April in Year C 10

From Holy Thursday to the fourth week in Eastertide

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

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

Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for April is: "That every tendency to fundamentalism and extremism may be countered by constant respect, by tolerance and by dialogue among all believers".

His mission intention for April is: "That Christians persecuted for the sake of the Gospel may persevere, sustained by the Holy Spirit, in faithfully witnessing to the love of God for the entire human race".

Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper C

Prayers today: We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he is our salvation, our life and our resurrection; through him we are saved and made free. (See Gal 6:14)

God our Father, we are gathered here to share in the supper which your only Son left to his Church to reveal his love. He gave it to us when he was about to die and commanded us to celebrate it as the new and eternal sacrifice. We pray that in this eucharist we may find the fullness of love and life. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

(April 1) St. Hugh of Grenoble (1052-1132)
Today’s saint could be a patron for those of us who feel so overwhelmed by all the problems in the world that we don’t know where to begin. Hugh, who served as a bishop in France for 52 years, had his work cut out for him from the start. Corruption seemed to loom in every direction: the buying and selling of Church offices, violations of clerical celibacy, lay control of Church property, religious indifference and/or ignorance. After serving as bishop for two years, he’d had his fill. He tried disappearing to a monastery, but the pope called him back to continue the work of reform. Ironically, Hugh was reasonably effective in the role of reformer—surely because of his devotion to the Church but also because of his strong character. In conflicts between Church and state he was an unflinching defender of the Church. He fearlessly supported the papacy. He was eloquent as a preacher. He restored his own cathedral, made civic improvements in the town and weathered a brief exile. Hugh may be best known as patron and benefactor of St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order. Hugh died in 1132. He was canonized only two years later. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Exodus 12: 1-8.11-14; Psalm 115; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26; John 13: 1-15

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and

the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Jesus replied, You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand. No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. Then, Lord, Simon Peter replied, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well! Jesus answered, A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I have done for you? he asked them. You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord', and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (John 13: 1-15)

The divine servant In ancient civilizations where sandals were the footwear and dust and dirt a feature of roads, a host commonly offered to provide water for a guest to wash his feet. An example of this is given us when Abraham received the three men by the terebinth of Mamre (Genesis 18: 4). Alternatively, a servant might wash the feet of the guest, and we read in 1 Samuel 25: 41 how Abigail, referring to herself as David’s “handmaid,” says she “would become a slave to wash the feet of my

Lord’s servants.” On one occasion our Lord accepted the invitation of a Pharisee to dine with him. The Pharisee omitted the courtesy of offering our Lord water to wash his feet, but during the meal a woman entered the house — a woman with a poor reputation in the town — and proceeded to wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. She then anointed his feet with her perfumed oil. She was showing him signal love and honour. Our Lord accepted her courtesy and sent her away with her sins forgiven. We remember how after our Lord raised Lazarus from the dead, a dinner was held in his honour in the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. When all were reclining at table, Mary came in with a pint of pure nard to the value of nearly a year’s wages, and poured it over the feet of Jesus. She was, as a host, washing the feet of Jesus not just with water but with a most valuable substance. The aroma filled the entire house, as she wiped the feet of Jesus not just with a towel, but with her hair. By her hair, she was, as it were, taking the place of the towel that wiped his feet. She was humbly bestowing the highest honour on our Lord that was within her power. The gesture of washing the feet was a mark of genuine humility by the host and of high honour to the guest. In our Gospel today, our Lord, whom the disciples addressed as Master and Lord — and “rightly so, for that is what I am” — knelt before each of his disciples and proceeded to wash their feet. It symbolized Christ being a servant, a slave. It was too much for Simon Peter. “Lord, you shall never wash my feet,” he said.

Ponder the scene (John 13: 1-15), and contemplate what it tells us of the one and only God. It is extraordinary enough, wondrous beyond words, that God is in the midst of this group as a Man. This Man whom they addressed as Master and Lord, with whom Peter felt he could expostulate, was the living God, the God of all things visible and invisible. Through him all things were made, and in him was life, the source of life for all living things. There he stood, there he sat, there he conversed, in his humanity. The great God, so high a God as to transcend all things in every respect, had taken to himself a human nature and thus made himself our brother. But lo! He rises from the table and “wrapped a towel round his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him.” The gesture was unmistakable in its significance. God was acting as a humble servant would act towards an honoured guest. That is the attitude of God towards the living work of his hands. The highest and most exalted Reality of all, is humble and loving. This, Reality at its most exalted, is humble and serving. Our Lord was revealing to his disciples what it is to be like God. Simon Peter refused, for it was, he thought, demeaning to the one whom he so loved and venerated. He could not accept that his very feet be washed by his Master and his Lord. But he had to accept it, if Jesus was to be his Master and Lord at all, for Jesus the Master was the predicted Suffering Servant who would take away the sins of mankind. “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. Then, Lord, Simon Peter replied, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well! Jesus answered, A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.” Our Lord had come to wash the feet of mankind, making himself the Servant of all men, making them clean all over. That was his grand mission, to make humanity clean of sin and endowed with a share in his own life. His disciples, with Simon Peter at their head, would have the mission of bringing Jesus Christ to the world so that in him the world would be made new.

Let us understand well what it means to be like God. It means to be like Jesus Christ who put aside the divine glory that had been his to become as men are, and humbler still, even to death on a cross. He became the Servant of all, and his final gesture at the Last Supper, washing the feet of his disciples — and just imagine our Lord’s emotion as he washed the feet of Judas Iscariot — showed forth who he really was and what he had come to do. He was the God of all love, and he had come to make mankind clean. Let us take our stand with him and strive to do as he did.
(E.J.Tyler)

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I will not stop repeating until it is deeply engraved in your soul: Piety, piety, piety! For if you lack charity it will be for want of interior life, not for any defect of character.
(The Forge, no.79)

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Let it be considered, that kingdom, which our Lord set up with St. Peter at its head, was decreed in the counsels of God to last to the end of all things, according to the words I have just quoted, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And again, “Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”

JHN, from the sermon ‘The Pope and the Revolution’ (1866)

Good Friday C

Prayers today: Lord, by shedding his blood for us, your Son, Jesus Christ, established the paschal mystery. In your goodness, make us holy and watch over us always. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
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Lord, by the suffering of Christ your Son you have saved us all from the death we inherited from sinful Adam. By the law of nature we have borne the likeness of his manhood. May the sanctifying power of grace help us to put on the likeness of our Lord in heaven, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

(April 2) St. Francis of Paola (1416-1507)
Francis of Paola was a man who deeply loved contemplative solitude and wished only to be the "least in the household of God." Yet, when the Church called him to active service in the world, he became a miracle-worker and influenced the course of nations.

After accompanying his parents on a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, he began to live as a contemplative hermit in a remote cave near Paola, on Italy's southern seacoast. Before he was 20, he received the first followers who had come to imitate his way of life. Seventeen years later, when his disciples had grown in number, Francis established a Rule for his austere community and sought Church approval. This was the founding of the Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi, who were approved by the Holy See in 1474. In 1492, Francis changed the name of his community to "Minims" because he wanted them to be known as the least (minimi) in the household of God. Humility was to be the hallmark of the brothers as it had been in Francis's personal life. Besides the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, Francis enjoined upon his followers the fourth obligation of a perpetual Lenten fast. He felt that heroic mortification was necessary as a means for spiritual growth. It was Francis's desire to be a contemplative hermit, yet he believed that God was calling him to the apostolic life. He began to use the gifts he had received, such as the gifts of miracles and prophecy, to minister to the people of God. A defender of the poor and oppressed, Francis incurred the wrath of King Ferdinand of Naples for the admonitions he directed towards the king and his sons. Following the request of Pope Sixtus IV, Francis traveled to Paris to help Louis XI of France prepare for his death. While ministering to the king, Francis was able to influence the course of national politics. He helped to restore peace between France and Brittany by advising a marriage between the ruling families, and between France and Spain by persuading Louis XI to return some disputed land. Francis died while at the French court. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Isaiah 52:13—53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1—19:42

Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." Then he handed him

over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews." Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that he said, 'I am the King of the Jews'." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." (John 19:15-22)

The King Crucifixion was in use among the Persians, Seleucids, Carthaginians, and Romans from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. Alexander the Great is reputed to have crucified 2000 survivors from his siege of the Phoenician city of Tyre. Can we imagine what might have happened to the course of history had Alexander been captured during one of his numerous battles, and subsequently crucified? The thought of Alexander the Great being crucified almost boggles the historical

imagination because of his greatness as a general. His potential greatness would have immediately come to nothing. Let us take a second hypothesis. Julius Caesar was captured on two occasions by pirates, and on the second occasion his captors were the feared Cilicians. He was subsequently released on a ransom. He then returned, defeated and captured them, and proceeded to crucify them. Imagine if the pirates had crucified Caesar instead, while he was their captive? Not only would it have been the abrupt end of a most distinguished career, but it would have been one of history’s most resounding humiliations. Alexander the Great, and then Julius Caesar, both crucified by their enemies — the thought is almost preposterous. In our Gospel passage today we have the cold, hard fact of the Lord of lords and King of kings being led out of the Holy City of Jerusalem to the Rock called the Skull. He carried on his shoulders the beam to which he would he nailed. So weak was he that at one point a passer-by was commandeered to carry the wood by his side to the place of crucifixion. There he was crucified between two other criminals. A sign was nailed to the head of the cross, written in the three languages of that part of the world — Latin, Greek and Hebrew, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It was death in disgrace, a total rejection, and at that point it seemed to be the utter end of everything. But no. It is perhaps the most amazing phenomenon in history and in religion that this Crucified One would within a few days be acknowledged as the Lord of lords, and King of kings. Alexander and Caesar, for all their earthly glory, remain but dust and ashes, and who is to say where they stand now, on the other side of the grave! Not so, Jesus the Crucified One.

Let us place ourselves in that forlorn scene outside the City (John 19:15-22). We stand with a small and heartbroken group. His holy, strong and all-suffering mother, his beloved disciple, and a few other ardent disciples among the women, all are watching. The stark and bare rock stands before us as we hear the thud of the nails and the wood being hoisted to its position. Alexander, Caesar, and so many others of history had their moments of victory and greatness. The greatest of them all is before us, now hanging on the Cross. He is buried in unheard-of suffering and disgrace. He is engaged in the most decisive of all battles, one on which the prospects of the whole world hangs. He is struggling with titanic forces, for all of hell is beating down upon him, and all of this world’s sin. In the jeers of the religious leaders who see their supposed rival sinking to a terrible death, is heard the cackle of Satan doing all he can to drown Christ in suffering. The Messiah is being done to death. As this most admirable of men — whom the very centurion would soon call a son of God — descended into the darkest depths, a great light was appearing on the distant horizon of the gloom of the world. The field was being won, and the sword of victory was obedience amid humiliation and suffering. Mankind’s champion was himself making up for all the sins of mankind. He stood in the middle of the field, as it were, as the storm bellowed above. He opened wide his powerful arms and asked his loving Father that the sin of the world strike him instead. That it did, and like a powerful bolt of lightning the sin of the world struck him with a force that cannot be measured. It hit him and he received its force with a full and loving heart, and with that the lightning was spent. It had done its work in putting to death the Messiah, so that all of his brothers might live now and forever. The Messiah lay dead, having promised that very soon, indeed on the third day, he would rise again with a new life that he would share with us all. He expiated for the sin of the world, the greatest of victories.

Let us all our lives contemplate the King of kings and Lord of lords hanging on the Cross. In that great event the world was saved, and man was given the lesson of all lessons. If we want to know the secret to being victorious in life, we must look not to the Alexanders and to the Caesars, but to one man, Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews and the Lord of the world. Let us aim in life to know, love and serve Jesus Christ our Lord and God, and in this way come to see and enjoy him forever in heaven. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, the image of the unseen God, the only way to the Father, the only name by which man can be saved. His throne is the Cross. Let us take our stand with him there, on Calvary, next to this one and only throne.
(E.J.Tyler)

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If you are a good son of God, in the same way that a little child needs to be assured of the presence of his parents when he gets up in the morning or goes to bed at night, your first and last thought each day will be for Him.
(The Forge, no.80)

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Let us set it down then, as a first principle in religion, that all of us must come to Christ, in some sense or other, through things naturally unpleasant to us; it may be even through bodily suffering, such as the Apostles endured, or it may be nothing more than the subduing of our natural infirmities and the sacrifice of our natural wishes.

JHN, from the sermon ‘The Yoke of Christ’ (1839)

Holy Saturday morning C

(April 3) St. Benedict the African (1526-1589)
Benedict held important posts in the Franciscan Order and gracefully adjusted to other work when his terms of office were up. His parents were slaves brought from Africa to Messina, Sicily. Freed at 18, Benedict did farm work for a wage and soon saved enough to buy a pair of oxen. He was very proud of those animals. In time he joined a group of hermits around Palermo and was eventually recognized as their leader. Because these hermits followed the Rule of St. Francis, Pope Pius IV ordered them to join the First Order. Benedict was eventually novice master and then guardian of the friars in Palermo— positions rarely held in those days by a brother. In fact, Benedict was forced to accept his election as guardian. And when his term ended he happily returned to his work in the friary kitchen. Benedict corrected the friars with humility and charity. Once he corrected a novice and assigned him a penance only to learn that the novice was not the guilty party. Benedict immediately knelt down before the novice and asked his pardon. In later life Benedict was not possessive of the few things he used. He never referred to them as "mine" but always called them "ours." His gifts for prayer and the guidance of souls earned him throughout Sicily a reputation for holiness. Following the example of St. Francis, Benedict kept seven 40-day fasts throughout the year; he also slept only a few hours each night. After Benedict’s death, King Philip III of Spain paid for a special tomb for this holy friar. Canonized in 1807, he is honoured as a patron saint by African-Americans. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: For Holy Saturday morning, let us consider John 19: 38-42, the account of the Burial of Jesus

(After Jesus had died) Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly

because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no-one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was near by, they laid Jesus there. (John 19: 38-42)

Christ in death This day, the day following the death of Jesus Christ, was the Sabbath, a great day of rest. Christ died on the Friday afternoon, just as the Vigil of the Sabbath was approaching. His body lay in the tomb during the whole of the Sabbath rest and he rose soon after that Sabbath day had ended — in the early hours of the first day of the new week. He died towards the end of the first day, lay in the tomb during the whole of the second day and rose very early on the third day. In his account, St John

tells us that on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene arrived while it was still dark — obviously arriving as soon as she could with the Sabbath Day now over — and the stone had been removed. Christ had already risen. So it is especially on the Saturday, the Sabbath day of repose, that we celebrate the period in death of Jesus Christ. He remained in the abode of the dead. It is surely a great mystery, this repose in death of God the Son made man. He shared mankind’s descent into the state of death, which of course, as with every other human being did not involve extinction but a passing in his spirit from the scene of this earthly life. In his humanity he continued to live in his spirit but in what we might call a Limbo, where the other just souls awaited the opening of the gates of heaven. Consider who were there, and who received him. Moses and Elijah had spoken to him when he was transfigured in glory on the Mount not long before his Passion. They would have received him. So would Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the patriarchs and prophets, David and those good kings who succeeded him, and others such as Simeon and Anna the prophetess who had hailed his arrival as an infant over three decades before. John the Baptist awaited him. His beloved foster-father Joseph, the husband of his most holy mother, received him. So did Anna and Joachim, traditionally considered the parents of Mary. Imagine his meeting with the holy Joseph! He had daily lived and worked with Joseph during all those years at Nazareth. He had been at Joseph’s death in their house at Nazareth, and his body he and his mother had accompanied to its burial outside the village of Nazareth.

There would surely have been others among the just in the abode of the dead, others beyond the pale of the chosen people of God. We read of upright men and women among the peoples. For instance, we may think of those good and conscientious Wise Men from the East who had come to honour the infant King. They had been led by a heavenly star — some form of natural revelation — from their own culture and wisdom to an encounter with the King of kings. Were they not representative of very many others of various nations whom God in his goodness led in diverse ways along the path of a good life? Surely so. There were those who conscientiously did good work for mankind, even if they failed in this or that respect along the road of moral goodness. Let us think of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle — may we not think of them as having sought the light and in some measure attained it, endeavouring in the process to be virtuous? We cannot tell how God judged them, but we may be sure that God was working for the salvation of all his children, and that in the event he was a God of mercy and compassion. Let us imagine the acclaim and joy that flooded the place of Limbo to which Christ in death descended on that Sabbath day following his death at Calvary. The field had been won. All that now remained was for him to rise from death and ascend into heaven, and they too would rise with him and ascend to heaven in their spirits. Their Champion had won. The bonds of sin had been broken, and Satan had been left confounded. Imagine Christ in the abode of the dead, among the good and holy souls from God’s chosen people and beyond, who by the aid of God had not died in deliberate, unrepented mortal sin. May we not imagine this day, the day of Christ in death, as the day of joy in Limbo when those there had the privilege of personal contact in their spirits with their divine Brother and Redeemer? We are speculating, but Christ did descend to the dead, and what awaited him there? Obviously, those who also were in the abode of the dead, but who lived in God, awaiting the work of the Redeemer to be accomplished. To them the good news was announced.

