. (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17; Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 4; Mark 3:1-6
Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Some of them were looking
for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he
would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the
shrivelled hand, Stand up in front of everyone. Then Jesus asked them,
Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life
or to kill? But they remained silent. He looked round at them in anger
and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man,
Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was completely
restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the
Herodians how they might kill Jesus. (Mark 3: 1-6)
In
the Letter of St John, God is defined as Love. God is Love, St John
writes. This has been understood by some to mean that God is never
angry. He is pure benevolence. Over the years I have noticed that among
some — indeed many — there is a great reluctance to speak of God in any
terms other than love. Now, of course, God is indeed love but we must
be careful lest our notion of “love” be not just an expression of the
mixed
and imperfect reality of human love. For instance, a love of a parent
for her child that simply gives things to the child without regard for
the child’s true benefit is scarcely true love. In this sense
“benevolence” cannot be regarded as synonymous with true “love”. Love
must be morally upright and concerned for the beloved’s true interests,
which is to say above all for his moral good. One of the notions of God
which John Henry Newman attacked during the rise of the Oxford Movement
was that God is purely benevolent. Such a notion implies, of course,
that God cannot be angry — meaning that he cannot be allowed to punish
wrongdoing. Hell then is an impossibility because a notion of God that
allows this would fly in the face of what we take to be essential to
his divine nature. This philosophical and theological assumption
reinterprets radically all the instances in the Old Testament of the
wrath of God. The “wrath” of God is said to be an anthropomorphism, an
attribution to God of human limitations. Now, there is no denying that
in some, perhaps many, cases in Scripture where God is described, the
images used are analogies that include human limitations. But the wrath
of God in response to deliberate and gross sin is too prominent a
feature of Scripture to be dismissed in this way. The prophets speak
often of it, and major historical events (such as the destruction of
Jerusalem) are accounted for by it. God is revealed in the history of
his chosen people to be full of love and yet angry at deliberate sin. He
will not accept sin and allow it to go unpunished. Deliberate and
obstinate sin provokes his “wrath.”
The
love of God hardly needs to be stressed in theory (though in practice
it needs stressing), but the anger of God does need to be stressed both
in theory and in practice. There is a further glib assumption and it is
that the Old Testament portrays a God of anger (which notion is assumed
to be basically an anthropomorphism), while the New Testament portrays
a God of love. But no, and our Gospel scene today is but one example of
the anger of the God of the New Testament in the face of deliberate
sin. Both the love of God and his anger are revealed in Jesus Christ,
the Son of God made man. Christ finds himself in the synagogue with the
man with the shrivelled hand, and encircling him like vultures are his
enemies watching if he will do something they can claim to be
reprehensible, such as curing on the Sabbath. Their sinful blindness
before the all-holy Christ is evident. How does our Lord react?
Consider our text: “Then Jesus asked them, Which is lawful on the
Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they
remained silent. He looked round at them in anger and, deeply
distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, Stretch out your
hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored” (Mark 3: 1-6).
Christ was angry. It was not an anger arising from personal affront for
we see throughout the Gospels his personal humility. He did not get
angry at his treatment during his Passion. He was angry here in our
scene today “at their stubborn hearts.” It was an anger springing from
love for the good and a profound concern at what the leaders were doing
to themselves and to others by their own sinful blindness. Christ
was angry. On one occasion he entered the Temple and seeing the rampant
disrespect for the House of his heavenly Father, he was angry. He threw
them all out of the Temple and insisted on reverence and prayer. St
Paul writes that Christ is the image of the unseen God. God is angered
by deliberate and obstinate sin.
Let
us live in the love of God as revealed in Christ, and let us fear lest
by sin we offend the all-holy God. No one in all the Scriptures spoke
as much on Hell as Christ did. It is the ultimate result of incurring
the wrath of God. God loves holiness and he hates sin. He loves the
sinner, and goes to immense length at great personal cost to save him
from sin. But if this is refused and sin is chosen then what is left is
the anger of God. Let us keep these ultimate and awesome realities
constantly before us as we make our way with Jesus to our homeland in
heaven.
(E.J.Tyler)
If you wish to read again the daily thoughts of the past week, click here
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Do
everything unselfishly, for pure Love, as if there were neither reward
nor punishment. But in your heart foster the glorious hope of heaven.
(The Way, no.668)
Click here for further spiritual reading (some classic spiritual authors)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Continuing The Imitation of Christ (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
The Fourth Chapter Prudence in Action
DO
NOT yield to every impulse and suggestion but consider things carefully
and patiently in the light of God's will. For very often, sad to say,
we are so weak that we believe and speak evil
of others rather than good. Perfect men, however, do not readily
believe every talebearer, because they know that human frailty is prone
to evil and is likely to appear in speech.
Not to act rashly or
to cling obstinately to one's opinion, not to believe everything people
say or to spread abroad the gossip one has heard, is great wisdom.
Take
counsel with a wise and conscientious man. Seek the advice of your
betters in preference to following your own inclinations.
A good
life makes a man wise according to God and gives him experience in many
things, for the more humble he is and the more subject to God, the
wiser and the more at peace he will be in all things.
(Continuing)
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Thursday of the second week in Ordinary Time I
(January 22) St. Vincent (d. 304)
When Jesus deliberately began his “journey” to death, Luke says that he “set
his face” to go to Jerusalem. It is this quality of rocklike courage that
distinguishes the martyrs. Most of what we know about this saint comes from
the poet Prudentius. His Acts have been rather freely coloured by the
imagination of their compiler. But St. Augustine, in one of his sermons on
St. Vincent, speaks of having the Acts of his martyrdom before him. We are
at least sure of his name, his being a deacon, the place of his death and
burial. According to the story we have (and as with some of the other early
martyrs the unusual devotion he inspired must have had a basis in a very
heroic life), Vincent was ordained deacon by his friend St. Valerius of
Saragossa in Spain. The Roman emperors had published their edicts against
the clergy in 303, and the following year against the laity. Vincent and his
bishop were imprisoned in Valencia. Hunger and torture failed to break them.
Like the youths in the fiery furnace (Book of Daniel, chapter three), they
seemed to thrive on suffering. Valerius was sent into exile, and Dacian now
turned the full force of his fury on Vincent. Tortures that sound like those
of World War II were tried. But their main effect was the progressive
disintegration of Dacian himself. He had the torturers beaten because they
failed. Finally he suggested a compromise: Would Vincent at least give up
the sacred books to be burned according to the emperor’s edict? He would
not. Torture on the gridiron continued, the prisoner remaining courageous,
the torturer losing control of himself. Vincent was thrown into a filthy
prison cell—and converted the jailer. Dacian wept with rage, but strangely
enough, ordered the prisoner to be given some rest. Friends among the
faithful came to visit him, but he was to have no earthly rest. When they
finally settled him on a comfortable bed, he went to his eternal rest.
The martyrs are heroic examples of what God’s power can do. It is humanly
impossible, we realize, for someone to go through tortures such as Vincent
had and remain faithful. But it is equally true that by human power alone no
one can remain faithful even without torture or suffering. God does not come
to our rescue at isolated, “special” moments. God is supporting the
supercruisers as well as children’s toy boats.
“Wherever it was that Christians were put to death, their executions did not
bear the semblance of a triumph. Exteriorly they did not differ in the least
from the executions of common criminals. But the moral grandeur of a martyr
is essentially the same, whether he preserved his constancy in the arena
before thousands of raving spectators or whether he perfected his martyrdom
forsaken by all upon a pitiless flayer’s field” (The Roman Catacombs,
Hertling-Kirschbaum). (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today:
Hebrews 7:25—8:6; Psalm
40:7-10, 17; Mark 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to
the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard all he
was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the
regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Because of the crowd he
told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people
from crowding him. For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were
pushing forward to touch him. Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell
down before him and cried out, You are the Son of God. But he gave them
strict orders not to tell who he was. (Mark 3:7-12)
One of the advantages of having a
true familiarity with both the Old and New Testaments is that what is
distinctive to each is more clearly seen. When on one occasion our Lord asked
his disciples who the people said he was, the consensus which his disciples
conveyed to him was that he was a prophet, a great prophet, and indeed one
of the great prophets come back among them. Our
Lord too saw himself in the
line of the prophets. On one occasion, referring to his return to his home
town, he said that a prophet is not without honour except among his own.
Again, when referring to his death, he said that it was not fitting that a
prophet should die outside Jerusalem. Jesus of Nazareth was clearly a
prophet. But if we set him in the line of
the prophets it immediately becomes evident how he transcends them in
prophetic power and stature. What prophet prior to Christ (or after him!)
did what he was doing in our Gospel passage today? Immense and constant
crowds were following him from Galilee. His fame spread beyond and drew
people from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea and the regions across the Jordan and
around Tyre and Sidon. Together with his preaching there flowed from him
effortless healings of all and any kind of ailments. Power and wisdom exuded
from Jesus Christ to an extraordinary degree. Even demons were compelled to
acknowledge him. We read that “Whenever the evil spirits saw him,” — we
presume that Mark is here referring to those who were possessed by devils
and who were driven to be their mouthpiece — “they fell down before him and
cried out, You are the Son of God!” (Mark 3:7-12). Where in the Old Testament
is there prophetic activity of this kind? Where do the demons acknowledge a
prophet in these terms? Let us go beyond the ambit of revealed religion and
pass to comparative religion. Where in the history of the world’s religions
can this be found? Certainly there is no equal to it in the life of Mahomet,
or Buddha, or Confucius. Jesus Christ is unique in revealed religion and in
human history.
Yet mysteriously the response to
Christ was so profoundly mixed. It is the mystery of created freedom. The
crowds followed him but in due course fell away when his teaching went
beyond their limited minds. When he announced the doctrine of the Eucharist
in the synagogue of Capernaum (John 6), laying it down that the one who
wishes to live forever must eat his flesh and drink his blood, he lost very
many of his disciples. It was too much, they said, and they walked no more
with him. Our Lord’s mass influence began to wane and this was especially
because of his word. The leaders of the people beheld before them a man of
unassailable holiness. “Can any of you convict me of sin?” our Lord once
challenged them. They saw before their eyes his works which clearly placed a
divine stamp on what he was doing and saying. On one occasion he cured a
helpless paralytic precisely to prove his divine power to forgive sins. But
the Pharisees and leaders refused his teaching and mounted an orchestrated
campaign to destroy him. He claimed that God was his own Father, they
objected, and so made
himself equal to God. He claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. The Father and I
are one, he claimed. Before Abraham ever was, I am, he said to them. Yet,
look at who he was! Look at who he revealed himself to be by the grandeur of
his teaching, the holiness of his life, and the power of his works! Our
Gospel passage today (Mark 3:7-12) is
one of many instances in which Christ shows how credible he was. But, as I
said, the response to him was so profoundly mixed and ultimately so
profoundly disappointing. It was more than disappointing, it was utterly
tragic. It left Christ, the Man of the ages, dead on the cross. It was
tragic in the sense that it was a tragic revelation of the power of sin in
the heart of mankind and of all created reality. But by God’s plan this very
rejection was the seed of a wonderful life for the world. In his very
rejection Christ won for sinful man a great and wondrous salvation. In the
line of his wonderful works as exemplified by today’s Gospel, his own death
was the greatest.
