March 2009

Click on date to go to Thoughts for the Day

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

Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for for March 2009 is: "That the role of women may be more appreciated and used to good advantage in every country in the world".

His mission intention for March 2009 is: "That, in the light of the Letter addressed to them by Pope Benedict XVI, the bishops,

priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful of the Catholic Church in the Popular Republic of China may commit themselves to being the sign and instrument of unity, communion and peace".

Prayers this week: When he calls to me, I will answer; I will rescue him and give him honour. Long life and contentment will be his. (Psalm 90: 15-16)

Father, through our observance of Lent, help us to understand the meaning of your Son's death and resurrection, and teach us to reflect it in our lives. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(March 1) St. David of Wales (d. 589?)
David is the patron saint of Wales and perhaps the most famous of British saints. Ironically, we have little reliable information about him. It is known that he became a priest, engaged in missionary work and founded many monasteries, including his principal abbey in southwestern Wales. Many stories and legends sprang up about David and his Welsh monks. Their austerity was extreme. They worked in silence without the help of animals to till the soil. Their food was limited to bread, vegetables and water. In about the year 550, David attended a synod where his eloquence impressed his fellow monks to such a degree that he was elected primate of the region. The episcopal see was moved to Mynyw, where he had his monastery (now called St. David's). He ruled his diocese until he had reached a very old age. His last words to his monks and subjects were: "Be joyful, brothers and sisters. Keep your faith, and do the little things that you have seen and heard with me." St. David is pictured standing on a mound with a dove on his shoulder. The legend is that once while he was preaching a dove descended to his shoulder and the earth rose to lift him high above the people so that he could be heard. Over 50 churches in South Wales were dedicated to him in pre-Reformation days. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Genesis 9: 8-15; Psalm 24; Peter 3: 18-22; Mark 1: 12-15

At once the Spirit sent Jesus out into the desert, and he was in the desert for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. 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! (Mark 1: 12-15)

It scarcely needs to be said that the life of man is one of struggle against temptation. That is to say, temptations keep coming and the battle does not end with one victory. Let us observe in passing, though, that there is something to be said for being in this condition rather than, say, having one’s entire destiny hang on the balance of one single test or trial. It is agreed that the angels determine their destiny by one great choice. They see all there is to be seen in the issue ahead and they choose for or against God

accordingly. With fallen man the case is different. That matter aside, let us contemplate with wonder the abasement of God the Son assuming the state and condition of man and permitting himself to be tempted to sin. Of course, his temptations to sin did not arise from a fallen and disordered human nature in him — what we call the “flesh.” They arose from the other two great sources, the world and the devil. On one occasion after Simon Peter had given his magnificent profession of faith in our Lord as Messiah and Son of God, he attempted to dissuade our Lord from the path of suffering and death. It was a temptation coming from outside of him not to obey the will of his heavenly Father, and our Lord immediately indicated its source. In full view of his disciples Jesus sternly rebuked Peter, addressing him as “Satan.” He said that the way he thought was of “man” and not of God. So Peter was thinking as did the world, and Satan was actively behind it. There were many other temptations bearing down on the sinless Christ. There was the pressure of the leaders of the people. There were the people themselves who pressured to make him a king. There were those who abandoned him because his teaching on the Eucharist was too hard a saying. Behind all these pressures was the baleful pressure of Satan. Christ, of course, was resolute in his unconquerable sinlessness, but it all illustrates that being fully man he assumed our state and condition, including the condition of being tempted.

Especially noteworthy is one temptation which is recorded as having come directly from Satan. Our Gospel passage today (Mark 1: 12-15) from Mark narrates that as soon as Christ received the Spirit at his baptism by John, the Holy Spirit sent him into the desert where he was tempted by Satan. The Gospel of St Matthew gives us much more detail about the temptations in the desert. Satan actually attempted to get Christ to turn from the worship of the one only God, his heavenly Father, and to worship him. The promise — the carrot at the end of the stick, we might say — was that he would be given the rule of the entire world. No one had ruled the world — Alexander the Great had not, nor had or would the Caesars. The Gospel of St Matthew tells us that this was promised to one man, Jesus Christ, and the promise came from Satan himself. Christ did intend to rule the world but here was a temptation to do it quickly and in a worldly sense. The price was that he worship not God but Satan! Christ sent him packing, but it reminds us that Christ shared our condition to the full with the exception of personal sin. Today’s scene of Christ in the desert being tempted by Satan reminds us also of the ultimate implication of every sin. In the final analysis it involves a turning away from the one God to worship something else. The slightest deliberate venial sin is a slight turn in that direction. The more venial sins that are committed, the more there is confirmed our turn in that direction. Finally there is the fall into mortal sin, and that is a break with God, the logical result of which is eternal separation from him. But there are also temptations which correspond directly to the temptation Satan presented to our Lord in the desert. That temptation was the worship of him, Satan, for some personal gain. There are, for instance, various forms of superstition. There is positive irreligion, atheism and agnosticism. There is polytheism. Of course in many cases there is involved, we can only hope, a practice born of ignorance but it is a state of great darkness nevertheless. In God is light and away from him there is only darkness. That light has come among us and is given to us in Christ.

Let us contemplate the person of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Just think! The all-holy God made man is approached by the dark and putrid Demon who presumes to suggest to him, holding out a great incentive, that he abandon the one God and worship another god — himself, no less. That is the ultimate issue. Is it to be God, or is it to be something or someone else instead? That is the daily choice before us. Let us take our stand with Jesus and never leave his side, no matter what be the cost. Christ, yes! sin, never!
(E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.2110-2141

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Don't be troubled if, as you consider the wonders of the supernatural world, you hear that other voice, the intimate, insinuating voice of your 'old self'.

It is 'the body of death' crying out for its lost rights. 'His' grace is sufficient for you: be faithful and you will conquer.
(The Way, no.707)

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

Twenty fifth chapter           Zeal in Amending our Lives

One day when a certain man who wavered often and anxiously between hope and fear was struck with sadness, he knelt in humble prayer before the altar of a church. While meditating on these things, he said: "Oh if I but knew whether I should persevere to the end!" Instantly he heard within the divine answer: "If you knew this, what would you do? Do now what you would do then and you will be quite secure." Immediately consoled and comforted, he resigned himself to the divine will and the anxious uncertainty ceased. His curiosity no longer sought to know what the future held for him, and he tried instead to find the perfect, the acceptable will of God in the beginning and end of every good work.

"Trust thou in the Lord and do good," says the Prophet; "dwell in the land and thou shalt feed on its riches."
                                                             (Continuing)

(March 2) St. Agnes of Bohemia (1205-1282)
Agnes had no children of her own but was certainly life-giving for all who knew her. Agnes was the daughter of Queen

Constance and King Ottokar I of Bohemia. At the age of three, she was betrothed to the Duke of Silesia, who died three years later. As she grew up, she decided she wanted to enter the religious life. After declining marriages to King Henry VII of Germany and Henry III of England, Agnes was faced with a proposal from Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor. She appealed to Pope Gregory IX for help. The pope was persuasive; Frederick magnanimously said that he could not be offended if Agnes preferred the King of Heaven to him. After Agnes built a hospital for the poor and a residence for the friars, she financed the construction of a Poor Clare monastery in Prague. In 1236, she and seven other noblewomen entered this monastery. Saint Clare sent five sisters from San Damiano to join them, and wrote Agnes four letters advising her on the beauty of her vocation and her duties as abbess. Agnes became known for prayer, obedience and mortification. Papal pressure forced her to accept her election as abbess; nevertheless, the title she preferred was "senior sister." Her position did not prevent her from cooking for the other sisters and mending the clothes of lepers. The sisters found her kind but very strict regarding the observance of poverty; she declined her royal brother’s offer to set up an endowment for the monastery. Devotion to Agnes arose soon after her death on March 6, 1282. She was canonized in 1989.
"Have nothing to do with anyone who would stand in your way and would seek to turn you aside from fulfilling the vows which you have made to the Most High (Psalm 49:14) and from living in that perfection to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you" (Clare to Agnes, Letter II in Murray Bodo, O.F.M., Clare: A Light in the Garden, p. 118). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Leviticus 19: 1-2.11-18; Psalm 18; Matthew 25: 31-46

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 25: 31-46)

I well remember how it used to be thought among some Christian circles that to do things in view of the judgment of God is a bit unworthy of the Christian life. What ought be the distinguishing feature of a Christian life, it was said, is the love of God, and love casts out fear. Of course, the latter part of this statement can be taken as true. The love of God does distinguish the Christian

religion. I remember one expert in Islamic studies maintaining that Islam critiques Christianity for its failing to emphasise sufficiently the transcendence of God. He said that in this respect Islam does not look on God as Father, and certainly not in the sense Christ taught — as Abba! dear Father! — but rather as the sovereign Lord and Master. Allah is Master rather than Father. If this is a fair analysis then it highlights the fact that the love of God distinguishes the Christian religion, with its roots of course in the religion of the Old Testament. God is love and the religion he revealed is one of love. Accordingly, the love of God progressively casts out fear and perhaps it may be said that the absolute perfection of love will cast out all fear. But on the way to this perfection of love the fear of God will be wholesomely present. And what is it that man has reason to fear? It is the judgment of God, because he, man, is a sinner. His trust is in the merits of Christ, but he finds he continues to sin nevertheless. While Christ came to reveal in his person and teaching the love of God, he also revealed the judgment of God. Indeed, it would be difficult to show that any founder of a great religion emphasised as much the judgment of God on mankind as did Christ. John Henry Newman once wrote that the thought of a judgment is the first principle of religion, implying that without this thought religion is weak in its foundation. With it, religion has a chance of being genuine and strong. So Christ’s emphasis on the divine judgment has the effect, if taken seriously, of giving to personal religion a sure and strong basis.

In the history of religions Christ’s description of the judgment of God as given in our passage today is near to being unique. The first thing to be said about it is that Jesus himself will be the one and only Judge of all mankind. He will judge Buddha. He will judge Confucius. He will judge Mahomet and all the followers of these religions. He will judge the great and the mighty, such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, and all who have exerted great power in the world. He will judge the small too, the ones who have had but one talent but who have failed to use it. Our Lord told a parable about the talents given to various servants. The harshest judgment in the parable was made on the one who was lazy and wicked in not using the one talent he had been given. What is the significance of the little man? His significance is that the vast flow of history depends on all the little men. If they each and all do their little bit in obeying God, the plan of God in history is more able to succeed. Yes, they will be judged by God, as will the great and the mighty. So in our passage today our Lord makes it clear that he himself will be the Judge, and he will judge everyone. Moreover, not only will each be judged individually, but all will be judged together. That is to say, at the end of time Christ will judge the entire world. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left” (Matthew 25: 31-46). The upshot will be awful. Those on the right will go to heaven forever, and those on the left will go to hell forever. This great Fact ought underpin all that we do because, granted the precariousness of life, we all stand moment by moment on the edge. One heartbeat can send us into the hands of the all-powerful living God.

A lively awareness of the judgment of God as revealed by Christ provides a firm foundation and constant stimulus to a vital religion. It makes the presence of God felt, for reward and punishment are ahead. Our eternal happiness is at stake. In light of this solid fact of the divine judgment we are able to appreciate the love of God who has done so much to save and sanctify us, for he wants us to be with him in heaven forever. Let us then take to heart our Lord’s account of the judgment he will deliver on each and every person who walks the road of human history.
(E.J.Tyler)

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The world, the flesh and the devil are a band of adventurers who take advantage of the weakness of that savage you bear within you, and want you to hand over to them, in exchange for the glittering tinsel of a pleasure — which is worth nothing, — the pure gold and the pearls and the diamonds and rubies drenched in the life— blood of your God Redeemer, which are the price and the treasure of your eternity.
(The Way, no.708)

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

Twenty fifth chapter            Zeal in Amending our Lives

There is one thing that keeps many from zealously improving their lives, that is, dread of the difficulty, the toil of battle. Certainly they who try bravely to overcome the most difficult and unpleasant obstacles far outstrip others in the pursuit of virtue. A man makes the most progress and merits the most grace precisely in those matters wherein he gains the greatest victories over self and most mortifies his will. True, each one has his own difficulties to meet and conquer, but a diligent and sincere man will make greater progress even though he have more passions than one who is more even-tempered but less concerned about virtue.

Two things particularly further improvement -- to withdraw oneself forcibly from those vices to which nature is viciously inclined, and to work fervently for those graces which are most needed.
                                                                            (Continuing)

(March 3) St. Katharine Drexel (1858-1955)
If your father is an international banker and you ride in a private railroad car, you are not likely to be drawn into a life of

voluntary poverty. But if your mother opens your home to the poor three days each week and your father spends half an hour each evening in prayer, it is not impossible that you will devote your life to the poor and give away millions of dollars. Katharine Drexel did that. She was born in Philadelphia in 1858. She had an excellent education and traveled widely. As a rich girl, she had a grand debut into society. But when she nursed her stepmother through a three-year terminal illness, she saw that all the Drexel money could not buy safety from pain or death, and her life took a profound turn. She had always been interested in the plight of the Indians, having been appalled by reading Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonor. While on a European tour, she met Pope Leo XIII and asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend Bishop James O’Connor. The pope replied, "Why don’t you become a missionary?" His answer shocked her into considering new possibilities. Back home, she visited the Dakotas, met the Sioux leader Red Cloud and began her systematic aid to Indian missions. She could easily have married. But after much discussion with Bishop O’Connor, she wrote in 1889, "The feast of St. Joseph brought me the grace to give the remainder of my life to the Indians and the Coloured." Newspaper headlines screamed "Gives Up Seven Million!" After three and a half years of training, she and her first band of nuns (Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Coloured) opened a boarding school in Santa Fe. A string of foundations followed. By 1942 she had a system of black Catholic schools in 13 states, plus 40 mission centers and 23 rural schools. Segregationists harassed her work, even burning a school in Pennsylvania. In all, she established 50 missions for Indians in 16 states. Two saints met when she was advised by Mother Cabrini about the "politics" of getting her Order’s Rule approved in Rome. Her crowning achievement was the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic university in the United States for blacks. At 77, she suffered a heart attack and was forced to retire. Apparently her life was over. But now came almost 20 years of quiet, intense prayer from a small room overlooking the sanctuary. Small notebooks and slips of paper record her various prayers, ceaseless aspirations and meditation. She died at 96 and was canonized in 2000.
Saints have always said the same thing: Pray, be humble, accept the cross, love and forgive. But it is good to hear these things in the American idiom from one who, for instance, had her ears pierced as a teenager, who resolved to have "no cake, no preserves," who wore a watch, was interviewed by the press, travelled by train and could concern herself with the proper size of pipe for a new mission. These are obvious reminders that holiness can be lived in today’s culture as well as in that of Jerusalem or Rome.
"The patient and humble endurance of the cross—whatever nature it may be—is the highest work we have to do." "Oh, how far I am at 84 years of age from being an image of Jesus in his sacred life on earth!" (Saint Katharine Drexel) (AmericanCatholic.org)

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6: 7-15)

It could be said that one of the most distinctive features of human civilization is its prayer. The spirit of a civilization is revealed in the nature and quality of its prayer. Archaeologists look for the monuments and remains of the religious life of the site they are digging. The myths and ritual of a society are immensely important as a window to the culture. We could say that, with the exception of the modern Western secular culture, it is expected by scholars that a society will have been religious and that

prayer to God or the gods will have profoundly marked its life. For this historical reason alone it is clear that prayer to the unseen powers above is a central feature of the life of man and that in the main man can be described as a religious being. With this as our backdrop, our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel are of deep interest. It is God the Son who advises man on how he is to pray, and as we listen to his words we ought think also of his own prayer. How great must have been his prayer! Prior to the commencement of his public ministry he withdrew into the wilderness and spent forty days in prayer and fasting. We read of how after an intense day of teaching and healings, very early the next morning he rose and went off to pray. We read of his spending whole nights in prayer to God. He was consumed with zeal for his Father’s House and on one occasion threw the buyers and sellers out of the Temple. My Father’s House is a house of prayer, he said. On another occasion, his disciples, seeing him at prayer asked him to teach them to pray just as John had taught his disciples. Christ’s public ministry was intense, and so too was his life of prayer. Jesus Christ is the greatest man of religion in the history of the world, and as man he is unique because he is also God. What he has to say of prayer must, therefore, be of incomparable importance to man in view of the abiding importance of prayer and religion to mankind. Let us therefore consider what Christ has to say about prayer in our Gospel today.

To begin with, Christ states that man’s prayer to God must be simple and direct. Here, then, right at the outset we have a marked difference from how man usually addresses the great and mighty. When a person enters the presence of human majesty or a great ruler, or some other high personage, his address is normally not simple and direct. He takes trouble to surround it with great flourish and adornment in order, among other things, to please and even flatter the exalted one he is addressing. In this way he thinks he will gain his petition. It should not be so when we address God, our Lord says. Do not use lots of words, he says, like the heathens. They think they will be heard because of their luxurious, repetitious and empty address. Remember before whom you stand. Remember that he, your God, knows what you need before you ask him. Remember that you have received all that you are and have from him. Remembering this, simply and humbly present your petitions. Our Lord gives us a model prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, and its components are distinguished for their directness. If we set the Lord’s Prayer next to the many and great prayers of the religions of man, including even the prayers composed by some holy persons of the Christian religion, the Lord’s Prayer is remarkable for its simplicity. Had it not come from Jesus Christ many would, I think, dismiss it for its brevity and plainness. The prayer of Christ and the prayer he instills is a simple prayer. What this in turn indicates is that the more advanced in prayer we become, the simpler it will be. This applies to the very heights of prayer, prayer in its highest forms, prayer that is infused by God and which is his gift. It becomes simpler and simpler, while filled with love and understanding. Words are few, simple and oft repeated, giving expression to love. It is the simple yet profound murmur of the heart and soul led by the Holy Spirit in its union with God. That murmur is powerful and effective and its greatest expression is precisely the Prayer that Jesus our Lord teaches us in today’s Gospel (Matthew 6: 7-15).

Because of the simplicity of the Lord’s Prayer we can be tempted to take it for granted and fail to allow it to shape our life of prayer. The Lord’s Prayer was taught to us by the Son of God. There is, then, no prayer which is its equal. We ought not allow it to become largely routine. It ought be our favourite prayer and the one which gradually over the course of life becomes the deepest prayer that we pray. Pope Paul VI finished his life praying the Lord’s Prayer. Let us treasure our Gospel passage today, for it is fundamental for man and human culture.

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Do you hear? Somewhere else, in another state, in another position, you would do much more good. Talent isn't needed to do what you are doing.

Listen to me: wherever you have been placed you please God,... and what you have just been thinking is clearly a suggestion from the devil.
(The Way, no.709)

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

Study also to guard against and to overcome the faults which in others very frequently displease you. Make the best of every opportunity, so that if you see or hear good example you may be moved to imitate it. On the other hand, take care lest you be guilty of those things which you consider reprehensible, or if you have ever been guilty of them, try to correct yourself as soon as possible. As you see others, so they see you.

How pleasant and sweet to behold brethren fervent and devout, well mannered and disciplined! How sad and painful to see them wandering in dissolution, not practising the things to which they are called! How hurtful it is to neglect the purpose of their vocation and to attend to what is not their business!
(Continuing)

(March 4) St. Casimir (1458-1483)
Casimir, born of kings and in line (third among 13 children) to be a king himself, was filled with exceptional values and learning by a great teacher, John Dlugosz. Even his critics could not say that his conscientious objection indicated softness. Even as a teenager, Casimir lived a highly disciplined, even severe life, sleeping on the ground, spending a great part of the night in prayer and dedicating himself to lifelong celibacy. When nobles in Hungary became dissatisfied with their king, they prevailed upon Casimir’s father, the king of Poland, to send his son to take over the country. Casimir obeyed his father, as many young men over the centuries have obeyed their government. The army he was supposed to lead was clearly outnumbered by the “enemy”; some of his troops were deserting because they were not paid. At the advice of his officers, Casimir decided to return home. His father was irked at the failure of his plans, and confined his 15-year-old son for three months. The lad made up his mind never again to become involved in the wars of his day, and no amount of persuasion could change his mind. He returned to prayer and study, maintaining his decision to remain celibate even under pressure to marry the emperor’s daughter. He reigned briefly as king of Poland during his father’s absence. He died of lung trouble at 23 while visiting Lithuania, of which he was also Grand Duke. He was buried in Vilnius, Lithuania.
For many years Poland and Lithuania faded into the grey prison on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Despite repression, the Poles and Lithuanians remained firm in the faith which has become synonymous with their name. Their youthful patron reminds us: Peace is not won by war; sometimes a comfortable peace is not even won by virtue, but Christ’s peace can penetrate every government repression of religion. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Jonah 3: 1-10; Psalm 50; Luke 11: 29-32

As the crowds increased, Jesus said, This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. (Luke 11: 29-32)

There is no doubt about it — a prominent feature of the public activity of Jesus Christ was his miraculous works. The things he did were absolutely extraordinary. He effortlessly healed the sick, cured the blind, the lame and the diseased. At a word he calmed storms, walked on water, fed great multitudes with a handful of food, and even raised the dead. It took no more than a word, and often not even a word. For instance, a woman was cured by touching his garment, and in his human consciousness Christ did not

know who it was who had thus been cured. We must remember that these things are not myths. They are solid facts of history. By his miracles he wished to reveal who he was, to point to his redemptive work, and to elicit total faith in himself. A close reading of the Gospel text would indicate, though, that his miracles did not achieve their intended result for very many of the people. They thronged to him to be cured, but many fell away at his teaching and his claims. Many even of his disciples abandoned him when he announced the doctrine of the Eucharist. The scribes and Pharisees repeatedly witnessed his miracles, but plotted implacably to destroy him. Judas as one of the Twelve had even preached and worked miracles in his name and yet went on to betray him. The crowds wanted him to work miracles for their own benefit and the Pharisees demanded miracles as a proof, but faith and repentance were not forthcoming in them. And so, even “as the crowds increased”, we read our Lord saying in our Gospel today that “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign”. Miraculous signs were being requested and granted to little true and lasting effect. We notice that as his public ministry advanced our Lord progressively put his miracles into the background, ordering people who had benefited not to tell others about them. He even countered one request with the accusation that the one requesting would only believe if he saw signs and wonders! It all leads us to reflect on faith, faith in Jesus.

Let us notice the case of our Lord’s closest disciples. We read in the first chapter of St John’s Gospel that our Lord’s first two disciples followed him because of the testimony of John. “There is the Lamb of God!” John had said to them, and they immediately began to follow our Lord. They stayed with him for the rest of that day. Not a single miracle was done. They then recruited their close friends. Andrew brought his brother Simon to our Lord having told him that they had found the Messiah. After being called by our Lord, Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus. They believed primarily because of their very meeting with Jesus and because of the person they could see he was, the holiness of his life and the sublimity of his teaching. On the basis of this faith, our Lord’s miracles then had their due effect. The miracles revealed more of the one in whom they believed. We are reminded of our Lord’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Both died, and with Lazarus now in his bosom, Abraham said to the rich man now in the depths of hell that Moses and the prophets were enough to convert his sin-loving brothers. If they would not listen to them, even if someone should rise from the dead it would make no difference. All this is to say that the principal requirement of faith is a proper disposition that is open to the gift of faith. This is the point we are surely reminded of by our Gospel passage today (Luke 11: 29-32). God asks of us that our hearts be disposed to faith and repentance. He asks that we seek this grace from him, and the implication of our Lord’s words today is that the people to whom he was speaking — in this case the crowds — were not disposed to true faith in him. They were not disposed to God and his will, and so were “an evil generation.” They were very unlike the Ninevites who at the preaching of Jonah repented. They were unlike the Queen of the South who recognized the wisdom of Solomon and came to listen humbly to it. They were not good soil, ready to receive the seed for it to produce fruit.

Let us resolve to contemplate the very person of Jesus every day. Let us resolve to remain in his company day in and day out, asking for the grace to love him and to appreciate his incomparable person. Let us contemplate his teaching and the offer of his grace. Let us also watch him in the Gospels as he works his miracles, signs of his person and his work. The total mystery of Christ is God’s gift to us for our salvation and sanctification. Let us take our stand with him, then, and never leave him.
(E.J.Tyler)

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You worry and are saddened because your Communions are cold and dry. Tell me: when you approach the Sacrament, is it yourself you seek or is it Jesus? If you seek yourself, you have reason indeed to be sad. But if — as you ought — you seek Christ, could you ask for a clearer sign than the Cross to know that you have found him?
(The Way, no.710)

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

Twenty fifth chapter         Zeal in Amending our Lives

Remember the purpose you have undertaken, and keep in mind the image of the Crucified. Even though you may have walked for many years on the pathway to God, you may well be ashamed if, with the image of Christ before you, you do not try to make yourself still more like Him.