On this side of the grave, all was quiet and in gloom for the disciples of Christ. Except for his holy mother, they all seemed to have completely forgotten his solemn predictions that he would rise from the dead on the third day. It was a day of gloom and inactivity. The Light of the world had been snuffed out, and Life was now lifeless. It seemed that Death had had the final say, and that sin had conquered. But no. All was quiet, but a mighty unseen fount of life was preparing to burst forth, a Fount that would never cease to bring life to all. Let us marvel at the mystery of our Redemption, and understand that in Christ is to be found every heavenly blessing.
(E.J.Tyler)

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You must be constant and demanding with yourself in your regular practices of piety, also when you feel tired or they seem to be arid. Persevere! Those moments are like the tall red—painted poles which serve as markers along the mountain roads when there are heavy snowfalls. They are always there to show where it is safe to go.
(The Forge, no.81)

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Great truths, practical or ethical, float on the surface of society, admitted by all, valued by few … until changed circumstances, accident, or the continual pressure of their advocates, force them upon its attention. The iniquity … of the slave-trade ought to have been acknowledged by all men from the first; it was acknowledged by many, but it needed an organized agitation, with tracts and speeches innumerable, so to affect the imagination of men as to make their acknowledgment of that iniquitousness operative.

JHN, from An Essay in aid of a Grammar of Assent (1870)

Easter Sunday C (Vigil and Mass of the Day)

Prayers at Vigil: Almighty and eternal God, you created all things in wonderful beauty and order. Help us now to perceive how still more wonderful is the new creation by which in the fullness of time you redeemed your people through the sacrifice of our Passover, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
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Lord God, the creation of man was a wonderful work, his redemption still more wonderful. May we persevere in right reason against all that entices to sin and so attain to everlasting joy. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

(April 4) St. Isidore of Seville (560?-636)
The 76 years of Isidore's life were a time of conflict and growth for the Church in Spain. The Visigoths had invaded the land a century and a half earlier and shortly before Isidore's birth they set up their own capital. They were Arians—Christians who said Christ was not God. Thus Spain was split in two: One people (Catholic Romans) struggled with another (Arian Goths). Isidore reunited Spain, making it a centre of culture and learning, a teacher and guide for other European countries whose culture was also threatened by barbarian invaders. Born in Cartagena of a family that included three other saints, he was educated (severely) by his elder brother, whom he succeeded as bishop of Seville. An amazingly learned man, he was sometimes called "The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages" because the encyclopaedia he wrote was used as a textbook for nine centuries. He required seminaries to be built in every diocese, wrote a Rule for religious orders and founded schools that taught every branch of learning. Isidore wrote numerous books, including a dictionary, an encyclopaedia, a history of Goths and a history of the world—beginning with creation! He completed the Mozarabic liturgy, which is still in use in Toledo, Spain. For all these reasons Isidore (as well as several other saints) has been suggested as patron of the Internet. He continued his austerities even as he approached 80. During the last six months of his life, he increased his charities so much that his house was crowded from morning till night with the poor of the countryside. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Easter Vigil readings: Genesis 1:1—2:2 or 1:1, 26-31a; Psalm 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12, 13-14, 24, 35; Genesis 22:1-18 or 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Psalm16:5, 8, 9-10, 11; Exodus 14:15—15:1; Exodus 15:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18; Isaiah 54:5-14; Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13; Isaiah 55:1-11; Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6; Baruch 3:9-15, 32(4:4); Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11; Ezechiel 36:16-17a, 18-28; When baptism is celebrated: Psalm 42:3, 5; 43:3, 4; When baptism is not celebrated: Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6; Epistle: Rom 6:3-11; Responsorial Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Gospel: Luke 24: 1-12 (Year C)

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While

they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. (Luke 24: 1-12)

Christ’s Victory When St Paul addressed the Areopagus in Athens he began his speech judiciously. “Men of Athens,” he began, “wherever I look I find you scrupulously religious.” That is to say, he saw everywhere evidence of their belief in higher powers, and in this the Greeks were typical of mankind in most places and times. Paul proceeded to refer to one altar and its inscription to introduce his subject, which was the one true God and “the man whom he has appointed” to be the judge of the

world. To accredit him, he continued, God has raised him up from the dead (Acts 17:31). We read that “when resurrection from the dead was mentioned, some mocked,” while others expressed an interest in hearing more. Though some attached themselves to him as believers, Paul thereupon left for Corinth. The rejection of the resurrection by most of the Areopagus illustrates how it is the experience of man that death is the end. All living things come to their end in death, and this is the tragedy and the mystery of life for man. Just as we may ask, why is there anything at all, and why are there living things, so we may surely wonder why it is that we must finally break up in our being and to all appearances completely dissolve into dust. A babe is born with all the joy that this brings to its parents and family. He grows to his manhood and does his work in life, but then he declines to the terrible end of death. Finally he is carried out to a lonely plot in a windswept cemetery, and there, surrounded by his relatives and friends, is lowered into the grave where his mortal remains will gradually disappear. When Cardinal Newman’s coffin was exhumed from the grave in preparation for his beatification by the Church, it was discovered that his remains had completely vanished. All had gone except for his regalia as a Cardinal. This is the universal experience of man. His lot is to be born, to live, to die, and, to vanish into dust. It is the final defeat, and it cannot be avoided. He seems to come out of nothing, and seems to descend into nothing. His life is like the brief flash across the sky of the meteor, and then it disappears.

It is clear from the Gospels that this is what the ardent disciples of Jesus Christ expected from his having been cruelly put to death by his enemies. It was a shock of the first order. The better the person, the greater is the horror of the death of that person. The death of Jesus Christ which caused such satisfaction to his enemies, let alone to Satan, was a blow of tremendous proportions to his friends and disciples. This was because of his sheer goodness. It was, they considered, his end and this was the most terrible of things to have come to pass. Their life had been torn asunder by the catastrophe of Christ’s passion and death. Let us remember that — apart from Christ’s own mother, of course — none of his disciples expected him to rise from the dead. He had died as had the other holy prophets, and most recently John the Baptist. All that remained was to give him a fitting burial. His body must be prepared, and the tomb arranged for so uniquely venerable a purpose. Gradually the remains of Jesus Christ would dissolve to the earth and he, like the rest of mankind, would be gone forever. This was the expectation that prevailed among the disciples. All was sunk in a terrible gloom. We read that the women, arriving at the tomb while it was still dark, “found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' Then they remembered his words” (Luke 24: 1-12). There had been the rare occasion in the past of a prophet raising someone from the dead by the power of God, and Christ had done this himself more than once by his own power. There was no precedent for simply rising from the dead, on one’s own. Who was there to raise Jesus Christ from the dead? No one had ever simply risen from the dead. But, wonder of wonders, Christ simply rose, after having promised that he would, and at a certain time (on the third day), and by his own power.

But there was much more to it than that. Jesus Christ rose from the dead in his body, not just to resume the mortal life he had enjoyed with his disciples before. That would have been unspeakably remarkable in itself — for who had ever, by his own power and prediction, performed a feat of such a kind? All the greatest persons of history are but dust and none of them raised themselves from death. But what Jesus Christ did was rise in his body to a life of divine glory. In his flesh he was glorious and immortal, and it was this divine life which he would share with us his brothers. Let us rejoice all our lives that we have been given the blessing of blessings, a share in the risen life of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, our Brother and our God.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Prayers at Mass during the Day: The Lord has indeed risen, alleluia. Glory and kingship be his for ever and ever. (Luke 24:34; Rev.1:6)

God our Father, by raising Christ your Son you conquered the power of death and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let our celebration today raise us up and renew our lives by the Spirit that is within us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

Scripture of Easter Day: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Colossians 3:1-4 or I Corinthians 5:6b-8; John 20:1-9 or Mark 16:1-7 or Luke 24:13-35

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone

removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him." So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. (John 20:1-9)

The Resurrection There are two things which St John seems intent on describing in this passage — firstly the discovery of the empty tomb, and secondly that Christ’s disciples did not in any way expect that he would rise from the dead. Our passage tells us that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb on the Sunday morning while it was still dark. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that the women came just as dawn was beginning to break, in other words as soon as there was a glimmer of light by

which to see their way out of the city to the tomb. They wished to visit the sacred body of Jesus, and anoint it with the spices they had prepared. As they approached, they could see that the great stone had been rolled back from the entrance. The body was gone. John then gives us his own testimony. Having heard the news, he and Peter ran to the tomb, and likewise discovered that the body had gone. Then John makes a significant remark, that “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead” (John 20:1-9). It is a statement that seems to place enormous importance on the testimony of the Scriptures. During his public ministry Christ had repeatedly said to his disciples that the Son of Man “had to suffer,” be rejected by the elders and chief priests, be put to death, and then rise. This was the prophecy of the Scriptures about the Messiah. Mysteriously, it was the only way God’s redemptive plan would be fulfilled. When Simon Peter attempted to dissuade our Lord from the path of suffering and rejection, he sharply rebuked him, addressing him as “Satan!” Satan, it seems, had been attempting to do the same. The climax of Christ’s life would be to bear witness to the truth of his person and teaching, and this would involve his death and resurrection. Our Lord made it clear that the Scriptures foretold that this was the path the Messiah must follow to save his people from their sins. Indeed, this was the most essential point of the Scriptures, and it was widely missed.

One of the profoundly intriguing features of the religious life of the Hebrews was its dependence on and understanding of the Sacred Scriptures. It is clear from the Gospels that there was a widespread misunderstanding of the nature and mission of the Messiah. The people commonly looked for a liberating king who would cast off the yoke of Rome. It is not clear what the precise notion of the Messiah as held by the religious leaders was, but in general — with a few exceptions — the leaders were entirely mistaken. They completely rejected the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth, and in the end brought about his death. What it all means is that the Scriptures were poorly understood by significant portions of the chosen people of God. Many things were grasped, but the most essential point was the matter of the coming Messiah. Abraham had been told that through him all the nations would be blessed, and gradually more and more light had been shed on this prediction. Jacob had foretold the One who would receive the sceptre. Moses had foretold the coming Prophet. Isaiah had foretold the Suffering Servant. Daniel had foretold the heavenly Son of Man. There had been many prophecies of the One who was coming, but there was a poor perception of what it all meant. The holy Simeon had identified the Child Jesus as the Messiah, and had foretold suffering as his path. Anna the prophetess had also identified him. John the Baptist had identified him, perhaps as the Suffering Servant — certainly as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. Undoubtedly, the clearest mind of all in this was the hidden one — Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. But in general, the Scriptures had not been understood, that the Messiah must suffer, die and rise from the dead. This was the path to his glory and to his kingdom. When St John writes, as he does at the end of his account of his own discovery of the empty tomb, that “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead,” he was surely describing the lack of understanding of the chosen people of God.

This is to say that the Scriptures had not been understood. Christ’s rising from the dead cast a great light on the entire Scriptures, on the meaning of Israel’s choice and mission from God, and on the redemptive plan of God for sinful man. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the great breakthrough in the history of the world. It is the key to the mystery of God’s plan, hidden from all ages and finally revealed. Without this key, all remains confused. The risen Jesus is with us now, alive in the life of the Church, and given to us in the Church’s life and sacraments. It is the risen Jesus who is celebrated today and every day in the life of each and every Christian.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Make an effort to respond at each moment to what God is asking of you: have the will to love him with deeds. — They may be little deeds, but don’t leave out a single one.
(The Forge, no.82)

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Not gold and silver, jewels and fine linen, and skill of man to use them, make the House of God, but worshippers, the souls and bodies of men, whom He has redeemed.

JHN, from the sermon ‘The Visible Temple’ (1840)

Easter Monday C

Prayers today: The Lord brought you to a land flowing with milk and honey, so that his law would always be given honour among you, alleluia. (See Ex 13:5, 9)

Father, you give your Church constant growth by adding new members to your family. Help us put into action in our lives the baptism we have received with faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 5) St. Vincent Ferrer (1350?-1419)
The polarization in the Church today is a mild breeze compared with the tornado that ripped the Church apart during the lifetime of this saint. If any saint is a patron of reconciliation, Vincent Ferrer is. Despite parental opposition, he entered the Dominican

Order in his native Spain at 19. After brilliant studies, he was ordained a priest by Cardinal Peter de Luna—who would figure tragically in his life. Of a very ardent nature, Vincent practiced the austerities of his Order with great energy. He was chosen prior of the Dominican house in Valencia shortly after his ordination. The Western Schism divided Christianity first between two, then three, popes. Clement VII lived at Avignon in France, Urban VI in Rome. Vincent was convinced the election of Urban was invalid (though Catherine of Siena was just as devoted a supporter of the Roman pope). In the service of Cardinal de Luna, he worked to persuade Spaniards to follow Clement. When Clement died, Cardinal de Luna was elected at Avignon and became Benedict XIII. Vincent worked for him as apostolic penitentiary and Master of the Sacred Palace. But the new pope did not resign as all candidates in the conclave had sworn to do. He remained stubborn despite being deserted by the French king and nearly all of the cardinals. Vincent became disillusioned and very ill, but finally took up the work of simply "going through the world preaching Christ," though he felt that any renewal in the Church depended on healing the schism. An eloquent and fiery preacher, he spent the last 20 years of his life spreading the Good News in Spain, France, Switzerland, the Low Countries and Lombardy, stressing the need of repentance and the fear of coming judgment. (He became known as the "Angel of the Judgment.") He tried, unsuccessfully, in 1408 and 1415, to persuade his former friend to resign. He finally concluded that Benedict was not the true pope. Though very ill, he mounted the pulpit before an assembly over which Benedict himself was presiding and thundered his denunciation of the man who had ordained him a priest. Benedict fled for his life, abandoned by those who had formerly supported him. Strangely, Vincent had no part in the Council of Constance, which ended the schism.
(AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 2:14, 22-33; Psalm 16:1-2a and 5, 7-11; Matthew 28:8-15

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them.

Greetings, he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me. While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. (Matthew 28:8-15)

God our Brother There is a detail in our Resurrection scene which we ought consider with great appreciation. The women have discovered the empty tomb and have been told by the angel that Jesus their Lord has risen from the dead. Matthew’s description of the angel is of one who inspires heavenly awe. The angel has “descended from heaven.” His “countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow” — reminding us of our Lord’s own Transfiguration prior to his Passion. He tells the

women not to fear, and tells the women to see where the Lord had lain. They were now to go quickly and tell his disciples that he had risen from the dead and that he would be going ahead of them to Galilee, just as he said he would. They would see him there. In fact, we learn from other Gospels, especially the Gospels of Luke and John, that our Lord appeared to his disciples that very day and in the days immediately following, there in Jerusalem. They met him further in Galilee. Now Jesus was risen from the dead in the flesh, but in glory. His divinity, previously veiled by his humanity, was now being revealed in his humanity. His risen manhood displayed the glory of his divinity. Let us never underestimate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was not simply a return of Jesus Christ from the dead, taking up in life from where he left off prior to his Passion. It was a passing from this life into death and then from death to glory, and all this in his human nature — that same humanity which had suffered and died. His humanity now was the means of manifesting his divine glory, and in seeing the risen Jesus, the disciples gazed on the glorious Son of God. Instead of being a veil of the divinity, the humanity of Jesus Christ now revealed the divinity. For this reason we read that the women, when met by Jesus and greeted by him, prostrated in worship before him. They “held him by the feet.” Jesus was now showing forth the glory of one whose place was at the right hand of the Father, above every other name.

But there is a wonderful detail. Our Lord told the women to go and tell his “brothers” that they were to go to Galilee (Matthew 28:8-15). God the Son made man, now glorious and triumphant over death, sharing the throne of his heavenly Father, refers to his disciples as his “brothers.” God the Son regards himself as our “brother.” This is no new thing, for our Lord loved his own while on the earth, and he loved them to the end. But here we are talking of him in his triumph, as the Victor over all, as the one to whom all authority in heaven and on earth had been given, as the Lord of all lords and the King of all kings. This supreme person regards himself as our brother. On one occasion during his public ministry he was speaking to a crowd and word came to him that his mother and his brethren wished to speak to him. He said in reply, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Then looking around at his disciples, he said “Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of my Father, that person is my mother and my sister and my brother.” God wished to draw us into his family life and make us his children. He sent his own divine Son to become one of us, to become our brother, and to share the divine life with each and all who accept him. To all who accepted him, St John wrote, he gave the power to become children of God. In our Resurrection account the triumphant Jesus refers to his disciples as his brothers. He looks on each of us who believe in him, who love him and who follow him, as his brothers. In Jesus Christ, God has become my brother. How great is the dignity of every person, then! Christ has died for all, and since his Resurrection, mankind can be divided into two groups. There are those who are his brothers by faith and baptism, and there are those who are called to be his brothers by faith and baptism. In either case, each person is endowed with an immense dignity. By uniting himself to every man and woman in his humanity, he confers on each and all a resounding dignity which all others must respect. It will be a defining element in the final judgment.