Let us place ourselves among the
great throng watching and listening to Jesus of Nazareth. Better still, let
us place ourselves at the head of them, in the front row. Better still, let
us place ourselves among his very disciples and contemplate his person. Let
us gaze on his face, the human face of God, God the Son made man. There I am
among the others, listening to this wonder of our race. He turns and gazes
at me with a smile, inviting me to be his friend, a friend indeed who will
hear his word and put it into practice. I now resolve to do that for love of
him. He is my love and my life. I intend to love him and follow him to the
end, and with his grace I hope to persevere.
(E.J.Tyler)
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It is good that you serve God as a son, without payment, generously. But
don't worry if at times you think of the reward.
(The Way, no.669)
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Continuing
The Imitation of Christ
(Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
The Fourth Chapter Reading
the Holy Scripture
TRUTH, not eloquence, is to be sought in reading the Holy Scriptures; and
every part must be read in the spirit in which it was written.
For in the Scriptures we ought to seek profit rather than polished diction.
Likewise we ought to read simple and devout books as willingly as learned
and profound ones. We ought not to be swayed by the authority of the writer,
whether he be a great literary light or an insignificant person, but by the
love of simple truth. We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is
said. Men pass away, but the truth of the Lord remains forever. God speaks
to us in many ways without regard for persons.
Our curiosity often impedes our reading of the Scriptures, when we wish to
understand and mull over what we ought simply to read and pass by.
If you would profit from it, therefore, read with humility, simplicity, and
faith, and never seek a reputation for being learned. Seek willingly and
listen attentively to the words of the saints; do not be displeased with the
sayings of the ancients, for they were not made without purpose.
(Continuing)
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Friday of the second week in Ordinary Time I
(January 23) Blessed Mother Marianne Cope (1838-1918)
Though leprosy scared off most people in 19th-century Hawaii, that disease
sparked great generosity in the woman who came to
be known as Mother
Marianne of Molokai. Her courage helped tremendously to improve the lives of
its victims in Hawaii, a territory annexed to the United States during her
lifetime (1898). Mother Marianne’s generosity and courage were celebrated at
her May 14, 2005, beatification in Rome. She was a woman who spoke “the
language of truth and love” to the world, said Cardinal Jose Saraiva
Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. Cardinal Martins,
who presided at the beatification Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, called her
life “a wonderful work of divine grace.” Speaking of her special love for
persons suffering from leprosy, he said, “She saw in them the suffering face
of Jesus. Like the Good Samaritan, she became their mother.” On January 23,
1838, a daughter was born to Peter and Barbara Cope of Hessen-Darmstadt,
Germany. The girl was named after her mother. Two years later the Cope
family immigrated to the United States and settled in Utica, New York. Young
Barbara worked in a factory until August 1862, when she went to the Sisters
of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Syracuse, New York. After profession
in November of the next year, she began teaching at Assumption parish
school. Marianne held the post of superior in several places and was twice
the novice mistress of her congregation. A natural leader, three different
times she was superior of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, where she
learned much that would be useful during her years in Hawaii. Elected
provincial in 1877, Mother Marianne was unanimously re-elected in 1881. Two
years later the Hawaiian government was searching for someone to run the
Kakaako Receiving Station for people suspected of having leprosy. More than
50 religious communities in the United States and Canada were asked. When
the request was put to the Syracuse sisters, 35 of them volunteered
immediately. On October 22, 1883, Mother Marianne and six other sisters left
for Hawaii where they took charge of the Kakaako Receiving Station outside
Honolulu; on the island of Maui they also opened a hospital and a school for
girls. In 1888, Mother Marianne and two sisters went to Molokai to open a
home for “unprotected women and girls” there. The Hawaiian government was
quite hesitant to send women for this difficult assignment; they need not
have worried about Mother Marianne! On Molokai she took charge of the home
that Blessed Damien DeVeuster (d. 1889) had established for men and boys.
Mother Marianne changed life on Molokai by introducing cleanliness, pride
and fun to the colony. Bright scarves and pretty dresses for the women were
part of her approach. Awarded the Royal Order of Kapiolani by the Hawaiian
government and celebrated in a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Mother
Marianne continued her work faithfully. Her sisters have attracted vocations
among the Hawaiian people and still work on Molokai. Mother Marianne died on
August 9, 1918. The government authorities were reluctant to allow Mother
Marianne to be a mother on Molokai. Thirty years of dedication proved their
fears unfounded. God grants gifts regardless of human short-sightedness and
allows those gifts to flower for the sake of the kingdom. Soon after Mother
Marianne died, Mrs. John F. Bowler wrote in the Honolulu Advertiser, “Seldom
has the opportunity come to a woman to devote every hour of 30 years to the
mothering of people isolated by law from the rest of the world. She risked
her own life in all that time, faced everything with unflinching courage and
smiled sweetly through it all.” (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today:
Hebrews 8:6-13; Psalm 85:8 and 10-14;
Mark 3:13-19
Jesus
went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came
to him. He appointed twelve— designating them apostles— that they might be
with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to
drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave
the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave
the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip,
Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the
Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
(Mark 3:13-19).
Let us consider the
significance of the step our Lord takes in today’s Gospel passage. We are
still early in Mark’s account — only a fifth of our way through his Gospel.
Our Lord has crowds thronging after him. He was announcing and
establishing God’s Kingdom and he is clearly at its head. There is a great
sense of mission in evidence and our Lord has gathered around him certain
persons whom he especially invited to follow him. There was Simon and his
brother Andrew, and James and his brother John.
Matthew
the author of the Gospel takes care to include his own call. He is Levi the
tax collector. But now the time comes for a formal appointment of those who
would be at the head of the great divine enterprise. Mark provides the
detail that our Lord goes up on a mountainside there to institute the
Twelve. The solemnity is manifest. Mark — and behind him, Peter, his source — may intend the reader to think of God summoning Moses and his companions
to the mountain. Moses alone approached Yahweh (Exodus 24: 1-2), the others
remaining at a distance. Jesus was the new Moses leading a new people. Now
he calls to him those he wanted. He had invited them to follow him
before, but now the call is formalized in a solemn appointment. Twelve are
set aside to be especially associated with him, to live with him, to share
in his apostolic friendship. They were to be his friends and sharers in his
leadership in the great redemptive work. Why are Twelve chosen? After all,
to this point in Mark’s Gospel the call of only five of Christ’s disciples
has been mentioned. But now Twelve are formally commissioned. Clearly,
Christ is conscious of taking an historic step in God’s plan for mankind.
God had promised Abraham that from him all the tribes of the earth would be
blessed. From him came the twelve patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel,
and from one of them had come Jesus, the Messiah. Christ was fully aware of
this, and that he, the new Moses, was forming a new people of God from the
mountain. It would be the fulfilment of the old. The promised new covenant
was in the making, and the Twelve would be its patriarchs.
All this is to say that our Lord virtually from the outset of his work was
giving to the Kingdom a divinely intended structure. He was its King and
Lord, and there were to be his principal officers. He was not just preaching
a message and doing a work which would have its own life to develop as
circumstances allowed. He was not just beginning a movement, a spiritual
force in the world, a teaching that would have a life of its own and that
would develop as its participants thought fit. He was establishing God’s
promised Kingdom, with himself as its King. Buddha did not set out to
establish a kingdom. Are you a king, then? asked Pilate of Jesus. That is
the way you are putting it, our Lord responded. “Yes, I am a king, but mine
is not a kingdom of this world.” “I was born for this,” he continued to
Pilate, “to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth
listen to my voice.” (John 18:37). As St John writes in the prologue of his
Gospel, “the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth have come through
Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ is the embodiment and source of this truth and
grace. In him is present and available this Kingdom of truth and grace, and
one enters it by entering into union with Jesus, receiving his teaching
and sharing his life. But all of this has a divinely intended structure. In
our Gospel passage today Christ appoints the Twelve “that they might be with
him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive
out demons” (Mark 3:13-19). That described their mission in germ, a mission
which would grow in proportion and definition as the work of Christ
unfolded. Christ called them his Twelve Apostles, the foundation stones of
his Church with Peter at their head. To him would Christ give the keys of
the Kingdom of heaven and their task after he was glorified would be to
bring him to the world. He is the Saviour of the world, and the work of the
Church, founded as it is on the Twelve Apostles, is to make disciples of all
the nations, baptizing them and teaching them all that Christ has commanded.
As we contemplate our Gospel scene today describing Christ’s appointment of
the Twelve, let us look ahead to the development of Christ’s Church
and her mission of bringing Christ to the world. In her, Christ’s Catholic
Church, is present Christ himself. He is her treasure and her reason for
being. He is the great protagonist within, the Saviour of all. He is the one
we are called to love and to follow. Let us then be with him constantly and
share daily in his mission.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Jesus
says: 'And anyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother,
wife, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred
times over, and also inherit eternal life'.
Try to find on earth anyone who repays so generously!
(The Way, no.670)
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Continuing
The Imitation of Christ
(Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
Fifth Chapter Reading the Holy Scripture
TRUTH, not eloquence, is to be sought in reading the Holy Scriptures; and
every part must be read in the spirit in
which it was written. For in the
Scriptures we ought to seek profit rather than polished diction.
Likewise
we ought to read simple and devout books as willingly as learned and
profound ones. We ought not to be swayed by the authority of the writer,
whether he be a great literary light or an insignificant person, but by the
love of simple truth. We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is
said. Men pass away, but the truth of the Lord remains forever. God speaks
to us in many ways without regard for persons.
Our curiosity often impedes our reading of the Scriptures, when we wish to
understand and mull over what we ought simply to read and pass by.
If you would profit from it, therefore, read with humility, simplicity, and
faith, and never seek a reputation for being learned. Seek willingly and
listen attentively to the words of the saints; do not be displeased with the
sayings of the ancients, for they were not made without purpose.
(Continuing)
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Saturday of the second week in Ordinary Time I
(January 24) Saint Francis de Sales, bishop
and doctor of the Church (1567-1622)
Francis was destined by his father to be
a lawyer so that the young man could eventually take his elder’s place
as a senator 
from the province of Savoy in
France. For this reason Francis was sent to Padua to study law. After
receiving his doctorate, he returned home and, in due time, told his
parents he wished to enter the priesthood. His father strongly opposed
Francis in this, and only after much patient persuasiveness on the part
of the gentle Francis did his father finally consent. Francis was
ordained and elected provost of the Diocese of Geneva, then a centre
for Calvinists. Francis set out to convert them, especially in the
district of Chablais. By preaching and distributing the little
pamphlets he wrote to explain true Catholic doctrine, he had remarkable
success. At 35 he became bishop of Geneva. While administering his
diocese he continued to preach, hear confessions and catechize the
children. His gentle character was a great asset in winning souls. He
practised his own axiom, “A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than
a barrelful of vinegar.” Besides his two well-known books, the Introduction
to the Devout Life and A Treatise on the Love of God,
he wrote many pamphlets and carried on a vast correspondence. For his
writings, he has been named patron of the Catholic Press. His writings,
filled with his characteristic gentle spirit, are addressed to lay
people. He wants to make them understand that they too are called to be
saints. As he wrote in The Introduction to the Devout Life:
“It is an error, or rather a heresy, to say devotion is incompatible
with the life of a soldier, a tradesman, a prince, or a married
woman.... It has happened that many have lost perfection in the desert
who had preserved it in the world. ” In spite of his busy and
comparatively short life, he had time to collaborate with another
saint, Jane Frances de Chantal, in the work of establishing the Sisters
of the Visitation. These women were to practice the virtues exemplified
in Mary’s visit to Elizabeth: humility, piety and mutual charity. They
at first engaged to a limited degree in works of mercy for the poor and
the sick. Today, while some communities conduct schools, others live a
strictly contemplative life. Francis de Sales took seriously the words
of Christ, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart.” As he said
himself, it took him 20 years to conquer his quick temper, but no one
ever suspected he had such a problem, so overflowing with good nature
and kindness was his usual manner of acting. His perennial meekness and
sunny disposition won for him the title of “Gentleman Saint.”