The religious who concerns himself intently and devoutly with our Lord's most holy life and passion will find there an abundance of all things useful and necessary for him. He need not seek for anything better than Jesus.
                                                                                 (Continuing)

(March 5) St. John Joseph of the Cross (1654-1734)
Self-denial is never an end in itself but is only a help toward greater charity—as the life of Saint John Joseph shows. John Joseph was very ascetic even as a young man. At 16 he joined the Franciscans in Naples; he was the first Italian to follow the reform movement of Saint Peter Alcantara. John’s reputation for holiness prompted his superiors to put him in charge of establishing a new friary even before he was ordained. Obedience moved John to accept appointments as novice master, guardian and, finally, provincial. His years of mortification enabled him to offer these services to the friars with great charity. As guardian he was not above working in the kitchen or carrying the wood and water needed by the friars. When his term as provincial expired, John Joseph dedicated himself to hearing confessions and practicing mortification, two concerns contrary to the spirit of the dawning Age of Enlightenment. John Joseph was canonized in 1839.
John Joseph’s mortification allowed him to be the kind of forgiving superior intended by St. Francis. "And by this I wish to know if you love the Lord God and me, his servant and yours—if you have acted in this manner: that is, there should not be any brother in the world who has sinned, however much he may have possibly sinned, who, after he has looked into your eyes, would go away without having received your mercy, if he is looking for mercy. And if he were not to seek mercy, you should ask him if he wants mercy. And if he should sin thereafter a thousand times before your very eyes, love him more than me so that you may draw him back to the Lord. Always be merciful to [brothers] such as these" (St. Francis, Letter to a Minister). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Esther (ch.4) C: 12, 14-16, 23-25; Psalm 138:1-3, 7c-8; Matthew 7:7-12

Jesus said, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:7-12)

One of the defining differences between a scientifically-minded age and an age which may be called mythico-religious is the presence or otherwise of an appreciation of the physical laws of the world. Of course, this is to paint the picture with broad strokes and allowance must be made for light and shade. Nevertheless, in general terms a religious and mythic culture places primary emphasis on the active agency of the unseen powers above, be those powers One or many. The man of such a culture will pray to

the god of the sea or the god of war or the god of love in the hope that those powers will guide the course of events favourably. In his religious imagination the forces of nature have been divinized and the world is perceived as depending on the actions and decisions of those divine agents. Broadly speaking the events of the world are due to heavenly intervention. But in an age profoundly influenced by scientific discovery and the technology it gives rise to, the world is seen as dependent on its own physical and natural laws. Those laws are objective discoveries or hypotheses yet to be tested further by objective experiment. The gods and goddesses have been relegated to the status of interesting (though culturally important) myths. But now, granted the physical laws according to which the course of the world proceeds (however much they are subject to ongoing investigation), the obvious danger is that the man of a scientific age will think that the world depends ultimately and only on its own laws. The whole of the divine tends to be relegated to the status of myth. Reality tends to be understood as nothing other than the world, and as depending on itself alone. The visible universe is the great Fact beyond which there is no other fact. The divine is set aside as a private and optional opinion. Thus culture passes from being religious to being secular. One great mistake has been replaced by a much greater one. Now, a touchstone of this difference is a readiness to engage in the prayer of petition.

The mythico-religious age is constantly praying to the gods for favours. The scientific age is marked by a profound scepticism about the prayer of petition. Of course, this is to speak in generalities and great scientists abound who are profoundly religious. Nevertheless the agnostic, secular scientist is now common, even typical of the scientific age. More serious, though, is that the mind and imagination of the common man has become secularized — in the sense that he tends all too often to look on the world as dependent wholly and solely on itself. The media — which Pope Paul VI when visiting Australia in 1970 described as world power number one — is secular in spirit and outlook. The world proceeds according to its own laws and there is no point in looking to Someone beyond for aid. In the history of man and his cultures this is an aberration and in correcting the past the present has lost the jewels, we might say. We of the modern secular age tend to think that prayer is of little or no practical value, except as a kind of opiate (as Marx famously said of religion). Hence it is that our Lord’s teaching is of supreme relevance for modern man. He tells us that God, the one God, is real and that the course of the world — which indeed has its laws which come from him — depends on him entirely. Most importantly, he, the Creator, is a Person whose life is love. He cares. He is the Father Almighty. He loves us. He will hear our prayer. Our Lord reveals in our Gospel passage today (Matthew 7:7-12) that he will certainly hear our prayer, though we see from elsewhere in the Gospels that it may be in ways we do not expect. Our Lord tells us that “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel are especially telling for our secular and scientifically minded age. We tend to think that technology is the only help for man in his dealing with the world. Prayer is useless because the world with its laws is all there is. But no. Prayer is the most powerful activity that is possible for man because God in Christ has revealed that he will hear our prayer. Just how God will answer our prayer is not for us to say. Nor is it for us to say how God’s help will relate to the laws he has given to the world. But answer our prayers he will, on both the stage of personal life and on the stage of the whole world. Let us then pray, asking God for all we need. Christ, on whom the world depends, urges us to do this.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Another fall, and what a fall! Must you give up hope? No. Humble yourself and, through Mary, your Mother, have recourse to the merciful Love of Jesus. A miserere, and lift up your heart! And now begin again.
(The Way, no.711)

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

Twenty fifth chapter             Zeal in Amending our Lives

If the Crucified should come to our hearts, how quickly and abundantly we would learn!

A fervent religious accepts all the things that are commanded him and does them well, but a negligent and lukewarm religious has trial upon trial, and suffers anguish from every side because he has no consolation within and is forbidden to seek it from without. The religious who does not live up to his rule exposes himself to dreadful ruin, and he who wishes to be more free and untrammelled will always be in trouble, for something or other will always displease him.
                                                                         (Continuing)

(March 6) Servant of God Sylvester of Assisi (d. 1240)
Sylvester was one of the first 12 followers of St. Francis of Assisi and was the first priest in the Franciscan Order. A descendant of a noble family, Sylvester once sold Francis stones which were to be used to rebuild a church. When, a short while later, he saw Francis and Bernard of Quintavalle distributing Bernard's wealth to the poor, Sylvester complained that he had been poorly paid for the stones and asked for more money. Though Francis obliged, the handful of money he gave Sylvester soon filled him with guilt. He sold all of his goods, began a life of penance and joined Francis and the others. Sylvester became a holy and prayerful man, and a favourite of Francis—a companion on his journeys, the one Francis went to for advice. It was Sylvester and Clare who answered Francis' query with the response that he should serve God by going out to preach rather than by devoting himself to prayer. Once in a city where civil war was raging, Sylvester was commanded by Francis to drive the devils out. At the city gate Sylvester cried out: "In the name of almighty God and by virtue of the command of his servant Francis, depart from here, all you evil spirits." The devils departed and peace returned to the city. Sylvester lived 14 more years after the death of Francis and is buried near him in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Ezechiel 18:21-28; Psalm 130:1-8; Matthew 5:20-26

Jesus said, I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who

murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:20-26)

During the last two years of the eighteenth century there broke out in Ireland what is called the Wicklow rebellion against the English occupiers. One if its leaders was Michael Dwyer, and his second-in-command was his cousin Hugh Byrne. After a dramatic escape from prison Hugh Byrne rejoined the small band that was still left and there they held out in the forests till a settlement was agreed upon with the English. They were transported as exiles (not convicts) to Australia, arriving in Sydney at the

beginning of 1806. Hugh Byrne’s wife was Sarah (Dwyer) and they arrived with two of their three children, the eldest (Philip) having been left behind, aged 7, in Ireland with relatives. They had various difficulties in Australia, beginning with an unjust persecution by Governor Bligh. They went on to have a total of fourteen children. Hugh died in 1842 and Sarah died at the age of about 97, having lived to see many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The point that is of interest here, though, is the obituary at Sarah’s death. Its writer, in describing her funeral Mass and burial, especially notes how her memory remained clear till the end. She had lived nearly seventy years in Australia and could look back on their terrible experiences long ago in Ireland — but she was not bitter with the English. She understood them and spoke kindly of them. She ended her very long life with a heart marked by gentleness and forgiveness. That was undoubtedly one of her great achievements and it marked a great heart. I have heard of a different kind of tragedy. It is of those who, having suffered great injustices can never forgive and live their lives with a profound bitterness in their hearts. Even more sadly, at times such people sink into Alzheimer’s disease and other kinds of dementia. They become locked within their terrible memories and have lost their power to resist or manage them. They have also failed during life to forgive, and this too is locked within their dementia. Their lives become deeply painful and there is little that can be done to help them. There are two tragedies in such a life: what others had done to them, and that they were unable to forgive.

In his great Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864) John Henry Newman describes in graphic detail the suffering and evil that marks the world. It is the sight of woe upon woe. Novels have been written having as their theme the wave upon wave of suffering that can stamp a human life. Why are some lives especially noted for their reversals and sufferings, in large measure coming from others? We cannot say, but suffering there will be in every life. This is unavoidable. The burning question is, what is to be the response of the heart to the suffering that is or has been endured? Very often the response is violent: revenge is taken and the one who has caused the suffering is harmed. Now, what is great about mere revenge? More to the point, what does God have to say about it? God will have none of it. Not only does he indict murder but he indicts even anger. Let us listen to our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel passage: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:20-26). God understands the immense difficulty posed to the person who suffers hurt, but he will not allow a surrender to anger. Anger must be resisted and replaced by forgiveness and reconciliation. Our Lord is not saying that crimes and injustices must not be resisted and go unpunished. The good order of society requires law, policing, trial, sentencing. But the heart of man must be freed of anger and bitterness. Love must replace hate in the human heart. Forgiveness must replace vengeance. That is the challenge facing every human life. Let this mind be in you, St Paul writes, that was in Christ Jesus. Every person ought pray for the grace to do this, knowing that by contemplating with love the person and example of Christ, and relying on his grace, it is possible. What a great achievement it is to have forgiven everyone by the time we leave this life!

Let us remember this. If by the grace of God we reach our heavenly homeland, then there in heaven we shall be filled with love for those, now in heaven, who have hurt and injured us in this life. After our purification in Purgatory, no hatred will be found in our hearts, nor in the hearts of those who are with us in heaven. We shall love those who injured us and we shall love to be with them. Why not begin this heaven here on earth? Why not start today? Sooner or later we shall have to forgive them completely. So then, now I begin! Let us pray for the grace to be able to reconcile ourselves with our brother while days are still left to us. We do not know how many days we have left, and God requires that we go to him only after having forgiven absolutely everyone.
(E.J.Tyler)

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How low you have fallen this time! Begin the foundations from down there. Be humble. Cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies, God will not despise a contrite and humble heart.
(The Way, no.712)

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

Twenty fifth chapter             Zeal in Amending our Lives

How do so many other religious who are confined in cloistered discipline get along? They seldom go out, they live in contemplation, their food is poor, their clothing coarse, they work hard, they speak but little, keep long vigils, rise early, pray much, read frequently, and subject themselves to all sorts of discipline. Think of the Carthusians and the Cistercians, the monks and nuns of different orders, how every night they rise to sing praise to the Lord. It would be a shame if you should grow lazy in such holy service when so many religious have already begun to rejoice in God.

If there were nothing else to do but praise the Lord God with all your heart and voice, if you had never to eat, or drink, or sleep, but could praise God always and occupy yourself solely with spiritual pursuits, how much happier you would be than you are now, a slave to every necessity of the body! Would that there were no such needs, but only the spiritual refreshments of the soul which, sad to say, we taste too seldom!
                                                                            (Continuing)

(March 7) Sts. Perpetua and Felicity (d. 203?)
“When my father in his affection for me was trying to turn me from my purpose by arguments and thus weaken my faith, I

said to him, ‘Do you see this vessel—waterpot or whatever it may be? Can it be called by any other name than what it is?’ ‘No,’ he replied. ‘So also I cannot call myself by any other name than what I am—a Christian.’” So writes Perpetua, young, beautiful, well-educated, a noblewoman of Carthage, mother of an infant son and chronicler of the persecution of the Christians by Emperor Septimius Severus. Despite threats of persecution and death, Perpetua, Felicity (a slavewoman and expectant mother) and three companions, Revocatus, Secundulus and Saturninus, refused to renounce their Christian faith. For their unwillingness, all were sent to the public games in the amphitheater. There, Perpetua and Felicity were beheaded, and the others killed by beasts. Perpetua’s mother was a Christian and her father a pagan. He continually pleaded with her to deny her faith. She refused and was imprisoned at 22. In her diary, Perpetua describes her period of captivity: “What a day of horror! Terrible heat, owing to the crowds! Rough treatment by the soldiers! To crown all, I was tormented with anxiety for my baby.... Such anxieties I suffered for many days, but I obtained leave for my baby to remain in the prison with me, and being relieved of my trouble and anxiety for him, I at once recovered my health, and my prison became a palace to me and I would rather have been there than anywhere else.” Felicity gave birth to a girl a few days before the games commenced. Perpetua’s record of her trial and imprisonment ends the day before the games. “Of what was done in the games themselves, let him write who will.” The diary was finished by an eyewitness.
Persecution for religious beliefs is not confined to Christians in ancient times. Consider Anne Frank, the Jewish girl who, with her family, was forced into hiding and later died in Bergen-Belsen, one of Hitler’s death camps during World War II. Anne, like Perpetua and Felicity, endured hardship and suffering and finally death because she committed herself to God. In her diary Anne writes, “It’s twice as hard for us young ones to hold our ground, and maintain our opinions, in a time when all ideals are being shattered and destroyed, when people are showing their worst side, and do not know whether to believe in truth and right and God." Perpetua, unwilling to renounce Christianity, comforted her father in his grief over her decision, “It shall happen as God shall choose, for assuredly we depend not on our own power but on the power of God.“ (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8; Matthew 5:43-48

You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Our Gospel passage today presents us with one of our Lord’s most famous and unique teachings. He contrasts what the people have been taught to that point with what he now teaches them. He begins by quoting Leviticus 19:18 which Yahweh God commanded the children of Israel to “love your neighbour as yourself.” The second part of what our Lord quotes is “and hate your enemy.” This is not in the text of Leviticus and is perhaps a popular saying or teaching which our Lord is quoting, and which

may mean that while you must love your neighbour, “you do not have to love your enemy.” It allows for what most would regard as reasonable, and may have been a popular interpretation of the command of Leviticus — a kind of gloss. Perhaps it had in mind the Old Testament strictures on those beyond the community of Israel who by their contact could threaten the purity of the religious life of the nation. It is said that the sectaries of Qumran regarded hatred of those outside their community as a duty. We might even say that it represents the best that nature, with the help of God, could aspire to. Love your neighbour! How often in daily life this command is ignored, neglected and violated! It is neglected in family life, in the workplace, in the life of the Church, and in society. If love for one’s neighbour — for one’s own fellows — could only prevail, how society would change! In everyday life the hearts of very many are filled with disinterest and irritation with their very neighbours. They are not even living the command of the Old Testament. Be all this as it may, the point to notice is that on the one hand Christ quotes the command of the Scriptures and how they had been understood. He then goes much further and commands on his own authority that we are to do far more: we are to love our very enemies. This is one of the truly distinctive things about the teaching of Christ. Of course, our Lord is not saying that injuries and the violation of human rights in human society are to go unresisted. Christ is speaking of the religion that must fill our hearts. We are not to hate our enemies. Rather we are to love them.

To love the one who has injured us is one of the most difficult things in the world. People pass throughout the whole of life never succeeding in doing this. Others do it with a shining success. Listen to our Lord’s high and demanding directive. It pays repeating time and again. “I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:43-48). Our Lord tells us to keep our eyes on God our Father and to observe how he loves those who are not his friends. He showers them with good things, just as he gives good things to those who love him. So ought we: we ought help those who injure us, and greet them as we would a brother. In this we must aim to be as perfectly like our Father in heaven as we can. So then, let us keep our eyes on God our Father as the model of our thoughts, words and deeds — especially our thoughts. Yes, indeed, we ought be God-like in our thoughts about others. This is where the battlefield lies: in our mind, in our heart, in our imagination. We brood on what others do or have done. We imagine vengeance being taken on those who have hurt us. Have you ever seen a person talking to himself? I wonder how much of this is given over to hateful thoughts: saying vengeful things in our imaginings to those who have hurt us. Rather, we must ask for the grace to forgive and to love those who have injured us. When we see them rising before us in our memories, let us also see Christ gazing at us and pointing to the one we are thinking of. As that person appears before our mind’s eye, he says: Love him and pray for him!

Let us take up a plan of conquering all hatred in our hearts, so that we may be more worthy disciples of Christ and children of our Father in heaven. Remember: in heaven you will love those who have injured you and you will love to be with them, as they will you. Why not begin this now? It will greatly please God. So let us keep our eyes on Christ and God, and every time the image of someone who has injured us rises before us in our memory, whether that person be alive or dead, let us pray from our hearts for the wellbeing of that person. Christ stands with us asking us to pray for him. Let us pray for him with a smile, and ask God that we meet together merrily in heaven.
(E.J.Tyler)

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You have not set yourself against God. Your falls are due to weakness. All right; but those weaknesses are so frequent — you aren't able to avoid them — that, if you don't want me to think you bad, I shall have to think you both bad and stupid.
(The Way, no.713)

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

Twenty fifth chapter              Zeal in Amending our Lives

When a man reaches a point where he seeks no solace from any creature, then he begins to relish God perfectly. Then also he will be content no matter what may happen to him. He will neither rejoice over great things nor grieve over small ones, but will place himself entirely and confidently in the hands of God, Who for him is all in all, to Whom nothing ever perishes or dies, for Whom all things live, and Whom they serve as He desires.

Always remember your end and do not forget that lost time never returns. Without care and diligence you will never acquire virtue. When you begin to grow lukewarm, you are falling into the beginning of evil; but if you give yourself to fervour, you will find peace and will experience less hardship because of God's grace and the love of virtue.
                                                                (Continuing)

Prayers this week: Remember your mercies, Lord, your tenderness from ages past. Do not let our enemies triumph over us; O God, deliver Israel from all her distress. (Psalm 24: 6.3.22)

God our Father, help us to hear your Son. Enlighten us with your word, that we may find the way to your glory. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(March 8)   St. John of God (1495-1550)
    Having given up active Christian belief while a soldier, John was 40 before the depth of his sinfulness began to dawn on him. He decided to give the rest of his life to God’s service, and headed at once for Africa, where he hoped to free captive Christians and, possibly, be martyred. He was soon advised that his desire for martyrdom was not spiritually well based, and returned to Spain and the relatively prosaic activity of a religious goods store. Yet he was still not settled. Moved initially by a sermon of Blessed John of Avila, he one day engaged in a public beating of himself, begging mercy and wildly repenting for his past life. Committed to a mental hospital for these actions, John was visited by Blessed John, who advised him to be more actively involved in tending to the needs of others rather than in enduring personal hardships. John gained peace of heart, and shortly after left the hospital to begin work among the poor. He established a house where he wisely tended to the needs of the sick poor, at first doing his own begging. But excited by the saint’s great work and inspired by his devotion, many people began to back him up with money and provisions. Among them were the archbishop and marquis of Tarifa. Behind John’s outward acts of total concern and love for Christ’s sick poor was a deep interior prayer life which was reflected in his spirit of humility. These qualities attracted helpers who, 20 years after John’s death, formed the Brothers Hospitallers, now a worldwide religious order. John became ill after 10 years of service but tried to disguise his ill health. He began to put the hospital’s administrative work into order and appointed a leader for his helpers. He died under the care of a spiritual friend and admirer, Lady Anne Ossorio.
    The utter humility of John of God, which led to a totally selfless dedication to others, is most impressive. Here is a man who realized his nothingness in the face of God. The Lord blessed him with the gifts of prudence, patience, courage, enthusiasm and the ability to influence and inspire others. He saw that in his early life he had turned away from the Lord, and, moved to receive his mercy, John began his new commitment to love others in openness to God’s love. The archbishop called John of God to him in response to a complaint that he was keeping tramps and immoral women in his hospital. In submission John fell on his knees and said: “The Son of Man came for sinners, and we are bound to seek their conversion. I am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this, but I confess that I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself alone, who am indeed unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.” The archbishop could only trust in John’s sincerity and humility, and dismissed him with deep respect. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Psalm 116:10, 15, 16-19; Romans 8:31b-34; Mark 9:2-10

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he

was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him! Suddenly, when they looked round, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what rising from the dead meant. (Mark 9: 2-10)

Let the mind and imagination rove briefly across the centuries and the nations and consider the religious leaders of man’s quest for God. Consider those great figures and the impact they had on millions of people — Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, Mahomet. Where is there any record of an event like the one we read of in our Gospel today? I am referring to the intervention of God from within the cloud and what he said of Jesus Christ. Over a thousand years before this, Moses had led the

children of Israel out of the land of slavery. In the wilderness of Sinai God had said that he would come in a dense cloud and that the people would hear him speak to Moses. Moses went up and approached the dark cloud where God was and from there the commandments were given. He spoke to Moses as to his friend. God then accompanied his people in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and they had with them the Ark containing his words. In our Gospel scene today, the cloud again gathers and a voice is heard. It is addressed primarily to those who in Christ’s name will be sent to the peoples of the world. Jesus Christ is not merely God’s dear friend as was Moses. He is God’s beloved Son. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and mankind’s Teacher, the one to whom God wants all to listen. “Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him! Suddenly, when they looked round, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus” (Mark 9: 2-10). The Father continues to point to him, risen from the dead, from generation to generation, in our own age and in each age. We do not listen to him as to someone who lived once and whose words are available in a venerable book — as one might read and study Plato, Aristotle or Mahomet. The Christian religion is not a religion simply of the Book, the Book which has recorded his words of the past. The Bible, most venerable of all books, is the vehicle of a living Man to whom we listen, and who speaks in and through that Book which has God as its author.

This is perhaps the first thing we are reminded of by today’s Gospel passage (Mark 9: 2-10). As God points to the living Jesus as the Oracle to whom all are to listen, so he continues to point to him as the living Oracle of age after age. We do not see him physically as did the three Apostles. They heard the voice and saw the action, and then looked up again and saw only Jesus. It was the living Jesus to whom the Father directed them to listen. So it is now and always, though we do not see him physically. Just as he accompanied the three principal Apostles, those St Paul would later call the pillars of the infant Church, so too now the same Jesus, living and risen from the dead, accompanies us in his body the Church. From within his body of which he is the Head, he continues to speak to us. We must always remember that it is him, the living Jesus, to whom we listen. He speaks to us through the inspired Scriptures and he speaks to us through the Church’s living Tradition, both of which are authoritatively interpreted by the successor of Peter and, united to Peter, the successors of the Twelve. Thus does the living Jesus continue to speak to his disciples and through them to the world. Let us today think of the living Christ as he speaks to us in the Scriptures, especially the New Testament, and most especially in the Gospels. God himself is the author of this most precious of books and every time we take the Bible up or hear it read, let us remember who it is who is its true author. It teaches without error those truths which are necessary for our salvation. The Holy Spirit inspired the human authors who wrote what he wanted to teach us, and the Holy Spirit guides the Church in teaching Christ’s Faithful what those Scriptures mean for our salvation. He authored the Scriptures and he sustains and guides the Church. By the power of the Holy Spirit Christ continues to speak to us through the Sacred Scriptures and the Church’s teaching. Thus does Scripture give support and vigour to the life of the Church. It confirms the faith, it nourishes the soul and all of theology and pastoral preaching.

Because of our faith and love for Christ we ought strive to develop a love for the Scriptures and a daily reading of them, especially the New Testament, and especially the Gospels. But in all, in our love for and use of the Scriptures, in our docile acceptance of the Church’s teaching and guidance, it is the living risen Jesus to whom we listen. Whenever we take up the Scriptures, and whenever we hear the voice of the Church interpreting and explaining them, let us in our hearts hear the voice of the Father from the cloud, This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!
(E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.101-103, 131-133.

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Wanting, without really wanting: that is your attitude as long as you don't put the occasion firmly aside. Don't try to fool yourself telling me you are weak. You are... a coward, which is not the same thing.
(The Way, no.714)

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

Twenty fifth chapter           Zeal in Amending our Lives

A fervent and diligent man is ready for all things. It is greater work to resist vices and passions than to sweat in physical toil. He who does not overcome small faults, shall fall little by little into greater ones.

If you have spent the day profitably, you will always be happy at eventide. Watch over yourself, arouse yourself, warn yourself, and regardless of what becomes of others, do not neglect yourself. The more violence you do to yourself, the more progress you will make.
                                                                    (Continuing)

(March 9) St. Frances of Rome (1384-1440)
Frances’s life combines aspects of secular and religious life. A devoted and loving wife, she longed for a lifestyle of prayer and service, so she organized a group of women to minister to the needs of Rome’s poor. Born of wealthy parents, Frances found herself attracted to the religious life during her youth. But her parents objected and a young nobleman was selected to be her husband. As she became acquainted with her new relatives, Frances soon discovered that the wife of her husband’s brother also wished to live a life of service and prayer. So the two, Frances and Vannozza, set out together—with their husbands’ blessings—to help the poor. Frances fell ill for a time, but this apparently only deepened her commitment to the suffering people she met. The years passed, and Frances gave birth to two sons and a daughter. With the new responsibilities of family life, the young mother turned her attention more to the needs of her own household. The family flourished under Frances’s care, but within a few years a great plague began to sweep across Italy. It struck Rome with devastating cruelty and left Frances’s second son dead. In an effort to help alleviate some of the suffering, Frances used all her money and sold her possessions to buy whatever the sick might possibly need. When all the resources had been exhausted, Frances and Vannozza went door to door begging. Later, Frances’s daughter died, and the saint opened a section of her house as a hospital. Frances became more and more convinced that this way of life was so necessary for the world, and it was not long before she requested and was given permission to found a society of women bound by no vows. They simply offered themselves to God and to the service of the poor. Once the society was established, Frances chose not to live at the community residence, but rather at home with her husband. She did this for seven years, until her husband passed away, and then came to live the remainder of her life with the society—serving the poorest of the poor.
Looking at the exemplary life of fidelity to God and devotion to her fellow human beings which Frances of Rome was blessed to lead, one cannot help but be reminded of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who loved Jesus Christ in prayer and also in the poor. The life of Frances of Rome calls each of us not only to look deeply for God in prayer, but also to carry our devotion to Jesus living in the suffering of our world. Frances shows us that this life need not be restricted to those bound by vows. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Deuteronomy 9:4b-10; Psalm 79:8, 9, 11 and 13; Luke 6:36-38

Jesus said to his disciples, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:36-38)

When divine Revelation is not taken into account, one notices the effects of this on how the world is interpreted and understood. Let me take an example taken from a view of animal life. Sir David Attenborough, the great filmmaker of nature documentaries, has done so much by his films and commentaries to bring to us all a sense of the wonder of animal, insect and non-sentient life. Such films, accompanied by his riveting commentary, command wide audiences and never cease to be popular. For the

religious person who knows that the entire universe comes from and is sustained by the great God, the world of nature thus portrayed deepens his sense of the might and beauty of the Creator. But I once watched an interview with David Attenborough himself and he was asked what his long association with the world of nature had done for him in terms of religion. He said that it had left him somewhat of a religious agnostic. He explained this surprising avowal by saying that he had been adversely struck by the rampant cruelty in the animal world. It revolted and saddened him. Of course, the nature documentaries that portray animals preying on their fellows for sustenance are among the most popular of nature films. The lions hunting buffalo and the eagles swooping down on young cubs are gripping and very visual scenes. For Attenborough they called into question the proposition that there is what man calls a God. The animal world appears unmerciful, hard, cruel, unforgiving, barbarous. I suppose he would have thought that inasmuch as it is a world that has nothing to do with (fallen) man, only God can be held to account for it. What sort of a God would create a world — the animal world, in this instance — that is like this? Now, there are various comments that could be made on the phenomenon that Attenborough especially notices. Attenborough’s view is a variant of the old and ever-recurring problem of evil. I would simply make the point that if one begins with the acceptance of divine revelation, one thereby attains a radically new perspective that will affect one’s interpretation of the world and the suffering that is evident in it — including the suffering of the animal world.