Each of us can say that God is my Father, and in Jesus Christ, he is my Brother. How great is the love, the humility, the goodness of God! There is no other religion which has such a breathtaking understanding of the infinite, transcendent God. The God of all heights has taken his place by our side and chosen to accompany us along our way to his eternal home, as our brother and our friend. There is nothing more we could ask for. Let us appreciate our blessings — that every heavenly blessing has been given to us in our Brother of all brothers, Jesus Christ our Lord.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Interior life is strengthened by a daily struggle in your practices of piety, which you should fulfil — or rather which you should live! — lovingly, because the path we travel as children of God is a path of Love.
(The Forge, no.83)

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Why do you believe that the Priest changes the bread into the body of Christ? Because God is almighty and nothing is too hard for Him.

JHN, from the sermon ‘The Omnipotence of God the Reason for Faith and Hope’ (1848)

Easter Tuesday C

Prayers today: If men desire wisdom, she will give them the water of knowledge to drink. They will never waver from the truth; they will stand firm for ever, alleluia. (Sir 15:3-4)

Father, by this Easter mystery you touch our lives with the healing power of your love. You have given us the freedom of the sons of God. May we who now celebrate your gift find joy in it for ever in heaven. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, .

(April 6) St. Crescentia Hoess (1682-1744)
Crescentia was born in 1682 in a little town near Augsburg, the daughter of a poor weaver. She spent play time praying in the parish church, assisted those even poorer than herself and had so mastered the truths of her religion that she was permitted to

make her holy Communion at the then unusually early age of seven. In the town she was called "the little angel."
As she grew older she desired to enter the convent of the Tertiaries of St. Francis. But the convent was poor and, because Crescentia had no dowry, the superiors refused her admission. Her case was then pleaded by the Protestant mayor of the town to whom the convent owed a favour. The community felt it was forced into receiving her, and her new life was made miserable. She was considered a burden and assigned nothing other than menial tasks. Even her cheerful spirit was misinterpreted as flattery or hypocrisy. Conditions improved four years later when a new superior was elected who realized her virtue. Crescentia herself was appointed mistress of novices. She so won the love and respect of the sisters that, upon the death of the superior, Crescentia herself was unanimously elected to that position. Under her the financial state of the convent improved and her reputation in spiritual matters spread. She was soon being consulted by princes and princesses as well as by bishops and cardinals seeking her advice. And yet, a true daughter of Francis, she remained ever humble. Bodily afflictions and pain were always with her. First it was headaches and toothaches. Then she lost the ability to walk, her hands and feet gradually becoming so crippled that her body curled up into a foetal position. In the spirit of Francis she cried out, "Oh, you bodily members, praise God that he has given you the capacity to suffer." Despite her sufferings she was filled with peace and joy as she died on Easter Sunday in 1744. She was beatified in 1900 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2001. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 2:36-41; Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20 and 22; John 20:11-18

Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the feet. They asked her, Woman, why are you weeping? They

have taken my Lord away, she said, and I don't know where they have put him. At this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus. Woman, he said, why are you weeping? Who is it you are looking for? Thinking he was the gardener, she said, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and cried out in Hebrew, Rabboni! (which means Teacher). Jesus said, Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: I have seen the Lord! And she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20: 11-18)

Christ’s choice At times — not often, it must be said — one hears the complaint that it is not fair that women are not called to the ministerial priesthood. In a sense it is to be expected that some women would have thoughts of attraction to the ordained priesthood, for the simple reason that the priesthood is a wonderful thing. I think I remember reading somewhere that St Therese of Lisieux as a child felt attracted to the priesthood. The Church has formally declared, of course, that this is impossible in God’s

plan, but what can be behind this desire is the notion that an ordained office is more important than, say, intimacy with Christ as his disciple. What is of paramount importance is not office, but loving discipleship. Who were the ones who entered into the deepest intimacy with Jesus Christ during his life here on earth? They were, as we may call them, two “lay persons” who had no office in God’s people. I am referring to the mother and the foster-father of our Lord. Mary and Joseph lived in a wonderfully intimate friendship with our Lord for thirty of the thirty-three years of his mortal life. Manifestly no other person attained such a friendship with him. Consider the scenes of the infancy of our Lord — the nativity scenes and those associated with them, the scene of the presentation in the Temple, with Simeon and Anna gazing with veneration on the face of the Child Jesus — these were ordinary members of God’s chosen people. They had a privileged relationship with the Saviour. During our Lord’s public life we read in more than one Gospel that Martha, Mary and Lazarus were special friends of our Lord. He loved them in a special way. We read that certain women followed Jesus and the apostolic band, and ministered to them with their assistance and resources. At the last, it was certain women with Mary his mother, who stood at the cross of Jesus as he died. There was only one of the Twelve there. It was certain women who were the first to arrive at the tomb early on the Sunday morning. On Easter Sunday, the longest conversation which the risen Jesus had was with two disciples who were not of the Twelve. The principal thing is discipleship.

What I am saying is that while those with a special office in Christ’s Church by ordination are called to an intimate friendship with Jesus Christ, the vocation to a special friendship with him is not exclusive to those with this special office. The most important thing for any disciple is precisely this calling to friendship with Jesus, and then by his grace actually attaining this friendship and living according to it. Who was the most blessed of all God’s creatures? It was not any one of the Twelve, nor any of those who received a special apostolic mission from Christ, such as St Paul. It was, according to the inspired utterance of Elizabeth, the Virgin Mary. She was blessed among women. All generations will call her blessed, and it was her faith and her fidelity to grace — her being full of grace — that was the reason for this. She occupied no ordained office in the Church, although as Christ’s mother, she was mother and model of the Church his body. Let all this be an introduction to our Gospel passage today (John 20: 11-18), in which, according to St John, the risen Jesus shows himself for the first recorded time to his disciples. We may piously assume that, though it is not recorded, Christ appeared first to his most holy mother. Beyond that, we have it before us that he appeared first of all, not to Simon Peter nor to the beloved disciple, but to Mary Magdalene. It may have been something of a reward for her coming so early to the tomb, and waiting when the tomb was discovered to be empty. She was granted a most lovely meeting with the risen Jesus, and before any of the Apostles. Consider the scene. I like to think of our Lord acting somewhat playfully and full of joy in his victory. He asks Mary Magdalene, “Woman, why are you weeping?” — though, of course, he knew why she was weeping. Then came his surprise for her: “Mary!” He addressed her by name, and joy beyond description flooded her soul. “ Do not hold on to me,” he continued. “I have not yet returned to the Father.” It is a symbol of the special dealings of Jesus Christ with every one of the baptized.

According to the Gospel of St John, it was Mary Magdalene who announced to the Apostles the fact of the Resurrection. According to the other Gospels, it was the women. It is surely a symbol of the richness of the vocation of all the baptized. All are called to holiness, that holiness which consists in a loving discipleship and a share in Christ’s mission of bringing the Gospel to others. Each person’s friendship with Jesus and share in his redemptive mission will depend on vocation and circumstances, but each possesses the great dignity of being in Jesus Christ. This is the basic and most important thing in the life of the Church. Jesus addresses each and all of us by name. It is the expression of his personal choice. Let us cherish this choice as the foundation of life.

(E.J.Tyler)

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Seek God in the depths of your pure, clean heart; in the depths of your soul when you are faithful to him. And never lose that intimacy.

—And if ever you do not know how to speak to him or what to say, or you do not dare to look for Jesus inside yourself, turn to Mary, tota pulchra, all pure and wonderful, and tell her: Our Lady and Mother, the Lord wanted you yourself to look after God and tend him with your own hands. Teach me, teach us all, how to treat your Son!
(The Forge, no.84)

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Distinct as are the liberal and Catholicizing parties in the Anglican Church both in their principles and their policy, it must not be supposed that they are also as distinct in the members that compose them. No line of demarcation can be drawn between the one collection of men and the other, in fact; for no two minds are altogether alike; and individually, Anglicans have each his own shade of opinion, and belong partly to this school, partly to that.

JHN, from ‘An Internal Argument for Christianity’ (1866)

Easter Wednesday C

Prayers today: Come, you whom my father has blessed; inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world, alleluia. (Mt 25:34)

God our Father, on this solemn feast you give us the joy of recalling the rising of Christ to new life. May the joy of our annual celebration bring us to the joy of eternal life. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

(April 7) St. John Baptist de la Salle (1651-1719)
Complete dedication to what he saw as God's will for him dominated the life of John Baptist de la Salle. In 1950, Pope Pius XII named him patron of schoolteachers for his efforts in upgrading school instruction. As a young seventeenth-century Frenchman, John had everything going for him: scholarly bent, good looks, noble family background, money, refined upbringing. At the early

age of 11, he received the tonsure and started preparation for the priesthood, to which he was ordained at 27. He seemed assured then of a life of dignified ease and a high position in the Church. But God had other plans for John, which were gradually revealed to him in the next several years. During a chance meeting with M. Nyel of Raven, he became interested in the creation of schools for poor boys in Raven, where he was stationed. Though the work was extremely distasteful to him at first, he became more involved in working with the deprived youths. Once convinced that this was his divinely appointed mission, John threw himself wholeheartedly into the work, left home and family, abandoned his position as canon at Rheims, gave away his fortune and reduced himself to the level of the poor to whom he devoted his entire life. The remainder of his life was closely entwined with the community of religious men he founded, the Brothers of the Christian School (Christian Brothers, or De La Salle Brothers). This community grew rapidly and was successful in educating boys of poor families using methods designed by John, preparing teachers in the first training college for teachers and also setting up homes and schools for young delinquents of wealthy families. The motivating element in all these endeavours was the desire to become a good Christian. Yet even in his success, John did not escape experiencing many trials: heartrending disappointment and defections among his disciples, bitter opposition from the secular schoolmasters who resented his new and fruitful methods, and persistent opposition from the Jansenists of his time, whose moral rigidity and pessimism abut the human condition John resisted vehemently all his life. Afflicted with asthma and rheumatism in his last years, he died on Good Friday at 68 and was canonized in 1900. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 3:1-10; Psalm 105:1-4, 6-9; Luke 24:13-35

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognising him. He asked them, What are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, Are you only a

visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days? What things? he asked. About Jesus of Nazareth, they replied. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. He said to them, How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going further. But they urged him strongly, Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over. So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon. Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke the bread. (Luke 24:13-35)

Our Companion The scene is just outside Jerusalem, and it is the first day of the new week, with the great Sabbath now over. All is quiet and the weather is marked by a sombre peace. The occasional cry of a bird is heard, but apart from that, there is just the subdued voice of two companions walking on the lonely road leading away from the City. We might even say that the quiet of the morning has a touch of the eerie to it, and that this has been so ever since the Friday afternoon two days before. A

great prophet had suddenly met a terrible end, orchestrated and achieved by the religious leaders, no less. This wonderful man had traversed the country and filled it with his person, his teaching and his miraculous deeds. A little over a week before, he had spectacularly raised a person from the dead after four days in the tomb, just outside the City itself. He had entered the City, cleansed the Temple of its markets and set up teaching in its precincts. For his disciples he was the hope of the nation. He, they thought, would be the one to set Israel free, for there was no limit to his goodness and his power. A great shock had enveloped his friends and disciples, for the light of their life had been snuffed out. At the moment of his terrible demise, the very earth had rocked. He was now gone. The two lonely walkers continued along the road for the village of Emmaus, their voices subdued, their feelings profoundly depressed. They were lost in their brooding thoughts as they noticed a little distance behind them another solitary walker heading along the road in the same direction as they. They slowed and allowed him to join them as their fitful discussion paused. He quietly reached them, and perhaps they allowed him to walk between them, with one on either side. They were absolutely downcast. What were you discussing, he courteously asked? They stood, distressed, and asked him in wonderment — how could you ask this? Are you a visitor, and do you not know what has just happened here?

The scene is so real, so vivid, so full of factual detail (Luke 24:13-35). There is nothing of the mere “story” to it. It is not a tale, a myth, something of a fable. It is the report of facts that had happened years before the writing of the account. A remarkable thing was occurring in this simple, historical scene. Jesus of Nazareth, who had been mercilessly bundled to his terrible death by ruthless religious leaders, was alive in the flesh and walking on the road with his two companions. There was absolutely nothing like it in all the annals of history. This extraordinary circumstance was unfolding in the midst of the most simple ordinariness. The two depressed and perplexed companions had between them the risen Jesus. They saw him, they heard him, and his physical presence was just as palpable as had been the presence of each of them one to the other. They did not recognize him as yet — perhaps because his fulness of risen life gave to him a special newness, and also because there was simply no expectation in them of their ever seeing him again. But, as they would soon learn, it was the same Jesus and he was joining them in their ordinary life. He was not coming to them in thunder and glory — just as he had not come in thunder and glory to Mary Magdalene a few hours before. He came, risen and victorious, but as one of them. They were still his brothers and he was taking the time, as it were, to be with two ordinary disciples. Why was it that he spent so long a time with two relatively obscure disciples (one being Cleopas)? We have no idea, but it tells us that the risen Jesus joins us in our daily life just as he joined them. As we walk along the road of life towards our goal, we are often depressed with the perplexities of our calling. He, the risen Jesus, is walking with us in all those perplexities of our ordinary and everyday life. He wants to know what is in our minds, and he wants us to let him cast his light on us. There can never be such a companion as Jesus Christ for our journey!

The same risen Jesus joins us in so many ways in everyday life. He resides in his body the Church as its Head. We are the Church’s members, and therefore members of Jesus Christ. We are the branches, he is the Vine. He comes to us in the preaching and teaching of the Church. He comes to us above all in the Sacraments, and in particular — on a regular basis — in the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance. Let us pause every day to let him join us and enliven our hearts with his words and his grace. In those two disciples are exemplified each of us. Let Christ be our companion as we journey along the way to our true homeland.
(E.J.Tyler)

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You must instil in all souls the heroism of doing the little things of each day perfectly, as if the salvation of the world depended on each one of those actions.
(The Forge, no.85)

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The love of praise is in itself an innocent passion, and might be indulged, were the world’s opinion right and our hearts sound; but, as things are, human applause, if listened to, will soon make us forget how weak and sinful we are; so we must deny ourselves, and accept the praise even of good men, and those we love, cautiously and with reserve.

JHN, from the sermon ‘The Duty of Self-denial’ (1830)

Easter Thursday C

Prayers today: Your people praised your great victory, O Lord. Wisdom opened the mouth that was dumb, and made the tongues of babies speak, alleluia (Wis 10:20-21)

Father, you gather the nations to praise your name. May all who are reborn in baptism be one in faith and love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 8) St. Julie Billiart (1751-1816)
From a family of well-to-do farmers, young Marie Rose Julia Billiart showed an early interest in religion and in helping the sick and poor. Though the first years of her life were relatively peaceful and uncomplicated, Julie had to take up manual work as a young teen

when her family lost its money. However, she spent her spare time teaching catechism to young people and to the farm labourers. A mysterious illness overtook her when she was about 30. Witnessing an attempt to wound or even kill her father, Julie was paralysed and became a complete invalid. For the next two decades she continued to teach catechism lessons from her bed, offered spiritual advice and attracted visitors who had heard of her holiness. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, revolutionary forces became aware of her allegiance to fugitive priests. With the help of friends she was smuggled out of Cuvilly in a haycart; she spent several years hiding in Compiegne, being moved from house to house despite her growing physical pain. She even lost the power of speech for a time. But this period also proved to be a fruitful spiritual time for Julie. It was at this time she had a vision in which she saw Calvary surrounded by women in religious habits and heard a voice saying, "Behold these spiritual daughters whom I give you in an Institute marked by the cross." As time passed and Julie continued her mobile life, she made the acquaintance of an aristocratic woman, Francoise Blin de Bourdon, who shared Julie's interest in teaching the faith. In 1803 the two women began the Institute of Notre Dame, which was dedicated to the education of the poor as well as young Christian girls and the training of catechists. The following year the first Sisters of Notre Dame made their vows. That was the same year that Julie recovered from the illness: She was able to walk for the first time in 22 years. Though Julie had always been attentive to the special needs of the poor and that always remained her priority, she also became aware that other classes in society needed Christian instruction. From the founding of the Sisters of Notre Dame until her death, Julie was on the road, opening a variety of schools in France and Belgium that served the poor and the wealthy, vocational groups, teachers. Ultimately, Julie and Francoise moved the motherhouse to Namur, Belgium. Julie died there in 1816. She was canonized in 1969. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 3:11-26; Psalm 8:2ab and 5-9; Luke 24:35-48

Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke the bread. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. They were startled and

frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, Do you have anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:35-48)

A realization At the time of my writing this, abortion laws are being passed in Spain — a country where the majority of citizens are at least nominally Catholic. It is said that the rate of abortion is much the same in Catholic countries as in others. The Catholic Church is the largest in body among the Christian denominations, and theoretically ought be a giant in influence. But it is a sleeping giant in terms of its grassroots membership. The fact is that the majority of Catholics do not go to Mass each Sunday,

and it is misleading to quote the number of baptized Catholics because it can give the impression that that number represents the number of believing, convinced Catholics. The same can be said and with even greater emphasis about the number of Christians in the world. England and Australia could be called Christian countries in the sense that most of their citizens regard themselves as in some sense Christian. But for all the influence the Christian element has on society, those two countries would be better termed secular societies. What is lacking? Of course, the answers to that question are multiple, but one thing that is lacking is simply a realization of the truth of the doctrines of the Christian faith. Cardinal Newman often drew a distinction between a notion and a realization. A person may have a notion of, say, Christ or the Church, while another may have a realization of Christ or the Church. For the former, Christ is just a notion, an image, a thought. He is not a living fact. His reality may not be positively denied, but it is not realized with true conviction. He is a figure of the past and the past is gone. For the latter, Christ is a real person and the Church is truly his body, the locale and means of his living presence. Christ is not just a figure of the past, for he lives now in his full humanity and divinity. He is accepted as being truly alive. This is a realization. The former is a mere notion. Religion will never be a real force in our lives as long as it is a mere notion. The Christian must truly realize that Jesus Christ suffered, died and truly rose. He lives now and is with us.