Francis tells us: “The person who
possesses Christian meekness is affectionate and tender towards
everyone: he is disposed to forgive and excuse the frailties of others;
the goodness of his heart appears in a sweet affability that influences
his words and actions, presents every object to his view in the most
charitable and pleasing light.” (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today: Hebrews 9:2-3,
11-14; Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Mark
3:20-21
Then Jesus entered
a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were
not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to
take charge of him, for they said, He is out of his mind. (Mark 3:20-21)
Our Gospel passage
is brief and portrays a scene of intense activity. Our Lord has
launched his public ministry in earnest and has appointed the Twelve to
participate closely with him in his mission. He entered a house perhaps
to rest and eat. But the scene is besieged with the crowds. They press
upon our Lord and his disciples so much so that they do not have a
minute to themselves. It
appears overwhelming to our Lord’s circle of
relatives with whom he had lived at Nazareth up until the very recent
past, and they come to extricate him from the seeming confusion. This
detail reminds us of something fundamental. Christ’s immersion in the
very human situation of family and relatives reminds us that he, the
Son of God made man, was absolutely and truly man. He was one of his
clan at Nazareth and some of the clan came forward to take charge of
him in his growing predicament. There had to be crowd control and he
had to be protected from himself as much as from them. The point here,
though, is that it shows something of the character of Christ’s thirty
years at Nazareth. He lived those years quietly as a true member of the
family, the wider circle of relatives, and the town. The incarnation of
the Son of God was very authentic. He did not live as a being somewhat
apart and very different. His peers among his relatives and townspeople
looked on him very much as one of them and did not hesitate to assume
charge of him if they thought it fit. He is out of his senses, they
thought, to immerse himself in this situation. How like typical family
life! God truly became man, and one of us in every respect except for
sin. No sin ever touched him, of course, but in every other respect he
was subject to the human condition. He was truly man and subject to the
pressures, trials and even some of the external temptations bearing
down upon every man. And in all of this we are speaking of the Son of
God! Our passage today reminds us of the Incarnation.
The brief passage
also portrays the intensity of our Lord’s love. We gain glimpses of the
consuming and exhausting character of our Lord’s work for the people
from various scenes in the Gospels. On one occasion in the Gospel of
John (ch. 6) our Lord, going from Judea to Galilee, was passing through
Samaria and arrived at Jacob’s Well. The Gospel specifically says he
was weary from the journey and at least some of his disciples went
ahead for food while he rested. The implication is that Christ was very
weary indeed, much more so than his disciples. If we take into account
his undoubted great energy we must assume his weariness was due to his
exceptional and unceasing work. On another occasion Jesus and his
disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee in the boat when a great storm
suddenly rose and threatened the craft and all who were in it with a
disaster. But amid all the tremendous turmoil Jesus was sound asleep.
It may have been with difficulty that they awoke him — since the storm
certainly did not wake him. We are going down, they shouted. Christ’s
sleep was so profound that they asked him, do you not care? The
intensity of his work must have been altogether out of the ordinary,
and in this sense his sleeping in the boat is a sign of the apostolic
concern that filled his whole being. Christ is the image of the
invisible God, and so in all this he reveals the concern and work of
God. On one occasion when our Lord was attacked by the Pharisees for
healing and doing good on the Sabbath, he said that inasmuch as my
Father works, so do I. So the work of Christ is a reflection of the
work of the Father. It is a constant work, going on for the salvation
of every man and woman. God is working constantly in order that we,
each of us, might be saved. Our Gospel scene today (Mark 3:20-21) is all of a piece with
this. Christ is portrayed at work for the salvation of souls and so
great was the intensity of his work that even his relatives thought he
was beside himself.
God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son. He who is the image of the
unseen God became as men are and humbler yet, giving himself over to
unstinting service that they might be saved. He did this even unto
death. To those who were uncomprehending it seemed that he was beside
himself. But it was all the outpouring of his love, and that love was
for each one of us. Let us place ourselves in his company and,
accepting his offer of friendship, take our part with him, sharing in
his mission of bringing the life of God to each man and woman.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Jesus
remains silent. Jesus autem tacebat. Why do you speak, to
console yourself, or to excuse yourself?
Say nothing. Seek joy in contempt: you will always receive less than
you deserve.
Can you, by any chance, ask: Quid enim mali feci, what evil
have I done?
(The Way, no.671)
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Continuing
The Imitation of Christ (Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
Sixth Chapter
Unbridled Affections
WHEN a man desires a thing too much, he at once becomes ill at ease. A
proud and avaricious man never rests, whereas he who is poor and humble
of heart lives in a world of peace. An unmortified man is quickly
tempted and overcome in small, trifling evils; his spirit is weak, in a
measure carnal and inclined to sensual things; he can hardly abstain
from earthly desires. Hence it makes him sad to forego them; he is
quick to anger if reproved. Yet if he satisfies his desires, remorse of
conscience overwhelms him because he followed his passions and they did
not lead to the peace he sought.
True peace of heart, then, is found in resisting passions, not in satisfying
them. There is no peace in the carnal man, in the man given to vain attractions,
but there is peace in the fervent and spiritual man.
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Prayers this week: Sing a new
song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Truth and beauty surround
him, he lives in holiness and glory.
(Psalm 95: 1.6)
All powerful and ever-living God, direct your love that is within us, that
our efforts in the name of your Son may bring mankind to unity and peace. We ask this
through
our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God
for ever and ever.
(January 25) The Conversion of St. Paul
Paul’s entire life can be explained in terms of one experience—his meeting
with Jesus on the road to Damascus. In an instant, he
saw that all the zeal
of his dynamic personality was being wasted, like the strength of a boxer
swinging wildly. Perhaps he had never seen Jesus, who was only a few years
older. But he had acquired a zealot’s hatred of all Jesus stood for, as he
began to harass the Church: “...entering house after house and dragging out
men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts 8:3b). Now he
himself was “entered,” possessed, all his energy harnessed to one goal—being
a slave of Christ in the ministry of reconciliation, an instrument to help
others experience the one Saviour. One sentence determined his theology: “I
am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5b). Jesus was mysteriously
identified with people—the loving group of people Saul had been running down
like criminals. Jesus, he saw, was the mysterious fulfilment of all he had
been blindly pursuing. From then on, his only work was to “present everyone
perfect in Christ. For this I labour and struggle, in accord with the
exercise of his power working within me” (Colossians 1:28b-29). “For our
gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy
Spirit and [with] much conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5a). Paul’s life
became a tireless proclaiming and living out of the message of the cross:
Christians die baptismally to sin and are buried with Christ; they are dead
to all that is sinful and unredeemed in the world. They are made into a new
creation, already sharing Christ’s victory and someday to rise from the dead
like him. Through this risen Christ the Father pours out the Spirit on them,
making them completely new. So Paul’s great message to the world was: You
are saved entirely by God, not by anything you can do. Saving faith is the
gift of total, free, personal and loving commitment to Christ, a commitment
that then bears fruit in more “works” than the Law could ever contemplate.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture:
Acts 22: 3-16 or 9: 1-22; Psalm 116; 1
Corinthians 7: 29-31; Mark 16: 15-18
Jesus said to the Eleven, Go into all the world and preach the good news to
all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever
does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who
believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new
tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink
deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on
sick people, and they will get well. After the Lord Jesus had spoken to
them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then
the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with
them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
(Mark 16:
15-18)
When we think of the chosen people of Israel, we naturally think of a people
located in the promised land of Judea, or which amid its exiles and
deportations aspired to doing so. But of course there was also a great
diaspora of this chosen people. Many of the chosen people lived in various
parts of the world. This had been a slow but notable development over the
centuries and Jewish
synagogues were to be found all over the known world.
At the great feasts very many would return to Jerusalem, and we read how not
long before our Lord’s Passion “there were certain Greeks among those who
had come to worship at the feast” (John 12: 20). They asked Philip if they
could speak with Jesus. Again, we read that after the descent of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost there were “dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out
of every nation under heaven” (Acts 2: 5). St Luke explains a few verses
later that there were “Parthians, and Medes, Elamites, and dwellers in
Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and
in the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, and strangers from Rome, Jews and
proselytes, Cretians and Arabians” (Acts 2: 9-11). Despite all this, there
is this to be said about this diaspora. While there had been the effort to
bring others into the Faith, one does not get the impression that a great
missionary outreach distinguished the chosen people of Israel. One would
have difficulty thinking of any great individual among them leading an
enterprise to bring the religion revealed by God to the world. Rather, its
spread was slow, and due largely to the force of circumstances. Proselytes
were picked up as Jewish communities spread and grew. But at a certain point
in their long history there suddenly exploded out of the midst of the chosen
people a tremendous missionary impulse. It came from Jerusalem, and it had a
very new purpose: to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It did not issue
from Judaism as a body, but from one individual, Jesus of Nazareth. He
commanded his disciples to go to the whole world and make disciples of all
the nations (Mark 16: 15-18), and, amazingly, within three centuries the
Roman Empire itself was officially Christian.
Today we celebrate one individual who encapsulates the point I am making. He
himself began as a highly committed Pharisee and full of zeal for the Faith
of Israel. He was faced with the sudden and remarkable expansion within
Judaism itself of the new Way, as it was called. It was the Way of Jesus
Christ. Accordingly, he attacked it with resolute determination. It had to
be put down. But suddenly he was stopped dead in his tracks and was
completely converted. Our Lord himself appeared to him, risen from the dead
and in glory. He told Paul, or Saul as he was then, that in attacking the
Way he was attacking — and to no real account — him. He was kicking against
the goad. That is to say, the missionary drive was inexorable for Christ
himself was behind it. Paul was converted, and became a leader in this same
missionary drive to bring the person of Jesus to all the nations. Jesus is
the Son of God made man, the Redeemer of the world, the only way to the
Father. The one who believed in him and his teaching would be saved, and the
one who wilfully refused to believe would be condemned. Paul became at the
outset of the Christian religion a shining embodiment of the spirit of the
Christian religion. So then, what does the conversion of St Paul tell us of
the will of Christ? To begin with, it tells us that being a Christian means
knowing and loving the person of Jesus as the full revelation of God. Jesus
is the image and the revelation of the Father. He is the Way, the Truth and
the Life. The religion revealed by God in him is a personal friendship with
Jesus, marked by a total acceptance of his teaching. There is a second
point. Jesus and his teaching is found in his body the Church. Why are you
persecuting me — me! — our Lord asked Paul. Christ identified with his
Church. So bringing Christ to all means also bringing his Church to all for
he is to be found in his Church. Moreover and very importantly, being a
disciple of Jesus and a member of his Church means sharing in his apostolic
mission to the world. It means working to bring him and his teaching to the
world (Mark 16:
15-18). That is to say, essential to Christian discipleship is being
apostolic.