God has revealed that he, the almighty Creator, is Love. That is to say, at the heart of Reality in its most ultimate sense is Love. Moreover, this almighty and infinite Love whom mankind traditionally calls Father, so loved the world that he became Man — and it was revealed to us in the process that God the Creator is a Trinity of Persons eternally united in love. The second Person became man and by his sacrifice for each of us broke the power of the sin of the world. God thus revealed himself to be merciful and kind. He is rich in mercy and compassion. The revelation of this is the death of Christ on the cross. Now, recalling Attenborough’s objection, could we not say that the pattern of one animal being given up in death for the sake of another that preys on it, is a dim reflection of the sacrificial Love which is the foundation of all created reality? The one who loves — God most of all — sacrifices himself for the sake of the other so that the other may live. The animal does not love, of course, but it is given up for the sake of the other that the other may live. It is a dim, unthinking reflection of the love of God that stamps the constitution of the world — which, however, has been spoilt and wounded by the sin of man. Whatever of that observation, the point to be noted is the pivotal importance of a profound and full acceptance in faith of the revelation God has made of himself. He has revealed himself as rich in mercy, full of compassion, and as utter love. Whatever be the mixed impression the world might make on us, the revelation that God the Creator has made of himself is in no way mixed. It is clear: God is love. Furthermore, God means us who have free will to be like him. He wants us to be merciful, not to judge nor to condemn, and to give with generosity. Our Lord tells us, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:36-38).

It is a beautiful world and the poets and thinkers of history have testified to it. It is also a broken and mysterious world, one that does not, on its own and without the help of its Author, yield its deepest secrets very easily. But the Author and Sustainer of the world has revealed himself and has thrown a powerful light on everything. He has told us what is the secret of the universe and its most profound law. Its deepest heartbeat is sacrificial self-donation, and that pattern of one being given up for the sake of the other is the imprint of the hand of the Creator. God has told us in the person of Jesus Christ what he is like, and he has told us to try to be like him. We must be merciful. We must not judge nor condemn. We must forgive. Let us work on this, then!
(E.J.Tyler)

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That disturbance in your spirit, the temptation which envelops you, seems to blindfold the eyes of your soul.

You are in darkness. Don't insist on walking by yourself, for, by yourself you will fall. Go to your Director — to the person in charge — and he will remind you of those words of Raphael the Archangel to Tobias:

'Take comfort; before long God will heal you.' Be obedient and the scales will fall from your eyes, and God will fill you with grace and with peace.
(The Way, no.715)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ      BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The First Chapter         Meditation

THE kingdom of God is within you," says the Lord.

Turn, then, to God with all your heart. Forsake this wretched world and your soul shall find rest. Learn to despise external things, to devote yourself to those that are within, and you will see the kingdom of God come unto you, that kingdom which is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, gifts not given to the impious.

Christ will come to you offering His consolation, if you prepare a fit dwelling for Him in your heart, whose beauty and glory, wherein He takes delight, are all from within. His visits with the inward man are frequent, His communion sweet and full of consolation, His peace great, and His intimacy wonderful indeed.
                                                                      (Continuing)

(March 10) St. Dominic Savio (1842-1857)
So many holy persons seem to die young. Among them was Dominic Savio, the patron of choirboys. Born into a peasant family at Riva, Italy, young Dominic joined St. John Bosco as a student at the Oratory in Turin at the age of 12. He impressed

John with his desire to be a priest and to help him in his work with neglected boys. A peacemaker and an organizer, young Dominic founded a group he called the Company of the Immaculate Conception which, besides being devotional, aided John Bosco with the boys and with manual work. All the members save one, Dominic, would in 1859 join John in the beginnings of his Salesian congregation. By that time, Dominic had been called home to heaven. As a youth, Dominic spent hours rapt in prayer. His raptures he called "my distractions." Even in play, he said that at times "It seems heaven is opening just above me. I am afraid I may say or do something that will make the other boys laugh." Dominic would say, "I can't do big things. But I want all I do, even the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God." Dominic's health, always frail, led to lung problems and he was sent home to recuperate. As was the custom of the day, he was bled in the thought that this would help, but it only worsened his condition. He died on March 9, 1857, after receiving the Last Sacraments. St. John Bosco himself wrote the account of his life. Some thought that Dominic was too young to be considered a saint. St. Pius X declared that just the opposite was true, and went ahead with his cause. Dominic was canonized in 1954.
Dominic was painfully aware that he was different from his peers. He tried to keep his piety from his friends lest he have to endure their laughter. Even after his death, his youth marked him as a misfit among the saints and some argued that he was too young to be canonized. Pius X wisely disagreed. For no one is too young—or too old or too anything else—to achieve the holiness to which we are all called. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Isaiah 1:10, 16-20; Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23; Matthew 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must

obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the market-places and to have men call them 'Rabbi'. But you are not to be called 'Rabbi', for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father', for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher', for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:1-12)

I think we could say that there has been a gradual shift in the general attitude of the Church towards the religions of the world. If we consider the attitude expressed in many of the texts of the Old Testament, the religions of the peoples are hardly portrayed in a positive light. They are considered dangers to the purity of revealed religion. The chosen people are solemnly warned against the false idols of the peoples and are commanded to put down the idols and rites of the peoples they are soon to invade as they

enter the Promised Land. The dramatic case of the worship of the golden calf in the wilderness comes to mind. The confrontation between Elijah and the four hundred prophets of Baal also comes to mind. St Paul has harsh things to say of the false religions in his Letter to the Romans. However, when addressing the Greeks in Athens he spoke positively of “the unknown god” whose monument he had seen. He connects that “unknown god” with the only true God he had come to announce. Some of the Fathers of the early Church accepted that seeds of the Word were to be found in the religions of the peoples. In our modern age the Church looks positively on the religions of the world and seeks a respectful dialogue with them, and has numerous structures to institute and develop this dialogue. We remember the positive references to indigenous religion which Pope John Paul uttered during his speech to the Australian aborigines at Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Now, while we welcome and participate in this positive appreciation, there is also a darker side in religions — including indigenous religions, one characteristic of fallen man. Religious institutions can easily become corrupt because their protagonists are fallen and corrupted by sin. The rituals, myths and structures of religions, including indigenous religions, often betray a desire for power, social status and the esteem of others. Our Lord in our Gospel today warns against pride in the Pharisees, and he requires the opposite — humility — of his disciples.

At times it is said that our Lord overthrew the religion of the Old Testament and replaced it with the purer religion he himself revealed. Not at all. He had profound respect for the religion of the Old Testament. After all, he, as God, had revealed it. Before Moses was, I am, he said. He drew the Old into the New which he was now revealing, and fulfilled it. He had not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets, he said, but to fulfil them, saying that not one dot would be done away with till all was fulfilled. We remember his love for the Temple of his heavenly Father. After three days Mary and Joseph found the boy Jesus in the Temple among the doctors. We remember how after curing the lepers he told them to keep the matter to themselves, but to go to show themselves to the priests and to do what Moses had commanded. He cleansed the Temple of the buyers and sellers, and was full of zeal for his Father’s House. In our Gospel today our Lord tells the crowds and his disciples that they are to respect the chair of Moses and those who occupy it. These are to be obeyed when they legitimately and properly teach the law of Moses. But he does warn against the corruption of those who sit in that chair. Our Lord accused the scribes and Pharisees of hypocrisy, and warned his disciples against their “leaven.” In this respect they were not to be imitated. Let us listen again to our Lord’s words: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for men to see” (Matthew 23:1-12). Our Lord insisted that what ought permeate religion was humility and lowliness. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” He is the model, for he said that he was meek and humble of heart, and as St Paul wrote, we are to let this mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus.

Let us then aim to be humble. Let us remember that pride is present in much of religion and it can be very present in our practice of the religion of Jesus Christ. We must root it out, replacing it with the humility of Christ. Let us then ask God insistently and perseveringly for the grace to be humble. Let us remember too that humility is positively assisted by humiliations, provided these humiliations are accepted humbly. Christ’s path was one of humility, and ours must be too.
(E.J.Tyler)

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I am not able to conquer myself, you write despondently. And I answer: But, have you really tried to use the means?
(The Way, no. 716)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ           BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The First Chapter        Meditation

Therefore, faithful soul, prepare your heart for this Bridegroom that He may come and dwell within you; He Himself says: "If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him."

Give place, then, to Christ, but deny entrance to all others, for when you have Christ you are rich and He is sufficient for you. He will provide for you. He will supply your every want, so that you need not trust in frail, changeable men. Christ remains forever, standing firmly with us to the end.
                                                                                 (Continuing)

(March 11) St. John Ogilvie (c. 1579-1615)
John Ogilvie's noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and partly Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to the continent to be educated. There John became interested in the popular debates going on between Catholic and Calvinist scholars. Confused by the arguments of Catholic scholars whom he sought out, he turned to Scripture. Two texts particularly struck him: "God wills all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth," and "Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you." Slowly, John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all kinds of people. Among these, he noted, were many martyrs. He decided to become Catholic and was received into the Church at Louvain, Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17. John continued his studies, first with the Benedictines, then as a student at the Jesuit College at Olmutz. He joined the Jesuits and for the next 10 years underwent their rigorous intellectual and spiritual training. Ordained a priest in France in 1610, he met two Jesuits who had just returned from Scotland after suffering arrest and imprisonment. They saw little hope for any successful work there in view of the tightening of the penal laws. But a fire had been lit within John. For the next two and a half years he pleaded to be missioned there. Sent by his superiors, he secretly entered Scotland posing as a horse trader or a soldier returning from the wars in Europe. Unable to do significant work among the relatively few Catholics in Scotland, John made his way back to Paris to consult his superiors. Rebuked for having left his assignment in Scotland, he was sent back. He warmed to the task before him and had some success in making converts and in secretly serving Scottish Catholics. But he was soon betrayed, arrested and brought before the court. His trial dragged on until he had been without food for 26 hours. He was imprisoned and deprived of sleep. For eight days and nights he was dragged around, prodded with sharp sticks, his hair pulled out. Still, he refused to reveal the names of Catholics or to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the king in spiritual affairs. He underwent a second and third trial but held firm. At his final trial he assured his judges: "In all that concerns the king, I will be slavishly obedient; if any attack his temporal power, I will shed my last drop of blood for him. But in the things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king unjustly seizes I cannot and must not obey." Condemned to death as a traitor, he was faithful to the end, even when on the scaffold he was offered his freedom and a fine living if he would deny his faith. His courage in prison and in his martyrdom was reported throughout Scotland. John Ogilvie was canonized in 1976, becoming the first Scottish saint since 1250.
John came of age when neither Catholics nor Protestants were willing to tolerate one another. Turning to Scripture, he found words that enlarged his vision. Although he became a Catholic and died for his faith, he understood the meaning of “small-c catholic,” the wide range of believers who embrace Christianity. Even now he undoubtedly rejoices in the ecumenical spirit fostered by the Second Vatican Council and joins us in our prayer for unity with all believers. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Jeremiah 18:18-20; Psalm 31:5-6, 14-16; Matthew 20:17-28

Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn

him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life! Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favour of him. What is it you want? he asked. She said, Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom. You don't know what you are asking, Jesus said to them. Can you drink the cup I am going to drink? We can, they answered. Jesus said to them, You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father. When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:17-28)

Normally speaking, there is nothing quite like “success.” By “success” I mean the praise and acceptance of others for what one has done. In the minds of many, to attain the praise and acceptance of others vindicates the truth and value of what one has done. The president of a country takes unpopular measures — say, to defend and protect the unborn — and the mere unpopularity of his decisions tells against the truth of his measures. Thus many seem to think. In our Gospel passage today our Lord takes his

disciples aside and presses on them very plainly that he is going to be overcome and put down. He is going to fail to win the praise and the acceptance of those who matter in the nation. “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:17-28). It must have seemed inexplicable to our Lord’s disciples. They had great difficulty in taking it in. Here was a man whose power knew no limits. Anything he chose to do he could do effortlessly. His command over nature and the underworld was complete. His enemies could not lay hands on him — he had no difficulty eluding them. We see this on various occasions in the Gospel. Even when he was in their hands, he could slip out of capture. For instance, when he returned to his own town of Nazareth, his townsmen were so infuriated with him that they seized him and hustled him out of the town to do away with him over the cliff. But, we read, he slipped through the crowd and went away, making his headquarters in Capernaum. On another occasion after he plainly claimed to be divine the Pharisees and others picked up stones with which to stone him. But, we are told, our Lord eluded them. In our passage today, though, our Lord tells his disciples that they are all going to Jerusalem and there he will be betrayed, condemned and put to death. He seems to be choosing the worst and most “useless” path, one that defied all rational judgment.

One of the philosophical principles that most distinguishes modern thought is “usefulness.” Utilitarianism is the principle guiding much of popular and public morality. It is useful to allow embryonic stem cell research, so it is morally good. Now, does not the apparent uselessness of what our Lord was choosing to do have something to say about this? What was the “use” of putting himself into the hands of his enemies? What was the “use” of being paraded before the eyes of the public as a disgrace and an obvious failure? In fact, we know how “useful” it was: it redeemed the world. But the utility of it was hidden from their eyes and would be understood only later as a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is yet another reason, one taken from the ways of God himself, why the Utilitarianism that has stamped much of philosophy during the past two centuries is so poor a principle. The “usefulness” of doing what is revealed by God to be right can easily be hidden from our eyes. What is the “use” of defending the life of a profoundly malformed unborn child? It would be more useful to him and to others to snuff out the thorn-studded life that is ahead of him. But no. What seems to be “useful” to happiness and success — the principle of Utilitarianism — is not the basic and constitutive principle of the moral life. No one else could see the “usefulness” of our Lord’s sufferings and death, but still our Lord resolutely took the path towards his Passion. It was the will of his heavenly Father and the redemptive plan of God, foretold in one way or another by the Scriptures. However many might react to his being so decisively rejected, however his own disciples might react, it was the right thing to do in the eyes of his heavenly Father. Again, apart from our Lord’s mission to suffer rejection and death, another challenge to Utilitarianism is what our Lord then presents as his example and his way. He corrects his disciples by presenting his own example. It is the way of servanthood. True greatness lies in humble service. This is the meaning of our Lord’s passion and death, and it is the path his disciples must follow in their everyday lives. Power and position might seem to be the more “useful” way to attain success in life. But Christ teaches otherwise.

As St Paul writes, the cross seemed foolish to the Greeks, and was a stumbling-block to the Jews. What seems foolish to the world is wisdom in the eyes of God. The greatest wisdom is the pursuit of the path of Christ and that path leads to Calvary, a Calvary that takes countless forms depending on the vocation and circumstances of the believer. Whatever be the form of it, the Cross is the fount of divine life in the world. It is the most eminently “useful” of paths, however absurd and “useless” it seems to the wise of this world. Utilitarianism is no door to morality, holiness and divine life.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Blessed misfortunes of the earth! Poverty, tears, hatred, injustice, dishonour. You can endure all things in him who strengthens you.
(The Way, no.717)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ        (BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE)

The First Chapter       Meditation

Do not place much confidence in weak and mortal man, helpful and friendly though he be; and do not grieve too much if he sometimes opposes and contradicts you. Those who are with us today may be against us tomorrow, and vice versa, for men change with the wind. Place all your trust in God; let Him be your fear and your love. He will answer for you; He will do what is best for you.

You have here no lasting home. You are a stranger and a pilgrim wherever you may be, and you shall have no rest until you are wholly united with Christ.
                                                   (Continuing)

(March 12) Blessed Angela Salawa (1881-1922)
Angela served Christ and Christ’s little ones with all her strength. Born in Siepraw, near Kraków, Poland, she was the 11th child

of Bartlomiej and Ewa Salawa. In 1897, she moved to Kraków where her older sister Therese lived. Angela immediately began to gather together and instruct young women domestic workers. During World War I, she helped prisoners of war without regard for their nationality or religion. The writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross were a great comfort to her. Angela gave great service in caring for soldiers wounded in World War I. After 1918 her health did not permit her to exercise her customary apostolate. Addressing herself to Christ, she wrote in her diary, "I want you to be adored as much as you were destroyed." In another place, she wrote, "Lord, I live by your will. I shall die when you desire; save me because you can." At her 1991 beatification in Kraków, Pope John Paul II said: "It is in this city that she worked, that she suffered and that her holiness came to maturity. While connected to the spirituality of St. Francis, she showed an extraordinary responsiveness to the action of the Holy Spirit" (L'Osservatore Romano, volume 34, number 4, 1991).
Henri de Lubac, S.J., wrote: "The best Christians and the most vital are by no means to be found either inevitably or even generally among the wise or the clever, the intelligentsia or the politically-minded, or those of social consequence. And consequently what they say does not make the headlines; what they do does not come to the public eye. Their lives are hidden from the eyes of the world, and if they do come to some degree of notoriety, that is usually late in the day, and exceptional, and always attended by the risk of distortion" (The Splendour of the Church, p. 187). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1:1-4 and 6; Luke 16:19-31

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his

sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' (Luke 16:19-31)

The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is one of the most well known stories in history, with implications for human culture from age to age. Neglect of the poor will bring down on the rich the judgment of God. God will vindicate the poor. But let us look at it from the aspect of what it suggests about faith and conviction. The parable suggests that the Rich Man passed his whole life in a comfortable neglect of the poor whom he saw before him every day. Lazarus the beggar lay at his very gate. He was

unavoidable. The sight of him was before the Rich Man constantly. But he did nothing, and this inaction was absolutely deliberate. It suggests a firm attitude of the will, a wilful refusal to respond to the promptings of the conscience resulting, presumably, in the conscience ceasing to warn. A culpable blindness set in, a blameworthy deafness to the cries of the poor. Though God is not mentioned, the Rich Man is obviously entirely unconcerned about God, his will and the Judgment he must face. It almost looks as if the Rich Man has gradually become an unbeliever, practically speaking — and all this was culpable. And so the Rich Man at death was judged by God and condemned to Hell. From the midst of the flames, in the story, he appeals to Abraham to send Lazarus to alleviate his sufferings — but no, it cannot be. Let us listen to the discussion and to what Abraham says about faith and religious conviction. Buried in Hell, the Rich Man refers to the living, his own brothers. What does he say of them? They are leading the same kind of life that he himself had lived, unconcerned for God and neighbour. They are part of the chosen people, because Abraham says that “they have Moses and the Prophets” — as had the Rich Man himself. So they have full access to the teaching of Moses and the Prophets, containing God’s Revelation. Incidentally, this reply of Abraham in our Lord’s parable suggests that the doctrine of Hell is firmly implied in the teaching of the Old Testament. But they are completely neglecting it.

The conversation between Abraham and the Rich Man buried in Hell is brief but significant. The Rich Man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers of their impending doom. Bid Lazarus to go and tell them of the fact of Hell, an eternity of torment awaiting those who wilfully neglect the commandment of God to be just and merciful to those in need. That is not at all necessary, Abraham replies. They have Moses and the Prophets. That is all that is needed. Let them listen to them. The implication is that an extraordinary measure such as the sending of a special messenger from heaven is not the way of God. He has revealed himself and his plan and this has been amply authenticated by absolutely reliable witnesses. His revelation has been announced by Moses and the Prophets (and since the revelation of Jesus Christ, by the Church). That is enough. That is all that is needed, and that is generally all that will be given. Ah, but no! the Rich Man cries. More is needed! My brothers have not listened to Moses and the Prophets, and they will not listen to them. They need something far more arresting. They need to be convinced. Send Lazarus to them from the dead — then they will listen. Then they will be convinced. But what does Abraham say? They will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead (Luke 16:19-31). The allusion is obviously to the resurrection of Christ from the dead. There had been Moses and the Prophets, whose testimony pointed to him. At his Transfiguration on the Mountain Moses appeared with Christ in glory, together with Elijah representing the Prophets. The Scriptures bore witness to Jesus, and as well as this Jesus himself rose from the dead. But the news of this did not convince those who had rejected him. The reply of Abraham makes it clear that religious conviction is not just a matter of having evidence. Conviction requires right dispositions, without which neither Moses nor the Prophets, nor even if a person were to rise from the dead, will avail.

All the evidence in the world will not convince if a person is indisposed to believe. Belief is not just a matter of the intellect — even though the intellect is deeply involved. It is above all a moral matter. One’s moral stance, one’s disposition of will, what one wants, is of critical importance for faith and the hearty acceptance of God and his revelation. One must repent in order truly to believe. One must have the right moral disposition if one is to attain the conviction which God’s revelation and the teaching of Christ call for. Let us then ask God for the grace to be properly disposed, to have a heart properly inclined to him. We need to be good soil if the seed is to produce its harvest. As St Paul writes, let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
(E.J.Tyler)

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You are suffering, and you want to bear it in silence. It does not matter if you complain, — it is the natural reaction of our poor flesh, — as long as your will, now and always, wants for yourself only what God wants.
(The Way, no.718)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ          BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The First Chapter         Meditation

Why do you look about here when this is not the place of your repose? Dwell rather upon heaven and give but a passing glance to all earthly things. They all pass away, and you together with them. Take care, then, that you do not cling to them lest you be entrapped and perish. Fix your mind on the Most High, and pray unceasingly to Christ.

If you do not know how to meditate on heavenly things, direct your thoughts to Christ's passion and willingly behold His sacred wounds. If you turn devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmata of Christ, you will find great comfort in suffering, you will mind but little the scorn of men, and you will easily bear their slanderous talk.
                                                                             (Continuing)

(March 13) St. Leander of Seville (c. 550-600)
The next time you recite the Nicene Creed at Mass, think of today’s saint. For it was Leander of Seville who, as bishop, introduced the practice in the sixth century. He saw it as a way to help reinforce the faith of his people and as an antidote against the heresy of Arianism, which denied the divinity of Christ. By the end of his life, Leander had helped Christianity flourish in Spain at a time of political and religious upheaval. Leander’s own family was heavily influenced by Arianism, but he himself grew up to be a fervent Christian. He entered a monastery as a young man and spent three years in prayer and study. At the end of that tranquil period he was made a bishop. For the rest of his life he worked strenuously to fight against heresy. The death of the anti-Christian king in 586 helped Leander’s cause. He and the new king worked hand in hand to restore orthodoxy and a renewed sense of morality. Leander succeeded in persuading many Arian bishops to change their loyalties. Leander died around 600. In Spain he is honoured as a Doctor of the Church. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a; Psalm 105:16-21; Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Jesus said, Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time

approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them in the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, they replied, and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time. Jesus said to them, Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes'? Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. (Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46)

There has been a current of English religious thought that sees an analogy between the way God governs as set forth in the bible, and the way he governs as observed in the course of nature. The Anglican bishop Joseph Butler (1692-1752) in his great apologetic work The Analogy of Religion — in which he meant to attack Deism — argues that the general analogy observable between the two leads us to the conclusion that there is one Author of both. If you deny the God of revelation, the same reasons

must lead you to deny the God of nature. While his argument is convincing for those who would not go so far as to deny the God of nature, it will not convince those who do. I mention this simply to introduce the notion of a likeness between the workings of nature and the workings of revelation. We see variants of it constantly in the Scriptures: Christ is often using parables, drawing on the course of the world to illustrate the course of grace. The world which is the handiwork of God helps us appreciate his handiwork in our redemption. One image which we see at times in the Old Testament is that of the vineyard. Work on a vineyard has its parallel in God’s work on his chosen people. In the prophet Isaiah the vineyard is the chosen people and God is the owner of the vineyard. In one of Isaiah’s prophecies, God asks sorrowfully, what is there that I could have done that I have not done for my vineyard? Yet it is constantly yielding sour grapes. The same image is used in Psalm 79 (80). In one of our Lord’s parables the owner of the vineyard — an image the people would have immediately remembered from the Scriptures — goes out at various times of the day to gain workers for his vineyard. At the end of the day he pays them according to his mercy. In our Gospel today (Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46) the owner of the vineyard appointed tenants to look after it and to collect its produce. They refused and rejected him. Their punishment was severe. The point is clear. The vineyard is God’s people and God expects those responsible for its care and development to meet their responsibilities with the utmost dedication.

Our Lord’s parable here of the owner and his vineyard reminds us not only of the same image as employed by the prophets in the Old Testament. It also reminds us of our Lord’s later development of this very image. During the Last Supper he spoke — as reported in the Gospel of St John — of the vineyard again. He said there that he is the vine and that his Father is the vinedresser. So now not just the vineyard is imagined, but the vine. Moreover, the vine is not the people of God, but himself, Christ. The Father is not just the owner of the vine, but the one who also works on it. He is working on the branches of the vine and we, Christ’s disciples, are those branches. So the people are the branches of the vine and he, Christ our redeemer, is the vine itself through whom runs the sap that gives life to the branches. The life of the branches is drawn from the vine, and it is the Father who is constantly working on each branch ensuring that it makes maximum use of the life available to it from the vine. He prunes each branch in order to make it produce more. If a branch is cut off from the vine it will wither and die. So each member of God’s people must remain in Christ. The only way we can produce the fruit God means us to produce is by remaining in Christ just as Christ remains in the Father. The life that runs from Christ the vine into each of his branches is that of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who is the life of the Father and the Son is the gift of the Father and the Son to the Church, and through the Church to each of the Church’s members. This Gift comes to us at our Baptism. It comes again at our Confirmation and it is nourished in each of the Sacraments, especially the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist. It is sustained and developed in married life by the Sacrament of Matrimony and in those ordained to the priesthood by the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Through Christ we receive the life of God and that life is the grace of the Holy Spirit. The image of this which our Lord chooses to use is that of the Vine giving life to the branches.