Our Gospel today (Luke 24:35-48) records, let us say, the transformation in the Apostles of their notion or memory of Christ into a realization of his living reality. He had gone from this world under terrible circumstances, and his body lay in the tomb. His life was over and finished, and with it so were the hopes and dreams of his loyal disciples. All they now had was a memory — recent, devastating, appalling, and crippling — but a memory nevertheless. All they could look forward to was a receding memory of the Master. In due course, perhaps they could pick up again and live according to his teaching and his memory, and spread his teaching as they knew it. More disciples would follow — as had been the case with John the Baptist. The Baptist had gone, and his disciples had recovered his body from Herod’s precincts and had buried it. Years later there would be many disciples of John scattered here and there and the infant Church would come across them. It could have been supposed that the legacy of Jesus of Nazareth would live on in a similar manner. His teaching about God and the way to him would be preserved and perhaps put into writing as had the teaching of many of the ancient prophets. But he would become a memory — we might almost say, a notion. But no, this is not what happened and the reason for it was that they saw him, met him, spoke with him and even felt him in his physical reality after he had risen from the dead. He was apprehended as a living reality. No holy man had raised him from the dead — as he had raised others from the dead during his public ministry. He raised himself from the dead. I freely lay down my life, he had told them, and I shall freely take it up again. This he did. He took up life again, but it was a new and glorious life and they saw him in the flesh. Our Gospel gives us the account of their meeting with him. They saw and spoke with him as a group, despite their complete scepticism about the reports they had received during that first day. They gathered around him and watched him even eat. They were filled with a profound realization of the living Jesus, risen now from the dead and glorious.

What we, each of us must do is strive to realize the living fact of Jesus Christ. We do not see him but he is real, he lives and he is always near. He is our Saviour and we ought strive to be filled with the realization that he, our Friend, Brother, Saviour and God, is more real than we ourselves. Our entire reality depends on him because it is through him that all things exist. On this basis we can proceed to shape our lives according to Christ’s teaching. Indeed, as Cardinal Newman used to say, this world is a mere veil when compared with the unseen, and in the first instance that unseen reality behind the veil is Jesus Christ. Let us be real, and not nominal, Christians then, with a lively faith that is made up not of mere notions but of realizations.
(E.J.Tyler)

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With your life of piety you will learn how to practise the virtues proper to your condition as a son of God, as a Christian.

—And together with those virtues you will acquire a whole range of spiritual values which seem small but are really very great. They are like shining precious stones, and we must gather them along the way and then take them up to the foot of God’s Throne in the service of our fellow men: simplicity, cheerfulness, loyalty, peace, small renunciations, services which pass unnoticed, the faithful fulfilment of duty, kindness…
(The Forge, no.86)

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Let us not forget the promise we then made, or the grace we then received. We are not our own; we are bought with the blood of Christ; we are consecrated to be temples of the Holy Spirit, an unutterable privilege, which is weighty enough to sink us with shame at our unworthiness, did it not the while strengthen us by the aid itself imparts, to bear its extreme costliness. May we live worthy of our calling, and realize in our own persons the Church’s prayers and professions for us!

JHN, from the sermon ‘Love of Relations and Friends’ (1831)

Easter Friday C

Prayers today: The Lord led his people out of slavery. He drowned their enemies in the sea, alleluia. (Ps 77:53)

Eternal Father, you gave us the Easter mystery as our covenant of reconciliation. May the new birth we celebrate show its effects in the way we live. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

(April 9) St. Casilda (11th century)

Some saints’ names are far more familiar to us than others, but even the lives of obscure holy persons teach us something. And so it is with St. Casilda, the daughter of a Muslim leader in Toledo, Spain, in the 10th century. Casilda was herself raised as a Muslim and showed special kindness to Christian prisoners. She became ill as a young woman but was not convinced that any of the local Arab doctors could cure her. So, she made a pilgrimage to the shrine of San Vicenzo in northern Spain. Like so many other people who made their way there—many of them suffering from haemorrhages—Casilda sought the healing waters of the shrine. We’re uncertain what brought her to the shrine, but we do know that she left it relieved of illness. In response, she became a Christian and lived a life of solitude and penance not far from the miraculous spring. It’s said that she lived to be 100 years old. Her death likely occurred around the year 1050. Tensions between Muslims and Christians have often existed throughout history, sometimes resulting in bloody conflict. Through her quiet, simple life Casilda served her Creator—first in one faith, then another. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 4:1-12; Psalm 118:1-2 and 4, 22-27a; John 21:1-14

Afterwards Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told them, and they said, We'll go with you. So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught

nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. He called out to them, Friends, have you caught anything? No, they answered. He said, Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord! As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, It is the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish you have just caught. Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast. None of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. (John 21:1-14)

Simon Peter One of the positive results of Scriptural studies and analysis during the recent period of Christian scholarship has been the appreciation of the distinctive approach and teaching of the different Gospels. Each has its own approach with its special emphasis in the presentation of the Gospel. It has always been seen that the Fourth Gospel in many ways is on its own. It is distinct from the other three — different as they are, too, from one another. Luke is very different from Mark, and Matthew is

different from both, but the three of them have very many similarities. Accordingly, they are termed the “synoptic” Gospels. The Gospel of John, though, is on its own. One of the things that we immediately notice in the Johannine Gospel’s presentation of the Resurrection is that the last chapter (ch.21) seems to be an important postscript. The conclusion of chapter 20 (verses 30-31) seems to indicate this, as does the conclusion of chapter 21 (verses 23-25). Inspired as it is, the final chapter may have been added by disciples of the school of John — with his approval, or even after his demise, yet containing his teaching, his emphasis and his clear and detailed recollections. Our Gospel today is the commencement of this chapter and is a sequel to the account in the previous chapter of the appearances of the risen Christ on the day of his resurrection and a week later, both in Jerusalem. In the Gospel of St Mark — which is generally considered to present Simon Peter’s account — the angel announces to the women at the empty tomb that the risen Jesus will see the “disciples and Peter” in Galilee. Our chapter 21 of the Gospel of St John gives us an account of “the third time” Jesus appeared to his Apostles as a group, the first two occurring in Jerusalem, as narrated in chapter 20. This “third time” was in Galilee. Now, there is a distinctive emphasis in the presentation of this third appearance to the body of the Apostles. It is that Simon Peter is well to the fore in both discipleship and in his appointed role in the mission of the risen Jesus. We may even say that the chapter consists of two parts, the first made up of our verses today, and the second being the rest of the chapter in which Simon’s office as pastor of Christ’s sheep is confirmed.

In our passage today (John 21:1-14), Simon’s love for Jesus is set forth and is the foundation for what will follow. Simon is presented as with a group of the disciples and it at the sea of Tiberius. He is with “Thomas,” — who featured in the previous chapter — “and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee,” — James and John — “and two other of his disciples.” So there were six of the Eleven, enough to consider the appearance that followed as an appearance to the Apostolic group. Simon Peter is the leader — he leads the others to fish for the night, and come morning there was Jesus standing on the shore. We may imagine the scene. The dawn is breaking. The moon has provided light for the night’s work which has come to nothing. All is still, with the sound of gentle tide lapping against the boat, large enough for the six men and their fishing equipment. The sky is clear, all is still with the sound of the occasional sea-bird crying as the sun begins to rise. They were only about a hundred yards from land and there on the shore they noticed a solitary figure. He was standing there, observing. Then they hear his voice, clear and penetrating across the surface of the Lake. “Have you caught anything?” No, they answered. “Throw your net to the right, and you will.” The authority with which this was said led them immediately to do as requested, and lo! The net heaved with a sudden force, a force they could not manage. In an instant it was filled with fish, so many as to be beyond their ability to haul in. Immediately “the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it is the Lord!” We notice that it is not he who immediately acts, but Simon Peter. Simon in an instant puts on his main garment — for he was stripped for his work — and bounds into the water, making his way to land on foot. The slowness of the vessel would not do for him — he forges ahead in his love for his risen Master, heart pounding, mind aflame and breathless with ardent love. The Master! The Lord! The Love of his life! His throat filled with knotted emotion, thinking of nothing else, he outstrips the others in his race to be with the supreme Person of his life. Our passage shows us the love of a disciple.

Simon Peter had his flaws, and they came to the fore when the crunch came during the Passion of our Lord. He had buckled and denied knowing Jesus Christ. The glance of Christ towards him immediately following this, reminding him of Christ’s prediction that he would deny him, nearly broke his heart. He loved Jesus, loved him dearly, but he was weak. Now, on the shore, Jesus was there awaiting him. Peter forged ahead in the water, with great and strong strides, his whole frame facing the Lord of his life whom he so loved. He arrives on the shore and stands before his loving Lord and hears his words. Peter in our passage today is a picture of the loving disciple of Jesus Christ. Let us contemplate him, and resolve to love Jesus Christ in our turn as Peter did.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Don’t create more obligations for yourself than… God’s glory, his Love, his Apostolate.
(The Forge, no.87)

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Christian Truth is purely of revelation; that revelation we can but explain, we cannot increase, except relatively to our own apprehensions; without it we should have known nothing of its contents, with it we know just as much as its contents, and nothing more.

JHN, from The Idea of a University Part I (1852)

Easter Saturday C

Prayers today: The Lord led his people to freedom and they shouted with joy and gladness, alleluia. (Ps 104:43)

Father of love, by the outpouring of your grace you increase the number of those who believe in you. Watch over your chosen family. Give undying life to all who have been born again in baptism. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 10) St. Magdalen of Canossa (1774-1835)

Wealth and privilege did nothing to prevent today’s saint from following her calling to serve Christ in the poor. Nor did the protests of her relatives, concerned that such work was beneath her. Born in northern Italy in 1774, Magdalen knew her mind—and spoke it. At age 15 she announced she wished to become a nun. After trying out her vocation with the cloistered Carmelites, she realized her desire was to serve the needy without restriction. For years she worked among the poor and sick in hospitals and in their homes and among delinquent and abandoned girls. In her mid-twenties Magdalen began offering lodging to poor girls in her own home. In time she opened a school, which offered practical training and religious instruction. As other women joined her in the work, the new Congregation of the Daughters of Charity emerged. Over time, houses were opened throughout Italy. Members of the new religious congregation focused on the educational and spiritual needs of women. Magdalen also founded a smaller congregation for priests and brothers. Both groups continue to this day. She died in 1835. Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1988. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 4:13-21; Psalm 118:1 and 14-21; Mark 16:9-15

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven

demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterwards Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. (Mark 16:9-15)

The heart of man At the time of writing this, there had recently been an interview with Richard Dawkins the self-professed atheist from Oxford, conducted by a journalist of the Australian Dateline television programme. The journalist repeatedly told Dawkins that he was entirely unusual in his positive atheism (which was correct), but it soon became evident that the journalist himself agreed with much of what Dawkins stood for. They were agreed that religion is the source of great harm and violence in

the world, and that this is how it has always been. Now, any sensible religious person would agree that great numbers of religious people have been the source of violence and harm. But this is not to say that “religion” has necessarily been the source of their violence. A person who is an adherent of a religion that inculcates love and justice will, for other reasons, be violent and unjust. He may spectacularly sin against the tenets of his religion. Of course, there may be religions that do indeed incline their adherents to violence. On the other hand, many who profess not to be religious have also been violent and harmful. Did Hitler profess or have any religion, or did Lenin and Stalin? Were the leaders of the French Revolution, and in particular its Terror, religious? The idea is absurd. Napoleon Bonaparte, who brought fire and sword to Europe, at best was a deist, but he was scarcely religious in an active sense. He became a little more so as his days drew to their close on the far-flung island of St Helena. There is no doubt, though, that for modern secular man the profession of religion has been discredited by the crimes of many of its professors. However, all ought understand, including the atheist typified by Richard Dawkins, that the mere fact that a person professes religion and engages in religious practices does not mean that his heart is properly moral and religious. His bad actions exclude him as a representative of true religion. As our Lord said, by their fruits you will know them. Religion is a matter of the heart. That said, the question arises, what are some of the features of the heart that are necessary for true religion?

In our Gospel today, our Lord’s disciples failed in a fundamental requisite for revealed religion. They failed in faith. Specifically, they did not believe the reports by direct eye-witnesses that he had risen from the dead. Inasmuch as the Christian religion depends on the acceptance of certain propositions as being historical facts, this failure in belief was a fundamental failure. For instance, if a person does not believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross and on the third day rose from the dead — and Islam does not accept either — then it is impossible for him to be counted as a Christian. We read that Mary Magdalene “went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterwards Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:9-15). A dispassionate observer might claim that there was nothing wrong with the state of heart of Christ’s disciples in their unbelief. It was just that they lacked, in their view, sufficient evidence. They were not intellectually satisfied by the claims that he had been seen in the flesh. But as a matter of fact, we have it on the word of Christ that what was wrong and what accounted for their lack of belief was the state of their hearts. We read that “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen.” This alone shows how religion is very much a matter of the heart. This applies most especially to revealed religion which involves a revelation that is beyond the mere natural. In the nature of the case the heart of man must be properly disposed. If the heart of man is not right, not only will he not practise his religion as he should — and perhaps bring disgrace on revealed religion as a result — but his heart will not even be able to believe. His heart will be too “hard.”

As it turns out, we need the grace of God to properly dispose our hearts to accept the religion he has revealed in his Son Jesus Christ. We need a heart that is not “hard,” a heart that is inclined to believe the testimony of the Gospel. Our Lord said to his Apostles that on his rising from the dead, while they loved him, their hearts were too hard. They failed to believe not because of lack of evidence, but because of a deeper failure. His risen presence before them changed that, and with that they received the mission to make disciples of all the nations. Let us pray that the grace of God will create in us all a new heart, a heart disposed to accept wholeheartedly the Gospel.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Our Lord has made you see your way clearly as a Christian in the middle of the world. Nevertheless, you tell me that you have often thought, enviously (though in the end you admitted it would be taking the easy way out) of the happiness of being a nobody, of working away, totally obscure, in the remotest corner… God and you!

—Now, apart from the idea of missionary work in Japan, the thought of just such a hidden and sacrificed life has come to your mind. But if, free from other holy natural obligations, you were to try to “hide away” in a religious institution, assuming that was not your vocation, you would not be happy. You would lack peace; because you would have done your own will, not God’s.

—Your “vocation”, in that case, would deserve another name: it would be a defection. It would not be the result of divine inspiration, but of sheer human reluctance to face the coming struggle. And that would never do!
(The Forge, no.88)

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You either accept Christianity, or you do not: if you do, do not garble and patch it; if you do not, suffer others to submit to it ungarbled.