At his conversion St Paul became a lover of Jesus Christ because he became
deeply convinced that Jesus Christ loved him. Christ loved me, he would
write, and gave himself up for me! At his conversion he also became
missionary, apostolic. He gave his life to fulfilling our Lord’s command to
go to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. Being a
Christian, and especially a Catholic Christian, means sharing in this same
apostolic spirit. It means striving to bring others to Jesus and Jesus to
others, and showing them where he is to be found. He is to be found in his
body the Church, which Paul prior to his conversion had been persecuting.
Let us take up the baton, then, and serve Christ by being apostolic in the
world around us.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time B
Scripture today: Jonah 3:1-5, 10;
Psalm 25:4-9; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
After John was put in prison, Jesus
went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. The time has come, he
said. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news! As Jesus
walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew
casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. Come, follow me, Jesus
said, and I will make you fishers of men. At once they left their nets and
followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee
and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he
called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired
men and followed him. (Mark 1:14-20)
Every Sunday during Mass we recite
together the Nicene Creed, that statement of the Christian Faith that is
especially the product of the Councils of Nicea and Constantinople in the
fourth century. The Church also encourages us often to pray the Apostles’
Creed, that statement of the Faith that was especially used by the Church in
Rome for its baptismal liturgy. Both creeds begin with the words, I Believe.
We profess before God, before the Church, and before all men that we believe
what we have received from
Christ as transmitted to us in his name by the
Church. So the beginning of the Christian life and of a life of bearing
witness to what God has revealed is a proclamation of the fundamental
importance of faith in the Christian life. God has revealed himself in
history and, specifically, in the person of Jesus Christ. Sustained by the
grace of God, we respond with the obedience of faith. We do not respond by
promising to make up our own minds in all sincerity as to whether what God
has said is true and so ought be accepted: to give God a very good hearing,
as it were. No, once we are satisfied that God has indeed revealed himself
we respond with faith in him and in his word. Faith is the foundation of the
Christian life and is its starting point. If a person cannot bring himself
to believe, to assent to what God has said as it is transmitted by the
Church, then he is not yet a Catholic Christian. The proper response to God
revealing himself in his word, and in particular in his Word which is his
Son Jesus Christ, is the full surrender of ourselves to him and the
acceptance of his truth insofar as it is guaranteed by Jesus Christ, the One
who is Truth himself. Our Lord said to his Apostles, I am the Way, the Truth
and the Life. Christ is the Truth given to us by God, and the Christian
accepts this totally. We need the grace of God to make this act of faith,
and without it we would be constantly moving in and out of scepticism and
doubt. With it, we can truly believe.
This response of faith to God
revealing himself is illustrated in our Gospel passage today. As soon as John’s
public ministry was terminated, Jesus began his. He went through Galilee
preaching the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom, as he would gradually reveal, is
present in his own person. What were all to do? They were to repent and
believe. They were to properly dispose themselves for what was soon to be
revealed, and believe. Belief and the readiness to believe was the
fundamental response to God’s revelation. Our Lord did not say, get ready to
hear what I am about to say and decide for yourself whether what I shall say
is correct. No, he said, Repent, change your heart, and believe. Accept it
totally. Faith is the foundation of the following of Christ. Without it we
are not in union with him. In our Gospel scene
(Mark 1:14-20) our Lord calls Simon and Andrew and James and
John. They respond to his call by surrendering themselves to him and putting
their full faith in his word. Why did they do this? They did this because
they fully accepted his authority as the Truth and the Life. He was the Way
to God. They believed. On this basis of faith they followed him and resolved
to live according to his teaching. And so it is with the Church itself and
all her members. Faith is the foundation of everything. In practice it means
adhering to Christ as to God, entrusting oneself to him and giving one’s
assent to all that he has revealed because he, God the Son made man, is the
Truth. What he has revealed is set forth age after age by the Church he
founded on the Apostles with Peter at their head. Inasmuch as Christ is the
only way to the Father, belief in his word — in other words, faith — is
necessary for salvation. But this faith which is God’s gift is at the same
time our own personal act. It is our act of assent to divine truth prompted
by our own will as moved by the grace of God. It gives us religious
certainty, it continually grows through listening to God’s word, and even
now it is a foretaste of heaven. We ought pray for an increase of faith, and
make faith in Christ the foundation of life.
One of the greatest religious minds
of the nineteenth century was Cardinal John Henry Newman. He loved the
Creed. We ought love the Creed too, and often recite it. Let us especially
relish the very beginning of it, in which we state, I believe. I believe all
that Christ has revealed as it comes to me through my mother the Church. Let
us never entertain the slightest doubt about Christ and his revelation,
because it is this gift of our faith that is the foundation of all true
sanctity and of all progress towards our homeland in heaven.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
no. 144-165
(“I believe” — the obedience of faith and the characteristics of
faith)
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You can be sure that you are a man of God if you suffer injustice gladly and
in silence.
(The Way, no.672)
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Continuing
The Imitation of Christ
(Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
Seventh
Chapter Avoiding False Hope and Pride
VAIN is the man who puts his trust in men, in created things.
Do not be ashamed to serve others for the love of Jesus Christ and to seem
poor in this world. Do not be self-sufficient but place your
trust in God. Do what lies in your power and God will aid your good will.
Put no trust in your own learning nor in the cunning of any man, but rather
in the grace of God Who helps the humble and humbles the proud.
If you have wealth, do not glory in it, nor in friends because they are
powerful, but in God Who gives all things and Who desires above all to give
Himself. Do not boast of personal stature or of physical beauty, qualities
which are marred and destroyed by a little sickness. Do not take pride in
your talent or ability, lest you displease God to Whom belongs all the
natural gifts that you have.
Do not think yourself better than others lest, perhaps, you be accounted
worse before God Who knows what is in man. Do not take pride in your good
deeds, for God's judgments differ from those of men and what pleases them
often displeases Him. If there is good in you, see more good in others, so
that you may remain humble. It does no harm to esteem yourself less than
anyone else, but it is very harmful to think yourself better than even one.
The humble live in continuous peace, while in the hearts of the proud are
envy and frequent anger.
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Australia Day (January 26) (Day of the Nation)
On Australia Day the citizens come together as a nation to celebrate the
nation, the culture and in general, being Australian. It is the day to reflect
on what has been achieved and the blessings that are the source of gratitude and
national pride. It is the day for all to re-commit themselves to making
Australia an even better place for the future. Australia Day, 26 January, is the
anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great
Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander
Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788. Though 26 January marks this specific event,
Australia Day celebrations reflect contemporary Australia: its diverse society
and landscape, its remarkable achievements and its future. It is an opportunity
to reflect on the nation's history, and to consider how Australia can be made a
better place in future.
Scripture today: Isaiah 32: 15-18;
1 Corinthians 12: 4-11 or Romans 12: 9-13; Matthew 5:
1-12
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up
on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach
them,
saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will
inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are
persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds
of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your
reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were
before you. (Matthew 5: 1-12)
Fatherland
Generally man has seen God as connected with,
indeed as the source of, the blessings he enjoys. He is religious. When Europe
emerged from what is usually called the “Dark Ages,” it had a religion, and that
religion was Catholicism. Its ethos was Catholic. So obvious was this that
European societies looked to the papacy as the final arbitrator. In 1076 Pope St
Gregory VII (Hildebrand) excommunicated Henry, the holy Roman Emperor in
Germany, together with his ecclesiastical supporters, and released his subjects
from
their oath of allegiance in accordance with the usual political procedures of
the age. Pope Gregory was beatified by Gregory XIII in 1584, and canonized in
1728 by Benedict XIII. The activities of the papacy - and of national rulers who
interfered deeply in the affairs of the Church - showed the Catholic character
of European culture. The point here, though, is that God was part of life and
its blessings. Seven hundred years later the religious character of European
culture was utterly different. The United States of America, not yet proclaimed
as such, was Protestant in principle. When the Congress of the thirteen united
states of America issued its unanimous Declaration of Independence on July 4,
1776, the leading personalities were Deists. Their professed religion was not
the revealed religion of Jesus Christ but the religion of Reason and of God the
Creator. By this time, the Australian continent had been discovered by the
British seaman James Cook, and soon after, the colony began as a British gaol.
While the Established Anglican Church was set up in the new colony, and while
provision was made for Christian practice and worship among prisoners and free
settlers, many of its leading personalities were little more than Deists.
Australia hardly had a religious beginning. There has always been ample scope
for religious practice in Australia, and indeed, there has been vigorous
religious practice. But the nation was not founded on a religious principle as
such - in the way Catholic Europe had been, or even the Britain of those
same Dark Ages. The modern age is suspicious of religion.
Typically, in his history man understands happiness and prosperity to be
connected with God and religion, but typically contemporary man does not. While
there has been a great gain in grasping the fact that the world has its own laws
that bring or threaten prosperity, the grand mistake has been to disassociate
God from the world and its laws. God is now deemed to be unnecessary - the world
can carry on by itself with its laws. If we can but understand and harness them,
prosperity and wellbeing will be ours. Religion is now a nuisance, a
distraction, a bit ridiculous, and even somewhat harmful to man. It leaves him
benighted. To take but one example - the culture and national life of Australia
- it would be an embarrassment to mention publicly such entirely personal and
subjective matters as God, sin, and the doing of his will. Prosperity and
happiness have nothing essentially to do with God, for “God” is but an option
depending on personal taste or temperament. Of course, one must be polite about
all this, and so religion is not publicly attacked - it is ignored and
marginalised. The point being made here is that the greatest need for such a
country is the general acknowledgement and recognition of the being of God, and
more specifically, the being of the God of historical revelation. The most
notable difference between the “modern” world and the world of man across the
ages turns on religion. God was once present even if not very influential. Now
he is typically absent. He is regarded as a non-entity. The tragic thing here is
that God is the most real of all realities, and therefore to that extent our
modern age is out of touch. The greatest service we can do to our country, and
the greatest blessing we can possibly pray for on behalf of our country, is that
it come to recognize the reality of God. If God is recognised and accepted, his
commandments will be attended to. Despite all the discussion about the
foundations of morality and the moral life, in practical terms what will lead a
man to a moral life if he has no realization of God? What can lead him to real,
let alone heroic, goodness? It ought be obvious that a true and objective
religious life must be the greatest boon to a country. Man’s greatest need is
for God. In saying that we are speaking of religion.
On a day when we think of the gift given to us of a fatherland, we naturally
think of our love for country. But how is this love to be expressed? What good
do we hope for on behalf of our country? In a secular culture, we think of
temporal goods - economic, political, social benefits. We tend not to think of
the fundamental good, which is recognition of God and the disposition to please
him. Our Gospel today sets forth in the Beatitudes a Plan of Human Living that
has been revealed by the Saviour of the world. The Beatitudes make God the
centrepiece of the human life. This is what ought be the foundation of culture
and the bond uniting a country. Let every disciple of Christ so live as to bear
witness to Jesus and his teaching - teaching that is encapsulated in our Gospel
passage today (Matthew 5: 1-12). It is by
this path that a country will truly flourish.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Monday
of the third week in Ordinary Time 1
Prayers this week: Sing a new
song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Truth and beauty surround
him, he lives in holiness and glory.