Let us listen to our Lord in today’s Gospel referring to the owner of the vineyard and the love he has for his vineyard. Let us think of this oft-used image in the Scriptures and especially how it is used by our Lord himself, and the doctrine he means it to convey. Especially let us think of it as showing the intimate union between the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we who by God’s grace are his children. He loves us and continually pours his life into our souls. Let us never neglect our union with him. If we do, we shall wither and die.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Never despair. Lazarus was dead and decaying: 'By now he will smell; this is the fourth day', says Martha to Jesus.

If you hear God's inspiration and follow it — 'Lazarus, come out!' — you will return to Life.
(The Way, no.719)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ             BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The First Chapter                     Meditation

When Christ was in the world, He was despised by men; in the hour of need He was forsaken by acquaintances and left by friends to the depths of scorn. He was willing to suffer and to be despised; do you dare to complain of anything? He had enemies and defamers; do you want everyone to be your friend, your benefactor? How can your patience be rewarded if no adversity test it? How can you be a friend of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship? Suffer with Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with Him.

Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or tasted a little of His ardent love, you would care nothing at all for your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the reproach you suffer; for love of Him makes a man despise himself.
                                                               (Continuing)

Brought before the proconsul Dion (in modern-day Algeria), Maximilian refused enlistment in the Roman army.

Maximilian said: "I cannot serve, I cannot do evil. I am a Christian."

Dion replied: "You must serve or die."

Maximilian: "I will never serve. You can cut off my head, but I will not be a soldier of this world, for I am a soldier of Christ. My army is the army of God, and I cannot fight for this world. I tell you I am a Christian."

Dion: "There are Christian soldiers serving our rulers Diocletian and Maximian, Constantius and Galerius."

Maximilian: "That is their business. I also am a Christian, and I cannot serve."

Dion: "But what harm do soldiers do?"

Maximilian: "You know well enough."

Dion: "If you will not do your service I shall condemn you to death for contempt of the army."

Maximilian: "I shall not die. If I go from this earth my soul will live with Christ my Lord."

Maximilian was 21 years old when he gladly offered his life to God. His father went home from the execution site joyful, thanking God that he had been able to offer heaven such a gift. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20; Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them. Then Jesus told them this parable: Jesus continued: There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild

living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no-one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)

Were it not for Revealed Religion I cannot help but wonder how explicit would be man’s sense of sin. Yes, in its sense of guilt the conscience does or can contain a vague sense of God as the ultimate Obliger. If it succeeds in imparting a sense of God in moral obligation, the conscience will convey to the wrongdoer that his action is sinful. But this sense is vague and is easily replaced. A good case can be made for regarding the conscience, understood as a dim sense of an impending judgment on one’s

wrongdoing, as a first principle of religion. It can bring home the feeling of a judgment on sin and therefore of a Judge. But it is so easy to dismiss the thought and to neglect the promptings of the conscience. Where else would the sense of sin come from? I am not sure that the consideration of nature (considered as the world and its course) would impress on man the reality of his sinfulness. So the natural sense of sin is very uncertain. Again, if we consider the religions of the world that have nothing to do with the revealed Judaeo-Christian religion, what prominence is given by them to the sense of sin? It is there, but it is a great question as to its prominence. It has a certain prominence in Islam, but Mahomet (in his own way) drew on the Judaeo-Christian religion and, with major differences, placed himself within its prophetic tradition. Setting aside the religions of the world, let us consider the history of thought and philosophy. Not a lot of attention or emphasis has ever been given to the fact of sin. All this is to say that the sense of sin can easily be absent or lost. Be all this as it may and a discussion such as this could be inconclusive in view of the unending variety of the data, there is no doubt that Revealed Religion, the religion of the Judaeo-Christian revelation, gives to the sin of mankind a tremendous prominence. Among the first descriptions of Christ recorded in the Gospel of St John is that given by St John the Baptist. Christ is the Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world. Sin has made all the difference to man and the world, and the appreciation of this is one of the principal contributions of Christianity to the religious understanding of mankind.

The problem facing the world is its sin, and the Christian religion is emphatic that it is Jesus alone who takes it away. The Gospel of St John makes it clear that the reason why God sent his son was to save the world from sin. Sin was at the forefront of Christ’s concerns and our Gospel today shows him with sinners. But our Gospel passage also shows a surprising novelty, we might say. It was certainly a novelty to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Mosaic law. God loves to be with sinners, which is to say with those who know they are sinners and who wish to come to him. The Law and the Prophets had shown God to hate sin (which he does) and to punish sinners (which he does). The impression, then, had also been that God will not have anything to do with sinners. But here we have Christ attracting “the tax collectors and sinners” and welcoming them. He wished them to come to him and to hear him. He wished them to regard him as their Friend, Teacher and Saviour. This, as far as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were concerned, was out of character with the all-holy God. “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them”, they muttered. And so our Lord told his parable of the father who was prodigal with his love for his prodigally neglectful and sinful son. God is like the father of the parable who constantly wanted to be with his wayward son. The whole story is about sin and God’s response (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32). Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. This is the catchcry of the story, the refrain that pervades the whole. It is, we might say, the refrain wafting across the ages and describing the story of mankind. It shows how prominent sin has been in the story of the world. But the surprising thing is that God’s first step is not to condemn the world but to take dramatic steps to save it. He asks that man — if only because of the sufferings his sin has brought upon his own head — recognize his sins and begin the return to him. God is awaiting us, and our Lord’s welcome of sinners and his story about the welcome by the father of the prodigal son shows this.

There are many things the Christian religion has taught mankind, and our Gospel passage today sets forth especially two of them: the fact of sin and the love of God for sinners. Let each of us learn from the tax collectors and sinners to recognize our sins and come to Christ who wishes to welcome us and forgive us. Let us beware of failing to recognize sin. Let us also learn from Christ the character of God. He is all-holy and he hates sin. But he is all-loving and he loves sinners. The Incarnation and the Atonement wrought by the Son of God made man show this. Let us then take our stand with Jesus who is the Lamb of God who, in taking away the sin of the world, is the world’s one and only Saviour.
(E.J.Tyler)

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It's hard! — Yes, I know. But, forward! No one will be rewarded — and what a reward! — except those who fight bravely.
(The Way, no. 720)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ       BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The First Chapter           Meditation

A man who is a lover of Jesus and of truth, a truly interior man who is free from uncontrolled affections, can turn to God at will and rise above himself to enjoy spiritual peace.

He who tastes life as it really is, not as men say or think it is, is indeed wise with the wisdom of God rather than of men.
                                                               (Continuing)

Prayers this week: My eyes are ever fixed on the Lord, for he releases my feet from the snare. O look at me and be merciful, for I am wretched and alone. (Psalm 24: 15-16)

Father, you have taught us to overcome our sins by prayer, fasting and works of mercy. When we are discouraged by our weakness, give us confidence in your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(March 15) St. Louise de Marillac (d. 1660)
Louise, born near Meux, France, lost her mother when she was still a child, her beloved father when she was but 15. Her desire

to become a nun was discouraged by her confessor, and a marriage was arranged. One son was born of this union. But she soon found herself nursing her beloved husband through a long illness that finally led to his death. Louise was fortunate to have a wise and sympathetic counsellor, St. Francis de Sales, and then his friend, the Bishop of Belley, France. Both of these men were available to her only periodically. But from an interior illumination she understood that she was to undertake a great work under the guidance of another person she had not yet met. This was the holy priest M. Vincent, later to be known as St. Vincent de Paul. At first he was reluctant to be her confessor, busy as he was with his "Confraternities of Charity." Members were aristocratic ladies of charity who were helping him nurse the poor and look after neglected children, a real need of the day. But the ladies were busy with many of their own concerns and duties. His work needed many more helpers, especially ones who were peasants themselves and therefore close to the poor and could win their hearts. He also needed someone who could teach them and organize them. Only over a long period of time, as Vincent de Paul became more acquainted with Louise, did he come to realize that she was the answer to his prayers. She was intelligent, self-effacing and had physical strength and endurance that belied her continuing feeble health. The missions he sent her on eventually led to four simple young women joining her. Her rented home in Paris became the training centre for those accepted for the service of the sick and poor. Growth was rapid and soon there was need of a so-called rule of life, which Louise herself, under the guidance of Vincent, drew up for the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (though he preferred "Daughters" of Charity). He had always been slow and prudent in his dealings with Louise and the new group. He said that he had never had any idea of starting a new community, that it was God who did everything. "Your convent," he said, "will be the house of the sick; your cell, a hired room; your chapel, the parish church; your cloister, the streets of the city or the wards of the hospital." Their dress was to be that of the peasant women. It was not until years later that Vincent de Paul would finally permit four of the women to take annual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. It was still more years before the company would be formally approved by Rome and placed under the direction of Vincent's own congregation of priests. Many of the young women were illiterate and it was with reluctance that the new community undertook the care of neglected children. Louise was busy helping wherever needed despite her poor health. She travelled throughout France, establishing her community members in hospitals, orphanages and other institutions. At her death on March 15, 1660, the congregation had more than 40 houses in France. Six months later St. Vincent de Paul followed her in death. Louise de Marillac was canonized in 1934 and declared patroness of social workers in 1960. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17 or 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17; Ps 19:8-11; 1 Cor 1:22-25; John 2:13-25

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple

area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market! His disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for your house will consume me. Then the Jews demanded of him, What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this? Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. The Jews replied, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days? But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man. (John 2:13-25)

We do read of prophets in the Old Testament inveighing against Temple abuses and the inadequacy of the worship often conducted therein. But we do not read of any taking it upon themselves physically to expel from the Temple all who were conducting or doing business there. Our Gospel passage today portrays in vivid strokes our Lord driving all the animals and all the businesses out. We can hear the bleating of the sheep and the cries of the cattle as they run ahead of our Lord who strikes them

with his whip. We can imagine the sound of the tables and the money as they are thrown and scattered about the floor, and their owners hurriedly retrieving what they could and departing in haste. Our Lord’s voice rang out in the Temple in decisive command and no one dared to oppose or resist him. Such was his power and authority as they saw him filled with zeal for the honour of his heavenly Father. It was yet another instance of the religious sovereignty Jesus displayed in so many ways and which the people perceived with such wonderment. The leaders see it too and demand that he prove the authority he was exercising. But here we especially see Christ’s love for his Father whose house was the Temple. In some special way the Father almighty abode there. As we contemplate the scene we too ought be renewed in our sense of the presence of God almighty in his Temple. But where is his Temple? Where does God abide? Where on earth is God to be located now, because a central feature of revealed religion is that God has come to live with his people. He is God-with-us. The Temple of Jerusalem has gone. The Temple Christ cleansed has passed away. Where is the Temple wherein God dwells now? Our Lord tells us in his answer to the Jews: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:13-25). St John tells us that our Lord was referring to the temple that was his body. He himself is the Temple of God. No prophet or king or priest ever claimed such a thing, only Jesus. In him dwells the fullness of the triune God — Father, himself the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Where he, Jesus, is, and where he Jesus, goes, there is present the great God in all his triune reality.

But there is more. Christ’s reference to his body being the Temple of God reminds us of his reference to himself as the Bridegroom. He is the Bridegroom of the new people of God, just as Yahweh God was the Bridegroom of his chosen people. Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church and unites himself to the Church in a profound unity and sharing of life. The divine life Christ shares with the Father — and that life is the Holy Spirit — Christ shares with his Spouse the Church. The Church is the Bride of Christ, and also his Body. As the Church’s Bridegroom he becomes one body with her. These are inspired expressions which come from the Holy Spirit and they describe the ineffable union that exists between Christ and his Church. He is her Head, and thus it is that because Christ is the Temple of God here on earth, the Church his Spouse and Body becomes in, through and with him the Temple of God here on earth. The disciples could see before them the person of Christ as could all who spoke to him. We do not see him visibly before us but we do see his Church which by the power of the Holy Spirit is his mystical body, with all its admitted human limitations. The great Presence, the all-important Protagonist active in the Church he founded and constantly sustains, is Jesus himself, the image of the unseen God, son of Mary and son of the eternal Father. The Church by her ministry and Sacraments makes present Christ who abides constantly within her as in his Temple. So it is that just as when Jesus Christ walked the earth there was present one in whom dwelt the fullness of God, his living Temple, so now in the Church there dwells the fullness of God because the Church is the mystical Spouse and Body of the living risen Jesus. From the Church there flows the life of God coming from Jesus who dwells within her. Just as Christ demanded a profound sense of the presence of God in the Temple, so he asks of us a profound sense of the true nature of the Church. It is not just a vast association of believers. It is above all the Temple, the abode, of God and Christ here on earth.

Christ demanded reverence and a sense of the presence of God in his Temple. We who are baptized into him and into his Church ought cultivate a profound reverence in our attitude to him, to Jesus, and to his body the Church. He is the Church’s Bridegroom and Head. The Church is his mystical Spouse and his mystical Body, and therefore his Temple. Let us then strive by our daily lives to bear witness to these astounding facts and allow them to bring us to the sanctity to which Christ calls us.
(E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.583-586, 797-798

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If everything seems to be fading away, if your spiritual edifice totters, find your support in that filial confidence in Jesus and Mary the sure and steady rock on which you should have built from the beginning.
(The Way, no.721)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ      BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The First Chapter                  Meditation

He who learns to live the interior life and to take little account of outward things, does not seek special places or times to perform devout exercises. A spiritual man quickly recollects himself because he has never wasted his attention upon externals. No outside work, no business that cannot wait stands in his way. He adjusts himself to things as they happen. He whose disposition is well ordered cares nothing about the strange, perverse behaviour of others, for a man is upset and distracted only in proportion as he engrosses himself in externals.

If all were well with you, therefore, and if you were purified from all sin, everything would tend to your good and be to your profit. But because you are as yet neither entirely dead to self nor free from all earthly affection, there is much that often displeases and disturbs you. Nothing so mars and defiles the heart of man as impure attachment to created things. But if you refuse external consolation, you will be able to contemplate heavenly things and often to experience interior joy.
                                                                          (Concluded)

(March 16) St. Clement Mary Hofbauer (1751-1820)
Clement might be called the second founder of the Redemptorists, as it was he who carried the congregation of St. Alphonsus Liguori to the people north of the Alps. John, the name given him at Baptism, was born in Moravia into a poor family, the ninth of 12 children. Although he longed to be a priest there was no money for studies, and he was apprenticed to a baker. But God guided the young man's fortunes. He found work in the bakery of a monastery where he was allowed to attend classes in its Latin school. After the abbot there died, John tried the life of a hermit but when Emperor Joseph II abolished hermitages, John again returned to Vienna and to baking. One day after serving Mass at the cathedral of St. Stephen, he called a carriage for two ladies waiting there in the rain. In their conversation they learned that he could not pursue his priestly studies because of a lack of funds. They generously offered to support both him and his friend, Thaddeus, in their seminary studies. The two went to Rome, where they were drawn to St. Alphonsus' vision of religious life and to the Redemptorists. The two young men were ordained together in 1785. Newly professed at age 34, Clement Mary, as he was now called, and Thaddeus were sent back to Vienna. But the religious difficulties there caused them to leave and continue north to Warsaw, Poland. There they encountered numerous German-speaking Catholics who had been left priestless by the suppression of the Jesuits. At first they had to live in great poverty and preached outdoor sermons. They were given the church of St. Benno, and for the next nine years they preached five sermons a day, two in German and three in Polish, converting many to the faith. They were active in social work among the poor, founding an orphanage and then a school for boys. Drawing candidates to the congregation, they were able to send missionaries to Poland, Germany and Switzerland. All of these foundations had eventually to be abandoned because of the political and religious tensions of the times. After 20 years of difficult work Clement himself was imprisoned and expelled from the country. Only after another arrest was he able to reach Vienna, where he was to live and work the final 12 years of his life. He quickly became "the apostle of Vienna," hearing the confessions of the rich and poor, visiting the sick, acting as a counsellor to the powerful, sharing his holiness with all in the city. His crowning work was the establishment of a Catholic college in his beloved city. Persecution followed him, and there were those in authority who were able for a while to stop him from preaching. An attempt was made at the highest levels to have him banished. But his holiness and fame protected him and the growth of the Redemptorists. Due to his efforts, the congregation, upon his death in 1820, was firmly established north of the Alps. He was canonized in 1909.
Clement saw his life’s work meet with disaster. Religious and political tensions forced him and his brothers to abandon their ministry in Germany, Poland and Switzerland. Clement himself was exiled from Poland and had to start all over again. Someone once pointed out that the followers of the crucified Jesus should see only new possibilities opening up whenever they meet failure. He encourages us to follow his example, trusting in the Lord to guide us. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: 2 Kings 5:1-15ab; Psalm 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4; Luke 4:24-30

Jesus came to Nazareth and spoke to the people in the synagogue: I tell you the truth, he continued, no prophet is accepted

in his home town. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed— only Naaman the Syrian. All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. (Luke 4:24-30)

What may help us appreciate the drama of our Gospel scene today is to bear in mind what archaeological investigation has suggested regarding the tiny village of Nazareth. It seems to have been a settlement of many centuries, petering out to desertion and then being refounded in the 2nd Century BC. The Franciscan archaeologist Father Bellarmino Baggati was able to conclude during the nineteen fifties that 1st Century AD Nazareth was a tiny agricultural settlement of a few dozen families. This is not to

say that Nazareth was isolated. It was but a walking distance from Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee which at the time of our Lord was being completely rebuilt after its destruction by the Romans. In his work of 1996-1997 Dr Stephen Pfann concluded that “Nazareth was tiny, with two or three clans of families living in 35 homes spread over 2.5 hectares”: some 200-300 persons. Both Nazareth itself and the nearby cosmopolitan city would have been the scene of the carpentry work of Joseph and Jesus, and of course they may also have helped with the crops at harvest time. It seems the hamlet may even have had but a single family farm producing a variety of crops. The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph were part of a tiny community of a few clans who knew one another extremely well. The point is that the interrelatedness between the inhabitants of this obscure bump on the map may have been great. The typical limitations of such villages are well known, especially if any of their members presumes to criticize them or to assume a position above them. And so our Gospel today (Luke 4:24-30) describes our Lord’s return to his tiny place of upbringing where he announces in the synagogue that he is the one promised in the Scriptures, and intimates that he will not be accepted. The reaction to him is so negative that they actually attempt to destroy him. It is a remarkable lesson.

Let us think of this tiny hamlet. One wonders if ever in its long though interrupted history there had been anything quite like this incident. One thinks of Nazareth quietly running its course decade after decade, even century after century, dying out and resuming again. Life just rolled on with its usual round. Suddenly from within its obscure midst stepped forth the greatest of all prophets serenely claiming to be the promised Messiah, and predicting he would not be accepted. The village exploded in anger with murder in its eyes. What all this teaches us is the power and effect of sin. They attempted to kill our Lord whom they had known so well, and whose mother and relatives were among them. It was an extraordinary outburst, perhaps unique in the annals of its own unknown history. Its opportunity was unique and its response may have had no precedent in its past. Our Lord came to his own and his own did not receive him. It is the ultimate reaction of sin to God and his will. There are various ways of coming to an understanding of sin. One can see its effects on others. One can see its effects on oneself. Most especially, though, one sees its effect on Christ. Sin strikes at God, and is exemplified in the attack of Nazareth, intended to be mortal, on the Son of God made man. Its culmination is reached at Calvary where God the Son hangs from the Cross. There is manifested in that spectacle the love of God and the evil of sin. Consider the snapshots at Nazareth. Christ being borne along by the pressure of his townsmen, pushed, shoved and dragged. Christ near a point overlooking some sort of deadly drop. Hostility, irritation, hatred in the air. Mary his mother filled with apprehension, pain, and yet faith in the mission and power of her divine Son. Satan, unseen, active in the midst of the melee. They are all snapshots of sin in open rebellion against the will of God. Then silently in the midst of the confusion Christ slips away, or perhaps with an irresistible look of sovereign command, he faces the crowd and brings the turmoil to a standstill. He passes through the crowd in silence and leaves the town for good. However strong is sin, Christ is the Lord and Master of all.

Reality presents us with two opposites. There is good and there is evil. There is holiness and there is sin. There is Christ and there is Satan. Two Standards are held high, each with a concourse arrayed behind. We each of us have a choice. Let us take our stand with Christ and be part of what he endures, following him closely through the thick and thin of every day, and attaining to life everlasting in him at the end. In him there is life. Away from him there is death.
(E.J.Tyler)

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It has been a long trial this time. Perhaps — and without the perhaps — you haven't borne it well so far, for you were still seeking human consolations. And your Father— God tore them out by the roots so as to leave you nothing to cling to but him.
(The Way, no.722)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ       BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The second chapter            Humility

BE NOT troubled about those who are with you or against you, but take care that God be with you in everything you do. Keep your conscience clear and God will protect you, for the malice of man cannot harm one whom God wishes to help. If you know how to suffer in silence, you will undoubtedly experience God's help. He knows when and how to deliver you; therefore, place yourself in His hands, for it is a divine prerogative to help men and free them from all distress.

It is often good for us to have others know our faults and rebuke them, for it gives us greater humility. When a man humbles himself because of his faults, he easily placates those about him and readily appeases those who are angry with him.
                                                                          (Continuing)

St Patrick (389-461). Born in Great Britain, Pope St. Celestine I sent him to preach the faith in Ireland. In thirty years, he succeeded in converting the whole country after heartbreaking difficulties.

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like

a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow- servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. His fellow- servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow- servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart. (Matthew 18:21-35)

There is simply no getting away from suffering in this life. As a child grows up, perhaps sunny in attitude and manner, with happiness in the face and bright prospects ahead, those responsible for the child must understand that suffering is ahead for the child. We think of the sweep of history with the countless numbers of ordinary persons who have been born, have lived, died and subsequently been forgotten. We can but imagine the vast ocean of suffering, usually hidden yet often manifest,

which this stream of humanity has endured. The suffering has come from the natural elements: fire, storm, drought, famine, whatever. It has also, perhaps largely, come from his fellow man. From his fellow man there has come neglect, insult, persecution, denial of rights. I suspect, though, that a considerable portion of the suffering mankind has borne has come from the failure to forgive. He has received an insult, perhaps a public one. The wound lingers for years and he cannot bring himself to forgive. Again, it could be a terrible denial of rights. I remember reading of one farming family in Burragorang Valley, NSW, in the middle of the nineteenth century. This family had settled on a property but had no money, nothing to live by and were actually starving. A stray cow wandered on to their property — a cow belonging to another settler in the same valley. This family killed the cow and with its meat sustained themselves. Somehow this became known and they were reported and the father was arrested. The draconian penal sentencing of the time resulted in that man being gaoled for years well away from his impoverished family. It was a terrible injustice in view of that family’s need for sustenance. But in a sense it would have been a greater tragedy if as a result of this injustice the family were consumed with bitterness and hatred. No one would know if this was the result for there is no extant documentation or correspondence, but happiness would not have come if it was. Even in terms of strategy — the strategy that is required for the attainment of happiness — the path of forgiveness is obviously the way. Injustice is a major cause of unhappiness, but the failure to forgive perceived injustices is a major contributor too.

Jesus Christ is unequivocal about this. We must forgive our brother who has wronged us. "Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." This is not just wholesome and judicious advice for anyone who is seeking happiness. It is a divine command carrying sanctions in its train. If a person deliberately refuses to forgive, there is awaiting him the judgment of God. Our Lord proceeds to tells a solemn parable about this and there are some fundamental considerations that ought motivate us in the business of forgiving. Firstly, God has forgiven us far more than we shall ever be expected to forgive in others. The servant of the parable had owed the king an astronomical sum of money: ten thousand talents. He simply had no means of paying it and all that was ahead was slavery for himself and his family. But the master took pity on him for his pleas for time and mercy. He cancelled the entire debt! It was an amazing turn of events, and that is our situation before God as a result of his mercy and the redemption wrought by Christ our Redeemer. But what did the servant in the parable do? He proceeded to refuse forgiveness to his fellow servant who owed him a considerable debt, but nothing of the proportions he had owed his master. He was merciless and refused to forgive the debt. That is our situation. We are far, far more indebted to God than is our fellow man to us. God requires of us that we forgive others just as we hope he will forgive us. So the first thing that can assist us in the work of forgiveness is the remembrance of the debt we have towards God. He has given us so much, and we have failed him so very much. It is impossible to calculate the degree to which we have failed God by our sins. Despite this he forgives. But then we have another motive for forgiveness: it is the thought of the judgment of God. Our Lord concludes his parable with the warning: "In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart" (Matthew 18:21-35)

Let us resolve to seek and find the way to forgive. It is one of the greatest achievements in life. Some persons look on life as successful if they gain great material wealth or popularity. A far greater achievement is to have forgiven from the heart every single person who has hurt and injured us in any way at all. What a wonderful end to life, what a wonderful entry into the presence of our almighty Judge, if at our last breath there is no one in our life who has hurt us who has not been forgiven. Let us pray for the grace to do this. It is not easy. It can be the work of a lifetime.
(E.J.Tyler)

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So you couldn't care less? Don't try to fool yourself. This very moment, if I were to ask you about certain people and undertakings in which for God's love you put your soul, I know that you would answer me eagerly, with the interest of one speaking of what is his own.