JHN, from ‘An Internal Argument for Christianity’ (1866)

Prayers this week: Rejoice to the full in the glory that is yours, and give thanks to God who called you to his kingdom, alleluia. (4 Ezr 2: 36-37)

God of mercy, you wash away our sins in water, you give us new birth in the Spirit, and redeem us in the blood of Christ. As we celebrate Christ's resurrection increase our awareness of these blessings and renew your gift of life within us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(April 11) St. Stanislaus (1030-1079)

Anyone who reads the history of Eastern Europe cannot help but chance on the name of Stanislaus, the saintly but tragic bishop of Kraków, patron of Poland. He is remembered with Saints Thomas More and Thomas Becket for vigorous opposition to the evils of an unjust government. Born in Szczepanow near Kraków on July 26, 1030, he was ordained a priest after being educated in the cathedral schools of Gniezno, then capital of Poland, and at Paris. He was appointed preacher and archdeacon to the bishop of Kraków, where his eloquence and example brought about real conversion in many of his penitents, both clergy and laity. He became bishop of Kraków in 1072. During an expedition against the Grand Duchy of Kiev, Stanislaus became involved in the political situation of Poland. Known for his outspokenness, he aimed his attacks at the evils of the peasantry and the king, especially the unjust wars and immoral acts of King Boleslaus II.. The king first excused himself, then made a show of penance, then relapsed into his old ways. Stanislaus continued his open opposition in spite of charges of treason and threats of death, finally excommunicating the king. The latter, enraged, ordered soldiers to kill the bishop. When they refused, the king killed him with his own hands. Forced to flee to Hungary, Boleslaus supposedly spent the rest of his life as a penitent in the Benedictine abbey in Osiak. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 5:12-16; Psalm 117; Apocalypse 1:9-13.17-19; John 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you! After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. And

with that he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord! But he said to them, Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it. A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you! Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. Thomas said to him, My Lord and my God! Then Jesus told him, Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20: 19-31)

Mercy and sin There have been numerous philosophers in the history of human thought, and some of them have been great. More rarely, there have been those claiming a direct contact with the divine and then the personal authority to speak on behalf of the divine. That is to say, they have claimed to be prophets. Mahomet made this claim, and there have been others as well. The one who accepts the Judaeo-Christian revelation would probably have no trouble in allowing that in a certain sense there have

been “prophets” outside the pale of this revelation, in that God can speak to whom he wills. In a certain sense, the Magi from the East, being led by a heavenly star, were the recipients of a kind of revelation and were spokesmen of it. They told the inhabitants of Jerusalem that a heavenly star was leading them to the infant King. They were, in a sense, “prophets” of the arrival of the Messiah. As is obvious, being a prophet was not unique to Jesus Christ, even though the Christian will count him as the greatest of the prophets and much more than a prophet. There are, however, several things about Jesus Christ that are unique to him. None of the Old Testament prophets claimed to be divine — of course. Mahomet never claimed to be divine. Nor did Buddha (who may have been agnostic in respect to the divine, anyway), nor did Zoroaster. Jesus Christ claimed to be divine, and this was perhaps the principal reason why he was condemned to death by the religious leaders of the people. Intimately connected with this divine claim was another — with its related practice — which distinguished Jesus Christ. I refer to his ready practice of the forgiveness of sins. He claimed the power to forgive sins and he acted on this claim. No other prophet before him claimed the personal authority to forgive sins. Moses never said to anyone, nor had Abraham, Isaac or Jacob before him, nor did any prophet after him, say to anyone, “I forgive you your sins.” There were ceremonies and rituals of various kinds designed to symbolize man’s appeal for forgiveness and the hoped-for pardon of God as a result. But no man claimed the power to forgive sins — except Jesus Christ. It is no surprise to read in the Gospels that this caused a sensation among the religious leaders.

It meant, of course, that any sinner could go to a particular man — Jesus of Nazareth — and ask to be forgiven for sins against God. At a word and on his own authority, he could pardon any man his sins. If Jesus indeed had this authority (which he had), it would be an extraordinary benefit for sinners. They would have a clear and certain access to the forgiveness of sins — and this is the fundamental problem for every man and woman. How can I obtain the forgiveness of my sins? Of course, the appreciation of this blessing is contingent on one's appreciation of the tragedy and the curse of sin. If there is little or no sense of the evil of sin, there will be little or no sense of the magnificence of the blessing of forgiveness. Our Lord forgave the sinful woman after she had entered the house of the Pharisee where Jesus was dining. Your sins are forgiven you, he said to her in the presence of his hosts. It was a great blessing for her. But now, did any of the scribes and Pharisees, observing this display of divine authority, consider asking Christ for forgiveness of their sins? Obviously not, and the reason was that, apart from lacking faith in the person and authority of Christ, they lacked the sense of personal sin. They were not burdened with a sense that they were great sinners — which our Lord shows elsewhere that they were — and anxious to find some way of obtaining forgiveness. In a sense, this is the modern problem. We too lack a sense of personal sin. We may allow that Jesus Christ is the son of God, but our minds and hearts are all too readily clouded with indifference. We lack a concern for sin — at least for deliberate venial sin. As a result, we lack an appreciation for the gift of divine mercy as expressed in the ready pardon of our sins. This divine pardon for sin as constantly present in the person of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, has been handed on by him to his ordained representatives. The result is that now this blessing is even more available than it was when our Lord himself walked the earth.

On the evening of the day our Lord rose from the dead he appeared to the Apostolic band. Having rebuked them for their failure to believe the announcement of his resurrection, he conferred on them his power to forgive sins (John 20: 19-31). It was an extraordinary blessing of divine mercy, and unprecedented in religion. Men were now invested with the power to forgive sins. It means that the divine mercy is readily available wherever those invested men go. They were to go all over the world bringing the forgiveness of sins to all the nations. It is a principal reason for entering the Church which Christ founded on the rock of Peter. Let us have a deep appreciation of the tragedy of personal sin and of the blessing of divine pardon so readily available to all.
(E.J.Tyler)

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In living holy purity and a clean life, there is a great difficulty to which we are all exposed. The danger is one of becoming bourgeois, either in our spiritual life or in our professional life; the danger — also a real one for those called by God to marriage — of becoming dry old bachelors, selfish; people who do not love.

—Fight that danger tooth and nail, without making concessions of any kind.
(The Forge, no.89)

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What an overwhelming horror it must have been for the Blessed Mary to witness the Passion and the Crucifixion of her Son!

JHN, from Meditations and Devotions (1893)

Monday of the second week of Eastertide

Prayers today: Christ now raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has power over him, alleluia. (Rom 6:9)

Almighty and ever-living God, your Spirit made us your children, confident to call you Father. Increase your Spirit of love within us and bring us to our promised inheritance. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 12) St. Teresa of Los Andes (1900-1920)

One needn’t live a long life to leave a deep imprint. Teresa of Los Andes is proof of that. As a young girl growing up in Santiago, Chile, in the early 1900s, she read an autobiography of a French-born saint — Therese, popularly known as the Little Flower. The experience deepened her desire to serve God and clarified the path she would follow. At age 19 she became a Carmelite nun, taking the name of Teresa. The convent offered the simple lifestyle Teresa desired and the joy of living in a community of women completely devoted to God. She focused her days on prayer and sacrifice. “I am God’s, ” she wrote in her diary. “He created me and is my beginning and my end.” Toward the end of her short life, Teresa began an apostolate of letter-writing, sharing her thoughts on the spiritual life with many people. At age 20 she contracted typhus and quickly took her final vows. She died a short time later, during Holy Week. Teresa remains popular with the estimated 100,000 pilgrims who visit her shrine in Los Andes each year. She is Chile’s first saint. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 4:23-31; Psalm 2:1-3, 4-9; John 3:1-8

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and

said, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him. In reply Jesus declared, I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. How can a man be born when he is old? Nicodemus asked. Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born! Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. (John 3:1-8)

Rebirth Our scene from the Gospel today opens with an introduction to the person of Nicodemus. In the Gospel of St John, “the Jews” had been introduced in the very first chapter. “The Jews,” — clearly meaning the leaders of the Jews, “sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem” to John the Baptist to ask him about his identity and mission. John sent back the message that the Messiah had come, and that he was already among them (1:26), though they did not know him. Elsewhere in the Gospel our

Lord refers to the testimony about him given by John, implying that the leaders of the Jews well knew of this testimony. In the second chapter “the Jews” demand from our Lord a sign authenticating his authority to do what he had been doing. In the third chapter, Nicodemus, “a man of the Pharisees,” is introduced. He is “a ruler of the Jews.” So it is immediately evident that John does not accuse the Jewish people of enmity against Christ, nor all the rulers of the Jews. Very early in his Gospel he shows that there were some among them who accepted that Jesus was a teacher who had come from God, for Nicodemus — himself one of “the Jews” as John calls the leaders — states this. “Rabbi,” he said to Jesus, “we know” that you are a teacher from God, which is to say, a prophet. Nicodemus himself was a disciple, and so was Joseph of Arimathea who was also a member of the ruling council. The Gospels do not exclude the possibility that there may have been other secret disciples among “the Jews,” but it is clear that the influential elements among them, the ones who carried the day, became implacably hostile to Christ. Now, it is to this representative of the ruling council that Christ declares a key point in his teaching about the Kingdom of God — that Kingdom which was so manifestly the focus of his preaching and teaching. Everywhere in the Gospels we see him explaining what the Kingdom of God is like, and what is required of those who wish to enter the Kingdom. But it all hinges on being born again, and interestingly, in the Gospel of St John it is one of the leaders of the Jews who first hears this teaching of our Lord. Our Lord presents this revelation to one of “the Jews” personally.

No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born again. This requirement would scarcely have occurred to anyone, and it obviously had not occurred to the leaders of the Jews as represented by Nicodemus. That Christ meant it literally — a true beginning of life in some sense — is evident from the immediate question of Nicodemus. Did this mean that a man must, absurdly, be born from his mother’s womb again? His question was a request for clarification, though expressed in characteristic Jewish hyperbole. Our Lord repeats his statement with the clarification that was sought. A man must be born again “of water and the Spirit.” It will come about by the action of water and the action of the Spirit. It is manifestly — in view of the standing Christian practice prior to the writing of the Gospel — an allusion to the effect of Christian baptism. The pouring of water and the coming of the Spirit therein would bring about the new birth that is necessary for entry into the Kingdom of God. “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” Physical parentage gives birth to a physical life, while the birth brought about by the Holy Spirit involves a spiritual life. This is a true rebirth, a new beginning to life, but it is a different kind of life from that possessed as a result of physical birth. We who are totally accustomed to the doctrine and practice of Baptism may fail to appreciate the radical character of this doctrine and its announcement to a member of the ruling council. Christ was preaching the arrival of the Kingdom everywhere and was backing up his authority not only by his manifest holiness but by his miracles. “No one could do the miracles you do unless God were with him,” Nicodemus had candidly told him. The Kingdom was meant for all of God’s people, but here our Lord was saying that it was not enough simply to be born into the people of God. One had to be born yet again, born into a new kind of life, if access to the Kingdom was to be had (John 3:1-8). Let us endeavour to appreciate the immense gift of Baptism, then! So simple and so accessible it is, yet it is the occasion of receiving all the blessings God intends for man.

By our baptism we are immersed in the person of Christ, united to him by the power of the Holy Spirit, and plunged into the life of the triune God. At our baptism God unites us to Jesus Christ and gives us a share in his Spirit, and with that we are instantly united to the Father as well. We are taken to the loving Source of all reality, and bound therein. The blessings of the Kingdom of God flood our souls and we become instantly like unto Christ — but with the inclination to sin remaining nevertheless. However, there is thus planted in our souls the wherewithal to overcome this inclination and to invade the hegemony of Satan with the weapons of God. Holiness is rendered absolutely possible. Thus baptized, let us make life in Christ our daily ambition, then!
(E.J.Tyler)

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Because we shall always have to put up with this little donkey which is our body, to conquer sensuality you have to practise daily and generously little mortifications — and sometimes big ones as well. And you must live in the presence of God, who never ceases to watch over you.
(The Forge, no.90)

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The more a person tries to obey his conscience, the more he gets alarmed at himself, for obeying it so imperfectly. His sense of duty will become more keen, and his perception of transgression more delicate, and he will understand more and more how many things he has to be forgiven.

JHN, from the sermon ‘Dispositions for Faith’ (1856)

Tuesday of the second week of Eastertide C

Prayers today: Let us shout out our joy and happiness, and give glory to God, the Lord of all, because he is our King, alleluia. (Rv 19:7, 6)

All-powerful God, help us to proclaim the power of the Lord’s resurrection. May we who accept this sign of the love of Christ come to share the eternal life he reveals, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

(April 13) St. Martin I (d. 655)
When Martin I became pope in 649, Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine empire and the patriarch of Constantinople was the most influential Church leader in the eastern Christian world. The struggles that existed within the Church at that time

were magnified by the close cooperation of emperor and patriarch. A teaching, strongly supported in the East, held that Christ had no human will. Twice emperors had officially favoured this position, Heraclius by publishing a formula of faith and Constans II by silencing the issue of one or two wills in Christ. Shortly after assuming the office of the papacy (which he did without first being confirmed by the emperor), Martin held a council at the Lateran in which the imperial documents were censured, and in which the patriarch of Constantinople and two of his predecessors were condemned. Constans II, in response, tried first to turn bishops and people against the pope. Failing in this and in an attempt to kill the pope, the emperor sent troops to Rome to seize Martin and to bring him back to Constantinople. Martin, already in poor health, offered no resistance, returned with the exarch Calliopas and was then submitted to various imprisonments, tortures and hardships. Although condemned to death and with some of the torture imposed already carried out, Martin was saved from execution by the pleas of a repentant Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, who was himself gravely ill. Martin died shortly thereafter, tortures and cruel treatment having taken their toll. He is the last of the early popes to be venerated as a martyr. The breviary of the Orthodox Church pays tribute to Martin: “Glorious definer of the Orthodox Faith...sacred chief of divine dogmas, unstained by error...true reprover of heresy...foundation of bishops, pillar of the Orthodox faith, teacher of religion.... Thou didst adorn the divine see of Peter, and since from this divine Rock, thou didst immovably defend the Church, so now thou art glorified with him.” (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 4:32-37; Psalm 93:1-2, 5; John 3:7b-15

Jesus said to Nicodemus, (Do not wonder that I told you,) 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its

sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. How can this be? Nicodemus asked. You are Israel's teacher, said Jesus, and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No-one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven— the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:7b-15)

Faith In our Gospel passage today, Nicodemus is in wonderment at Christ’s statement that in order to enter the Kingdom of God a man must be born again. The Christian is so accustomed to this teaching that he has probably lost the sense of its radical newness. It is evident from Nicodemus’s difficulty that Christ gave every impression that he meant literally and exactly what he said. A new birth was required. Our Lord did not “tone down” his language, but spoke plainly. We are reminded of our Lord’s

teaching in the Synagogue (chapter 6 of the same Gospel) in which he announced the doctrine of the Eucharist. He stated that unless people ate his flesh and drank his blood, they would have no life in them. Why could he not have toned down his language and couched it in less startling terms? It would not have been so divisive. He would have retained his disciples. But no. So important was it for salvation that our Lord, who had demonstrated his almighty power and his truthfulness, judged it necessary to reveal so amazing a doctrine clearly and publicly. His hearers could not understand how such a thing could be done, for all they could think in terms of was the eating and drinking of their everyday experience. So they gave up on Jesus Christ. They could not understand, so they refused to believe. It would seem that the same temptation faced Nicodemus when he heard the doctrine from the lips of Christ of the rebirth that was necessary to see the Kingdom of God. He could not understand, because all he could think of was the normal experience of a person’s birth to life. How could a person possibly be “born again”? I cannot see how it can be, so I cannot see how I can believe. That is the temptation facing the one who hears the proclamation of revealed religion. There are so many things we cannot possibly understand in revealed religion. We cannot understand Christ’s being God and Man. We cannot understand his being one of three divine persons in the one God. We cannot understand the Eucharist. We cannot understand — though we can apprehend — the rebirth by water and the Spirit.

It brings us to the fundamental importance of faith in revealed religion. By means of faith in the word of Jesus Christ we come to know things which we cannot understand. But as our Lord points out to Nicodemus, the reasonableness of this faith is itself not beyond our understanding. By that I mean that it is not hard to understand that we can come to know things which we do not understand, and on the word of one who knows. For instance, there are many things in our ordinary everyday experience which we do not understand, but which we have no doubt exist and occur — on the word of those who know. “Do not wonder that I told you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Our Lord refers to the wind — a natural process many may not understand, certainly in the time of our Lord. No one might understand why it is that polyps causing terminal cancer in a person’s bowel are continuing to appear, but the patient believes — and knows — on the word of the doctor that steps must now be taken. Our Lord is saying that matters of ordinary life show that faith in the word of the one who knows is perfectly reasonable, even if one cannot understand such matters. Faith in matters supernatural is perfectly reasonable, then. Our Lord tells Nicodemus that he and his own know these things — “we speak of what we know,” our Lord states. Perhaps the plural pronoun is an allusion to our Lord’s communion with his disciples and an allusion to the future Church that will speak in his name, and of which he is the head. “I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.” Ultimately our authority is divine. We believe on the word of Jesus Christ who is the Son of God. “No-one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven— the Son of Man.”

Further, and most importantly, this belief is the doorway to life eternal. Faith is the foundation of true religion, and most importantly, of revealed religion. It is the foundation of the Christian life and it takes us to our heavenly homeland. “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:7b-15). Nicodemus was a man who tended to rely on what he could understand rather than on the word of Jesus Christ. He overcame his temptation and became a true disciple. Let us follow his example and make faith in the word of our Lord the basis of our whole life.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Your chastity cannot be confined to avoiding falls or occasions… In no way can it be a cold and mathematical negative.

—Haven’t you realised that chastity is a virtue and that as such it should grow and become more perfect?

—It is not enough, then, to be continent according to your state. You have to be chaste, with a heroic virtue.
(The Forge, no.91)

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The immortality of truth, its oneness, the impossibility of falsehood coalescing with it, what truth is, what it should lead one to do in particular cases, how it lies in the details of life,—all these points are mere matters of debate in the world, and men go through long processes of argument, and pride themselves on their subtleness in defending or attacking, in making probable or improbable, ideas which are assumed without a word by those who have lived in heaven, as the very ground to start from.