(Psalm 95: 1.6)
All powerful and ever-living God, direct your love that is within us, that
our efforts in the name of your Son may bring mankind to unity and peace. We ask this
through
our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God
for ever and ever.
(January 26) Saint Timothy and Saint Titus, bishops
Timothy (d. 97?):
What we know from the New Testament of Timothy’s life makes it sound like
that of a modern harried bishop. He had the honour of being a fellow apostle
with Paul, both sharing the privilege of preaching the gospel and suffering
for it. Timothy had a Greek father and a Jewish mother named Eunice. Being
the product of a “mixed” marriage, he was considered illegitimate by the
Jews. It was his grandmother, Lois, who first became Christian. Timothy was
a convert of Paul around the year 47 and later joined him in his apostolic
work. He was with Paul at the founding of the Church in Corinth. During the
15 years he worked with Paul, he became one of his most faithful and trusted
friends. He was sent on difficult missions by Paul—often in the face of
great disturbance in local Churches which Paul had founded. Timothy was with
Paul in Rome during the latter’s house arrest. At some period Timothy
himself was in prison (Hebrews 13:23). Paul installed him as his
representative at the Church of Ephesus. Timothy was comparatively young for
the work he was doing. (“Let no one have contempt for your youth,” Paul
writes in 1 Timothy 4:12a.) Several references seem to indicate that he was
timid. And one of Paul’s most frequently quoted lines was addressed to him:
“Stop drinking only water, but have a little wine for the sake of your
stomach and your frequent illnesses” (1 Timothy 5:23).
Titus (d. 94?):
Titus has the distinction of being a close friend and disciple of Paul as
well as a fellow missionary. He was Greek, apparently from Antioch. Even
though Titus was a Gentile, Paul would not let him be forced to undergo
circumcision at Jerusalem. Titus is seen as a peacemaker, administrator,
great friend. Paul’s second letter to Corinth affords an insight into the
depth of his friendship with Titus, and the great fellowship they had in
preaching the gospel: “When I went to Troas...I had no relief in my spirit
because I did not find my brother Titus. So I took leave of them and went on
to Macedonia.... For even when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no
rest, but we were afflicted in every way—external conflicts, internal fears.
But God, who encourages the downcast, encouraged us by the arrival of
Titus...” (2 Corinthians 2:12a, 13; 7:5-6). When Paul was having trouble
with the community at Corinth, Titus was the bearer of Paul’s severe letter
and was successful in smoothing things out. Paul writes he was strengthened
not only by the arrival of Titus but also “by the encouragement with which
he was encouraged in regard to you, as he told us of your yearning, your
lament, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.... And his heart
goes out to you all the more, as he remembers the obedience of all of you,
when you received him with fear and trembling” (2 Corinthians 7:7a, 15). The
Letter to Titus addresses him as the administrator of the Christian
community on the island of Crete, charged with organizing it, correcting
abuses and appointing presbyter-bishops.
“But when the kindness and generous love of God our
Saviour appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because
of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the
holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our
Saviour, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope
of eternal life. This saying is trustworthy” (Titus 3:4-8).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today: Hebrews 9:15,
24-28; Psalm 98:1-6; Mark 3:22-30
And the teachers of the law who came
down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of
demons he is driving out demons. So Jesus called them and spoke to them in
parables: How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against
itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself,
that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he
cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no-one can enter a strong man's
house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man.
Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and
blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the
Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin. He said
this because they were saying, He has an evil spirit.
(Mark 3: 22-30)
I have seen interpretations of the
hostility mounted against Jesus that in effect explain away the culpability
involved in it. I have seen portrayals of the betrayal of Christ that excuse
the betrayer, whereas the Gospels allow for no such excuse. After having
taught his doctrine of the Eucharist in the synagogue of Capernaum and
having lost many of his disciples as a result, Christ said
that one of his
chosen Twelve was a devil. St John tells us that he was referring to Judas
(John 6:70-71). At the Last Supper he pronounced a woe upon the one who
would betray him. I have also seen excuses made for those who mounted the
sustained attack on Christ during his public ministry and even for those who
engineered his death. All of these dramatic events were part of the saving
providence of God, but they were not for that reason excusable. They present
us with the fact of sin. It is clear from the Gospels that Satan was at
work, and our Lord referred to some of his enemies as having Satan for their
father. All this is to say that the rejection of Christ involved sin, with
enormous implications for the ones who refused him. In our Gospel passage
today the teachers of
the law, no less, came from Jerusalem and were saying that Christ was
dominating and scattering the demons by demonic power. They were asserting
that in his command over the demons he
was the associate and instrument of the Prince of the underworld. Our Lord sovereignly dismissed the accusation as a tactical
absurdity even from Satan’s point of view. But, having said that, he then
issues a solemn warning. It is possible to blaspheme the Holy Spirit by such
an accusation because it was evident that he, Jesus, was being led by the
Holy Spirit. A sin such as this is of tremendous proportions. It would seem
that our Lord was referring to a deliberate turning against the light in
which the presence and action of the Spirit of God are clearly seen. In
effect it chooses to regard Him, the Holy Spirit, as evil. A person can sin
in such a way as to place himself deliberately beyond the reach of God. It
is a horrifying possibility.
All of this reminds us of the worst
thing in the world, which is sin. Sin is the deliberate choice of what is
wrong, and because it is wrong it offends God. The conscience of man senses
that the choice of what is morally wrong is a choice to offend God. The
conscience, when properly and normally formed, senses that God is somehow at
the foundation of morality, and that to violate the moral law is to violate
the will of God. It does not require a divine revelation for man to
understand that it is evil to choose what is wrong, and that such a choice
makes a man evil. It probably does require a divine revelation for man to
understand the immensity of the evil of sin, that sin the worst thing in the
universe, and that its presence in the world has had universal consequences.
St Paul writes in his Letter to the Romans that sin entered the world
through one man and through sin death came and spread through the whole
human race. We would not have known this had it not been revealed. Due to
the sin of the original couple each of us is born with an inherited innate
propensity to sin which we do not have the power to overcome. Its natural
outcome is death, and were it not for the grace of God the death would be
total and eternal. The point here, though, is that we are all infected by,
subject to, and influenced by, sin. The challenge of life is to resist it by
the grace of God won for us by Christ, and, indeed, to overcome it. Our
Gospel passage today (Mark 3: 22-30) shows us what sin can lead to. It led the teachers of
the revealed law, no less, to be so hostile to the Son of God made man as to
accuse him of being led by Satan, and of being empowered by Satan to drive
out demonic spirits. The response of Christ to this accusation further
informs us that sin can reach such a pass as to constitute a blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit, and to be beyond forgiveness. Sin is the worst
thing in the universe and it can grow to unspeakable proportions. The most
important thing in life is to fight and overcome it, and replace it by
holiness.
There is a choice that faces every
man and woman. It is to choose what is good or to choose what is evil. It is
to choose what will please God or to choose what will offend him. It is of
fundamental importance that we see life in these terms and to take our stand
with God who has come among us in the person of Christ. So, am I for Christ
or not? I must choose for him and this means renouncing sin and living
according to Christ’s revelation. It is this which will bring me life. Not
to do this brings death. That is what, in the last analysis, all of creation is
about.
(E.J.Tyler)
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What
a fine reply was given by that venerable man to his young friend who
complained of the unjust treatment he had suffered: 'So you don't like it?'
he said, 'Then, give up trying to be good!'
(The Way, no.673)
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Continuing
The Imitation of Christ
Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul.
Eighth Chapter
Shunning Over-Familiarity
DO NOT open your heart to every man, but discuss your affairs with one who
is wise and who fears God. Do not keep company with young people and
strangers. Do not fawn upon the rich, and do not be fond of mingling with
the great. Associate with the humble and the simple, with the devout and
virtuous, and with them speak of edifying things. Be not intimate with any
woman, but generally commend all good women to God. Seek only the intimacy
of God and of His angels, and avoid the notice of men.
We ought to have charity for all men but familiarity with all is not
expedient. Sometimes it happens that a person enjoys a good reputation among
those who do not know him, but at the same time is held in slight regard by
those who do. Frequently we think we are pleasing others by our presence and
we begin rather to displease them by the faults they find in us.
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Tuesday of the third week in Ordinary Time 1
(January 27) St. Angela Merici (1470?-1540)
Angela has the double distinction of founding the first
teaching congregation of women in the Church and what is now called a
“secular institute” of religious women. As a young woman she became a member
of the Third Order of St. Francis (now known as the Secular Franciscan
Order), and lived a life of great austerity, wishing, like St. Francis, to
own nothing, not even a bed. Early in life she was appalled at the ignorance
among poorer children, whose parents could not or would not teach them the
elements of religion. Angela’s charming manner and good looks complemented
her natural qualities of leadership. Others joined her in giving regular
instruction to the little girls of their neighbourhood. She was invited to
live with a family in Brescia (where, she had been told in a vision, she
would one day found a religious community). Her work continued and became
well known. She became the center of a group of people with similar ideals.
She eagerly took the opportunity for a trip to the Holy Land. When they had
gotten as far as Crete, she was struck with blindness. Her friends wanted to
return home, but she insisted on going through with the pilgrimage, and
visited the sacred shrines with as much devotion and enthusiasm as if she
had her sight. On the way back, while praying before a crucifix, her sight
was restored at the same place where it had been lost. At 57, she organized
a group of 12 girls to help her in catechetical work. Four years later the
group had increased to 28. She formed them into the Company of St. Ursula
(patroness of medieval universities and venerated as a leader of women) for
the purpose of re-Christianizing family life through solid Christian
education of future wives and mothers. The members continued to live at
home, had no special habit and took no formal vows, though the early Rule
prescribed the practice of virginity, poverty and obedience. The idea of a
teaching congregation of women was new and took time to develop. The
community thus existed as a “secular institute” until some years after
Angela’s death. (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today: Hebrews 10: 1-10; Psalm 40:2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 10, 11; Mark
3:31-35
Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone
in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, Your
mother and brothers are outside looking for you. Who are my mother and my
brothers? he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him
and said, Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my
brother and sister and mother.
(Mark 3:31-35)
There are some absolutely fundamental ideas that can be difficult to analyse
and defend, but which are clearly true. One such is the notion of human
dignity. All men would accept that a human being has a dignity utterly
unique and different in kind from that of any animal — at least one would
expect all men to appreciate this. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
was ratified in 1948 by the United Nations. This recognised “the inherent
dignity and.. the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the
human
family.” Since World War II nearly 40 national constitutions have referred
explicitly to human dignity. But not all persons accept this notion. I
remember years ago when I was doing a Masters in Philosophy I placed human
dignity at the centre of morality in a paper I wrote. One of the staff
members in the Philosophy department who read the paper stated he did not
understand nor accept the concept. He is not alone in this. I recently read
of an academic at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York who stated
that the concept “human dignity” ought be dumped. Again, Steven Pinker, a
professor of evolutionary psychology at Harvard University, wrote an article
in the journal, The New Republic, under the headline “The Stupidity of
Dignity.” I do not wish here to engage in a philosophical discussion of the
notion of human dignity, worthy and important as such an analysis is. I
believe that the common sense of man accepts it as a foundation of morality.