It's not true that you don't care. It's just that you're not tireless, and that you need more time for yourself: time that will also be for your activities since, after all, you are the instrument.
(The Way, no.723)

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It is the humble man whom God protects and liberates; it is the humble whom He loves and consoles. To the humble He turns and upon them bestows great grace, that after their humiliation He may raise them up to glory. He reveals His secrets to the humble, and with kind invitation bids them come to Him. Thus, the humble man enjoys peace in the midst of many vexations, because his trust is in God, not in the world. Hence, you must not think that you have made any progress until you look upon yourself as inferior to all others.
(Continuing)

Feast of St Patrick (March 17)

Collect O God, who chose the Bishop Saint Patrick to preach your glory to the peoples of Ireland, grant, through his merits and intercession, that those who glory in the name of Christian may never cease to proclaim your wondrous deeds to all. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

(March 17) St. Patrick (415?-493?)
Legends about Patrick abound; but truth is best served by our seeing two solid qualities in him: He was humble and he was courageous. The determination to accept suffering and success with equal indifference guided the life of God’s instrument

for winning most of Ireland for Christ. Details of his life are uncertain. Current research places his dates of birth and death a little later than earlier accounts. Patrick may have been born in Dunbarton, Scotland, Cumberland, England, or in northern Wales. He called himself both a Roman and a Briton. At 16, he and a large number of his father’s slaves and vassals were captured by Irish raiders and sold as slaves in Ireland. Forced to work as a shepherd, he suffered greatly from hunger and cold.
After six years, Patrick escaped, probably to France, and later returned to Britain at the age of 22. His captivity had meant spiritual conversion. He may have studied at Lerins, off the French coast; he spent years at Auxerre, France, and was consecrated bishop at the age of 43. His great desire was to proclaim the Good News to the Irish. In a dream vision it seemed "all the children of Ireland from their mothers’ wombs were stretching out their hands" to him. He understood the vision to be a call to do mission work in pagan Ireland. Despite opposition from those who felt his education had been defective, he was sent to carry out the task. He went to the west and north, where the faith had never been preached, obtained the protection of local kings and made numerous converts. Because of the island’s pagan background, Patrick was emphatic in encouraging widows to remain chaste and young women to consecrate their virginity to Christ. He ordained many priests, divided the country into dioceses, held Church councils, founded several monasteries and continually urged his people to greater holiness in Christ. He suffered much opposition from pagan druids, and was criticized in both England and Ireland for the way he conducted his mission. In a relatively short time the island had experienced deeply the Christian spirit, and was prepared to send out missionaries whose efforts were greatly responsible for Christianizing Europe. Patrick was a man of action, with little inclination toward learning. He had a rocklike belief in his vocation, in the cause he had espoused. One of the few certainly authentic writings is his Confessio, above all an act of homage to God for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate. There is hope rather than irony in the fact that his burial place is said to be in strife-torn Ulster, in County Down.
"Christ shield me this day: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me" (from "The Breastplate of St. Patrick"). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: (In Australia, a solemnity): Jeremiah 1: 4-9; Acts 13:46-49; Luke 10:1-12

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about

to go. He told them, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. (Luke 10:1-12)

Neighbour When we think of “religion” as a phenomenon in the history of the world, of course we think of ceremony, ritual and perhaps myth. It is a question of dealing with the gods, imagining and celebrating (in some sense) their actions on the world, placating and satisfying them by means of a faithful observance of the ceremonies, and so acting as not to upset them. Basically it has to do with worship so as to have the heavenly powers on one’s side. All this is appropriate, to be expected, and good - even if limited. In the realm

of revealed religion - that religion revealed by God as the way he wishes man to consider and serve him - the first thing is in accord with what we observe in natural religion. That is, the primary thing is the knowledge, worship and service of God. Of course, this is on a new and much more elevated sphere, but still, the first thing mandated by revealed religion is the love and service of God. Christ summed up the entire Law of the Old Testament by citing two or three sentences from the Inspired Writings: the first and greatest commandment is to love God with one’s whole being, and the second is like it, to love one’s neighbour as oneself. The whole Law and the teachings of the Prophets hang, he said, on these two prescriptions. It was a remarkable, insightful and extremely illuminating summary, coming from the incarnate Son of God. Now, while that first and greatest commandment has a certain parallel in what we observe to be the general theistic emphasis of natural religions, what is perhaps notable is the exaltation of love for neighbour in revealed religion. The one true God cannot bear injustice and neglect towards one’s neighbour. This is not generally a feature, I think, of the religions of man. The important thing is the ceremonies, and one’s neighbour is very much a side-issue. But it is no side-issue for the God of revealed religion. Read the prophets and notice how they inveigh against injustice, and the scorn they pour on a religion of mere sacrifices. Anyone properly schooled in the religion of Yahweh would have to have become sensitive to the needs and rights of his neighbour. Christ accused the scribes and Pharisees of tithing mint, dill and cummin while neglecting the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith (Matthew 23:23).

So important was concern for neighbour in revealed religion that it could be said to be popularly regarded as its distinguishing characteristic. Many have considered concern for others to be the very essence of Christianity. “Being a Christian” means, in the mind of many, being a kind of religious philanthropist. If you are a “very Christian” kind of person, you are good to people and respond to their needs. If you are not “very Christian,” you are insensitive to the needs of others. In this sense, the term “Christian” is at times popularly applied even to an atheist. An atheist or religious agnostic can at times be referred to as a “very Christian” person. All this, though quite out of proper perspective, reveals the perception that in the religion revealed and established by Jesus Christ, love for neighbour is essential and cannot be disassociated from love for God. Many things in Christ’s own teaching show this - most notoriously in our Lord’s own account of the final General Judgment of all the nations. The Judge will be like a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats, and he will say to each that whatever you did to the least of these brothers of mine, you did to me. Eternal reward or punishment will turn on this consideration. This, I suggest, is the context in which we ought ponder our Gospel passage today (Luke 10:1-12). Our Lord does not simply gather disciples around him to join him in adoring and praising God his Father and in worshipping him with pure hearts. This is the first thing, but intimately connected with it is love and concern for the world. Christ entered the world with a mission for mankind, and those who belong to him and who follow him are called to share in that mission. So it is that he sends his disciples not, as it were, only to the Temple. He sends them out to all the towns and villages. “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” Following him means being apostolic, missionary, on the road seeking out the lost sheep - first of the House of Israel, then of the world.

Let us pray for the grace to put on the mind of Jesus Christ - let this mind be in you, St Paul writes, that was in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). The Christian is called to work at growing in love, the love that filled the mind and heart of Christ. This is heaven’s gift, coming from the Holy Spirit, and it is granted to us at our Baptism. But it must be activated and nourished. We must open our hearts wide for our neighbour, bearing in mind the example of the great Christian saints such as Saint Patrick. He spent his life serving the pagan Irish. Revealed religion involves two great loves: love of God with our whole being, and, similar to this, love of neighbour. By this will all men know you are my disciples, Christ said, that you love one another as I have loved you.

(E.J.Tyler)

(March 18) St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315?-386)
The crises that the Church faces today may seem minor when compared to the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ and threatened to overcome Christianity in the fourth century. Cyril was to be caught up in the controversy, accused (later) of Arianism by St. Jerome, and ultimately vindicated both by the men of his own time and by being declared a Doctor of the Church in 1822. Raised in Jerusalem, well-educated, especially in the Scriptures, he was ordained a priest by the bishop of Jerusalem and given the task of catechizing during Lent those preparing for Baptism and during the Easter season the newly baptized. His Catecheses remain valuable as examples of the ritual and theology of the Church in the mid-fourth century. There are conflicting reports about the circumstances of his becoming bishop of Jerusalem. It is certain that he was validly consecrated by bishops of the province. Since one of them was an Arian, Acacius, it may have been expected that his “cooperation” would follow. Conflict soon rose between Cyril and Acacius, bishop of the rival nearby see of Caesarea. Cyril was summoned to a council, accused of insubordination and of selling Church property to relieve the poor. Probably, however, a theological difference was also involved. He was condemned, driven from Jerusalem, and later vindicated, not without some association and help of Semi-Arians. Half his episcopate was spent in exile (his first experience was repeated twice). He finally returned to find Jerusalem torn with heresy, schism and strife, and wracked with crime. Even St. Gregory of Nyssa, sent to help, left in despair. They both went to the (second ecumenical) Council of Constantinople, where the amended form of the Nicene Creed was promulgated. Cyril accepted the word consubstantial (that is, of Christ and the Father). Some said it was an act of repentance, but the bishops of the Council praised him as a champion of orthodoxy against the Arians. Though not friendly with the greatest defender of orthodoxy against the Arians, Cyril may be counted among those whom Athanasius called “brothers, who mean what we mean, and differ only about the word [consubstantial].”
“It is not only among us, who are marked with the name of Christ, that the dignity of faith is great; all the business of the world, even of those outside the Church, is accomplished by faith. By faith, marriage laws join in union persons who were strangers to one another. By faith, agriculture is sustained; for a man does not endure the toil involved unless he believes he will reap a harvest. By faith, seafaring men, entrusting themselves to a tiny wooden craft, exchange the solid element of the land for the unstable motion of the waves. Not only among us does this hold true but also, as I have said, among those outside the fold. For though they do not accept the Scriptures but advance certain doctrines of their own, yet even these they receive on faith” (Catechesis V). (AmericanCatholic)

Scripture today: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9; Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20; Matthew 5:17-19

Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practises and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

Amid a world of varied, contradictory and at times absurd religious practice the religion divinely revealed to the children of Israel stood forth as a shining beacon, even if ignored by the peoples. Amid the religions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome and the various barbarian peoples, there was a religion actually revealed and intended by God. It was manifested to Abraham, the Patriarchs, the Prophets and through them to the chosen people. God had delivered to the world the Way he wished to be

worshipped and served, and that Way was the religion of Israel. But the sad historical fact was that it was poorly lived. None of the chosen people lived it perfectly. Moses, the greatest of the prophets and the friend of God was refused entry to the Promised Land because of his failure in faith and obedience. The great king David seriously sinned, though wonderfully repented. Solomon was sadly led astray into lust and then idolatry. So bad had things come to pass that God allowed the holy city itself to be destroyed and his people to be deported, with the promise of a restoration to come. The story of God’s dealings with his chosen people is a story of a revealed religion being but fitfully observed. Its fulfilment was ever elusive, seemingly beyond the capacity of sinful man. God’s people had a mission to be a light to the nations, a light showing forth what it is to please God and to render him proper acknowledgment and service. But this wonderful Covenant established between God and the people he had chosen for his own seemed to be fatefully flawed, which is to say impossible of observance on the part of man. This light seemed to be forever failing, forever lighting up and then falling hopelessly low. How was the promise to Abraham ever to be fulfilled, that through him a great blessing would come to all the peoples of the world? Well, suddenly out of nowhere, as it were — which is to say out of the scarcely known and utterly insignificant backwater of Nazareth — there appeared the shining fulfilment of all that God had intended in the Covenant he had established with his people.

Jesus of Nazareth came in power and holiness, with the message that all was about to be fulfilled. God’s lordship and rule was imminent, and it would become apparent that this was so in his very own person. He came speaking with the impression of possessing a unique and unparalleled authority, making it clear that much of the religion of God had not only not been observed but had been in serious ways misinterpreted. The Sabbath was one example, a special bone of contention. The scribes and Pharisees had virtually become a religious police and had brought the practice of the Sabbath to an absurd pass. It was a day of rest from servile work so that God could be worshipped, but not only was harvesting not allowed, but not even ears of corn were to be picked to satisfy normal personal hunger. Not only was it a day of rest from the normal work of a professional healer or doctor, but neither must a prophet with striking miraculous powers liberate by his mere word a person suffering from a debilitating disease. As well as these absurdities, much weightier matters of the Law were entirely neglected: justice and mercy. The hearts of many of those who were the guides of religious life were filled with hypocrisy and, in regard to our Lord, hate. Our Lord stood before them with his message that all was now being fulfilled. He had come not to set aside or destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfil them. At last the fulfilment had come. His own person and life was the fulfilment of the religion which God had revealed, a fulfilment that had been to that point always elusive. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-19). Jesus Christ was its accomplishment and all that God had wanted and required of man was for all time to be found in him. The chosen people now had in its midst the fulfilment of the Divine will, and the world had its Light. He and he alone is the Light of the world and the Salt of the earth.

The wonderful thing is that each and every person can partake of this fulfilment and accomplishment in Christ. In him we are called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. From him we receive the gift of his Divine Spirit enabling us to confront, combat and overcome the sin from which flows the sadness and disappointment of the world. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, the Father had announced from the cloud on the Mountain. By our union with Jesus we can share in his life, a life truly pleasing to God. In Christ is present every heavenly blessing. All we need is him. As St Paul wrote, life to me is Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he, Christ, lives in me and I in him.
(E.J.Tyler)

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You tell me that in your breast you have fire and water, cold and heat, empty passions and God... one candle lit to Saint Michael and another to the devil.

Don't worry: as long as you want to fight there are not two candles burning in your breast. There is only one: the Archangel's.
(The Way, no.724)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ       BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Third Chapter            Goodness and Peace in Man

FIRST keep peace with yourself; then you will be able to bring peace to others. A peaceful man does more good than a learned man. Whereas a passionate man turns even good to evil and is quick to believe evil, the peaceful man, being good himself, turns all things to good.

The man who is at perfect ease is never suspicious, but the disturbed and discontented spirit is upset by many a suspicion. He neither rests himself nor permits others to do so. He often says what ought not to be said and leaves undone what ought to be done. He is concerned with the duties of others but neglects his own.
                                                                                  (Continuing)

Scripture today: Jeremiah 7: 23-28; Psalm 94; Luke 11: 14-23

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.

But some of them said, By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons. Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armour in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters. (Luke 11: 14-23)

The two sides There is a certain ambivalence in the modern world — so profoundly influenced by Western secular culture — about the supernatural. On the one hand there is a profound scepticism about the existence of a realm beyond what is to be seen and empirically measured. I am not sure whether any survey has been done of contemporary articles in philosophy on the fact and nature of the supernatural, but I strongly suspect that the great majority of such articles would call its existence into question. On the other hand there

is a fascination with the occult and related phenomena — movies about exorcisms always do well. But in general the average man gets along without thinking much of an unseen world. Modern secular life assumes its non-existence or at least its non-importance. But of course anyone who accepts divine revelation well understands that the primary reality is the unseen reality, for the unseen world includes, in the first instance, God himself. The unseen world is far more real than the visible world. That having being said, the visible world is nevertheless the object of the unseen world’s attention. As far as we know, the drama of the unseen world is over in the sense that the question of the saved and the damned is no longer pending. There are angels and saints, and there are demons, and all in the unseen world have passed through the test and are in their due place as a result. There is nothing to lead us to think that God is continuing to create angels who must pass through the trial of choice for him and a consequent judgment. That is now over and what remains is an implacable war between the two sides of the gulf — between Heaven and Hell. God is Lord and Master of all, but mysteriously he allows a certain scope for activity on the part of the demonic realm, and this demonic activity is ordered to a revolt against God. But what I am saying here is that the unseen world, so vast, so real, so surging with holy and demonic activity, has as its principal focus of attention this visible world of ours. This is because the drama of God’s glory is being worked out here on the stage of our visible scene. That drama has been settled among those who inhabit the unseen realm. What remains is how man will fare in the battle for or against God and his glory. The stakes are high. Will man obey God and be saved, or not?

So high are the stakes, so great is God’s concern from all eternity, so profound is his love for each and every man, that God did not leave the issue simply to man — for man fell terribly in the event. God became one of us, because Satan had entered the scene as the Spoiler. He had done his dirty work and had gained a great hold. Yes, his hold was great, and there he stood, strong with the spoils in his hands. He had made a very good start and had struck a terrible blow against all God’s plans. Numerous centuries would pass, and the day would arrive when he would stand before the Messiah himself and calmly show him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time — and proudly declare that they were all his. The situation was bad, but nothing is impossible to God. He could wrest the situation from the hands of the enemy, and he could do it by steps that would astonish the demons. God became man. He entered the world himself. He who transcended the world so utterly and infinitely, became part of it by becoming a man, truly a man while remaining the transcendent God. He entered the world far more profoundly than had Satan himself, for all his possessions as they are portrayed in the Gospels. From that immersion in the world which the Incarnation represented and effected, God the Son overturned the work of Satan and established the Kingdom of God. In our Gospel today (Luke 11: 14-23) the crowd is amazed at Christ’s summary dismissal of Satan from the life of one unfortunate person. Some of them — doubtlessly some Scribes and Pharisees — maliciously accused our Lord of doing so by being granted the permission and authority of Satan himself. He was being set up by Satan to lead the people astray. In his reply to the accusation, our Lord throws light on the contest between the two sides, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Both are indeed kingdoms. Both are households. Good and evil are not just ultimate qualities — they are persons who embody these qualities. God is good, and he is far the stronger. Satan is evil and he is far the weaker — indeed he utterly depends on God anyway. Their focus is on us, and each works to gain our allegiance. What, then, is it to be?

We, each and all, are very important in God’s sight, and in Satan’s sight too. Satan wants to lead us astray because of his hatred for God and his glory. God wants us to love him with all our hearts because of his love for us. How futile, how foolish, how lacking in light it is to choose other than for God! How tragic it is to pass by the overtures of God himself! How sad to be mediocre in the face of God’s revelation of his love for us, and of his plans for our flourishing forever! Let us take heed of our Lord’s warning in today’s Gospel, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.”
(E.J.Tyler)

(March 19) Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Bible pays Joseph the highest compliment: he was a “just” man. The quality meant a lot more than faithfulness in paying debts. When the Bible speaks of God “justifying” someone, it means that God, the all-holy or “righteous” One, so transforms a person that the individual shares somehow in God’s own holiness, and hence it is really “right” for God to love him or her. In other words, God is not playing games, acting as if we were lovable when we are not. By saying Joseph was “just,” the Bible means that he was one who was completely open to all that God wanted to do for him. He became holy by opening himself totally to God. The rest we can easily surmise. Think of the kind of love with which he wooed and won Mary, and the depth of the love they shared during their marriage. It is no contradiction of Joseph’s manly holiness that he decided to

divorce Mary when she was found to be with child. The important words of the Bible are that he planned to do this “quietly” because he was “a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame” (Matthew 1:19). The just man was simply, joyfully, wholeheartedly obedient to God—in marrying Mary, in naming Jesus, in shepherding the precious pair to Egypt, in bringing them to Nazareth, in the undetermined number of years of quiet faith and courage. The Bible tells us nothing of Joseph in the years after the return to Nazareth except the incident of finding Jesus in the Temple (see Luke 2:41–51). Perhaps this can be taken to mean that God wants us to realize that the holiest family was like every other family, that the circumstances of life for the holiest family were like those of every family, so that when Jesus’ mysterious nature began to appear, people couldn’t believe that he came from such humble beginnings: “Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary...?” (Matthew 13:55a). It was almost as indignant as “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46b).
“He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord’” (St. Bernardine of Siena). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: 2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16; Psalm 89:2-5, 27 and 29; Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22; Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a or Luke 2:41-51a

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Now this is how the birth

of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. (Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a)

It is interesting to note that however obscure our Lord’s origins — in the sense that he came from the scarcely-known Nazareth — he was known as the son of Joseph, the son of David. He was appealed to by those in need of help as Jesus, Son of David. We are not told in the Gospels that Jesus, once a public figure, had any need to emphasize or prove this. In Christ’s day, people readily carried the name of their greatest forefather with them: the forefather, that is, of their father rather than their mother. This

ancestry of one’s father was always remembered by families — far more than is the case now. Our passage today is from St Matthew, but in Luke’s genealogy the source of which differed from Matthew’s, Christ’s ancestry is also traced back from Joseph (3:23). In our day, at least in Western culture, people have little memory of their ancestry beyond their great grandparents unless through personal interest they make a study of it. Nor, in the matter of ancestry, is there now an exclusive focus on the line of one’s father. But then it was the father’s ancestry that was always remembered and passed on. Elizabeth the wife of Zechariah is referred to by St Luke as a descendant of Aaron. Presumably that was according to the line of her father. Nowhere in the Gospels is the ancestry of Mary the mother of Jesus recounted, even though in view of the ancient prophecy we may presume that she too was a descendant of David. So Jesus was known as the son of Joseph (of Nazareth), the son of David. The text of Matthew’s first chapter shows the concern to prove that Joseph was indeed the son of David, and that Jesus was the son of Joseph by solemn adoption which made him, to all intents and purposes, absolutely his own son with all the rights and status of his foster father’s ancestry. Thus was Jesus the son of David. But he had no human father. It was of Mary that Jesus the Christ was born. How did this come about? Our Gospel passage today tells the world: Jesus, son of David, was conceived by the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Numerous observations could be made on this great Gospel passage of today (Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a). For instance, I have seen one Protestant writer state that Christ was not conceived of Mary, literally speaking. Rather, his human nature was wholly and exclusively the work of the Holy Spirit who, as it were, merely deposited the Incarnate Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary. But no, this Gospel passage today alone refutes such a view. The Virgin Mary herself conceived Jesus in her womb, but not by any agency of man but by the power of the Holy Spirit. So she was truly his mother and, inasmuch as he had no human father, at his conception her DNA must have passed heavily into him. But in our passage today Matthew narrates how Joseph entered decisively into the life of the Virgin Mary as her spouse, and just as decisively into the life of the newly conceived Child, as — to all intents and purposes — his father. In the Gospel of St Luke at the finding of our Lord in the Temple the Virgin Mary addresses her Son by saying that his father and she had been searching for him for three days. The Virgin Mary, ever a virgin, had Joseph for her husband and looked on him as the father of the Child, though not of course as his biological father. He cared for her and for him. He guided her and he guided him. As her husband he was her most intimate companion in love, and, as in practical effect his father, he was the most intimate companion of Jesus her divine son. The Christian religion teaches that holiness comes from intimacy with Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man. Who on this earth could have attained the intimacy with Christ that was attained by Mary in the first place, and after her by Joseph her husband? It is a fond source of religious thought to imagine the association between Jesus and Joseph. Imagine them at work together day after day, Joseph training his son in his trade, and the two working as partners in Nazareth and beyond — say, in the nearby city of Sepphoris then under construction and undoubtedly in need of carpenters. So many years together! Imagine the holy death of Joseph, with Mary and Jesus at his side as he breathed his last and closed his eyes for the last time.

How Christ must have loved his foster-father Joseph! Imagine Mary and Jesus as they accompanied the funeral procession as the body of Joseph was borne out of the tiny hamlet of Nazareth to its burial. Imagine the two of them coming back. They would have thought of the years of profound intimacy. We can assume that this thought of Joseph accompanied our Lord in his tremendous ministry, just as the thought of his living mother would have too. Oh, fond thoughts were they! Let the thought of Saint Joseph and our devotion to him accompany us in all our days. As many saints have said, in our needs let us go to Joseph!
(E.J.Tyler)

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That is nearly always the way the devil tackles souls who are going to resist him: hypocritically, quietly, with motives... of a spiritual nature! Trying not to attract attention. — And then, when there seems to be no way out (though there is), he comes brazenly trying to gain another Judas-like success — despair without repentance.
(The Way, no.725)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ            BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Third Chapter                Goodness and Peace in Man

Direct your zeal, therefore, first upon yourself; then you may with justice exercise it upon those about you. You are well versed in colouring your own actions with excuses which you will not accept from others, though it would be more just to accuse yourself and excuse your brother. If you wish men to bear with you, you must bear with them. Behold, how far you are from true charity and humility which does not know how to be angry with anyone, or to be indignant save only against self!

It is no great thing to associate with the good and gentle, for such association is naturally pleasing. Everyone enjoys a peaceful life and prefers persons of congenial habits. But to be able to live at peace with harsh and perverse men, or with the undisciplined and those who irritate us, is a great grace, a praiseworthy and manly thing.
                                                                                     (Continuing)

(March 20) St. Salvator of Horta (1520-1567)
A reputation for holiness does have some drawbacks. Public recognition can be a nuisance at times—as the confreres of Salvator found out. Salvator was born during Spain’s Golden Age. Art, politics and wealth were flourishing. So was religion. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540. Salvator’s parents were poor. At the age of 21 he entered the Franciscans as a brother and was soon known for his asceticism, humility and simplicity. As cook, porter and later the official beggar for the friars in Tortosa, he became well known for his charity. He healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross. When crowds of sick people began coming to the friary to see Salvator, the friars transferred him to Horta. Again the sick flocked to ask his intercession; one person estimated that two thousand people a week came to see Salvator. He told them to examine their consciences, to go to confession and to receive Holy Communion worthily. He refused to pray for those who would not receive those sacraments. The public attention given to Salvator was relentless. The crowds would sometimes tear off pieces of his habit as relics. Two years before his death, Salvator was moved again, this time to Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. He died at Cagliari saying, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." He was canonized in 1938.
Medical science is now seeing more clearly the relation of some diseases to one’s emotional and spiritual life. In Healing Life’s Hurts, Matthew and Dennis Linn report that sometimes people experience relief from illness only when they have decided to forgive others. Salvator prayed that people might be healed, and many were. Surely not all diseases can be treated this way; medical help should not be abandoned. But notice that Salvator urged his petitioners to reestablish their priorities in life before they asked for healing. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Hosea 14:2-10; Psalm 81:6c-11ab, 14 and 17; Mark 12:28-34

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him,

Of all the commandments, which is the most important? The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these. Well said, teacher, the man replied. You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. And from then on no-one dared ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28-34)

Let us place ourselves in the scene of today’s Gospel. This is chapter 12 of St Mark, and the previous chapter had ended with the account of a dispute between our Lord and the chief priests and scribes and elders who accosted him in the Temple as he was walking there (11:27). Our Lord leaves them defeated in debate. The present chapter opens with a parable in which Jesus clearly is commenting on these attacks by the leaders of the people. Mark passes from this to his description of how the leaders now sent

certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to catch our Lord out in his words (12:13) and they cunningly pose their question about taxes to Caesar. Our Lord leaves them silenced and amazed by his answer. Sadducees then come to him posing their objection about the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, and again our Lord points out their error with sovereign assurance. It seems that our Lord found himself in frequent and sharp debate with the people of influence from various parties. The Gospels show him as master in all such situations. In any confrontation he was the supreme Rabbi and no one could dominate him. In all such encounters his enemies were silenced by his wisdom and adroitness of reply. In fact, this general situation of leaders and parties debating with him and throwing questions at him to catch him out finally came to an end, and we have in our Gospel passage today the encounter that brought it to its close. Mark tells us that “from then on no-one dared ask him any more questions.” All they could do now was to scheme and spread insinuations to undermine his influence with the people who held him high for the authority he so constantly displayed. This circumstance of their not daring to dispute with him any further itself gives importance to the reply which brought this about. In Mark’s account this happened when a scribe, who had observed the debating, put a fundamental question to our Lord: “Which is the first of all the commandments?”