JHN, from the sermon ‘Moral Effects of Communion with God’ (1837)

Wednesday of the second week of Eastertide C

Prayers today: I will be a witness to you in the world, O Lord. I will spread the knowledge of your name among my brothers, alleluia. (Ps17:50; 21:23)

God of mercy, you have filled us with the hope of resurrection by restoring man to his original dignity. May we who relive this mystery each year come to share it in perpetual love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 14) Blessed Peter Gonzalez (d. 1246)
St. Paul had a conversion experience on the road to Damascus. Many years later, the same proved true for Peter Gonzalez, who triumphantly rode his horse into the Spanish city of Astorga in the 13th century to take up an important post at the cathedral. The animal stumbled and fell, leaving Peter in the mud and onlookers amused. Humbled, Peter re-evaluated his motivations (his bishop-uncle had secured the cathedral post for him) and started down a new path. He became a Dominican priest and proved to be a most effective preacher. He spent much of his time as court chaplain, and attempted to exert positive influence on the behaviour of members of the court. After King Ferdinand III and his troops defeated the Moors at Cordoba, Peter was successful in restraining the soldiers from pillaging and persuaded the king to treat the defeated Moors with compassion. After retiring from the court Peter devoted the remainder of his life to preaching in northwest Spain. He developed a special mission to Spanish and Portuguese seamen. He is the patron of sailors. Peter Gonzalez died in 1246 and was beatified in 1741. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 5:17-26; Psalm 34:2-9; John 3:16-21

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 judgment: 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 3:16-21)

Belief and unbelief This sweeping, panoramic passage contains several solemn utterances which could not be sufficiently analysed here. It speaks of God, his nature as being sheer love, and his action of sending his Son to save the world. It also proclaims a warning to all, and I think it may be said that it also provides an explanation of the warning. Let us notice immediately that while the Good News of salvation is proclaimed, the weight of these sentences seems to lie in the warning of condemnation.

Because of the sin of the world, one ought be very alive to the threat of the divine judgment. God so loved the world that he gave his Son, in order that (Greek: hina) “whoever believes in him shall not perish...” Death would come, were it not for the coming of the Son of God. The way to avoid death and gain life is through faith in the Son. The first three verses of the passage manifest a mounting concern for the condemnation of man, culminating in the third (verse 18) which states the issues with the utmost plainness: believe and you will not be condemned; fail to believe and you stand condemned already. “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” (3:18). The vast jaws of Hell are wide open before the world. If you believe, you will not be taken. If you do not believe, you will most certainly be lost. It is a stark picture, and as I say, the inspired author seems intent on awakening his reader to the grand threat before him. It is a statement which, incidentally, exactly parallels the words of Christ as reported in the Gospel of St Mark: “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe, will be condemned” (16:16). The salvation of man hinges on his decision to believe in the Son of God. Now — and this introduces us to the explanation offered in the second part of the passage — it might strike some as a marvel that so much would depend on mere faith. After all, is one to be blamed for not having the Faith? How is it that not having faith is so blameworthy?

Our passage proclaims this warning against unbelief, but it then passes on to an explanation, for we read in the next sentence that “This is the judgment (that is, of God): Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” So the divine condemnation is on those who “loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” The unbelief which is utterly blameworthy is that which springs from the love of darkness and evil deeds. It would seem that this is the only true unbelief, in God’s sight. A good person may be failing to believe — as was, say, Paul prior to his conversion — but he may well be believing implicitly, to the extent that he has light. The Light has come into the world, but certain people may not yet perceive that Light in its fulness. To the extent that they perceive it, they may be men of implicit faith. In his famous Letter to the Duke of Norfolk in 1875 defending the Catholic doctrine of Papal Infallibility against Gladstone, Newman states that Conscience is the aboriginal vicar of Christ. That is to say, in obeying one’s conscience in all genuineness, one is implicitly obeying Christ the Light of the world. Further, by this implicit faith one is disposing oneself for a subsequent acceptance of the full truth of Christ’s person in the teaching and life of the Church. In such a case there is a form of faith but it is undeveloped. We are reminded of our Lord’s first meeting with Nathanael in the same Gospel of St John. Our Lord said of him that there is an Israelite in whom there is no guile. Nathanael did not love darkness, and his deeds were good. Once he came to know Christ, he believed. But there were others who did not love the light and whose deeds were evil, and at various points in the Gospel of St John our Lord condemns certain ones who refused belief in him. Their hearts were in sin, and this was the origin of their unbelief. And so St John writes, “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 3:16-21).

John Henry Newman wrote in one of his Anglican sermons (“Faith and Reason Contrasted”, Epiphany 1839, no.35) that “Faith is a moral principle. It is created in the mind .. by probabilities; and ....A good and bad man will think very different things probable.” A good heart will ready a person for faith in Jesus Christ, whereas a bad heart will dispose him to refuse to believe. It is in this circumstance that faith will be rewarded, and unbelief will be condemned. Let us ask God for the grace of being good soil that receives the seed of God’s revelation and produces a harvest.
(E.J.Tyler)

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The bonus odor Christi, the fragrance of Christ, is also that of our clean life, of our chastity — the chastity of each one in his own state, I repeat — of our holy purity, which is a joyful affirmation. It is something solid and at the same time gentle; it is refined, avoiding even the use of inappropriate words, since they cannot be pleasing to God.
(The Forge, no.92)

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Little children, let us love one another. Let us be meek and gentle; let us think before we speak … let us do good, not hoping for a return, and avoiding all display before men.

JHN, from the sermon ‘Love of Relations and Friends’ (1831)

Thursday of the second week of Eastertide C

Prayers today: When you walked at the head of your people, O God, and lived with them on their journey, the earth shook at your presence, and the skies poured forth their rain, alleluia. (See Ps 67:8-9, 20)

God of mercy, may the Easter mystery we celebrate be effective throughout our lives. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 15) Blessed Caesar de Bus (1544-1607)
Like so many of us, Caesar de Bus struggled with the decision about what to do with his life. After completing his Jesuit education he had difficulty settling between a military and a literary career. He wrote some plays but ultimately settled for life in the army and at court. For a time life was going rather smoothly for the engaging, well-to-do young Frenchman. He was confident he had made the right choice. That was until he saw firsthand the realities of battle, including the St. Bartholomew's Day massacres of French Protestants in 1572. He fell seriously ill and found himself reviewing his priorities, including his spiritual life. By the time he had recovered Caesar had resolved to become a priest. Following his ordination in 1582, he undertook special pastoral work: teaching the catechism to ordinary people living in neglected, rural, out-of-the-way places. His efforts were badly needed and well received. Working with his cousin, Caesar developed a program of family catechesis. The goal — to ward off heresy among the people — met the approval of local bishops. Out of these efforts grew a new religious congregation: the Fathers of Christian Doctrine. One of Caesar's works, Instructions for the Family on the Four Parts of the Roman Catechism, was published 60 years after his death. He was beatified in 1975. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 5:27-33; Psalm 34:2 and 9, 17-20; John 3:31-36

The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no-one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. (John 3: 31-36)

Wrath During the third decade of the nineteenth century in England, the Oxford Movement was rapidly developing. It was spearheaded by a small group of Oxford dons at the centre of which was John Henry Newman — but he was one of a tight group of high-minded friends. From their pens flowed published tracts, books, sermons and reviews. They aimed at a spiritual renewal of the Anglican Church, understood by them as involving a revival of the catholic ethos of the Caroline divines of the seventeenth

century — which itself referred back to the Church of the Fathers. It was a catholic revival, and its final upshot was the passing over of its leader and certain others to communion with the Church of Rome. At one point in the Movement — it was during the 1830s — Newman received a visit from some members of Cambridge University, and the subject of the liberalism of certain Cambridge men came up. He observed that what they needed in their religion was a lot more fear. They needed to be more fearful of God. The fear of God was a theme which Newman returned to at various times in his famous sermons. He claimed that modern man too often looks on God as absolutely benevolent, even in respect to sin. The modern image of God is such that we do not fear him, and in fact we take little notice of him. There is a corollary to this. It is that modern man shows relatively little concern for personal and public “sin,” and yet he becomes profoundly incensed at personal and public immorality. Consider the proportion of space given to news of unethical, immoral behaviour of individuals and institutions, and to ethical failures in government or public persons. Such failures are roundly condemned (as often they should be), illustrating the objective reality of the moral realm. People fear being exposed as immoral for this will involve the wrath of society. But they have few apprehensions in respect to “sin,” because this involves merely the supposed wrath of God. The modern media will not accuse a person of being “sinful,” only immoral or unethical. What is behind this is the absence of God. While the wrath of society is feared, the wrath of God is not.

This is to say that one of the most obviously counter-cultural aspects of revealed religion in the modern day is the revelation of the wrath of God in respect to sin. God revealed himself as pure love, as is shown in the person of Jesus Christ, and as is summed up in the terse definition of St John in one of his Letters — that God is love. But modern secular man, for whom God is absent from daily life, has little difficulty with the notion that God is love. This is because he imagines the love of God as a benign acceptance of everything. God is just a benevolent backdrop to life and reality. There are, he deems, intolerable evils in the world and this discounts the proposition that there is an infinite and holy God active in the world. But to the extent that the thought of God is admitted by him at all, he takes it to be a thought of mere benevolence. In fact, this is a facet of the relegation of God beyond the margins of the world of daily life. But it has been revealed that God’s love is a holy love, a mighty love for all that is good. It is a love that will not bear sin. God will not accept the slightest sin and this non-acceptance of sin is what the inspired Scriptures call his wrath. Sin will ultimately be completely rejected by the all-holy God, and this rejection will be a manifestation of divine wrath. Wrath is the converse of a love that is holy. There is a parallel in the indignation of modern man and media towards unethical practices because of the harm it inflicts on others. So too with God in respect to sin. While society is alert to morality and ignores “sin,” God sees every sin and, because of his love for the sinner, hates his sin. All this is to say that we need to recover a sense of the wrath of our loving God. His wrath is his judgment on sin. In our Gospel passage today, St John refers to the sin of rejecting the Son of God. It will incur the wrath of God. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him” (John 3: 31-36).

The person who has little fear of God is a foolish person. The Scriptures are replete with references to the wrath of God on sin. Compare the teaching of our Lord as it is presented in the four Gospels with that of any of the prophets. Christ’s references and warnings of the judgment of God and of the punishment of Hell are far more telling than anything in the Old Testament. In an age that ignores the living God, we ought give special thought to the divine judgment. It will help us turn away from sin and believe the Good News of God’s infinite love for all.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Get used to thanking the Guardian Angels in advance, thus putting them under an obligation.
(The Forge, no.93)

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To live by faith is my necessity, from my present state of being and from my sin; but Thou hast pronounced a blessing on it. Thou hast said that I am more blessed if I believe on Thee, than if I saw Thee. Give me to share that blessedness, give it to me in its fullness. Enable me to believe as if I saw; let me have Thee always before me as if Thou were always bodily and sensibly present.

JHN, from Meditations and Devotions (1893)

Friday of the second week of Eastertide C

Prayers today: By your blood, O Lord, you have redeemed us from every tribe and tongue, from every nation and people: you have made us into the kingdom of God, alleluia. (Rv 5:9-10)

Father, in your plan of salvation your Son Jesus Christ accepted the cross and freed us from the power of the enemy. May we come to share the glory of his resurrection, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

(April 16) St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)
Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844, the first child of an extremely poor miller in the town of Lourdes in southern France. The family was living in the basement of a dilapidated building when on February 11,1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to

Bernadette in a cave above the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. Bernadette, 14 years old, was known as a virtuous girl though a dull student who had not even made her first Holy Communion. In poor health, she had suffered from asthma from an early age. There were 18 appearances in all, the final one occurring on the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16. Although Bernadette's initial reports provoked skepticism, her daily visions of "the Lady" brought great crowds of the curious. The Lady, Bernadette explained, had instructed her to have a chapel built on the spot of the visions. There the people were to come to wash in and drink of the water of the spring that had welled up from the very spot where Bernadette had been instructed to dig. According to

Bernadette, the Lady of her visions was a girl of 16 or 17 who wore a white robe with a blue sash. Yellow roses covered her feet, a large rosary was on her right arm. In the vision on March 25 she told Bernadette, "I am the Immaculate Conception." It was only when the words were explained to her that Bernadette came to realize who the Lady was. Few visions have ever undergone the scrutiny that these appearances of the Immaculate Virgin were subject to. Lourdes became one of the most popular Marian shrines in the world, attracting millions of visitors. Miracles were reported at the shrine and in the waters of the spring. After thorough investigation Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions in 1862. During her life Bernadette suffered much. She was hounded by the public as well as by civic officials until at last she was protected in a convent of nuns. Five years later she petitioned to enter the sisters of Notre Dame. After a period of illness she was able to make the journey from Lourdes and enter the novitiate. But within four months of her arrival she was given the last rites of the Church and allowed to profess her vows. She recovered enough to become infirmarian and then sacristan, but chronic health problems persisted. She died on April 16, 1879, at the age of 35. She was canonized in 1933. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 5:34-42; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14; John 6:1-15

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming

towards him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a little! Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? Jesus said, Make the people sit down. There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted. So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world. Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. (John 6:1-15)

The loaves In the Gospel of St John our Lord is presented as going back and forth between Galilee and Jerusalem in Judea. He comes from Galilee to Judea for the baptism of John and to begin his public ministry. He returns to Galilee where he changes the water into wine at Cana. Then “after not many days” at Capernaum, he “went up to Jerusalem.” There he cleanses the Temple, gives his discourse to Nicodemus and sojourns in the environs in Judea. Then he leaves for Galilee, passing through Samaria

where he converts the woman at Sychar, together with many of her townspeople. Back again in Galilee where he cured the nobleman’s son, he returns to Jerusalem for “a feast of the Jews.” Then we notice — in the chapter from which our passage today is drawn — that he is back in Galilee again, where he works the miracle of the loaves for the five thousand men. Despite the danger, he returns to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and teaches in the temple. There he encounters his enemies, disputes with them, teaching and healing. An attempt is even made to stone him. It is mentioned that he is in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Dedication — so possibly he has stayed from the Feast of Tabernacles to the Feast of the Dedication. He escapes an attempt to arrest him, going “beyond Jordan.” Then he returns to Bethany where he raises Lazarus, and then enters the City for his final redemptive act. Of course, no one would maintain that St John is meaning to present this sequence of events as exactly reflecting all historical details. It is a broad picture made up of significant “signs” and teachings. The feature I am drawing attention to here is the frequent reference to Jerusalem, its feasts and its Temple. These made up the centre of the religion of the chosen people and our Lord is portrayed as acknowledging this by his actions. The point is, I suggest, that many of the “signs” Christ works show that all of this will be transformed in the new dispensation. There will be a new centre, a new temple, new feasts, a new sacrifice and Jesus Christ himself will be its heart and soul.

We are surely alerted to this in our Lord’s first public intervention in Jerusalem, as presented by St John. It occurs in the second chapter, “and the Passover of the Jews was near at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.” Christ cleanses the Temple and points to himself — to his body — as the new Temple. After the Temple — his body — is destroyed, he will raise it up in three days. Inasmuch as this announcement occurs near the feast of the Passover, and inasmuch as Christ’s death itself would be a new Passover, we are reminded not only of the new Temple but also of the new Passover of his death that is coming. There will not only be a new Temple, but a new Passover, because there will be a new liberation from slavery. All of this brings us to our Gospel passage today. We notice that just as this first public manifestation of Christ in the Temple (John 2:13-25) was introduced by the circumstance that “the Passover of the Jews was at hand,” so the event portrayed in today’s Gospel (John 6:1-15) is also introduced by the same circumstance, expressed even in a very similar Greek wording. The Passover of the Jews was near at hand. Our Gospel event today then, also points to a coming transformation of the meaning of the Passover. Christ proceeds to feed the multitudes with a mere handful of food — just as the feast of the Passover is nigh. We remember the children of Israel being led out of slavery into the wilderness on their sojourn to the Promised Land. On the way they were fed from Heaven with manna sent by God. A new liberation is now coming, a new Passover, a new departure from the land of slavery in sin to the Promised Land of life in God. For the journey a new manna would be given, the true bread from heaven. That heavenly Bread is the body of Christ. He is our life. In the former event, the new Temple will be the body of Christ, risen from the dead. In the present event, the new manna will be the body of Christ, risen from the dead. Christ is destined to be man’s true life, his all, his means of life in God and his means of contact with God. The new religion revealed by God consists in union with Christ who is our Temple and our means of communion with the Father.

The miracle done, the people recognized that Christ was the promised Prophet, and the promised King — the Messiah. But they had entirely mistaken notions of the Prophet and the Messiah. They thought he would bring a new temporal liberation, of the same order only greater than that delivered by Moses. But no. Jesus Christ the Son of God had come to liberate the world from sin. He would do this by the sacrifice of his body as a victim on the Cross. The sacrificed Jesus is the ever-present sacrifice of the new people. He is its new Temple, and is its new and constant heavenly food for the journey to the Promised Land. We are speaking of the Holy Eucharist, the summit and source of revealed religion and of our entire Christian life.
(E.J.Tyler)

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One ought to be able to apply to every Christian the name that was used in the early ages: Bearer of God.

—Your actions should be such that you really deserve to be called by that wonderful name.
(The Forge, no.94)

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The Catholic saints alone confess sin, because the Catholic saints alone see God.