Man is not just to be used but respected in himself and treated as his
humanity requires. But let us move from the consideration of what nature
(i.e., human nature) suggests of human dignity to what God himself has revealed. God
has revealed that in creating man, he has made and sustained man in his own
image and likeness. This confers on us a great dignity. In the first
instance man is not just like the animal but rather in the first instance he
is like God. God is his Father, and as God is personal, man too is personal.
Christ has not only revealed the natural dignity of the human being, but has
conferred on man a further dignity. God the Son became man, and in doing so
gave to us a special dignity. We are not only persons made in God's likeness
but we are brothers and sisters of the Son of God made man. This tremendous
dignity is stressed by our Lord in various contexts. For instance, in his
description of the Last Judgment of all the nations assembled before him,
our Lord tells us of the decisive issue. The issue will be our love for and
service of others. Others, especially those in need, have an enormous,
unique and absolute dignity, such that respect for it has eternal
implications. Our Lord says that whatever we do for “the least of these
brothers” of his he will regard as having been done for him. So Christ
regards the least person, the person in greatest need, as his own brother. If
I give to a person a reference which states in writing that whatever is done
to that person I will regard as having been done to me, any reader of the
reference will understand that I have a great respect and regard for that
person. His dignity is shown forth by my identification with him. Christ has
made himself our brother. That is a profound source of human dignity because
Christ is God. If Christ loves and respects me, should not everyone? But
now, in our Gospel today there is a further revelation of the dignity of man
— and in this case it is the dignity of the truly religious man, the man who
strives to do God’s will. Our Lord is speaking to a group of listeners and
disciples and his mother and brethren arrive, sending a message that they
would like to speak with him. Our Lord looks upon those who have been
listening to him with such good dispositions and replies, “Here are my
mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and
mother” (Mark 3:31-35). The one who strives to do the will of God has the
dignity of being the brother or sister of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ has brought to the world a resounding stress on human dignity.
He has made the dignity of every man and woman a keystone of human life and
civilization. The final Judgment will pivot around it. A person who has little sense of the dignity of every human
being is living very far from Jesus Christ. A person whose life is spent in
the service and promotion of human dignity is very pleasing to God. Let us
unite ourselves to Jesus Christ in living a life vindicating the dignity of
every single person.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Never give your opinion if you are not asked for it, even if you think that
your view is the best.
(The Way, no.674)
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Continuing
The Imitation of Christ
Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of
the soul.
Ninth Chapter Obedience and Subjection
IT IS a very great thing to obey, to live under a superior and not to be
one's own master, for it is much safer to be subject than it is to command.
Many live in obedience more from necessity than from love. Such become
discontented and dejected on the slightest pretext; they will never gain
peace of mind unless they subject themselves wholeheartedly for the love of
God.
Go where you may, you will find no rest except in humble obedience to the
rule of authority. Dreams of happiness expected from change and different
places have deceived many.
Everyone, it is true, wishes to do as he pleases and is attracted to those
who agree with him. But if God be among us, we must at times give up our
opinions for the blessings of peace.
Furthermore, who is so wise that he can have full knowledge of everything?
Do not trust too much in your own opinions, but be willing to listen to
those of others. If, though your own be good, you accept another's opinion
for love of God, you will gain much more merit; for I have often heard that
it is safer to listen to advice and take it than to give it. It may happen,
too, that while one's own opinion may be good, refusal to agree with others
when reason and occasion demand it, is a sign of pride and obstinacy.
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Wednesday of the third week in Ordinary Time 1
(January 28) Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and
doctor of the Church (1225-1274)
By universal consent Thomas Aquinas is the pre-eminent
spokesman of the Catholic tradition of reason and of divine
revelation.
He is one of the great teachers of the medieval Catholic Church, honoured
with the titles Doctor of the Church and Angelic Doctor. At five he was
given to the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino in his parents’ hopes
that he would choose that way of life and later become abbot. In 1239 he was
sent to Naples to complete his studies. It was here that he was first
attracted to Aristotle’s philosophy. By 1243, Thomas abandoned his family’s
plans for him and joined the Dominicans, much to his mother’s dismay. On her
order, Thomas was captured by his brother and kept at home for over a year.
Once free, he went to Paris and then to Cologne, where he finished his
studies with Albert the Great. He held two professorships at Paris, lived at
the court of Pope Urban IV, directed the Dominican schools at Rome and
Viterbo, combated adversaries of the mendicants, as well as the Averroists,
and argued with some Franciscans about Aristotelianism. His greatest
contribution to the Catholic Church is his writings. The unity, harmony and
continuity of faith and reason, of revealed and natural human knowledge,
pervades his writings. One might expect Thomas, as a man of the gospel, to
be an ardent defender of revealed truth. But he was broad enough, deep
enough, to see the whole natural order as coming from God the Creator, and
to see reason as a divine gift to be highly cherished. The Summa
Theologiae, his last and, unfortunately, uncompleted work, deals
with the whole of Catholic theology. He stopped work on it after celebrating
Mass on December 6, 1273. When asked why he stopped writing, he replied, “I
cannot go on.... All that I have written seems to me like so much straw
compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me.” He died
March 7, 1274.
“Hence we must say that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever
man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act.
But he does not need a new light added to his natural light, in order to
know the truth in all things, but only in some that surpasses his natural
knowledge” (Summa Theologiae, I-II, 109, 1).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Hebrews 10:11-18;
Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 4; Mark 4:1-20
Again Jesus began to teach by the
lake. The crowd that gathered round him was so large that he got into a boat
and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at
the water's edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in his
teaching said: Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was
scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it
up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up
quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants
were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell
among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear
grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a
crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. Then Jesus said,
He who has ears to hear, let him hear. When he was alone, the Twelve and the
others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, The secret of
the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside
everything is said in parables so that, 'they may be ever seeing but never
perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might
turn and be forgiven!' Then Jesus said to them, Don't you understand this
parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word.
Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as
they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it
with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When
trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of
this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come
in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good
soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop— thirty, sixty or even a
hundred times what was sown. (Mark 4:1-20)
There is a term which is used in
various contexts. It is, the “greener pastures.” Time and time again we find
ourselves thinking of the “greener pastures” beyond the situation we are in.
If only my present situation were other than it is! If only my situation in
the past had been different! Such are often our musings and regrets. But what is success? The key to success appears
differently to different people. The one considers it to be the
absence of
worry. To another it appears to be an abundance of material means. Another
again considers it to consist in being held high in the estimation of others.
These things can be keys to certain kinds of success, but of course the
basic question is, wherein lies true success, and what are the means to
attain it? The Christian religion points decisively to the person of Jesus
Christ as the answer to these questions. Ultimate success in life consists
in doing the will of God for love of him and doing it with all one’s heart,
and this is possible through the grace of Jesus Christ. But now, in our
Gospel scene today our Lord expresses it even more simply. There is present
in the world something which will make all the difference to individual life
and to the course of the world. It is fully accessible and full of promise.
It is the word of God. God has made known his will and has revealed himself
and his plan for mankind. Through this word a harvest is possible in the
life of man. Ultimate success does not depend on an abundance of wealth, or
the absence of worry, or the good opinion of others. Success depends on
receiving this word which God has uttered, accepting it and living according
to it. If this is done, the harvest will come. This means that ultimate
success is possible for all, high or low, rich or poor, blessed or not so
blessed. The supreme exemplar of this is Christ himself, who as he himself
said, always did what pleased God his Father. His food was to do the will of
the one who sent him. All those who take their part with him follow his way
which is to hear what God has said and putting it into practice.
The constant danger that can deprive
man of true success in life is that of being drawn away from hearing the
word of God, accepting it and putting it into practice. Our Lord likens all
this to what happens to the seed which is cast this way and that across the
farmer’s land. It has all the potential in the world to produce a harvest,
but it will depend on how it is received. Our Lord describes this situation:
“Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon
as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.”
So these people do not receive the word of God at all. In a variety of ways,
their hearts and minds are wholly given over to things other than God,
rendering them impervious to his word. Satan is able with ease to divert
them from all attention to the word which has come before them. “Others,
like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with
joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble
or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” So they
are spiritually weak. Perhaps we could say that their natural character and
mind offers little possibility for their holding on to the word when
difficulty arises. They want quick gratification, and any real difficulty
will undermine commitment in their life. “Still others, like seed sown among
thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of
wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making
it unfruitful.” Such people as these are capable of commitment, perhaps, but
though the word of God lodges within them (in a way it cannot with those who
are like the path) it is gradually lost and stifled among competing and more
dominant temporal interests. “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the
word, accept it, and produce a crop— thirty, sixty or even a hundred times
what was sown” (Mark 4:1-20). It is this
last group of persons who understand that the all-sufficient and necessary
thing in life is the word of God, accepting it totally, and then putting it
into practice.
Christ is the exemplar for mankind
of hearing the word of God and putting it into practice. Mary his mother — who
is one of us — is his perfect reflection in receiving the word of God and
putting it into practice. All that matters in life is that we imitate this
pattern that distinguished their life. If this is done, life will be a
resounding success, whatever be our circumstances. Health or sickness, the
esteem of others or not, wealth or poverty, influence or the lack of it, all
these things ultimately are beside the point and are mere means. A
successful harvest springs from receiving the word of God which comes from Christ
and his Church, and living entirely according to it.
(E.J.Tyler)
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It's
true that he was a sinner. But don't pass so final a judgment on him. Have
pity in your heart, and don't forget that he may yet be an Augustine, while
you remain just another mediocrity.
(The Way, no.675)
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Continuing
The Imitation of Christ
(Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
Tenth Chapter Avoiding Idle
Talk
SHUN
the gossip of men as much as possible, for discussion of worldly affairs,
even though sincere, is a great distraction inasmuch as we are quickly
ensnared and captivated by vanity.
Many a time I wish that I had held my peace and had not associated with men.
Why, indeed, do we converse and gossip among ourselves when we so seldom
part without a troubled conscience? We do so because we seek comfort from
one another's conversation and wish to ease the mind wearied by diverse
thoughts. Hence, we talk and think quite fondly of things we like very much
or of things we dislike intensely. But, sad to say, we often talk vainly and
to no purpose; for this external pleasure effectively bars inward and divine
consolation.
Therefore we must watch and pray lest time pass idly.
When the right and opportune moment comes for speaking, say something that
will edify.
Bad habits and indifference to spiritual progress do much to remove the
guard from the tongue. Devout conversation on spiritual matters, on the
contrary, is a great aid to spiritual progress, especially when persons of
the same mind and spirit associate together in God.
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Thursday of
the third week in Ordinary Time I
(January 29) Servant of God Brother Juniper (d. 1258)
"Would to God, my brothers, I had a whole forest of such Junipers," said
Francis of this holy friar. We don’t know much about Juniper before he
joined the friars in 1210. Francis sent him to establish "places" for the
friars in Gualdo Tadino and Viterbo. When St. Clare was dying, Juniper
consoled her. He was devoted to the passion of Jesus and was known for his
simplicity.