So then, let us consider our Lord’s reply, showing forth to all that he was the supreme Teacher. The question was, what in all that God had revealed and among the myriad of regulations that marked the revealed religion of Israel, was the first and foremost thing to do? So much of the tension and dispute between our Lord and the leaders of the people had been because of the confusion as to what was truly important. Our Lord’s answer was that the religion revealed by Yahweh had for its supreme command that man love. Our Lord identified the text in the Scriptures which makes this plain. He says that “this is the first. Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:28-34) So there we have the kernel of the Old Testament and the key to its entire interpretation. With that key the numerous inspired books can be read with understanding and profit. On another occasion our Lord said that he had not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfil them. The Law and the Prophets taught the command that our Lord had just cited, and it was he himself who had come to fulfil it in his own person on behalf of sinful man. He had come to render God his heavenly Father perfect obedience, the obedience of love. Moreover, he had come to share with mankind his own Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and the Son, who would make it possible for sinful man to grow in this love which was thus commanded in the Scriptures. Love is the key to all that God had revealed, and love was the purpose of Christ’s coming. Man has as the purpose of his existence to grow in this love for God, a love filling his mind, heart, and his whole strength. It is a love that informs his dealings with his neighbour. Love is to be the life of mankind. This sublime teaching crowned our Lord’s disputes with the leaders, and the scribe could not help but highly commend our Lord for his reply. For his part our Lord told the scribe that he was not far from the Kingdom of God.

Of course, our Lord’s reply gives us a window into his own mind, heart and soul. He himself was filled with divine love. He is our model and our help. By his death and resurrection he won for us the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to the Church and through the Church’s sacraments and ministry to each of us. We who are baptized have received the gift of the Holy Spirit who is the Love of the Father and the Son. Let us then resolve to live a life of love by keeping God’s commandments. Otherwise, as St Paul writes, we shall make the Holy Spirit sad.
(E.J.Tyler)

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After losing those human consolations you have been left with a feeling of loneliness, as if you were suspended by a mere thread over the black emptiness of the abyss. And your cries, your shouts for help seem to be heard by nobody.

You really deserve to be forlorn. Be humble, don't seek yourself don't seek consolation. Love the Cross — to bear it is little — and our Lord will hear your prayer. And calm will be restored to your senses. And your wounded heart will heal. And you will have peace.
(The Way, no.726)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ          BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Third Chapter             Goodness and Peace in Man

Some people live at peace with themselves and with their fellow men, but others are never at peace with themselves nor do they bring it to anyone else. These latter are a burden to everyone, but they are more of a burden to themselves. A few, finally, live at peace with themselves and try to restore it to others.

Now, all our peace in this miserable life is found in humbly enduring suffering rather than in being free from it. He who knows best how to suffer will enjoy the greater peace, because he is the conqueror of himself, the master of the world, a friend of Christ, and an heir of heaven.
                                                                       (Continuing)

(March 21) Blessed John of Parma (1209-1289)
The seventh general minister of the Franciscan Order, John was known for his attempts to bring back the earlier spirit of the Order after the death of St. Francis of Assisi. He was born in Parma, Italy, in 1209. It was when he was a young philosophy professor known for his piety and learning that God called him to bid good-bye to the world he was used to and enter the new world of the Franciscan Order. After his profession John was sent to Paris to complete his theological studies. Ordained to the priesthood, he was appointed to teach theology at Bologna, then Naples and finally Rome. In 1245, Pope Innocent IV called a general council in the city of Lyons, France. Crescentius, the Franciscan minister general at the time, was ailing and unable to attend. In his place he sent Father John, who made a deep impression on the Church leaders gathered there. Two years later, when the same pope presided at the election of a minister general of the Franciscans, he remembered Father John well and held him up as the man best qualified for the office. And so, in 1247, John of Parma was elected to be minister general. The surviving disciples of St. Francis rejoiced in his election, expecting a return to the spirit of poverty and humility of the early days of the Order. And they were not disappointed. As general of the Order John travelled on foot, accompanied by one or two companions, to practically all of the Franciscan convents in existence. Sometimes he would arrive and not be recognized, remaining there for a number of days to test the true spirit of the brothers. The pope called on John to serve as legate to Constantinople, where he was most successful in winning back the schismatic Greeks. Upon his return he asked that someone else take his place to govern the Order. St. Bonaventure, at John's urging, was chosen to succeed him. John took up a life of prayer in the hermitage at Greccio. Many years later, John learned that the Greeks, who had been reconciled with the Church for a time, had relapsed into schism. Though 80 years old by then, John received permission from Pope Nicholas IV to return to the East in an effort to restore unity once again. On his way, John fell sick and died. He was beatified in 1781.
In the 13th century, people in their 30s were middle-aged; hardly anyone lived to the ripe old age of 80. John did, but he didn’t ease into retirement. Instead he was on his way to try to heal a schism in the Church when he died. Our society today boasts a lot of folks in their later decades. Like John, many of them lead active lives. But some aren’t so fortunate. Weakness or ill health keeps them confined and lonely—waiting to hear from us. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Hosea 6:1-6; Psalm 51:3-4, 18-21ab; Luke 18:9-14

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: Two men

went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men— robbers, evildoers, adulterers— or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 18: 9-14)

It is an intriguing fact, to say the least, that despite the gift of his conscience enabling him to see his sins and his sinfulness, man often finds himself confident in his own righteousness. Everyone has been endowed with a conscience, which is to say the power to perceive what is morally good and morally bad, and the power to judge his own past and future actions accordingly. This power of the mind can be developed or not, and it can become sensitive or extremely insensitive. It can even almost die out

through constant disregard. But most people would, I think, have the sense that man is typically guilty of wrongdoing whether open or secret. There is a natural perception that man in some sense is fallen, that he is prone to do what is wrong, even though there is also a sense that he is not wholly thus. He is not wholly corrupt in the sense that there is some good in him. But together with this common conviction that we are all sinners the intriguing fact, as I mentioned, is that we can easily think that we are not sinners. Though we are intimately close to ourselves, we can be blind to our true condition. We can very easily fail to see ourselves as we are. Intriguingly, this is normally the situation. Commonly, man does not see himself for the sinner that he is. All too often he thinks of himself as righteous and good before God. He just does not think of himself as a sinner — except in a general and non-consequential way. Indeed, it requires great effort to come to this self-knowledge and few make it their business to reach it. Perhaps this blindness as to personal sin can be said to be a special characteristic of the modern secular age in which God is set aside from the stream of daily life. If there is little sense of God, it cannot be expected that there will be much sense of one’s offences against him. Pope Pius XII once wrote that the sin of the modern age is the loss of the sense of sin. He was pointing to the fact of the loss of the sense of sin, and was saying that this loss is itself culpable.

In our Gospel passage today (Luke 18:9-14) our Lord addresses this blindness of moral awareness. The society of the chosen people of Israel was not a secular society. God was not set aside as a private and dispensable opinion. God and his worship was central to the nation. His objective reality was taken for granted, and yet here in our Gospel parable the Pharisee is presented as blind to his sinfulness. He is like modern man in one sense — in the sense that he had lost his sense of personal sinfulness. He was confident in his own righteousness. There he stood in the Temple praying, and notice how our Lord describes his prayer: he says that he prayed “to (or with) himself” (the Greek: pros eauton proseucheto). It is a little linguistic detail that ought not be missed in the reading. He was not really praying to God at all. He was merely presenting himself for his own inner observation and exalting himself accordingly. He was not made right by his prayer and our Lord concludes by saying that the one who exalts himself will be brought low. By contrast, the Publican is not blind to his sinfulness: he is very much alive to it. All he can do is present himself before God and lay before him his sins, asking for mercy. This man was made right by his prayer, for, our Lord concludes, the man who humbles himself will be raised up. The long and the short of it is that inasmuch as prayer is essential to religion, if there is to be any genuine religion in a person’s life he must, in his prayer, be aware of and acknowledge before God his sins. For sinful man, the sense of sin which his conscience provides is an indispensable condition of true religion. If his sense of personal sin is but a mere flicker, so will his religion be. The ideal for sinful man is that he be more and more like the Publican in our Lord’s parable, and that his prayer be more and more like his. Let us note, though, that it is to be a sense of sin pervaded with faith in God’s goodness and mercy. The Publican does not merely say (nor merely to himself) that he is a sinner. He addresses God, and asks in faith for pardon. The religious man is a man of both faith and contrition.

When our Lord was asked by his disciples to teach them to pray, he taught them what we call the Lord’s Prayer. But in our Gospel passage today our Lord presents us with another prayer of his devising. It is the prayer of the Publican: O God, be merciful to me, a sinner! The parable suggests that he, the Publican, repeated this prayer over and over. It is a prayer our Lord clearly means us to repeat all our lives. It is, we might say, another Lord’s Prayer, a prayer the Lord himself has taught us. Let us make it our prayer all our life, right to our last moments. I remember seeing a movie made in Poland. A striking character in the movie died shot by arrows, and in his last seconds he was praying, Lord have mercy!
(E.J.Tyler)

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Everything seems to touch you on the raw..., to make you suffer in your mind and in your senses. And everything is temptation to you...

Be humble — I insist. You will see how quickly all this passes; and the pain will be turned into joy: and the temptation, into firm purpose.

But meanwhile, strengthen your faith; fill yourself with hope; and make constant acts of Love, even though you can feel them only on your lips.
(The Way, no.727)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ       BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Fourth Chapter         Purity of Mind and Unity of Purpose

A MAN is raised up from the earth by two wings -- simplicity and purity. There must be simplicity in his intention and purity in his desires. Simplicity leads to God, purity embraces and enjoys Him.

If your heart is free from ill-ordered affection, no good deed will be difficult for you. If you aim at and seek after nothing but the pleasure of God and the welfare of your neighbour, you will enjoy freedom within.
                                                                       (Continuing)

Prayers this week: Rejoice, Jerusalem! Be glad for her, you who love her; rejoice with her, you who mourned for her, and you will find contentment at her consoling breasts. (Isaiah 66: 10-17)

Father of peace, we are joyful in your Word, your Son Jesus Christ, who reconciles us to you. Let us hasten towards Easter with the eagerness of faith and love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(March 22) St. Nicholas Owen (d. 1606)
Nicholas, familiarly known as "Little John," was small in stature but big in the esteem of his fellow Jesuits. Born at Oxford, this

humble artisan saved the lives of many priests and laypersons in England during the penal times (1559-1829), when a series of statutes punished Catholics for the practice of their faith. Over a period of about 20 years he used his skills to build secret hiding places for priests throughout the country. His work, which he did completely by himself as both architect and builder, was so good that time and time again priests in hiding were undetected by raiding parties. He was a genius at finding, and creating, places of safety: subterranean passages, small spaces between walls, impenetrable recesses. At one point he was even able to mastermind the escape of two Jesuits from the Tower of London. Whenever Nicholas set out to design such hiding places, he began by receiving the Holy Eucharist, and he would turn to God in prayer throughout the long, dangerous construction process. After many years at his unusual task, he entered the Society of Jesus and served as a lay brother, although—for very good reasons—his connection with the Jesuits was kept secret. After a number of narrow escapes, he himself was finally caught in 1594. Despite protracted torture, he refused to disclose the names of other Catholics. After being released following the payment of a ransom, "Little John" went back to his work. He was arrested again in 1606. This time he was subjected to horrible tortures, suffering an agonizing death. The jailers tried suggesting that he had confessed and committed suicide, but his heroism and sufferings soon were widely known. He was canonized in 1970 as one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales.
Nicholas was a clever builder and architect who used his skills to protect endangered priests. Without his help, hundreds of English Catholics would have been deprived of the sacraments. His gift for spotting unlikely places to hide priests was impressive, but more impressive was his habit of seeking support for his work in prayer and the Eucharist. If we follow his example, we may also discover surprising ways to put our skills to God’s service. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Psalm 137:1-6; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who

believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. (John 3: 14-21)

It has often been pointed out by historians that a distinguishing feature of the modern age — so dominated as it has been by Western culture — is the rapid development of science and technology. The common man and youth now has a computer, but who among ordinary people thought of computers in the 1960s or 70s? The advance of a scientific knowledge of the world during the last couple of centuries has been a great historical phenomenon, as has its application in technology. We might call this the knowledge of reality as

gained by observation and physical experiment. But there is another dimension of reality which is just as extensive and actually more important. It is the moral realm, the knowledge of which is gained by moral perception and moral reflection. We are subject not only to hard facts but to the moral law. Society and civilization revolve not only around what actually is, but what should be done. Science and technology itself have profoundly moral implications and restraints, even if society is divided as to what the moral law requires. The laws and sanctions of society exist because of the moral dimension of reality. Consider the daily and in-depth investigative reporting of the media, and notice how so much of it is preoccupied with the ethics of what has been done by this or that person or grouping. Crime is recognised because of the moral realm. All of man’s deliberate actions have a moral bearing and their moral consequences are decisive. If we consider the whole of life and the universe in what we might term a general glance, sin and evil loom very large in the picture. Take a map of the world with countries and oceans shown in different colours. Now with a different colour indicate the presence of sin and moral evil — and notice how much of the map will be affected by that colour. Einstein spent much of his life trying to find a mathematical key to the physics of the world. There is a different kind of key to the world as it actually is. That key is sin.

That wrongdoing and sin have brought great suffering and disorder to life and the world is a datum open to ordinary human reflection. What has been divinely revealed is that sin is not merely one cause of much evil and suffering in the world but is at the root of it. Indeed, the greatest evil of all — death itself — has its origin in sin and wrongdoing. At the very dawn of human history man chose to sin, to do the wrong that God had directly forbidden. This we know not from historical and empirical research (i.e., from science) but from divine revelation. It has been told us from on high. As St Paul writes, because of the sin of the first human couple death and suffering and evil entered the world and spread through the entire human race. The world was profoundly changed in all its prospects as a result of the original sin, and human nature itself fell into the power of sin. Man and the world was ensnared in a hopeless condition and what exacerbates the evil is that man is all too often culpably blind to the moral cancer within. He is in denial. He eschews the sense of sin because it leaves him self-condemned. The world’s problem was, is, and ever will be, sin. Sin brought death, so how to be rid of it? How to overcome it, and live forever? The good news is that the Creator himself took the matter in hand and sent his own divine Son to be the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. This is what our Gospel today teaches us, that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3: 14-21). The next wondrous revelation is the divine remedy for sin. God’s Son became man to do away with sin, and this was done by his giving his own divine self up for sinners. He sacrificed himself for sinful man. He gave his life as a ransom for the many and in this way he reconciled all humanity with God. Just how this was the answer and just why it met the need, we are not really told, even though we may speculate. But that the Cross of Christ brought salvation to the world is the great good news on which all men may now pin their hopes.

Cardinal Newman regarded the Christian Creed not merely as a statement of religious belief but as a hymn, a prayer. I would suggest that every day we prayerfully recite the Creed, and especially that part of it which sets forth what Christ did to save the world and each of us from sin. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, buried and then rose from the dead. He did that for us, for me. As St Paul writes, Christ loved me and gave himself up for me. He gave up his life as a ransom for me. So let us respond to his sacrifice by taking our stand with him daily.
(E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.595-605

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All our fortitude is on loan.
(The Way, no.728)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ            BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Fourth Chapter              Purity of Mind and Unity of Purpose

If your heart were right, then every created thing would be a mirror of life for you and a book of holy teaching, for there is no creature so small and worthless that it does not show forth the goodness of God. If inwardly you were good and pure, you would see all things clearly and understand them rightly, for a pure heart penetrates to heaven and hell, and as a man is within, so he judges what is without. If there be joy in the world, the pure of heart certainly possess it; and if there be anguish and affliction anywhere, an evil conscience knows it too well.

As iron cast into fire loses its rust and becomes glowing white, so he who turns completely to God is stripped of his sluggishness and changed into a new man. When a man begins to grow lax, he fears a little toil and welcomes external comfort, but when he begins perfectly to conquer himself and to walk bravely in the ways of God, then he thinks those things less difficult which he thought so hard before.
                                                                (Concluded)

(March 23) St. Turibius of Mogrovejo (1538-1606)
Together with Rose of Lima, Turibius is the first known saint of the New World, serving the Lord in Peru, South America, for 26 years. Born in Spain and educated for the law, he became so brilliant a scholar that he was made professor of law at the University of Salamanca and eventually became chief judge of the Inquisition at Granada. He succeeded too well. But he was not sharp enough a lawyer to prevent a surprising sequence of events. When the archbishopric of Lima in Spain’s Peruvian colony became vacant, it was decided that Turibius was the man needed to fill the post: He was the one person with the strength of character and holiness of spirit to heal the scandals that had infected that area. He cited all the canons that forbade giving laymen ecclesiastical dignities, but he was overruled. He was ordained priest and bishop and sent to Peru, where he found colonialism at its worst. The Spanish conquerors were guilty of every sort of oppression of the native population. Abuses among the clergy were flagrant, and he devoted his energies (and suffering) to this area first. He began the long and arduous visitation of an immense archdiocese, studying the language, staying two or three days in each place, often with neither bed nor food. He confessed every morning to his chaplain, and celebrated Mass with intense fervour. Among those to whom he gave the Sacrament of Confirmation was St. Rose of Lima, and possibly St. Martin de Porres. After 1590 he had the help of another great missionary, St. Francis Solanus. His people, though very poor, were sensitive, dreading to accept public charity from others. Turibius solved the problem by helping them anonymously.
The Lord indeed writes straight with crooked lines. Against his will, and from the unlikely springboard of an Inquisition tribunal, this man became the Christlike shepherd of a poor and oppressed people. God gave him the gift of loving others as they needed it. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Isaiah 65:17-21; Psalm 30:2 and 4-6, 11-13b; John 4:43-54

After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honour in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also

had been there. Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, Jesus told him, you will never believe. The royal official said, Sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus replied, You may go. Your son will live. The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he enquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour. Then the father realised that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, Your son will live. So he and all his household believed. This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee. (John 4:43-54)

At the heart of our Gospel passage today lies the issue around which, in the sight of God, the prospects of man and the world hinge: faith in the person of Jesus. It is the central issue of life, the life both of individuals and of the whole of humanity. In the opening sentence of our passage St John refers to it, observing in parenthesis that “Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honour in his own country.” This detail by John illustrates our Lord’s constant preoccupation and perspective: will people have faith? The

tragedy of many in “his own country” was that this faith was not forthcoming. On faith hinged salvation. Our Lord looked for more than numbers of people coming to him for healings and this is illustrated in what our Lord said to the royal official who approached him with the request that he come and heal his son who was close to death. “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, Jesus told him, you will never believe.” Our Lord was looking for a faith in him that did not depend on their seeing “signs and wonders.” An obvious example of the faith he was looking for is shown in the instances given in the Gospels of the call of his first disciples. They did not see signs and wonders — rather, they met and came to know the person of Jesus. In the same Gospel of St John from which our passage today is drawn we read in the first chapter of how John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to two of his disciples. They left John and began to follow Jesus. Our Lord stopped, turned, and invited them to accompany him. They stayed with him the rest of that day and they believed. The next day Andrew went to his brother Simon and told him that they had found the Messiah. Our Lord called on Philip to follow him, and the same thing happened. Philip went to Nathanael and told him they had found the Messiah. There were as yet no signs and wonders: the first of our Lord’s signs was worked after this, at Cana. This is the faith our Lord is looking for — one that may be greatly helped by signs and wonders, but not dependent on them.

As it turns out, the royal official who approached our Lord in our Gospel passage today (John 4:43-54) had true faith. To our Lord’s challenge that he would not believe unless he saw signs and wonders he simply responds, Lord, answer my prayer. Come down before my child dies. Our Lord tells him to go home, for his child will live, and we read that he believed the word of Jesus and went. He did not see anything there and then to confirm our Lord’s power, but he believed his mere word. He had faith in what our Lord said, and on his way home news was brought to him that his son had recovered. The upshot was that he and his household believed. Presumably the man and his household persevered in their belief and became active members of the early Church. But there is a further detail about this man and his family. Not only is he shown in our Gospel passage as an example of true faith in Jesus, but he is a reminder that all, from any and all walks of life, are called to faith. The man was a “royal official.” We are not told to what court he pertained to. Perhaps it was the court of Herod. We are told in the Gospels that the wife of one of Herod’s stewards was among our Lord’s disciples. She assisted the apostolic band out of her means. Elsewhere in the Gospel we read of a centurion whose faith our Lord highly praised. He turned to the crowd and said that he had not seen its equal in all of Israel. Our Lord’s disciples came from tax collectors and very ordinary folk, but also from court officials, the likes of Nicodemus a Pharisee, and Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin. The detail that our man in today’s Gospel was a royal official reminds us that all men are called to faith in Jesus. It also reminds us that the presence of believing Christians in all walks of life is as God means it to be. It means that the work of witnessing to Jesus is to be carried on at every level of society. The Church, consisting as it does of Christ’s Faithful, is made present in all spheres of society by the presence of her members. Through their witness Christ is made present there.

Let us cherish our gift of faith and let us nourish our faith on the person of Jesus, contemplating him day by day in prayer and spiritual reading. To this faith in Jesus and closeness to him all are called, whatever be their position or work in the life of society. Just before he ascended into heaven, he commanded his disciples to go to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. Whoever believed would be saved. Faith in Jesus is the heart of life, and the mission of the Church and therefore of all of us is to bring the Christian faith to every facet of society.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Each day, my God, I am less sure of myself and more sure of you!
(The Way, no.729)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ           BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Fifth Chapter            Ourselves

WE MUST not rely too much upon ourselves, for grace and understanding are often lacking in us. We have but little inborn light, and this we quickly lose through negligence. Often we are not aware that we are so blind in heart. Meanwhile we do wrong, and then do worse in excusing it. At times we are moved by passion, and we think it zeal. We take others to task for small mistakes, and overlook greater ones in ourselves. We are quick enough to feel and brood over the things we suffer from others, but we think nothing of how much others suffer from us. If a man would weigh his own deeds fully and rightly, he would find little cause to pass severe judgment on others.

The interior man puts the care of himself before all other concerns, and he who attends to himself carefully does not find it hard to hold his tongue about others. You will never be devout of heart unless you are thus silent about the affairs of others and pay particular attention to yourself. If you attend wholly to God and yourself, you will be little disturbed by what you see about you.
                                                                  (Continuing)

(March 24) St. Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510)
Going to confession one day was the turning point of Catherine’s life. When Catherine was born, many Italian nobles were supporting Renaissance artists and writers. The needs of the poor and the sick were often overshadowed by a hunger for luxury and self-indulgence. Catherine’s parents were members of the nobility in Genoa. At 13 she attempted to become a nun but failed because of her age. At 16 she married Julian, a nobleman who turned out to be selfish and unfaithful. For a while she tried to numb her disappointment by a life of selfish pleasure. One day in confession she had a new sense of her own sins and how much God loved her. She reformed her life and gave good example to Julian, who soon turned from his self-centred life of distraction. Julian’s spending, however, had ruined them financially. He and Catherine decided to live in the Pammatone, a large hospital in Genoa, and to dedicate themselves to works of charity there. After Julian’s death in 1497, Catherine took over management of the hospital. She wrote about purgatory which, she said, begins on earth for souls open to God. Life with God in heaven is a continuation and perfection of the life with God begun on earth. Exhausted by her life of self-sacrifice, she died September 15, 1510, and was canonized in 1737.
Regular Confessions and frequent Communion can help us see the direction (or drift) of our life with God. People who have a realistic sense of their own sinfulness and of the greatness of God are often the ones who are most ready to meet the needs of their neighbours. Catherine began her hospital work with enthusiasm and was faithful to it through difficult times because she was inspired by the love of God, a love which was renewed in her by the Scriptures and the sacraments. Shortly before Catherine’s death she told her goddaughter: "Tomasina! Jesus in your heart! Eternity in your mind! The will of God in all your actions! But above all, love, God’s love, entire love!" (Marion Habig, O.F.M., The Franciscan Book of Saints, p. 212). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Ezechiel 47:1-9, 12; Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9; John 5:1-16

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—

the blind, the lame, the paralysed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and having learnt that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, Do you want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied, I have no-one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. Then Jesus said to him, Get up! Pick up your mat and walk. At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat. But he replied, The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' So they asked him, Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk? The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. (John 5:1-16)

There are two main protagonists in our Gospel passage today: Jesus and the person he cured, with the leaders of the Jews present but in the background. The scene opens with Jesus going up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. This detail is a reminder of our Lord’s full immersion in the religious life of God’s chosen people. He was God truly incarnate, a Jew, and he fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. So our scene is Jerusalem at the time of one of the feasts, and the author of the Gospel tells us that “there is in Jerusalem

near the Sheep Gate, a pool ... called Bethesda ... surrounded by five covered colonnades.” Notice one detail. The scene is set in the present tense. John’s Gospel is often thought to have been written late, which is to say after the destruction of Jerusalem. Here, though, the author describes the scene as a present scene: “there is” in Jerusalem the pool near the Sheep Gate. It is not something of the past, now gone because of the sacking of the city. So it seems this part of the Gospel was written before the destruction of the city by the Romans. Perhaps a good deal of the Gospel was written earlier than has been claimed. The author knows the city well and provides plenty of detail for the events he is about to describe. Our Lord is told that the man he sees lying there has been in that condition a long time (the author includes the specific detail that he had been there for thirty eight years, which again shows his grasp of the facts of the case he is portraying.) Unsolicited, our Lord’s compassion goes out to the man, but he wants to know from him whether he really desires to be cured. So at times our Lord waits to be asked, at other times he does not. In this case our Lord does not ask if he has faith, only if he wants the gift of healing. Nor does he here ask for a worthy life as a precondition, whereas elsewhere in the Scriptures we read that God answers the prayer of the just man. Here we are not told that the cripple was a “just man”, only that he was a man in need. So in his love and compassion our Lord takes the initiative and heals him. Let this be a lesson for all in need.