JHN, from the sermon ‘The Religion of the Pharisee, the Religion of Mankind’ (1856)

Saturday of the second week in Eastertide C

Prayers today: You are a people God claims as his own, to praise him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light, alleluia. (1 Pet 2:9)

God our Father, look upon us with love, you redeem us and make us your children in Christ. Give us true freedom and bring us to the inheritance you promised. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 17) St. Benedict Joseph Labre (d. 1783)

Benedict Joseph Labre was truly eccentric, one of God's special little ones. Born in France and the eldest of 18 children, he studied under his uncle, a parish priest. Because of poor health and a lack of suitable academic preparation he was unsuccessful in his attempts to enter the religious life. Then, at 16 years of age, a profound change took place. Benedict lost his desire to study and gave up all thoughts of the priesthood, much to the consternation of his relatives. He became a pilgrim, travelling from one great shrine to another, living off alms. He wore the rags of a beggar and shared his food with the poor. Filled with the love of God and neighbour, Benedict had special devotion to the Blessed Mother and to the Blessed Sacrament. In Rome, where he lived in the Colosseum for a time, he was called "the poor man of the Forty Hours Devotion" and "the beggar of Rome." The people accepted his ragged appearance better than he did. His excuse to himself was that "our comfort is not in this world." On the last day of his life, April 16, 1783, Benedict Joseph dragged himself to a church in Rome and prayed there for two hours before he collapsed, dying peacefully in a nearby house. Immediately after his death the people proclaimed him a saint. He was officially proclaimed a saint by Pope Leo XIII at canonization ceremonies in 1883. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 6:1-7; Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19; John 6:16-21

When evening came the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, got into a boat and went across for Capharnaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come back to them. A strong wind blew and the sea began to stir. They had rowed some twenty five or thirty furlongs when they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat. They were afraid, but he said to them: It is I. Do not fear. Then they took him on board willingly enough and very soon the boat reached the shore to which they were going. (John 6:16-21)

The new Moses Our passage today is from the Gospel of St John, and one of the many connections this Gospel makes is that between Jesus Christ and Moses. At the outset of the Gospel, in its very prologue, Christ is compared with two prophets before him: John the Baptist and Moses. John the Baptist “was not the Light; he was sent to bear witness to the Light.” It is Jesus Christ who “is the true Light” (1:8-9). Through Moses “the law was given to us; through Jesus Christ grace came to us, and truth”

(1:17). The hint is that Jesus Christ is a new and much greater Moses. In the sixth chapter of the Gospel, Christ gives a great “sign” that led the people present to identify him as “the Prophet who is to come into the world.” The Scriptures had pronounced that there had never been a prophet equal to Moses, and Moses himself had spoken of the Prophet who would come. They were to listen to him — suggesting that he would be a greater Prophet than Moses. The “sign” (6:14) that Christ had given of feeding the multitudes on the other side of the Sea of Tiberius away from their homes (perhaps suggesting “the wilderness”), surely conjured up the memory of Moses at the head of his people in the wilderness. Moses had appealed to God and God had sent manna from heaven. Here was a new Moses — “the Prophet,” no less. This “sign” given, our Lord presumably directs his disciples to make their way back across the Lake to Capernaum, which they proceeded to do. Evening had come, and perhaps our Lord was busy still in the ministry of the day or had withdrawn to pray. He indicated to them that he would follow, which they interpreted to mean that he would follow them in one of the other boats. So they set off across the water, and “it was already dark, but Jesus had not come to them” (6:17). Imagine the scene — “the sea was rising, because a strong wind was blowing” (6:18). Long before, the children of Israel had passed across the Red Sea with Moses at their head. The disciples are in difficulty and there before them is Jesus “walking on the sea, and drawing near to the boat” (6:19).

Moses had been the great liberator raised up by God to bring the children of Israel out of slavery to the Promised Land. He had been the redeemer of the people from the thraldom of Egypt. He had led them across the Red Sea into the wilderness, and there, as a result of his prayer to God, the people had been fed daily with manna from heaven. Thus they eventually passed through the desert into the land given by God to their forefathers and promised to them through the mouth of Moses. A new and much greater Moses has now come. There is no difficulty he cannot save us from. Whatever be the storms that beat about our craft — the craft of our own individual lives, or the craft of the Church — our Moses is always near at hand. Many times in the course of history the Church has been subjected to appalling vicissitudes. Let us think of the three centuries — three centuries! — following the death and resurrection of Christ and his command to make disciples of all the nations. There were centuries of repeated and ruthless persecutions. Then finally a springtime arrived, and it was shown that Christ had been with them on the turbulent Sea. He had been repeating to them all along, Do not be afraid. It is I! I am with you. These words of Christ to his disciples are themselves very evocative. They mirror the words of Yahweh God speaking to Moses from the Burning Bush. Moses had asked for his name so as to tell the people which God (among the various gods) had sent him. The answer was given: I am — I am who I am! Let us remember that Jesus Christ was and is the Word made flesh. Those stunning words had come from the one God, who would be revealed to be triune. That is to say, they had come from the Word, who now was flesh. Here on the turbulent water he utters them again to his disciples and through them to his Church down through the ages in the midst of their recurring vicissitudes. I am, and I am with you in the midst of everything, come what may. Significantly, when the disciples heard him they willingly received him on board, and “soon” they reached the shore.

Not only does God’s chosen people have a new liberator, a new Moses, but all of mankind does. God has sent his Son to lead his people across the sea of life and sin into the Promised Land of life in God. The new Moses is Jesus Christ, risen from the dead and now with his people as they bring this good news to all the nations. The nations have a new vocation: it is to be disciples of Jesus Christ, through whom have come grace and truth. He is always near, and he is our Saviour. Let us always hear his words, uttered once to Moses, repeated to his disciples, and passed on to us: “It is I! Do not be afraid!” (John 6:16-21)
(E.J.Tyler)

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Think what would happen if we Christians chose not to behave as such... and then rectify your behaviour.
(The Forge, no.95)

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The impure then cannot love God; and those who are without love of God cannot really be pure. Purity prepares the soul for love, and love confirms the soul in purity.

JHN, from the discourse ‘Purity and Love’ (1849)

Prayers for today: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy; praise the glory of his name; proclaim his glorious praise, alleluia. (Psalm 65: 1-2)

God our Father, may we look forward with hope to our resurrection, for you have made us your sons and daughters, and restored the joy of our youth. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(April 18) Blessed James Oldo (1364-1404)
James of Oldo was born in 1364, into a well-to-do family near Milan. He married a woman who, like him, appreciated the comforts that came with wealth. But an outbreak of plague drove James, his wife and their three children out of their home and into the countryside. Despite those precautions, two of his daughters died from the plague, James determined to use whatever time he had left to build up treasures in heaven and to build God’s realm on earth. He and his wife became Secular Franciscans. James gave up his old lifestyle and did penance for his sins. He cared for a sick priest, who taught him Latin. Upon the death of his wife, James himself became a priest. His house was transformed into a chapel where small groups of people, many of them fellow Secular Franciscans, came for prayer and support. James focused on caring for the sick and for prisoners of war. He died in 1404 after contracting a disease from one of his patients. James Oldo was beatified in 1933. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 5:27-32.40-41; Psalm 29; Apocalypse 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

Afterwards Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told them, and they said, We'll go with you. So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. He called out to them, Friends, haven't you any fish? No, they answered. He said, Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.

When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord! As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, It is the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. Then they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish you have just caught. Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast. None of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these? Yes, Lord, he said, you know that I love you. Jesus said, Feed my lambs. Again Jesus said, Simon son of John, do you truly love me? He answered, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said, Take care of my sheep. The third time he said to him, Simon son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, Do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. Jesus said, Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, Follow me! (John 21: 1-19)

The Resurrection The Oxford Movement in the third decade of nineteenth century England was, among other things, an attempt to restore the authority and spiritual life of the Anglican Church. This was understood by its leaders as requiring a recovery of the Catholic ethos of the early Church, as interpreted theologically by the Caroline divines of the seventeenth century. All acknowledge that John Henry Newman was its driving intellectual leader, and the elements of his thought continue to be the

object of widespread research. Now, Newman saw clearly that the foe of Christian faith in his time was Rationalism. The rationalism that Newman opposed insisted that the validity of Faith and its tenets must be judged by the requirements of so-called “Reason.” In effect, “Reason” meant the formal requirements of logic and demonstration, such that if the believer could not demonstrate his case according to the canons of scientific proof, his case could not stand. Newman opposed this notion of the reasonable as being unreal. It was not how human beings arrived at valid convictions. The human being becomes convinced of something not just because it can be “demonstrated,” but because of a host of factors that are usually impossible to put into syllogistic form. Perhaps the most important factor (among others) leading a person to be convinced of the truth of something is antecedent probability. A formal “demonstration” of the existence of God, which might satisfy the demands of formal logic, of itself and alone will not usually lead to personal conviction of its truth. Rather, what will be decisive will be the convergence of factors which, while in logic might be probabilities, amount in his judgment (i.e., according to his “reason”) to a certainty. Newman also said that in matters moral and religious, what a person perceives to be true will depend in large measure on his own moral state — the state of his heart, of his will. This in turn depends on his fidelity to duty. What I am highlighting in this reference to Newman here is the importance of antecedent probability in arriving at religious truth, and of the state of a person’s heart in what he expects to be the truth.

We have a beautiful Gospel scene before us today John 21:1-19, the scene of the risen Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. There he is as dawn is breaking, a lone figure whom the disciples see from their boat. He is soon recognized by the beloved disciple, but this recognition followed on their encounter with the risen Jesus back in Jerusalem on the day of his resurrection. Our scene today invites us to recall the frame of mind of our Lord’s closest disciples, his Apostles no less, following his terrible death and hasty burial on the Friday afternoon. A great gloom enveloped them and during the entire Sabbath day that followed, a great darkness covered their souls. It was well represented by the two forlorn disciples leaving Jerusalem for Emmaus on the Sunday morning. They were joined by the risen Jesus, but failed to recognize him. The striking thing about the entire group of disciples — with the exception, we may be sure, of Christ’s own mother — was their conviction that his death was the end. They did not have the slightest sense of the probability of his rising from the dead. He had spoken of this explicitly. He had foretold his rejection, his condemnation, his passion, his death — and had even foretold how he would die. It would be by crucifixion. But he had repeatedly said he would also rise — and had specified that it would be on the third day. Nevertheless, they had no sense even of its probability, let alone of its certainty. They utterly lacked what Newman says is the principal factor leading to conviction in matters of real life; a sense of its antecedent probability. Not only did they not expect it, but they expected the opposite. Because of this they did not accept the various reports coming from reliable witnesses on the day of his resurrection. They regarded it as overwhelmingly improbable, despite all they had seen and known of Jesus Christ and of what he had predicted. Thomas even refused to accept the joint witness of the other Apostles. Why did they regard it as so improbable? Our Lord made it clear to them that it was due to the hardness of their hearts.

As I mentioned earlier, Newman also taught that in matters moral and religious, what a person accepts as likely will depend on his moral state. Religious conviction — or faith — does not just depend on so-called “Reason.” It depends on the state of our hearts, for this will shape what we consider to be probable. In turn, our sense of what is probable will shape our response to those many things that point to the truth of something. It was because of the state of their hearts that the Apostles did not accept the news of the resurrection — in other words, the good news of the Gospel. They regarded it as totally improbable. It was only when the Fact of it was presented before their eyes that they became convinced. Let us ask our Lord to pour his grace into our hearts and make of them good soil for the great truth of the resurrection.
(E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.641-644 (Apparitions of the risen Jesus)

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Discover Our Lord behind each event and in every circumstance, and then, from everything that happens, you will be able to draw more love for God and a greater desire to respond to him. He is always waiting for us, offering us the possibility to fulfil at all times that resolution we made: Serviam! I will serve you!
(The Forge, no.96)

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We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them.

JHN, from the sermon ‘Love the Safeguard of Faith against Superstition’ (1839)

Monday of the third week in Eastertide C

Prayers today: The Good Shepherd is risen! He who laid down his life for his sheep, who died for his flock, he is risen, alleluia.

God our Father, your light of truth guides us to the way of Christ. May all who follow him reject what is contrary’ to the gospel. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son . .

(April 19) Blessed Luchesio and Buonadonna (d.1260)
Luchesio and his wife Buonadonna wanted to follow St. Francis as a married couple. Thus they set in motion the Secular Franciscan Order. Luchesio and Buonadonna lived in Poggibonzi where he was a greedy merchant. Meeting Francis — probably in 1213 — changed his life. He began to perform many works of charity. At first Buonadonna was not as enthusiastic about giving so much away as Luchesio was. One day after complaining that he was giving everything to strangers, Buonadonna answered the door only to find someone else needing help. Luchesio asked her to give the poor man some bread. She frowned but went to the pantry anyway. There she discovered more bread than had been there the last time she looked. She soon became as zealous for a poor and simple life as Luchesio was. They sold the business, farmed enough land to provide for their needs and distributed the rest to the poor. In the 13th century some couples, by mutual consent and with the Church’s permission, separated so that the husband could join a monastery (or a group such as Francis began) and his wife could go to a cloister. Conrad of Piacenza and his wife did just that. This choice existed for childless couples or for those whose children had already grown up. Luchesio and Buonadonna wanted another alternative, a way of sharing in religious life, but outside the cloister. To meet this desire, Francis set up the Secular Franciscan Order. Francis wrote a simple Rule for the Third Order (Secular Franciscans) at first; Pope Honorius III approved a more formally worded Rule in 1221. The charity of Luchesio drew the poor to him, and, like many other saints, he and Buonadonna seemed never to lack the resources to help these people. One day Luchesio was carrying a crippled man he had found on the road. A frivolous young man came up and asked, "What poor devil is that you are carrying there on your back?" "I am carrying my Lord Jesus Christ," responded Luchesio. The young man immediately begged Luchesio’s pardon. Luchesio and Buonadonna both died on April 28, 1260. He was beatified in 1273. Local tradition referred to Buonadonna as "blessed" though the title was not given officially. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 6:8-15; Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30; John 6:22-29

The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realised that only one boat had been there, and that

Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. Once the crowd realised that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here? Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. Then they asked him, What must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus answered, The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. (John 6:22-29)

The work of works One of the notable features of the modern university is its abundance and variety of degree programs. There is scarcely a field of human activity that cannot be studied at a university. It was not alway so. Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century there was at Oxford, for instance, an overwhelming stress on Mathematics and the Greek and Latin Classics. An indicator of the change that was coming was the foundation of the professorship of political economy at Oxford in 1825, with

Nassau William Senior being elected to fill the chair. At present, one of the most dominant disciplines at tertiary level is Economics, and this stands to reason because Economics is one of the most dominant interests of Western culture. Consider the space given to economic and commercial matters in the printed press and in television and radio news. This of itself is not to be regretted because of the fundamental importance of the material dimension to life. Man must live off his material resources, and so it is of immense importance that his material resources be harvested and adequately organized — and this is what Economics is all about. Famine, disease and material deprivation rage in various parts of the world, and the world has a responsibility to provide economic security for the family of man. We must get our economics right and for this reason the Church has an extensive theological teaching on the economic life of society. That having been said, our special danger is to look to economic security and wellbeing as the key to true security and happiness. If only we are economically healthy and secure, all will be well. If we are not, then whatever else we might have, it is all flawed. This viewpoint has always been the danger for man and society, but in the past it has not endangered the acceptance of religion. Societies have pursued economic progress, but have also endeavoured to be in favour with the gods — or God. Now in a secular culture, though, we tend to dispense with God and place our hopes in material and economic progress alone. We aspire for food that will not last.

This has always been a danger, and our Lord refers to it directly in our Gospel today. The day before he had worked a spectacular miracle, a “sign” of what was coming. He had fed thousands with a mere handful of food and had gathered up many baskets of the fragments remaining. He had shown that he could provide sustenance for the multitudes, but it was meant by him as a sign of the special heavenly sustenance he would bestow on the world. That food from heaven would be his own Self, his body given for the life of the world. All that the multitude took from it, though, was a great sign of coming material security. They would scarcely need to work, with Christ in their midst! The day had ended with their eating to their full, with delicious bread and fish (for we remember the delicious wine, changed from water at the wedding feast of Cana). But the next day they discovered that Jesus had gone and they hastened back to Capernaum and discovered him there. How did you get here, they asked him? Our Lord did not bother with an answer to that question. The only reason why they were looking for him, he replied, was because they had been satisfied materially. They had had their fill, and they wanted more of the same. Their following of him, their seeking after him, was for material purposes. They were not seeking the salvation of their souls. They were concerned only with the food that cannot last. “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” But then comes the central question of the passage: “Then they asked him, What must we do to do the works God requires?” That is to say, what is the central work that God asks of us? What is it that humanity must achieve most of all? It is not just to be religious — for, after all, most of humanity in its long history has been “religious.” What humanity must do more than anything is believe in the one whom God has sent. “Jesus answered, The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:22-29).