Several stories about Juniper in The Little Flowers of St. Francis
illustrate his exasperating generosity. Once Juniper was taking care of a
sick man who had a craving to eat pig’s feet. This helpful friar went to a
nearby field, captured a pig and cut off one foot, and then served this meal
to the sick man. The owner of the pig was furious and immediately went to
Juniper’s superior. When Juniper saw his mistake, he apologized profusely.
He also ended up talking this angry man into donating the rest of the pig to
the friars! Another time Juniper had been commanded to quit giving part of
his clothing to the half-naked people he met on the road. Desiring to obey
his superior, Juniper once told a man in need that he couldn’t give the man
his tunic, but he wouldn’t prevent the man from taking it either. In time,
the friars learned not to leave anything lying around, for Juniper would
probably give it away. He died in 1258 and is buried at Ara Coeli Church in
Rome.
It is said that St. Francis once described the perfect friar by citing "the
patience of Brother Juniper, who attained the state of perfect patience
because he kept the truth of his low estate constantly in mind, whose
supreme desire was to follow Christ on the way of the cross" (Mirror of
Perfection, #85). (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Hebrews 10:19-25; Psalm
24:1-6; Mark 4:21-25
He said to them, Do you bring in a
lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its
stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is
concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to
hear, let him hear. Consider carefully what you hear, he continued. With the
measure you use, it will be measured to you— and even more. Whoever has will
be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from
him. (Mark 4:21-25)
There have been some people in
history who have set out to establish a great empire, and they have had an
ability commensurate with that ambition. Philip of Macedon had great ability
and set out to establish his dominion. To have subjected Greece to himself
was a tremendous achievement and he established his rule on a secure
footing. His son, Alexander the Great, had extraordinary ability and
ruthlessly extended his empire, causing great human carnage in the process.
One wonders who in history could have
defeated him, all things being equal.
Genghis Khan established an empire. Napoleon Bonaparte set out to establish
an empire and for a few years succeeded. All these instances in history of
empire-building involved great destruction of life and lasted for a time and
then faded and fell. But they do give us a back-drop, we might say, to one
empire-builder whose empire will never fade and which will last forever. I
refer to Jesus Christ. He came to establish a Kingdom. His Kingdom was God’s
Kingdom, not the kingdom of this or that ambitious, ruthless and capable
temporal ruler. It is a Kingdom which endures to this day, not a Kingdom of
this world but a Kingdom in this world, and one which will never end. It is
the Kingdom of God present here on earth and which in prophecy after
prophecy in one way or another had been long foretold, together with its
promised King. In the Old Testament book of Numbers we read the oracle of
Balaam who saw arising from the stock of Jacob a “hero” who “reigns over
countless peoples... his majesty is exalted.” (24:7). He foresees that “a
star from Jacob takes the leadership, a sceptre arises from Israel” (24:17).
The point I am making here is that Jesus of Nazareth did not come simply to
be a great religious teacher who would of course gather numerous disciples.
No. He came to conquer the world and to be the Lord of the earth.
Of course Jesus is an utterly
different King from the kings of the earth, and his Kingdom is entirely
different from theirs. But he is a King. He is the King of kings and Lord of
lords, and as he told his disciples when he rose from the dead, all
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Now, what is the
implication of this for those who love him and who wish to live in his
company and friendship? The implication is that they are engaged in a great
conquering march. They are marching with him and the purpose is to win the
hearts of all men. They are not, as his disciples, simply to sit with him.
They have his work to do. They are called to share in the work and mission
of the King whom they love and wish to obey. For this reason our Lord, risen
from the dead, told his disciples that they were to go to the whole world
and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe all he had
commanded them. They were to establish, with him working as their head, an
empire of disciples who would do as he had commanded. It is an empire of
those who have the mind of Christ and who lay down their lives daily in
humble service of God and neighbour, living according to his Law as it
proclaimed and explained in the teaching of the Church which speaks in his
name. The disciple of Christ, then, has a mission, and his prosecution of
this mission is an essential part of his following of the Master. This is
the context in which we can interpret our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel. We
who acknowledge Jesus as the Master have a light, a “lamp”, to show. It must
be placed on “its stand”, and all that we have heard from Christ and his
Church is to “be brought out into the open.” The world must be brought to
hear what Christ has proclaimed, and if we do not bother to bring Christ and
his word to the world, then Christ has this warning: “With the measure you
use, it will be measured to you— and even more.” He wants us to bear
apostolic fruit for him. “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not
have, even what he has will be taken from him”
(Mark 4:21-25).
In the middle of the last century
the great Pope Pius XII said that being apostolic is of the essence of the
Christian life. We are called not only to a life of personal piety — which
of course is utterly essential — but also to a life of witness, striving to
bring others to the knowledge and love of Christ. How we do this will depend
on the particular vocation we have been granted. Christ depends on us to
assist in making disciples of all the nations. The world must be brought to
acknowledge him as Lord, and to live accordingly. Let us take up the grand
work and persevere daily in it. So then, now I begin!
(E.J.Tyler)
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All
the things of this world are no more than earth. Place them in a heap under
your feet and you will be so much the nearer to heaven.
(The Way, no.676)
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Continuing The Imitation of Christ
(Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
Eleventh
Chapter Acquiring Peace and Zeal for
Perfection
WE SHOULD enjoy much peace if we did not concern ourselves with what others
say and do, for these are no concern of ours. How can a man who meddles in
affairs not his own, who seeks strange distractions, and who is little or
seldom inwardly recollected, live long in peace?
Blessed are the simple of heart for they shall enjoy peace in abundance.
Why
were some of the saints so perfect and so given to contemplation? Because
they tried to mortify entirely in themselves all earthly desires, and thus
they were able to attach themselves to God with all their heart and freely
to concentrate their innermost thoughts.
We are too occupied with our own whims and fancies, too taken up with
passing things. Rarely do we completely conquer even one vice, and we are
not inflamed with the desire to improve ourselves day by day; hence, we
remain cold and indifferent. If we mortified our bodies perfectly and
allowed no distractions to enter our minds, we could appreciate divine
things and experience something of heavenly contemplation.
The greatest obstacle, indeed, the only obstacle, is that we are not free
from passions and lusts, that we do not try to follow the perfect way of the
saints. Thus when we encounter some slight difficulty, we are too easily
dejected and turn to human consolations. If we tried, however, to stand as
brave men in battle, the help of the Lord from heaven would surely sustain
us. For He Who gives us the opportunity of fighting for victory, is ready to
help those who carry on and trust in His grace.
If we let our progress in religious life depend on the observance of its
externals alone, our devotion will quickly come to an end. Let us, then, lay
the ax to the root that we may be freed from our passions and thus have
peace of mind.
If we were to uproot only one vice each year, we should soon become perfect.
The contrary, however, is often the case -- we feel that we were better and
purer in the first fervour of our conversion than we are after many years in
the practice of our faith. Our fervour and progress ought to increase day by
day; yet it is now considered noteworthy if a man can retain even a part of
his first fervour.
If we did a little violence to ourselves at the start, we should afterwards
be able to do all things with ease and joy. It is hard to break old habits,
but harder still to go against our will.
If you do not overcome small, trifling things, how will you overcome the
more difficult? Resist temptations in the beginning, and unlearn the evil
habit lest perhaps, little by little, it lead to a more evil one.
If you but consider what peace a good life will bring to yourself and what
joy it will give to others, I think you will be more concerned about your
spiritual progress.
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Friday of
the third week in Ordinary Time 1
(January 30) St. Hyacintha of Mariscotti
(1585-1640)
Hyacintha accepted God’s standards somewhat late in life.
Born of a noble family near Viterbo, she entered a local convent of sisters
who followed the Third Order Rule. However, she supplied herself with enough
food, clothing and other goods to live a very comfortable life amid these
sisters pledged to mortification. A serious illness required that
Hyacintha’s confessor bring Holy Communion to her room. Scandalized on
seeing how soft a life she had provided for herself, the confessor advised
her to live more humbly. Hyacintha disposed of her fine clothes and special
foods. She eventually became very penitential in food and clothing; she was
ready to do the most humble work in the convent. She developed a special
devotion to the sufferings of Christ and by her penances became an
inspiration to the sisters in her convent. She was canonized in 1807.
Francis told his friars: "Blessed is the servant who would accept
correction, accusation, and blame from another as patiently as he would from
himself. Blessed is the servant who when he is rebuked quietly agrees,
respectfully submits, humbly admits his fault, and willingly makes amends"
(Admonition XXII). (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Hebrews 10:32-39;
Psalm 37:3-6, 23-24, 39-40; Mark 4:26-34
Jesus also said, This is what the
kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day,
whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not
know how. All by itself the soil produces corn— first the stalk, then the
ear, then the full grain in the ear. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts
the sickle to it, because the harvest has come. Again he said, What shall we
say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?
It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the
ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden
plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its
shade. With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as
they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a
parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained
everything. (Mark 4:26-34)
The word “Utopia” is a well-known
term more or less denoting an ideally perfect place or state of things in
this life. All understand that it is not an actual place or state of things,
but one to be worked for. The expression gradually gained currency following
the publication of St Thomas More’s book Utopia in 1516
describing an imaginary island or kingdom with an ideal social and political
system. It expressed More’s conception and image of the social and political
ideal. This book was written by an outstanding and learned Catholic saint
who rose to great civil prominence in England and was finally martyred for
his Catholic Faith by King Henry VIII. But there have been many “utopias”
presented over the centuries. One of the most dominant was that of Karl Marx
and Friedrich Engels in nineteenth century England. Their utopian vision
of a classless society led to the disastrous communist systems of the
twentieth century. A utopia usually looks to a future “kingdom” or state of
things in which the struggle and the development will finally be over and
all will be peace. Now, the Christian knows that the ultimate utopia is one
which God has revealed. The idea of a utopia is not an unreal figment of
human dreams. There is indeed an ultimate utopia, and it has been revealed by God.
It is his Kingdom, and the Christian prays that his Kingdom will come.
Christ came to establish this Kingdom, and he has done so. But let us notice
a feature of Christ’s teaching on the Kingdom, the utopia which God has
revealed. It is that it is not just a future state or place beyond and after all the
struggle and development that is required to produce it. It includes the
struggle and the development. That is to say, a person enters this Kingdom, becomes part of
it, and as part of it continues to struggle for it, and in and through his struggle helps bring it to its
fullness. The Kingdom of God is not to be envisaged as something always out
there ahead, some distance off. It is not just a green pasture constantly in the future
attained only in heaven. The pie is not just in the sky. It is here.
Consider our Lord’s words in which
he describes the Kingdom of God. It is something which is present and
growing and which of course will have its glorious result. “This is what the
kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day,
whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not
know how. All by itself the soil produces corn— first the stalk, then the
ear, then the full grain in the ear.” So the Kingdom of God is like a farm
that is being constantly worked. It is present now amidst our toil. Again,
our Lord stresses its present and developing character in his next image.