The scene now changes and the man goes off, carrying his stretcher. He was quickly noticed by the leaders of the Jews and confronted with the accusation that he was breaking the Law by carrying his bed. The bed must have been light because as a cripple he had long managed moving it around. We learn from our Lord’s words elsewhere in the Gospels that in fact such activity was not a breaking of the Law at all. It was merely a deviation from how the Pharisees and other leaders of the Jews interpreted the Law. Another interpretation they insisted on was that there was to be no healing of the sick in any sense at all on the Sabbath — and so our Lord was violating the Sabbath by his healings, they insisted. Here in our passage (John 5:1-16) the man healed of his paralysis was accosted for carrying his light mat on the Sabbath. But let us keep our attention on the man who had been healed as a result of the compassion of our Lord. There seems to be little real loyalty in him for our Lord, his healer. When asked for an explanation by the authorities for what he was doing, he seems to be diverting responsibility to our Lord: he told me to do this, he replied. He is to blame! Later our Lord met him in the Temple, for it was to worship in the Temple that our Lord had come to Jerusalem. He met him in the Temple and told him, “You have been healed. Do not sin further, or a worse fate may come upon you.” It looks as if the former paralytic was far from being a spiritually fervent Jew, and it also suggests that sickness can at times be a judgment of God on our sins. The man’s healing was a gift issuing from the compassionate heart of Christ and it gave to the former paralytic a new beginning in terms of avoiding sin. He must repent and live a truly religious life, avoiding sin. Interestingly, here at least our Lord does not ask of him faith in himself. Our Lord is content to heal him, and later to tell him that he must not sin any more. But what then do we read? The man went off and told the leaders that it was Jesus who cured him. It certainly looks as if despite the benefits received, the man did not become a disciple.

Let us contemplate our Lord, quietly part of the crowd, quietly doing good, quietly praying and moving in the Temple. He is a man like us in all things but sin. At the same time he is God the Son, second person of the most holy Trinity. He has come to this broken world profoundly disfigured by sin and suffering. The cripple of our Gospel scene may be said to symbolize this moral and physical brokenness. Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world. Let us then turn to him for all our needs, but most of all let us constantly ask for the grace of the Holy Spirit to turn away from sin and to follow Jesus as his true disciples. Let our lives be distinguished by loyalty to him.
(E.J.Tyler)

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If you don't leave him, he won't leave you.
(The Way, no.730)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ             BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Fifth Chapter               Ourselves

Where are your thoughts when they are not upon yourself? And after attending to various things, what have you gained if you have neglected self? If you wish to have true peace of mind and unity of purpose, you must cast all else aside and keep only yourself before your eyes.

You will make great progress if you keep yourself free from all temporal cares, for to value anything that is temporal is a great mistake. Consider nothing great, nothing high, nothing pleasing, nothing acceptable, except God Himself or that which is of God. Consider the consolations of creatures as vanity, for the soul that loves God scorns all things that are inferior to Him. God alone, the eternal and infinite, satisfies all, bringing comfort to the soul and true joy to the body.
                                                                          (Concluded)

Scripture today: Isaiah 49:8-15; Psalm 144; John 5:17-30

Jesus said to them, “My Father is always working and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; for not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God. Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the

Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no-one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him. I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out— those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just for I seek not my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” (John 5:17-30)

Father, Son and Spirit If we compare the ministry of John the Baptist with that of Jesus Christ, one notable difference is the response of the religious authorities to each. They did not pursue John the Baptist nor attempt to prosecute him, even though they (so it seems, from our Lord’s words) refused him their credence and treated him in a way they should not have. It was not the religious leaders but Herod, the civil leader, who put him to death. In our Lord’s case, the religious leaders reached the point of determining to

destroy him, though various ones among them were his secret disciples. The civil authorities came in on the matter only under pressure from the religious authorities. Pilate could see that this innocent Man stood before him only because of the jealousy of the religious authorities. An immediate cause of this implacable opposition was his disregard of their prescriptions regarding the Sabbath rest. The institution of the Sabbath was one of the most notable features of the Jewish religion. Before the popularly-recognized authority of Jesus, they felt threatened in their leadership and in the religious regime they sustained. This was so, even though it is obvious from the Gospels themselves that our Lord insisted on respect for the Mosaic Law. For instance, he commanded the lepers whom he cleansed to go and show themselves to the priests, as Moses had commanded. But there was a greater reason than the question of the interpretation of the Sabbath rest. Christ displayed unprecedented power over nature and the underworld, and the populace recognized his great holiness. He was a great prophet raised up by God. But what made the situation altogether unique and serious was his claims as to his own person. He claimed to be not only the Messiah, but the natural Son of God. Yahweh God was his own Father, as if he shared the very nature of God. We see this especially in his trial, during which it all came to a point. Our Lord had allowed himself to fall into their hands in order to bear witness solemnly to the truth about himself before the highest representatives of the chosen people of God. In the Gospel of St Luke, they ask him, Are you, therefore, the Son of God? I am, he replied — at which they condemned him to death (Luke 22: 70-71). It is the same in Mark (14: 61-64) and the same in Matthew (26: 63-66).

I suspect that one of the aims St John set himself in writing his Gospel was to bring out more prominently and in greater detail this feature of the public teaching of Jesus Christ than had the three Synoptic Gospels. One of the gains in biblical scholarship over the past century is the greater awareness of the distinctive aims and teachings of each of the Gospels. Each inspired author has his purposes. While one Gospel will have our Lord looking around on the scribes and Pharisees “in anger” after challenging them to answer his question about assisting a needy person on the Sabbath, St Luke will drop the phrase “in anger.” It does not fit in to his purpose, and perhaps he felt it would be misunderstood. There are many teachings of Jesus Christ given in the Synoptic Gospels ( Matthew, Mark and Luke) including his divine Sonship. But they do not give what we might call extensive statements by our Lord of his relationship with his heavenly Father, nor does he speak extensively on the Person of the Holy Spirit. The Father and the Holy Spirit are taught — as in Christ’s baptism and elsewhere — but other things are given equal or even greater space. It seems that St John set out to bring out certain central doctrines more much amply than had the Synoptics, and he did not bother with others. In his chapter 6 he reports our Lord’s words on the Holy Eucharist far more fully than any of the Synoptics. In the Last Supper he gives what is perhaps the longest discourse of our Lord’s in any of the Gospels, slightly exceeding even Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, but the institution of the Eucharist is not mentioned. This had been covered by the other Gospels. Rather, he reports our Lord’s words on brotherly love, on the person and mission of the Holy Spirit, his long prayer to his heavenly Father, and so forth. John had his distinctive purposes in writing his Gospel, and one of them was to bring out the mystery of the most holy Trinity — one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son and Spirit. Our Gospel passage today is one of those precious presentations of our Lord’s words on his relationship with his heavenly Father. He is equal to God, for he is God — not the Father, for he is the Son. But as the Son he is God, “because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

The doctrine of the holy Trinity is a stunning mystery, revealed by Jesus Christ. For “just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no-one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son”. Again, “as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:17-30). Jesus Christ went to his death bearing witness to the doctrine of his divinity, the doctrine that the full being of God is to be found in his own Person, just as it is found in the Person of his heavenly Father, the two being distinct as Persons, one in Being. His accusers did not know it, but he had also revealed to his Apostles that the Holy Spirit too is a third divine Person — equal to the Father and the Son, one in being as they. Let us receive in undying faith this truth, marvel at the mystery, and live it in our lives.
(E.J.Tyler

(March 25) Annunciation of the Lord
The feast of the Annunciation goes back to the fourth or fifth century. Its central focus is the Incarnation: God has become one of

us. From all eternity God had decided that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become human. Now, as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realized. The God-Man embraces all humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love. Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering and an agonizing death: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Mary has an important role to play in God’s plan. From all eternity God destined her to be the mother of Jesus and closely related to him in the creation and redemption of the world. We could say that God’s decrees of creation and redemption are joined in the decree of Incarnation. As Mary is God’s instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a God-given role. It is God’s grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure she is

only by God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act. Everything she is she owes to the Trinity. She is the virgin-mother who fulfils Isaiah 7:14 in a way that Isaiah could not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out the will of God (Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38). Together with Jesus, the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven and earth. She is the human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the possibilities of human existence. She received into her lowliness the infinite love of God. She shows how an ordinary human being can reflect God in the ordinary circumstances of life. She exemplifies what the Church and every member of the Church is meant to become. She is the ultimate product of the creative and redemptive power of God. She manifests what the Incarnation is meant to accomplish for all of us.
“Enriched from the first instant of her conception with the splendour of an entirely unique holiness, the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by the heralding angel, by divine command, as ‘full of grace’ (cf. Luke 1:28). To the heavenly messenger she replies: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word’ (Luke 1:38). Thus the daughter of Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the Mother of Jesus. Committing herself wholeheartedly and impeded by no sin to God’s saving will, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with him, serving the mystery of redemption, by the grace of Almighty God” (Vat II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 56). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10; Psalm 40:7-11; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favoured!

The Lord is with you. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; his kingdom will never end. How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin? The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God. I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May it be to me as you have said. Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:26-38)

I once read an article written by a journalist about a certain figure who had a prominent position in world affairs by virtue of his office. The world’s media had been criticising this figure, and the journalist who wrote the article said that the magic of that person had now gone. Note the expression: his “magic” had gone. In the early sixties of the last century Meriol Trevor’s two volume biography of John Henry Newman was published, and her account shows that by about 1860 or so Newman’s “magic” too had largely gone. By this I

mean the fascination of people with his person, with his mystery, his domination of their imagination. In Newman’s case that “magic” returned following the publication of his Apologia, and has been growing continually since his death in 1890. We could say that with the onset of a widespread secular culture over the last two centuries or even more, the “magic” of Jesus Christ also has gone for large numbers of persons. God has lost his due place in their imagination. In the imagination of many people the world is all there is. There is little instinctive feeling for God. For very many people who are shaped by their secular culture, God is virtually dead and buried. In effect Christ too is dead and buried. To all intents and purposes he did not rise from the dead, but is simply a distant person of the past who began the religious movement called Christianity. All this illustrates the power and importance of one’s culture, and a goal of the evangelization Christ himself launched is to evangelize culture, just as the Church evangelized the culture of the Roman Empire and, following the fall of Rome, the culture of the emerging Europe. At the heart of all such endeavours is the work of regaining and re-presenting the “magic”, we might almost say, of the living person of Jesus Christ. Modern man has to gain the sense of the beauty and singular grandeur of the person of Jesus, living now and risen from the dead. The name of Jesus has to be transformed from being a mere commonplace and even expletive, to being an awesome and lovely music that almost catches one’s breath away.

The Reality and Fact of Jesus Christ is especially accessible through the Scriptures as presented by the Church. The Church founded by Christ holds the Scriptures in her hands as her Book, the Book composed by certain of her members under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Reading from this Book, especially from the Gospels, she speaks and comments on the person of Jesus Christ who lives in her as her Head and Spouse. She asks that her children take up this her Book and read it with her instructions in mind. Our Gospel today (Luke 1:26-38) for the Annunciation of the Lord is a case in point. How great is the description of the Lord Jesus contained therein! The Angel Gabriel tells the all-holy Virgin about her coming son. He will be great, great without any qualification. He is simply great, just as God is simply great. A little later in the same Gospel Mary will extol the greatness of God. The Angel tells her that her own son will be great. He is the Son of the great God, the Most High. He is his natural Son, in very truth the Son of God. It is a staggering thought to contemplate the Incarnation. I remember watching the movie “The Passion of the Christ” and when in the movie Christ lay on the floor after his scourging, what struck me yet again was the wonder of the Incarnation: there on the floor lay God in his human nature, having been scourged by men. At Mary’s consent to the plan of God as revealed to her by the Angel, by the power of the Holy Spirit the Son of God was made man in her womb. Think of the helpless babe in the arms of the Virgin some nine months later. Think of the growing boy, full of wisdom and intelligence and grace. Think of the youth, the young man as he developed towards the height of his powers. Jesus Christ is the marvel of mankind! He is, as the Angel had predicted in his address to the Virgin, great. He is the Son of the Most High. He has the throne of his father David, and of his kingdom there will be no end. He is the crown of our race, the gift of the Father and of the Holy Spirit, presented to us all by the Virgin Mary his true mother.

If we steadily keep our gaze on Jesus, risen and living in his body the Church and presented to us for our prayerful consideration in the Scriptures, we shall gain a powerful sense of his magic. There is no one like him, no one to match him, for he is the Saviour of the world, the only name by which men can be saved. He is, as the Angel says, great. Let our Gospel passage today help us to apprehend anew the person of Christ and lead us to give our hearts to him. He is not dead and buried. He is our saving Lord, our joy for all ages. He lives and is risen from the dead, and by his side is the Virgin his holy mother who teaches us how to be his disciples.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Depend on Jesus for everything. You have nothing, are worth nothing, are capable of nothing. He will act, if you abandon yourself to him.
(The Way, no.731)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ          BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Sixth Chapter             The Joy of a Good Conscience

THE glory of a good man is the testimony of a good conscience. Therefore, keep your conscience good and you will always enjoy happiness, for a good conscience can bear a great deal and can bring joy even in the midst of adversity. But an evil conscience is ever restive and fearful.

Sweet shall be your rest if your heart does not reproach you.

Do not rejoice unless you have done well. Sinners never experience true interior joy or peace, for "there is no peace to the wicked," says the Lord.[3] Even if they say: "We are at peace, no evil shall befall us and no one dares to hurt us," do not believe them; for the wrath of God will arise quickly, and their deeds will be brought to naught and their thoughts will perish.
                                                                                                   (Continuing)

(March 26) Blessed Didacus of Cadiz (d. 1801)
Born in Cadiz, Spain, and christened Joseph Francis, the youth spent much of his free time around the Capuchin friars and their church. But his desire to enter the Franciscan Order was delayed because of the difficulty he had with his studies. Finally he was admitted to the novitiate of the Capuchins in Seville as Brother Didacus. He later was ordained a priest and sent out to preach. His gift of preaching was soon evident. He journeyed tirelessly through the territory of Andalusia of Spain, speaking in small towns and crowded cities. His words were able to touch the minds and hearts of young and old, rich and poor, students and professors. His work in the confessional completed the conversions his words began. This unlearned man was called "the apostle of the Holy Trinity" because of his devotion to the Trinity and the ease with which he preached about this sublime mystery. One day a child gave away his secret, crying out: "Mother, mother, see the dove resting on the shoulder of Father Didacus! I could preach like that too if a dove told me all that I should say." Didacus was that close to God, spending nights in prayer and preparing for his sermons by severe penances. His reply to those who criticized him: "My sins and the sins of the people compel me to do it. Those who have been charged with the conversions of sinners must remember that the Lord has imposed on them the sins of all their clients." It is said that sometimes when he preached on the love of God he would be elevated above the pulpit. Crowds in village and town squares were entranced by his words and would attempt to tear off pieces of his habit as he passed by. He died in 1801 at age 58, a holy and revered man. He was beatified in 1894.
Didacus was such a poor student that the Franciscans wouldn’t have him. When Capuchins finally took him into their order and eventually ordained him, he proved to be a powerful preacher—to everyone’s surprise. As we often do, Didacus’s contemporaries expected little from someone with a slow mind. Didacus proved to them that intelligence is not the only measure. The person who has a loving heart, a listening ear and a wealth of compassion is, in the long run, much wiser. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 106:19-23; John 5:31-47

If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may

be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say? (John 5:31-47)

On one occasion our Lord was approached by the leaders of the Jews and was asked for a sign that would prove his credentials to them. Our Lord’s response? He heaved a great sigh from the heart and said that it was a wicked generation that asked for a sign. Their refusal to believe in him, he said, was due not to a lack of signs but to a great moral fault of their heart. The only sign that would be given them — at least there and then — was the sign of Jonah. Jonah preached and the Ninevites repented. Then he left them without

giving them the sign they had demanded. On another occasion our Lord was approached by the leaders after he had cleansed the Temple and was asked by them by what authority he had set himself up to do these things. He countered by asking them where John’s authority had come from — implying that John had given prophetic testimony to him. On a different occasion when speaking to his own disciples he appealed to them to consider the works he had done, if they found faith in his mere word difficult. In our Gospel passage today our Lord refers to various testimonies to him beyond his own word. There is, he said, John — John the Baptist. “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.” The implication here is that John’s testimony to Jesus was known by the leaders — and it may be that John the Baptist testified to Jesus in the presence of the leaders directly. But our Lord has greater testimonies to his person than John. His own works abundantly testify to him — his miracles, his teaching and all that he did. On one occasion John, while in prison, had sent his disciples to Jesus to ask if he was the one long promised. Our Lord told them to tell John what they had seen: the blind, lame and the sick were healed and the poor had the good news told them. So our Lord was directing John to look at what he was doing. His own work clearly testified to him. So there was the witness of John and the witness of his works.

But there was more. “The Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.” It is not immediately clear what our Lord is referring to here. There was the public witness of the Father at our Lord’s baptism, and perhaps this had become more publicly known. Perhaps our Lord is referring partially to his astounding miracles which proved that the Father was with him. Perhaps our Lord is also referring to the constant awareness he himself had of the closeness and support of the Father in all he did and said. Certainly it is this testimony of the Father to himself which counts overwhelmingly with Christ himself. When St Paul referred in his Letters to his own apostolic authority (as he often did) it was Christ’s own authorization of him which counted in his own mind, an authorization his readers would not have witnessed. But he still presented it firmly, repeatedly, constantly. In our Gospel passage today (John 5:31-47) it was the Father’s testimony that counted for Christ, and it did so far more than any mere human testimony. But, our Lord said, the leaders did not know the Father. If they did they would believe in him. “You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.” But there was also the Scriptures. They testify about him. Our Lord repeatedly explained to his disciples that the Son of Man had to suffer in order to enter his glory. It was gradually instilled into their minds that in this he fulfilled the Scriptures and that the Scriptures spoke of him. On the day he rose from the dead our Lord walked with two of his disciples — and they were not of the Twelve — and showed them at great length how the Scriptures spoke of the Messiah as one who would have to suffer, die and rise again. In this way he would attain his glory as the Messiah. So it was that one of the things that Jesus of Nazareth did was to give to the world a unified and clear interpretation of the meaning of the Old Testament. The Old Testament — the Scriptures prior to the coming of Jesus — spoke of him. He is the key to the inspired writings. Moses wrote about me, our Lord says in our passage today.

There are many things that bear witness to the authority of Christ. There is the witness of John, the last of the prophets. There is the witness of the Scriptures. There is the witness of Christ’s own works. There is the witness of the Father Almighty himself. We for our part must be open to this witness, and the leaders to whom our Lord was speaking were not open to it. This was because, our Lord says, they did not have the love of God in their hearts. They made no effort to obtain the praise of God. Let us not be among their number. Let us take our stand with Jesus and be with him to the end.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Oh, Jesus! I rest in you.
(The Way, no.732)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ          BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Sixth Chapter                The Joy of a Good Conscience

To glory in adversity is not hard for the man who loves, for this is to glory in the cross of the Lord. But the glory given or received of men is short lived, and the glory of the world is ever companioned by sorrow. The glory of the good, however, is in their conscience and not in the lips of men, for the joy of the just is from God and in God, and their gladness is founded on truth.

The man who longs for the true, eternal glory does not care for that of time; and he who seeks passing fame or does not in his heart despise it, undoubtedly cares little for the glory of heaven.

He who minds neither praise nor blame possesses great peace of heart and, if his conscience is good, he will easily be contented and at peace.
                                                                            (Continuing)

---------------------------Back to index for this month---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days-----------------------

(March 27) Blessed Francis Faà di Bruno (1825-1888)
Francis, the last of 12 children, was born in northern Italy into an aristocratic family. He lived at a particularly turbulent time in history, when anti-Catholic and anti-papal sentiments were especially strong. After being trained as a military officer, Francis was

spotted by King Victor Emmanuel II, who was impressed with the young man's character and learning. Invited by the king to tutor his two young sons, Francis agreed and prepared himself with additional studies. But with the role of the Church in education being a sticking point for many, the king was forced to withdraw his offer to the openly Catholic Francis and, instead, find a tutor more suitable to the secular state. Francis soon left army life behind and pursued doctoral studies in Paris in mathematics and astronomy; he also showed a special interest in religion and asceticism. Despite his commitment to the scholarly life, Francis put much of his energy into charitable activities. He founded the Society of St. Zita for maids and domestic servants, later expanding it to include unmarried mothers, among others. He helped establish hostels for the elderly and poor. He even oversaw the construction of a church in Turin that was dedicated to the memory of Italian soldiers who had lost their lives in the struggle over the unification of Italy. Wishing to broaden and deepen his commitment to the poor, Francis, then well into adulthood, studied for the priesthood. But first he had to obtain the support of Pope Pius IX to counteract the opposition to his own archbishop's difficulty with late vocations. Francis was ordained at the age of 51. As a priest, he continued his good works, sharing his inheritance as well as his energy. He established yet another hostel, this time for prostitutes. He died in Turin on March 27, 1888, and was beatified 100 years later.
It wasn’t Francis’ lack of scholarly ability or deep-down goodness that almost kept him from the priesthood, but his bishop’s distrust of “late vocations.” Until the later part of the 20th century, most candidates for the priesthood entered the seminary right out of grade school. Today no bishop would refuse a middle-aged applicant—especially someone whose care for people in need is constant. Francis is a holy reminder that God’s call to reassess our life’s direction can reach us at any age. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture: Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22; Psalm 34:17-18, 19-21 and 23; John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Jesus moved around in Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. But the Jewish feast of

Tabernacles was near. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret. Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, "Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from." So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, "You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me." So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come. (John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30)

Two disciplines that have come into their own in the modern period are part of what we call the social sciences. I am referring to sociology and psychology. They have had a considerable impact on modern culture — and have been put to enormous practical use. One practical application has been forensics, but many others could be mentioned. Part of their method involves the gathering of considerable data and determining a normal curve. Then cases being studied are situated within the norm and thus the profile of any

particular individual is highlighted. Of course in everyday life we are constantly doing this. When we say a person is tall, we have situated that person in the average which we have unconsciously determined from the data built up in our everyday life. We have placed the person in a kind of class or grouping and noticed the ways he differs from the norm: he is tall, he speaks quickly, he is less or more than usually intelligent, he is very religious or moderately so, he is very handsome and physically strong, and so forth. That is why, all things being equal, a person with wide experience is able to make a better judgment about another than one who has very limited experience. He is able to set a person against a backdrop, within a context, and appreciate more clearly the significance of his features. The scientific study of people in sociology and psychology attempts to do all this with much more precision and care. One of the uses a Christian can make of the study of comparative religion is to notice more clearly the distinguishing features of the Christian religion, and in particular of the person of Jesus Christ. Narrowing the point a little more, a Christian who has a deep familiarity with the whole of the Scriptures is able more to appreciate the Gospels. The backdrop of the Old Testament highlights the distinctive features of the content of the Gospel, be it the person of Christ or his teaching and redemptive plan.

One very distinctive feature of the person of Jesus Christ, especially when placed against the backdrop of the Old Testament and comparative religion, is set forth in today’s Gospel. It concerns Christ’s origin. Take any prophet of the Old Testament — Abraham or any of the patriarchs, or Moses, David or any of the many prophets who succeeded them — and ask, what was that prophet’s origin? The location is given or not given as the case may be. Abraham was from Ur of the Chaldees. Moses was born in Egypt, David in Bethlehem, the prophets were from this or that locality. Their origin is totally and entirely explained by reference to a particular race and locality. Is there any prophet, priest or king of the chosen people who came from heaven? Not at all. But in our Gospel passage today (John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30) this is exactly what Jesus of Nazareth claimed. Yes, he was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Galilee, and in this sense the people knew where he came from. We know where he is from, the people state in our passage today. They knew that the origin of the Messiah was to be mysterious. “When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” Yes, our Lord proclaims, you know where I am from. He was from Nazareth in Galilee. He was a Galilean and as the leaders would ask, do prophets come from Galilee? But in fact they do not know where he is from, for he has come from God. He has come from God not merely in the sense that God has constituted him his messenger, and sent him to the people as one with a divine commission. He has come from God in that he was with God in the beginning. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he came down from heaven. From all eternity he had been with his Father. In the fullness of time he became man with a great work to do entrusted to him by his heavenly Father. This is above all the sense in which our Lord said that he had come from God and was sent by him. Our Lord rejoiced at the Last Supper when he saw that his disciples could now see more clearly than ever that the Father had sent him. This matter of the origin of Jesus Christ was of overriding importance. It is a unique and most distinctive feature of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ transcends all other prophets and leaders of the Old Testament, and all the great founders of the religion of mankind. His transcendence comes from, among other things, his origin. His origin is the bosom of the Father, as St John expresses it in his Gospel prologue. No one has seen God except the only Son of the Father, who is nearest the Father’s heart. He has made him known. Let us appreciate anew the singular grandeur of Jesus Christ who has come from God to bring us back to the Father’s heart, to be with him there for ever.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Trust always in your God. He does not lose battles.
(The Way, no.733)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ           BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Sixth Chapter            The Joy of a Good Conscience

Praise adds nothing to your holiness, nor does blame take anything from it. You are what you are, and you cannot be said to be better than you are in God's sight. If you consider well what you are within, you will not care what men say about you. They look to appearances but God looks to the heart. They consider the deed but God weighs the motive.

It is characteristic of a humble soul always to do good and to think little of itself. It is a mark of great purity and deep faith to look for no consolation in created things. The man who desires no justification from without has clearly entrusted himself to God: "For not he who commendeth himself is approved," says St. Paul, "but he whom God commendeth."