“It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the
ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden
plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its
shade” (Mark 4:26-34). The Kingdom is
already planted among us and the birds of the air are already perched in its
shade. Of course, there is a glorious fulfilment ahead, but nevertheless by
our union with the risen Jesus we are already part of the utopia now, in its
beginnings. It is
already present, provided we are in Christ. We are part of it in our very toil and
in our very sufferings. Hence we can even now share in the joy of the utopia
— this joy is not something wholly and entirely to be attained sometime in
the future. The peace of our future lot is something we can enjoy now, for
Christ said, my peace I give unto you — not the peace coming from the world,
but as coming from me. In its essence, the utopia of God is present in Jesus
Christ, and we are part of it by means of our union with him. Hence there is
nothing that happens in life that lacks ultimate meaning and purpose. By our
union with Christ everything has meaning and value. As St Paul writes in one
of his Letters, nothing can separate us from the love of God present in
Jesus Christ. However marred by sin and suffering our life may be, because
of Christ it is indeed a beautiful world, and much, much more is to come.
Jesus Christ is our utopia.
One of the interesting yet sad
features of many who work for a utopia is that they are very angry and
jealous. They hate much of what they see and they become dangerous. Other
people are means to their utopian end. Not so with the utopia which God has
revealed, the utopia he has had in mind from all eternity. His ultimate
regime, his Kingdom, is present now and by our baptism in Christ we are part
of it. We are blessed to be citizens of God’s Kingdom now, while having the
mission to strive and to struggle as did Christ himself our King. Our toils
in Christ serve to bring on the Kingdom, while constantly giving to our life
a present joy.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Gold,
silver, jewels: dust, heaps of manure. Gratification, sensual pleasures,
satisfaction of the appetites: like a beast, like a mule, like a cock, like
a pig, like a bull.
Honours, distinctions, titles: things of air, puffs of pride, lies,
nothingness.
(The Way, no.677)
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Continuing
The Imitation of Christ
(Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
Twelfth Chapter The Value of
Adversity
IT
IS good for us to have trials and troubles at times, for they often remind
us that we are on probation and ought not to hope in any worldly thing. It
is good for us sometimes to suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by men
even though we do well and mean well. These things help us to be humble and
shield us from vainglory. When to all outward appearances men give us no
credit, when they do not think well of us, then we are more inclined to seek
God Who sees our hearts. Therefore, a man ought to root himself so firmly in
God that he will not need the consolations of men.
When a man of good will is afflicted, tempted, and tormented by evil
thoughts, he realizes clearly that his greatest need is God, without Whom he
can do no good. Saddened by his miseries and sufferings, he laments and
prays. He wearies of living longer and wishes for death that he might be
dissolved and be with Christ. Then he understands fully that perfect
security and complete peace cannot be found on earth.
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Saturday of
the third week in Ordinary Time I
(January 31) Saint John Bosco, priest (1815-1888)
(Picture)
John Bosco’s theory of education could well be used in today’s
schools. It was a preventive system, rejecting corporal
punishment
and placing students in surroundings removed from the likelihood of
committing sin. He advocated frequent reception of the sacraments of Penance
and Holy Communion. He combined catechetical training and fatherly guidance,
seeking to unite the spiritual life with one’s work, study and play.
Encouraged during his youth to become a priest so he could work with young
boys, John was ordained in 1841. His service to young people started when he
met a poor orphan and instructed him in preparation for receiving Holy
Communion. He then gathered young apprentices and taught them catechism.
After serving as chaplain in a hospice for working girls, John opened the
Oratory of St. Francis de Sales for boys. Several wealthy and powerful
patrons contributed money, enabling him to provide two workshops for the
boys, shoemaking and tailoring. By 1856, the institution had grown to 150
boys and had added a printing press for publication of religious and
catechetical pamphlets. His interest in vocational education and publishing
justify him as patron of young apprentices and Catholic publishers. John’s
preaching fame spread and by 1850 he had trained his own helpers because of
difficulties in retaining young priests. In 1854 he and his followers
informally banded together under Francis de Sales. With Pope Pius IX’s
encouragement, John gathered 17 men and founded the Salesians in 1859. Their
activity concentrated on education and mission work. Later, he organized a
group of Salesian Sisters to assist girls. (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; Luke
1:69-75; Mark 4:35-41
That day when evening came, he said
to his disciples, Let us go over to the other side. Leaving the crowd
behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also
other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the
boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a
cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, Teacher, don't you care if
we drown? He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Quiet! Be
still! Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his
disciples, Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? They were
terrified and asked each other, Who is this? Even the wind and the waves
obey him! (Mark 4: 35-41)
I recently read an interesting
family history that had unearthed hitherto unknown facts about the earliest
forebears in Australia of that family. The author stated that until he
looked into his family origins in Australia he had found Australian history
quite uninteresting. With his research it had become alive for him and full
of interest. History now lived for him and became full of
fascination as he
had a stake in it. Taking the point further, I often think that a sense of
history gives one a bird’s-eye view of the drama of the life and death of
numbers of people. There passes before one’s mind and imagination a varied
procession of persons who are born and grow, who struggle with the elements
of life with its successes and failures and who finally pass away, to be
replaced by the next generation who face a similar struggle. Man finds
himself in the midst of a world that to a greater or lesser extent has to be
managed for his benefit and which continually threatens him with deprivation
and defeat. The farmer struggles against the elements, the sailor fights the
seas. From within his very own being too he finds himself besieged with
threats. He gets sick, diseased and he finally dies from a gradual or even
sudden physical deterioration. More deeply, man finds himself plagued not
only with physical threats but with moral. He comes to see that he is faced
with moral breakdown. Despite what he may wish, moral evil takes him hither
and thither. All this is to say that the ground beneath him in so many
respects is uneven, uncertain, shifting and ever liable to crumble and drag
him down. If only there were a Power to which he could cling! Such is the
cry of man in history, and a sense of history can convey this. Well, there is
indeed such a Power. Within this uncertain and threatening world there has
intervened One who can be relied upon utterly as the answer to all man’s
needs. Our Gospel passage today gives us an event that is so symbolic of the
threats bearing down on us, of our need for One to whom we can cling, and of
the fact of an all-powerful Saviour.
The disciples are out on the Sea of
Galilee. Among them are experienced fishermen, used to the dangers of the
wind and the waves. The storm suddenly arises and it is one far beyond their
expectations. “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat,
so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a
cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, Teacher, don't you care if
we drown?” (Mark 4: 35-41). We must
presume that over many generations and even centuries the Sea of Galilee had seen many
drowned. We read elsewhere in the Gospel of how news reached our Lord of the
Tower of Siloam falling on many and killing them. All kinds of accidents and
catastrophes occur everywhere and the land of the chosen people was no
exception. The disciples in the boat could have been like so many others of
the past: there could have been a tragedy during this very crossing. Their
plight in the boat at this point may be seen as an image of the constant
predicament of man. He is entirely vulnerable before the forces of the
world, including the forces of the fallen nature that is his. What could they do
before such elements? They were helpless and ordinarily nothing could stop
what threatened them. Nothing could save them, and in this they represented
the family of man, so many of whom time and again are swept away into
oblivion with nothing or no one to cling to. The difference now, though, was
that they had with them the Saviour. He was asleep from the exhaustion of
his unremitting ministry, a sleep that we may presume was profoundly
peaceful. The storm and the fury of the wind and waves made not the
slightest difference to his slumber, a slumber that contrasted strikingly
with the terror and panic of the disciples. They woke him with a shout
wondering that he did not seem to care at the predicament of all. He awoke,
stood up, and at a mere word commanded the elements and all was calm. The
world is in the hands of Jesus of Nazareth. It depends on him and it does
his bidding.
The answer to the unending
vulnerability of every human being and of the entire human race considered
together is Jesus Christ. He is the Power of God. He is the Saviour of the
world. Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened, he said, and I
will give you rest. We each of us must take our stand with him and remain by
his side. With him we are safe. But there is this. He asks that we follow
closely in his footsteps as he makes his way to Calvary. With him we are
safe in the midst of suffering and death. As he leads, he
says that if we lose our life for him and for the gospel, we shall save it.
If we suffer with him we shall rise with him. Let us then take our stand
with him knowing that in him there is life eternal.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Don't
give your heart to the things of this world. Such love is selfish... A few
short hours after God calls you into his presence, those whom you love will
recoil from you in horror and disgust. Elsewhere you will find the Love that
lasts.
(The Way, no.678)
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Continuing
The Imitation of Christ
(Book 1: Thoughts helpful in the life of the soul)
Thirteenth Chapter Resisting Temptation
SO LONG as we live in this world we cannot escape suffering and temptation.
Whence it is written in Job: "The life of man upon earth is a warfare."[3]
Everyone, therefore, must guard against temptation and must watch in prayer
lest the devil, who never sleeps but goes about seeking whom he may devour,
find occasion to deceive him. No one is so perfect or so holy but he is
sometimes tempted; man cannot be altogether free from temptation.
Yet temptations, though troublesome and severe, are often useful to a man,
for in them he is humbled, purified, and instructed. The saints all passed
through many temptations and trials to profit by them, while those who could
not resist became reprobate and fell away. There is no state so holy, no
place so secret that temptations and trials will not come. Man is never safe
from them as
long as he lives, for they come from within us -- in sin we were born. When
one temptation or trial passes, another comes; we shall always have
something to suffer because we have lost the state of original blessedness.
Many people try to escape temptations, only to fall more deeply. We cannot
conquer simply by fleeing, but by patience and true humility we become
stronger than all our enemies. The man who only shuns temptations outwardly
and does not uproot them will make little progress; indeed they will quickly
return, more violent than before.
Little by little, in patience and long-suffering you will overcome them, by
the help of God rather than by severity and your own rash ways. Often take
counsel when tempted; and do not be harsh with others who are tempted, but
console them as you yourself would wish to be consoled.
The beginning of all temptation lies in a wavering mind and little trust in
God, for as a rudderless ship is driven hither and yon by waves, so a
careless and irresolute man is tempted in many ways. Fire tempers iron and
temptation steels the just. Often we do not know what we can stand, but
temptation shows us what we are.
Above all, we must be especially alert against the beginnings of temptation,
for the enemy is more easily conquered if he is refused admittance to the
mind and is met beyond the threshold when he knocks.
Someone has said very aptly: "Resist the beginnings; remedies come too late,
when by long delay the evil has gained strength." First, a mere thought
comes to mind, then strong imagination, followed by pleasure, evil delight,
and consent. Thus, because he is not resisted in the beginning, Satan gains
full entry. And the longer a man delays in resisting, so much the weaker
does he become each day, while the strength of the enemy grows against him.
Some suffer great temptations in the beginning of their conversion, others
toward the end, while some are troubled almost constantly throughout their
life. Others, again, are tempted but lightly according to the wisdom and
justice of Divine Providence Who weighs the status and merit of each and
prepares all for the salvation of His elect.
We should not despair, therefore, when we are tempted, but pray to God the
more fervently that He may see fit to help us, for according to the word of
Paul, He will make issue with temptation that we may be able to bear it. Let
us humble our souls under the hand of God in every trial and temptation for
He will save and exalt the humble in spirit.
In temptations and trials the progress of a man is measured; in them
opportunity for merit and virtue is made more manifest.
When a man is not troubled it is not hard for him to be fervent and devout,
but if he bears up patiently in time of adversity, there is hope for great
progress.
Some, guarded against great temptations, are frequently overcome by small
ones in order that, humbled by their weakness in small trials, they may not
presume on their own strength in great ones.
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