To walk with God interiorly, to be free from any external affection -- this is the state of the inward man.
                                                                       (Concluded)

---------------------------Back to index for this month---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days-----------------------

(March 28) St. Hesychius of Jerusalem (c. 450)
Not only is the name of today's saint a bit hard to pronounce and spell. It's also difficult to learn about such a modest and gentle man who lived in the fourth and fifth century and who is better known in the Russian Orthodox Church. The birth date of Hesychius (pronounced HESH-us) is unclear, but we know that he was a priest and monk who wrote a history of the Church, unfortunately lost. He also wrote about many of the burning issues of his day. These included the heresy of Nestorianism, which held that there were two separate persons in Jesus — one human, one divine — and the heresy of Arianism, which denied the divinity of Christ. Some of his commentaries on the books of the Bible as well, along with meditations on the prophets and homilies on the Blessed Virgin Mary, still survive. It's believed Hesychius delivered Easter homilies in the basilica in Jerusalem thought to be the place of the crucifixion. His words on the Eucharist, written centuries ago, speak to us today: "Keep yourselves free from sin so that every day you may share in the mystic meal; by doing so our bodies become the body of Christ."
Hesychius died around the year 450. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 7:2-3, 9bc-12; John 7:40-53

On hearing his words, some of the people said, Surely this man is the Prophet. Others said, He is the Christ. Still others asked, How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the

town where David lived? Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no-one laid a hand on him. Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, Why didn't you bring him in? No-one ever spoke the way this man does, the guards declared. You mean he has deceived you also? the Pharisees retorted. Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law— there is a curse on them. Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he is doing? They replied, Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee. Then each went to his own home. (John 7:40-53)

Our Gospel passage today directs our attention to Christ precisely as speaking and teaching. It was “on hearing his words” that “some of the people said, Surely this man is the Prophet.” Our Lord’s speech, his address, his very words were singularly and inexpressibly convincing. When, during his public ministry, our Lord revisited his home town of Nazareth, the people were astonished at the gracious words coming from his lips and the wisdom they expressed. With the exception of Jesus and Mary, they had not known the mystery of Jesus

during his years at Nazareth. There were rare manifestations of it. For instance when Jesus was twelve the Holy Family visited the Temple of Jerusalem and he stayed behind there. Mary and Joseph found him three days later in the Temple and we are told that the doctors engaging in conversation with him were amazed at his intelligence. They were struck at hearing this Child of twelve speak. But it was during his public ministry that the extraordinary grandeur of his person was revealed, and it was revealed especially in his speaking. We remember how at the threshold of his public ministry two of the disciples of John the Baptist followed Jesus in silence. Our Lord turned to them and asked what they wanted. He then invited them to come with him to where he was staying. They spent the rest of that day listening to him and conversing with him. They went off knowing that he was the Messiah: all they had to go on was the person they had seen and the words they had heard. They saw no miracles, but he spoke to them and he was utterly convincing. We remember too how shortly after this our Lord was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness and there he was tempted by Satan. Satan had seen no miracles. What had he to go on that led him to note the singular nature of the person before him? I suspect that one factor would have been the holiness of every word that came from the mouth of Jesus. Satan would have seen that no one spoke as this man spoke.

Our Gospel scene today (John 7:40-53) shows our Lord in the Temple speaking to the people. They are profoundly, profoundly moved and most of all by the revelation of his very person that his words constituted. Some could only say, this man must be the promised Prophet, the one foretold by Moses. Others said, he is the Messiah, the one foretold by Isaiah and others of the prophets. They regarded our Lord as incomparable precisely in his address. The Temple guards, sent to arrest him and bring him before the authorities, could not bring themselves to lay their hands on him. All they could say to their masters was, no one has spoken as this man speaks. It was not that our Lord was simply a most convincing orator holding the entire people he was addressing in the palm of his hand because of his skill with words. It was because his words artlessly revealed a unique person, a person of such incomparable holiness and moral power that to have laid hands on him would have left one self-condemned. This is indeed the core of the issue. Those of authentic moral disposition were convinced by seeing and hearing Jesus. Simply to have heard him was enough. The objections raised by some hearers that he did not seem to fulfil the requirements of Messiahship may not have been malicious. They did not know that he had indeed been born at Bethlehem and it is not impossible that some may not have known that he was indeed a son of David. The case was different with the chief priests and the Pharisees. They hated him and this is obvious from our text today. So we have the spectacle before us of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God made flesh among us, speaking the things of God and revealing his ineffable person. As Simon Peter said to him elsewhere in the Gospel, Lord, to whom shall we go? Your words are words of eternal life, and we believe (John 6: 68). To crown it all, just before his Passion, Peter, James and John would hear the Father say from the cloud, This is my beloved Son, listen to him.

No one has spoken as Jesus Christ spoke. His words are the words that bring eternal life. Mankind is commanded by God to listen to him. He, Jesus Christ, is the very Word of God and this Word comes to each generation in the Scriptures and in the Church’s teaching. We must hear this word and put it into practice. If we do this we shall be like the house that is built on rock. When the elements beat on that house, it will stand for its foundation is the word of Christ. That is the key. Let us then make our whole life a matter of listening to his word and living by it.
(E.J.Tyler)

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'This is your hour; this is the reign of darkness.' So the sinful man has his hour? Yes... and God his eternity!
(The Way, no.734)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ     BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Seventh Chapter         Loving Jesus Above All Things

BLESSED is he who appreciates what it is to love Jesus and who despises himself for the sake of Jesus. Give up all other love for His, since He wishes to be loved alone above all things.

Affection for creatures is deceitful and inconstant, but the love of Jesus is true and enduring. He who clings to a creature will fall with its frailty, but he who gives himself to Jesus will ever be strengthened.

Love Him, then; keep Him as a friend. He will not leave you as others do, or let you suffer lasting death. Sometime, whether you will or not, you will have to part with everything. Cling, therefore, to Jesus in life and death; trust yourself to the glory of Him who alone can help you when all others fail.
                                                                              (Continuing)

Prayers this week: Give me justice, O God, and defend my cause against the wicked; rescue me from deceitful and unjust men. You, O God, are my refuge. (Psalm 42: 1-2)

Father, help us to be like Christ your Son, who loved the world and died for our salvation. Inspire us by his love and guide us by his example. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(March 29) Blessed Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885)
Born in Casoria (near Naples), Arcangelo Palmentieri was a cabinet-maker before entering the Friars Minor in 1832, taking the

name Ludovico. After his ordination five years later, he taught chemistry, physics and mathematics to younger members of his province for several years. In 1847 he had a mystical experience which he later described as a cleansing. After that he dedicated his life to the poor and the infirm, establishing a dispensary for the poor, two schools for African children, an institute for the children of nobility, as well as an institution for orphans, the deaf and the speechless, and other institutes for the blind, elderly and for travelers. In addition to an infirmary for friars of his province, he began charitable institutes in Naples, Florence and Assisi. He once said, "Christ’s love has wounded my heart." This love prompted him to great acts of charity. To help continue these works of mercy, in 1859 he established the Gray Brothers, a religious community composed of men who formerly belonged to the Secular Franciscan Order. Three years later he founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth for the same purpose. Toward the beginning of his final, nine-year illness, Ludovico wrote a spiritual testament which described faith as "light in the darkness, help in sickness, blessing in tribulations, paradise in the crucifixion and life amid death." The local work for his beatification began within five months of Ludovico’s death. He was beatified in 1993. Ludovico’s spiritual testament begins: "The Lord called me to himself with a most tender love, and with an infinite charity he led and directed me along the path of my life." (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:3-4, 12-15; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. Sir, they said, we would like to see Jesus. Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

Jesus replied, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me. Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name! Then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again. The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. (John 12:20-33)

Our Gospel passage today opens with a scene which is full of symbolism not only for us who read it, but also, it seems, for our Lord himself who is the object of it. The great feast had arrived (during which our Lord would be crucified). Many pilgrims from all over the world had come to worship at the Feast in the Temple of Jerusalem — showing, incidentally, the most sacred character of the Temple of Jerusalem as far as those who lived the revealed religion of Israel were concerned. Yahweh God dwelt there in an altogether special

manner. For them, in a real sense, it was the centre of the world. Among the pilgrims were “some Greeks” who approached Philip with their request. John the author of the Gospel mentions that Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee, perhaps meaning to indicate that being from Bethsaida in Galilee Philip knew and spoke Greek well. I suspect too that Philip’s very name indicates a Greek connection. In any case, these “Greeks” wished to see Jesus. This would indicate in them a truly religious disposition and a sign of the good-heartedness of so many among the Gentiles to come. Our Lord had already encountered this in his ministry, notably in the Roman centurion who had asked him to heal his servant. Our Lord stated that he had not seen in Israel the like of the faith of the centurion. Much earlier still, we remember the Magi coming from the East to acknowledge the newborn Child. So now here, Greeks who accepted the revelation granted to the Jews are approaching our Lord. They want to see him. Let us imagine Philip and Andrew returning to them to conduct them to their meeting with Jesus. Imagine our Lord conversing with them, presumably in Greek, and watching their profound attention to him. They would not have realized it, but they were gazing on the human face of God. Our Lord was seeing beyond them to the nations he would send his disciples to when he had risen from the dead. As we think of this first part of our scene, we think of Jesus Christ the one and only Saviour of the entire world.

St John gives us our Lord’s words when Philip and Andrew approached him to ask that he receive “the Greeks.” (John 12:20-33) Their request was symbolic of the missionary and catholic character of the Church of which Christ would be Head. Our Lord raised his thoughts to the pivotal event which was soon to come: his passion, his death and his resurrection. This would be his path to glory. On another occasion James and John (with their mother) had asked that he give them places at his right and left in his kingdom. As to first places, he told them, that was for his heavenly Father to decide, but the important thing was, could they drink his cup? To share in his glory it was necessary to share in his sufferings. And so our Lord here speaks of his hour that had now come. It was the hour for the redemption of all mankind from sin, and the Greeks represented the bulk of mankind. His entire life was a free offering to the Father to carry out his plan of salvation, and the giving of his life on the cross was the supreme moment of ransom for the many. This offering of his life was absolutely unique in its meaning and effect. By means of it he expiated for the sins of all mankind, making up by his full obedience for all the offences of human history against God. His death expressed to the very end his obedient love of the Father. He did this for the glory of the Father not only on his own behalf, but on ours too for we were unable to render to the Father the glory that is his due. He carried us all along with him, holding us and our sins in his embrace, and carried us with him into the Holy of holies. The blood of Christ bore us along to the bosom of the Father. He reconciled all humanity with the Father. By his death on the cross Christ offered the unique, perfect and definitive paschal sacrifice. It opened up for all mankind communion with God. No one comes to the Father except through Christ. It is by his name alone that all men are saved. The coming of the Greeks to speak to Jesus symbolizes the universal scope of the redemption wrought by Christ as he offered his life on the cross.

Let us place ourselves among the group of Greeks who sought to speak with Jesus, and who found themselves in his presence. Wonder of wonders, this very meeting is going on continually in our lives! Every time we participate in holy Mass, this same Jesus is there speaking to us and making present the great sacrifice of himself for us, to which he alludes in our passage today. The hour that was coming is made sacramentally present at every Mass. At Mass the one sacrifice of Calvary is made present sacramentally, and we are able to unite ourselves to Christ in this his hour. Let us resolve to make the whole of our lives a sharing in the great redemptive hour of Jesus Christ. If we do this, we shall share in his glory.
(E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.606-618

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If you are an apostle, death for you will be a good friend who helps you on your way.
(The Way, no.735)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ             BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Seventh Chapter             Loving Jesus Above All Things

Your Beloved is such that He will not accept what belongs to another -- He wants your heart for Himself alone, to be enthroned therein as King in His own right. If you but knew how to free yourself entirely from all creatures, Jesus would gladly dwell within you.

You will find, apart from Him, that nearly all the trust you place in men is a total loss. Therefore, neither confide in nor depend upon a wind-shaken reed, for "all flesh is grass" and all its glory, like the flower of grass, will fade away.

You will quickly be deceived if you look only to the outward appearance of men, and you will often be disappointed if you seek comfort and gain in them. If, however, you seek Jesus in all things, you will surely find Him. Likewise, if you seek yourself, you will find yourself -- to your own ruin. For the man who does not seek Jesus does himself much greater harm than the whole world and all his enemies could ever do.
                                                                                  (Continuing)

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From the beginning of John Henry Newman’s sermon ‘The Cross of Christ the Measure of the World’, 9 April 1841:

A great number of men live and die without reflecting at all upon the state of things in which they find themselves. They take things as

they come, and follow their inclinations as far as they have the opportunity. They are guided mainly by pleasure and pain, not by reason, principle, or conscience; and they do not attempt to interpret this world, to determine what it means, or to reduce what they see and feel to system. But when persons, either from thoughtfulness of mind, or from intellectual activity, begin to contemplate the visible state of things into which they are born, then forthwith they find it a maze and a perplexity. It is a riddle which they cannot solve. It seems full of contradictions and without a drift. Why it is, and what it is to issue in, and how it is what it is, and how we come to be introduced into it, and what is our destiny, are all mysteries.

In this difficulty, some have formed one philosophy of life, and others another. Men have thought they had found the key, by means of which they might read what is so obscure. Ten thousand things come before us one after another in the course of life, and what are we to think of them? what colour are we to give them? Are we to look at all things in a gay and mirthful way? or in a melancholy way? in a desponding or a hopeful way? Are we to make light of life altogether, or to treat the whole subject seriously? Are we to make greatest things of little consequence, or least things of great consequence? Are we to keep in mind what is past and gone, or are we to look on to the future, or are we to be absorbed in what is present? How are we to look at things? this is the question which all persons of observation ask themselves, and answer each in his own way. They wish to think by rule; by something within them, which may harmonize and adjust what is without them. Such is the need felt by reflective minds. Now, let me ask, what is the real key, what is the Christian interpretation of this world? What is given us by revelation to estimate and measure this world by? The event of this season,—the Crucifixion of the Son of God.

It is the death of the Eternal Word of God made flesh, which is our great lesson how to think and how to speak of this world. His Cross has put its due value upon every thing which we see, upon all fortunes, all advantages, all ranks, all dignities, all pleasures; upon the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It has set a price upon the excitements, the rivalries, the hopes, the fears, the desires, the efforts, the triumphs of mortal man. It has given a meaning to the various, shifting course, the trials, the temptations, the sufferings, of his earthly state. It has brought together and made consistent all that seemed discordant and aimless. It has taught us how to live, how to use this world, what to expect, what to desire, what to hope. It is the tone into which all the strains of this world’s music are ultimately to be resolved.

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(March 30) St. Peter Regalado (1390-1456)
Peter lived at a very busy time. The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) was settled at the Council of Constance (1414-1418). France and England were fighting the Hundred Years’ War, and in 1453 the Byzantine Empire was completely wiped out by the loss of Constantinople to the Turks. At Peter’s death the age of printing had just begun in Germany, and Columbus's arrival in the New World was less than 40 years away. Peter came from a wealthy and pious family in Valladolid, Spain. At the age of 13, he was allowed to enter the Conventual Franciscans. Shortly after his ordination, he was made superior of the friary in Aguilar. He became part of a group of friars who wanted to lead a life of greater poverty and penance. In 1442 he was appointed head of all the Spanish Franciscans in his reform group. Peter led the friars by his example. A special love of the poor and the sick characterized Peter. Miraculous stories are told about his charity to the poor. For example, the bread never seemed to run out as long as Peter had hungry people to feed. Throughout most of his life, Peter went hungry; he lived only on bread and water. Immediately after his death on March 31, 1456, his grave became a place of pilgrimage. Peter was canonized in 1746.
Peter was an effective leader of the friars because he did not become ensnared in anger over the sins of others. Peter helped sinning friars rearrange the priorities in their lives and dedicate themselves to living the gospel of Jesus Christ as they had vowed. This patient correction is an act of charity available to all Franciscans, not just to superiors. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 or 13:41c-62; Psalm 23:1-6; John 8:1-11

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered round him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They

made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say? They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are they? Has no-one condemned you? No-one, sir, she said. Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin. (John 8:1-11)

May I introduce my comment with an observation about one important current of modern thought. It concerns what we might call contemporary scientism. We could describe scientism, which is not the same as being scientific, as a belief that whatever cannot be experienced by the senses, i.e., seen, touched and heard, does not exist. It allows scientific experiment as being the only criterion of valid knowledge. It is a form of the philosophy we might call Naturalism. First and foremost, this means that God does not exist

because he cannot be subjected to scientific observation and proof. He is not a hard fact but a subjective thought, a mere image. Now this assumption is applied also to conscience and morality. For instance, the Harvard neuroscientist and philosopher Joshua Greene once wrote that his goal as a scientist is "to reveal our moral thinking for what it is: a complex hodgepodge of emotional responses and rational (re)constructions, shaped by biological and cultural forces." For Greene the conscience is just part of our chemical and physical wiring as is our sense of the God whose voice it echoes. Well, in respect to the subject of conscience, let us turn to our Gospel passage today and observe its presence even if out of sight. Our Lord is in the Temple teaching and the leaders come to him hoping to trap him. An adulterous woman is presented to him and he is asked what is to be done with her. Is she to be stoned, as Moses directed? Our Lord said nothing, but merely “bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.” They persisted, perhaps thinking that they had him perplexed and reduced to silence. At this he rose and said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him to be the first to throw a stone at her.” A great pause, as he continued to write on the ground. A stony and uneasy silence. Quietly, and as surreptitiously as possible, this and that among them slipped back into the surrounding crowd out of sight and quietly made their way off. It happened gradually, quietly, with not a word more being said. Finally, all had gone and our Lord was still writing on the ground. What had caused this change of scene? It had been due to the word of Christ and the accusing conscience of man.

Christ had spoken. The word of God had been uttered and had been heard. At the same time, the conscience of the woman’s accusers had been aroused. They had accused her of sin and undoubtedly her own conscience as a result had accused her too. But to that point they had not heard the voice of their own guilty conscience pronouncing on their own misdeeds. It had been stifled, silenced and replaced by self-commendation. We remember the parable our Lord told of the Pharisee and the Publican praying in the Temple. The Publican was filled with a sense of personal sin and his prayer was a repeated request for pardon. His accusing conscience was active and prompted him to accept the revelation of God’s mercy and to appeal for his pardon. The Pharisee had no sense of sin. His conscience had fallen silent. The Pharisee saw what was wrong with the Tax Collector behind him, but saw nothing wrong with himself. So the Publican was justified in God’s sight, whereas the Pharisee remained in his sins. In our Gospel passage today (John 8:1-11) we see how the word of Christ triggered the conscience of the accusers and left them self-condemned. Their judgment on the woman was now being turned on them by their conscience. In their conscience they were vaguely sensing the law and judgment of God. They could not bear it and they had to quietly flee away. This scene shows us the intimate connection between the word and the law of God and the natural conscience of man. Christ spoke and the conscience of his hearers was aroused. Their conscience acted as the representative and sanction of the word of Christ. John Henry Newman in his famous Letter to the Duke of Norfolk in 1875 described the conscience as the aboriginal vicar of Christ — which is to say the representative of Christ’s word in the heart of man. The conscience of man instinctively approves what God reveals and supports it by its own sanctions. If its voice is not merely feared (as in the Pharisees of our passage) but respected and accepted (as in the Publican praying in the Temple) it will lead us to God and Christ. Let us then be faithful to our conscience.

Let us be profoundly grateful to God for revealing to us his word and his plan. Because of it we are able to live in the light and that light takes us to heaven. But let us also be grateful to God for endowing us with the gift of a conscience. It is the natural glory of man and, considered as including his intelligence and freedom, it is his distinguishing trait as a human being. His conscience is his most important natural endowment equipping him to be religious in the sense intended by God. It also enables him to respond to God’s word not only as did the Pharisees who fled before the voice of their conscience, but as did the Publican who accepted the voice of conscience and appealed to God for mercy.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Have you seen the dead leaves fall in the sad autumn twilight? Thus souls fall each day into eternity. One day, the falling leaf will be you.
(The Way, no.736)

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Continuing The Imitation of Christ               BOOK TWO: THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Eighth Chapter                   The Intimate Friendship of Jesus

WHEN Jesus is near, all is well and nothing seems difficult. When He is absent, all is hard. When Jesus does not speak within, all other comfort is empty, but if He says only a word, it brings great consolation.

Did not Mary Magdalen rise at once from her weeping when Martha said to her: "The Master is come, and calleth for thee"? Happy is the hour when Jesus calls one from tears to joy of spirit.

How dry and hard you are without Jesus! How foolish and vain if you desire anything but Him! Is it not a greater loss than losing the whole world? For what, without Jesus, can the world give you? Life without Him is a relentless hell, but living with Him is a sweet paradise. If Jesus be with you, no enemy can harm you.
                                                                                           (Continuing)

(March 31) St. Stephen of Mar Saba (d. 794)
A "do not disturb" sign helped today's saint find holiness and peace. Stephen of Mar Saba was the nephew of St. John Damascene, who introduced the young boy to monastic life beginning at age 10. When he reached 24, Stephen served the community in a variety of ways, including guest master. After some time he asked permission to live a hermit's life. The answer from the abbot was yes and no: Stephen could follow his preferred lifestyle during the week, but on weekends he was to offer his skills as a counsellor. Stephen placed a note on the door of his cell: "Forgive me, Fathers, in the name of the Lord, but please do not disturb me except on Saturdays and Sundays." Despite his calling to prayer and quiet, Stephen displayed uncanny skills with people and was a valued spiritual guide. His biographer and disciple wrote about Stephen: "Whatever help, spiritual or material, he was asked to give, he gave. He received and honoured all with the same kindness. He possessed nothing and lacked nothing. In total poverty he possessed all things." Stephen died in 794. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Once more Jesus said to them, I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you

cannot come. This made the Jews ask, Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'? But he continued, You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins. Who are you? they asked. Just what I have been claiming all along, Jesus replied. I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world. They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. (John 8:21-30)

For almost the whole of the modern period there has been present a slowly developing current of thought within the Christian world reducing the status and person of Jesus to something approximating the level of the great. His divinity has been gradually downplayed and often entirely lost sight of — nay, even denied. There have even been some who have denied his historical existence, but this position scarcely needs consideration. Jesus Christ is allowed to be manifestly a person of

enormous religious and therefore cultural influence in the history of the world. Indeed, to many students of history his influence over the hearts of generations is perhaps something of a mystery — after all, for them he is merely a great historical figure. They reduce him to the level of the great. He is great and is to be classed among the great, but nothing more. The Christian who accepts the witness of the Church about Christ does not allow this as adequate: Christ transcends in his person all others in the history of mankind. He is not to be ranked with Buddha, Confucius, Aristotle, Plato, Moses, Abraham, let alone Mahomet. He is greater far than all of them. Moreover, his greatness is not just a factor of the number of his followers — which is to say that his rank in history is not to be calculated merely by comparing the number of Christians with the number of those following other traditions of belief and thought. His uniqueness is personal to him. Therein lies his unending fascination and the source of the personal love, adoration, worship and consuming dedication to him that has filled the lives of countless people. In his dying days on the island of Elba, Napoleon Bonaparte recognized the superiority of Jesus Christ over all those in history who to that point had captured his own imagination. There are two features of Jesus Christ that command the attention and the heart of mankind: his divinity and his unmatchable holiness. Though absolutely human he is absolutely divine, and perforce he is incomparably holy. He is the sparkling jewel of our race, the wonder of history.

Many passages of the Gospels give expression to these great facts, including our own passage today. Christ contrasts himself to his hearers: "Where I go, you cannot come." He was returning to the bosom of his Father. No one can go to the position he will occupy, though he will prepare a place for us there. Then very solemnly he tells his hearers, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins". We are from below. He comes from heaven, and from all eternity he, the eternal Son, has been with the eternal Father. From there has he come down to be with us sinners, and he tells us that if we refuse to believe in him and in who he reveals himself to be, we shall die in our sins and never go to where he wishes to take us. This applies to all — all are called to be his disciples. It is the vocation of mankind. Then, in response to his plea and his warning, there comes the question: Who are you? Who do you claim to be that so much depends on our placing our faith in you? Our Lord in response refers his questioners to all that he has revealed of himself: "Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. Then comes his most impressive of claims: "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him" (John 8:21-30). You will know that "I am" when I have been lifted up: the revelation of my divinity will be especially given from the Cross, and you will then see that I do and say all that the Father asks of me. He is always with me, because "I always do what pleases him." Jesus Christ was absolutely and utterly sinless, never for a moment failing to do what his heavenly Father willed. It could not be otherwise for he is the eternal Son of the eternal Father. He is God become man for our sakes.

All our days we ought rest our gaze on the person of Jesus Christ. He is the highest and truest object of man’s religion. Man is made to know, love and serve God here on earth, and this grand vocation of man is made concrete in his call to know, love and serve Christ. Before the world began, St Paul writes in one of his Letters, God chose us in Christ to be holy and full of love in his sight. Let us then strive to know and love the living Jesus all our days, and by means of the grace of the Holy Spirit let us model our mind, heart and daily life on his incomparable person.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Have you never heard the worldly-minded sadly complain that 'each day that passes is a step nearer death'?

It is. And I tell you: rejoice, apostolic soul, for each day that pass brings you closer to Life.
(The Way, no.737)

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He who finds Jesus finds a rare treasure, indeed, a good above every good, whereas he who loses Him loses more than the whole world. The man who lives without Jesus is the poorest of the poor, whereas no one is so rich as the man who lives in His grace.

It is a great art to know how to converse with Jesus, and great wisdom to know how to keep Him. Be humble and peaceful, and Jesus will be with you. Be devout and calm, and He will remain with you. You may quickly drive Him away and lose His grace, if you turn back to the outside world. And, if you drive Him away and lose Him, to whom will you go and whom will you then seek as a friend? You cannot live well without a friend, and if Jesus be not your friend above all else, you will be very sad and desolate. Thus, you are acting foolishly if you trust or rejoice in any other. Choose the opposition of the whole world rather than offend Jesus. Of all those who are dear to you, let Him be your special love. Let all things be loved for the sake of Jesus, but Jesus for His own sake. (Continuing)

Liturgical Season	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
First Week of Lent B/I	1 First Sunday of Lent	2	3	4	5	6	7
Second Week of Lent B/I	8 Second Sunday of Lent	9	10	11	12	13	14
Third Week of Lent B/I	15 Third Sunday of Lent	16	17 or Solemnity of St. Patrick	18	19 or Solemnity of St. Joseph	20	21
Fourth Week of Lent B/I	22 Fourth Sunday of Lent	23	24	25 or The Annunciation of The Lord	26	27	28
Fifth Week of Lent B/I	29 Fifth Sunday of Lent	30	31