Just before he ascended into heaven, our Lord gave to his disciples — which is to say, to the Church — a solemn charge. It was to go to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. This is the work of the Church, to believe in Jesus Christ and to bring mankind to that belief. This is the work par excellence of man, to believe in Jesus Christ. The religion of Jesus Christ is not just one religion among many — all of them representing man’s aspiration for the divine. Jesus Christ is the one sent by God to save fallen man and to bring him into union with the One for whom he longs. Our work in life is to be united in faith with Jesus Christ. Our fulfilment will be attained in this. All other activity — all other work we do — must be understood and pursued in the context of this primary work. So then, now I begin!
(E.J.Tyler)

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Renew each day the effective desire to empty yourself, to deny yourself, to forget yourself, to walk in novitate sensus, with a new life, exchanging this misery of ours for all the hidden and eternal grandeur of God.
(The Forge, no.97)

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No one begins to examine himself, and to pray to know himself … but he finds within him an abundance of faults which before were either entirely or almost entirely unknown to him. That this is so, we learn from the written lives of good men, and our own experience of others. And hence it is that the best men are ever the most humble; for, having a higher standard of excellence in their minds than others have, and knowing themselves better, they see somewhat of the breadth and depth of their own sinful nature, and are shocked and frightened at themselves.

JHN, from the sermon ‘Secret Faults’ (1825)

Tuesday of the third week of Eastertide C

Prayers today: All you who fear God, both the great and the small, give praise to him! For his salvation and strength have come, the power of Christ, alleluia. (Rv 19:5; 12:10)

Father, you open the kingdom of heaven to those born again by water and the Spirit. Increase your gift of love in us. May all who have been freed from sins in baptism receive all that you have promised. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

(April 20) St. Conrad of Parzham (1818-1894)
Conrad spent most of his life as porter in Altoetting, Bavaria, letting people into the friary and indirectly encouraging them to let

God into their lives. His parents, Bartholomew and Gertrude Birndorfer, lived near Parzham, Bavaria. In those days this region was recovering from the Napoleonic wars. A lover of solitary prayer and a peacemaker as a young man, Conrad joined the Capuchins as a brother. He made his profession in 1852 and was assigned to the friary in Altoetting. That city’s shrine to Mary was very popular; at the nearby Capuchin friary there was a lot of work for the porter, a job Conrad held for 41 years. At first some of the other friars were jealous that such a young friar held this important job. Conrad’s patience and holy life overcame their doubts. As porter he dealt with many people, obtaining many of the friary supplies and generously providing for the poor who came to the door. He treated them all with the courtesy Francis expected of his followers. Conrad’s helpfulness was sometimes unnerving. Once Father Vincent, seeking quiet to prepare a sermon, went up the belltower of the church. Conrad tracked him down when someone wanting to go to confession specifically requested Father Vincent. Conrad also developed a special rapport with the children of the area. He enthusiastically promoted the Seraphic Work of Charity, which aided neglected children. Conrad spent hours in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. He regularly asked the Blessed Mother to intercede for him and for the many people he included in his prayers. The ever-patient Conrad was canonized in 1934. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 7:51— 8:1a; Psalm 31:3cd-4, 6 and 7b and 8a, 17 and 21ab; John 6:30-35

So they asked Jesus, What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Sir, they said, from now on give us this bread. Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:30-35)

The true Bread If there is one thing which is obvious from a reading of the Old Testament it is the defining character of the Exodus events. The departure from Egypt, the years in the wilderness, and the entry into the Promised Land, profoundly shaped the religious outlook of the children of Israel. So marked is this memory as evidenced in the Old Testament Scriptures, that one cannot but be a little sceptical of the weight given by many to the current lack of archaeological evidence for the great events

referred to in the Hebrew Scriptures. Where is the archaeological evidence, it is urged, for the event of the departure from Egypt, the long sojourn in the wilderness, the mass invasion by Israel of the land of Canaan — and for other supposed facts such as the career of David, Solomon, and so forth? While there is a present lack of that kind of evidence, there is the fact of the great memory by the chosen people, so manifest in their Scriptures. The nation was shaped by this memory, and our Lord himself, true God and true man, refers explicitly to these past historical events. In our very passage today he refers to Moses and to the manna he gave from heaven. I make these points simply to stress how much the Exodus events were a criterion of religious truth for the children of Israel. Our Gospel scene today (John 6:30-35) opens with the crowds making a demand of Jesus. He had told them that the work that God asked of them was to believe in him. To this they responded, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” In the desert, Moses fed the people with manna from heaven for their entire sojourn. You, Jesus of Nazareth, have multiplied the loaves and the fish, could you not do what Moses did, and feed us continually with bread from heaven? What sign will you do that we may see and believe you? Our Lord replies by pointing prophetically to what will be the true bread from heaven — his own person.

Though the manna which Israel received in the desert came from God in answer to the prayer of Moses, it was not heavenly food. It was earthly and served to sustain life on earth. It was a material substance which modern scholars have even attempted to identify. Some suggest it was the resin from the Tamarisk tree, others a form of plant lice, or the thalli of certain lichens, or Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, or a kosher species of locust, or the sap of certain succulent plants. The manna in the desert had the powers of material food — it was God’s miraculous gift of earthly food. Our Lord says that the true bread of God is heavenly. It does indeed come down from heaven and gives life to the world. It is heavenly bread which gives life forever and to all mankind. The manna in the desert had none of these powers. This is a remarkable announcement which those who are fully familiar with the doctrine of the Eucharist may take too much for granted. Our Lord is heralding an extraordinary food for the journey. He is acting as a new Moses for the children of Israel, and for all of mankind. A new sustenance is coming for all. As Moses, by God’s power, provided earthly food for the journey of the children of Israel, so Jesus Christ will provide heavenly food for the journey of the whole world. It will be the true bread from heaven, the bread that manna prefigured. Manna was merely a pointer to the true bread from heaven that would take all of humanity to life in God and heaven. What is this heavenly food? “Sir, they said, from now on give us this bread. Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:30-35). Our Lord calmly and publicly makes a breathtaking claim which had no precedent in all of the Scriptures, and which placed himself far above all. He himself is the bread of life that God has sent from heaven. It is he himself who gives life to the whole world. He is the answer to true hunger and true thirst. If a person lives on him, his true hunger will be satisfied.

Our Lord is placing himself at the very centre of revealed religion. Never before had certain things been said that Jesus Christ was now saying. He is himself the heart and soul of true religion, and a person who lives on him and in him will possess a heavenly life that is far more than this terrestrial life. In order to live, in order to survive the journey through the wilderness of life, we must go to Jesus. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. He is the source of life, life here and life everlasting. He is speaking as God would speak. Let us then look on Jesus Christ as our all. If we truly possess him by our love and our faith, by our devout hearing of his word from the Church, and by our sincere reception of him in the Sacraments, life will be ours forever.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Try to be considerate, well—mannered. Don’t be boorish!

—Try to be polite always, which doesn’t mean being affected.
(The Forge, no.98)

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Oh may we persevere to the end! Many fall away. Let us watch and pray. Let us not get secure. Let us not think it enough to have got through one temptation well; through our whole life we are on trial. When one temptation is over, another comes; and, perhaps, our having got through one well, will be the occasion of our falling under the next, if we be not on our guard; because it may make us secure and confident, as if we had already conquered, and were safe.

JHN, from the sermon ‘The Trial of Saul’ (1841)

Wednesday of the third week of Eastertide C

Prayers today: Fill me with your praise and I will sing your glory; songs of joy will be on my lips, alleluia. (Ps 70:8, 23)

Merciful Lord, hear the prayers of your people. May we who have received your gift of faith share for ever in the new life of Christ. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 21) St. Anselm (1033-1109)
Indifferent toward religion as a young man, Anselm became one of the Church's greatest theologians and leaders. He received the title "Father of Scholasticism" for his attempt to analyse and illumine the truths of faith through the aid of reason. At 15, Anselm wanted to enter a monastery, but was refused acceptance because of his father's opposition. Twelve years later, after careless disinterest in religion and years of worldly living, he finally fulfilled his desire to be a monk. He entered the monastery of Bec in Normandy, three years later was elected prior and 15 years later was unanimously chosen abbot. Considered an original and independent thinker, Anselm was admired for his patience, gentleness and teaching skill. Under his leadership, the abbey of Bec became a monastic school, influential in philosophical and theological studies. During these years, at the community's request, Anselm began publishing his theological works, comparable to those of St. Augustine. His best-known work is the book Cur Deus Homo ("Why God Became Man"). At 60, against his will, Anselm was appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 1093. His appointment was opposed at first by England's King William Rufus and later accepted. Rufus persistently refused to cooperate with efforts to reform the Church. Anselm finally went into voluntary exile until Rufus died in 1100. He was then recalled to England by Rufus's brother and successor, Henry I. Disagreeing fearlessly with Henry over the king's insistence on investing England's bishops, Anselm spent another three years in exile in Rome. His care and concern extended to the very poorest people; he opposed the slave trade. Anselm obtained from the national council at Westminster the passage of a resolution prohibiting the sale of human beings.
"No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God" (St. Anselm, Letter 112). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 8:1b-8; Psalm 66:1-7a; John 6:35-40

Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:35-40)

Come to him! The world seems to be marked by unending vicissitudes. Wars break out and reach their conclusion, civil strife erupts, earthquakes bring incalculable damage to life and property, numerous banks begin to fail as debtors across a nation default en masse, famine and disease strikes this or that country, and so the sorry tale goes on. In his great Apologia pro Vita Sua, written in 1864, John Henry Newman writes, “I look out of myself into the world of men, and there I see a sight which fills me

with unspeakable distress. .... The sight of the world is nothing else than the prophet’s scroll, full of ‘lamentation, and mourning, and woe.’” Newman writes of the “aimless courses .... the greatness and littleness of man... the curtain hung over his futurity, the disappointments of life, the defeat of good, the success of evil, physical pain, mental anguish, the prevalence and intensity of sin, the pervading idolatries, the corruptions, the dreary hopeless irreligion, that condition of the whole race.. all this is a vision to dizzy and appal” (ch. V). It is, we might say, an unending struggle to keep “head above water.” There is just no simple solution to the suffering and evil of the world. There is no one key, no single formula that will “fix it” for man. Now this entire phenomena of a broken world constantly being sucked towards death and all that leads to death is but the manifestation and fruit of the deeper catastrophe of sin. We know the cause of the world’s broken condition because it has been revealed to us. It is due to sin, the sin of man at the very beginning. The flawed character of so much of human history merely shows the enormity of sin which is its original and ongoing cause. If the evils of the world are so extensive as to defy man’s efforts at a solution, what could possibly be said of a remedy being found for its very source which is sin? Ah! the Remedy has come, and whatever be the complexity of evil and suffering, together with the prospects for individuals and all of humanity together, in a very real sense the Remedy is remarkably simple. God has given the Remedy.

There is one thing which every man and woman is called to do in order to deal in ultimate terms with his or her condition and prospects. The ultimate answer is to come to Jesus in faith. At times a thought might come to us that it would have been so much easier to have seen Jesus and to have come to him in a directly physical sense. Now we cannot see him. We have to come to him in faith. But notice what our Lord says in our passage today, that “as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” There were many who saw him and who did not believe. There was one who was called to live with him, to be with him constantly, to be his companion, to share actively in his mission, to receive some of his powers such as that of healing, and yet he not only left him but positively betrayed him. Having had the inestimable opportunity of seeing the Incarnate Son of God did not assure that a person would gain faith. The ultimate answer to man’s dubious situation so fraught with threat and sin is to come to Jesus in faith. The answer is simple, though very demanding in its consequences: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” The one who comes to Jesus in faith has received the grace to belong to Jesus, for our Lord says that “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” We are the Father’s gift to Jesus, and he will receive us into his friendship. Moreover, the divine plan is to care for us and to raise us to eternal life with him forever. “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” Christ is determined not to lose any of us but to save us from all that could do us ultimate harm. He wishes each of us to live forever in him. “For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:35-40).

As opposed to the tangle and mystery of the problems of life and the world, there is a simple Remedy. It is simple in its direction, but immense in its consequences. The way ahead, the Remedy to be applied, is to come to Jesus in faith and to give oneself to him. It is to act on the grace of faith and to resolve to belong to him. If we belong to Jesus and live out our lives according to this self-donation, then Jesus will care for us. He will not lose us. He will raise us up to be with him forever. The way ahead is clear — so let us take it, then!
(E.J.Tyler)

Second reflection for Wednesday of the third week of Eastertide

Acts 8: 1-8; Psalm 65; John 6: 35-40

Trust in God In today’s gospel passage our Lord declares that it is the Father's will that he should lose nothing of what the Father had given to him (John 6: 39). This should be the source of a great sense of security: no circumstances need destroy or

weaken that all-important relationship which we have been given with Christ. We see an instance of this played out in the first reading (Acts of the Apostles 8: 1-8). With Stephen stoned to death, Saul began a furious persecution of the infant Church, scattering the Christians from Jerusalem. But what was the upshot of this? The fleeing disciples went from place to place preaching the Good News. The persecution was the direct cause of more and more coming to know the Lord. Perhaps the greatest sequel of all was the conversion of Saul himself. In the midst of great tribulation the hand of the Lord was upon the Church. As Paul would write in one of his Letters, nothing can come between us and the love of God in Christ. So we should face adversity with trust in the power of God, determined to use the adversity to further the plan of God in our regard. As Pope John Paul II used repeatedly to say, Be not afraid!
(E.J.Tyler)

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Lord, make me so much yours that not even the holiest affections may enter my heart except through your wounded Heart.
(The Forge, no.98)

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Thursday of the third week in Eastertide C

Prayers today: Let us sing to the Lord, he has covered himself in glory! The Lord is my strength, and I praise him: he is the Saviour of my life, alleluia. (Ex 15: 1-2)

Father, in this holy season we come to know the full depth of your love. You have freed us from the darkness of error and sin. Help us to cling to your truths with fidelity. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, .

(April 22) St. Adalbert of Prague (956-97)
Opposition to the Good News of Jesus did not discourage Adalbert, who is now remembered with great honour in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Germany. Born to a noble family in Bohemia, he received part of his education from St. Adalbert of Magdeburg. At the age of 27 he was chosen as bishop of Prague. Those who resisted his program of clerical reform forced him into exile eight years later. In time, the people of Prague requested his return as their bishop. Within a short time, however, he was exiled again after excommunicating those who violated the right of sanctuary by dragging a woman accused of adultery from a church and murdering her. After a short ministry in Hungary, he went to preach the Good News to people living near the Baltic Sea. He and two companions were martyred by pagan priests in that region. Adalbert's body was immediately ransomed and buried in Gniezno cathedral (Poland). In the mid-11th century his relics were moved to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20; John 6:44-51

Jesus said, No-one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No-one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:44-51)

His flesh Our Lord had said prior to our passage today that the one who comes to him will never hunger, and the one who believes in him will never thirst. He has come from heaven as the One sent by the Father in order to give everlasting life to all who believe in him (John 6: 35-40). He is the One to whom they ought come in order to have life. They object to his exalted claims — they know him and they knew his parents. How can he say that he has come down from heaven? In his answer our Lord

warns that they will not be able to come to him — no one will have the power to do so (oudeis dunatai elthein) — unless the Father should draw him. That is to say, a special grace is required to be able to come to Jesus and believe in him. The implication is that their murmuring at our Lord’s teaching is a sign that they are not sufficiently in a state of divine grace. We remember how the Angel Gabriel when coming into the presence of the Virgin Mary addressed her as being “full of grace.” The Lord was with her — meaning that the Father was with her. Now, what was the upshot of her union with God? It showed itself in her faith. Once she understood what was being asked of her, her reply was immediate: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to your word.” She was full of grace; the Lord was with her, and her response was one of obedient faith. She may be looked to as the pattern of what our Lord speaks of in our passage today: “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.” If we are looking to God; if we are listening to him with an obedient faith; if we are subject to the action and grace of God, we shall come to Jesus. A prior disposition of heart, an existing relationship with God, is therefore required if a person is to come to Jesus and receive from him the life eternal which is his gift. The niggardly and grumbling response to our Lord’s teaching about himself is a sign that they are not listening to the Father in their lives. Their negative response to the word of Jesus was a sign that they lacked true religion.

It soon becomes more evident that belief requires a grace and a disposition beyond the natural, because the revelation which now begins to be given is astonishing and absolutely unprecedented. Our Lord has spoken of himself as having been sent by the Father and as having come down from heaven. That he gave the impression of meaning this literally is shown by their response that this could not be, because they knew where he came from and also who his parents were. He compares himself with the manna that God had sent to give them food and life while in the desert. So our Lord repeats what he has said: “I am the bread of life.” Moreover, while their fathers had the manna to eat in the desert, they all died. The bread from heaven that is our Lord himself will bring life everlasting. “Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever.” Whatever of the manna in the desert, this is magnificent bread, the bread of life indeed, an extraordinary gift from God. But there is more, for to refer to himself as “the bread of life” with an evocation of the memory of the manna in the desert is to use a slightly vague expression. Christ’s being “the bread of life” could have meant his teaching; it could have meant his never-to-be-forgotten example; or it could have meant his life-giving friendship. But no — it was all of these things of course, but over and above them all it meant something far more striking and, indeed, startling. The “bread” which had come down from heaven and which was the person of Jesus himself was his very flesh. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:44-51). So while their forefathers ate the manna in the desert and yet eventually died, from now on eternal life will be offered with the food that is Christ. That food is his flesh.

Nothing like this had ever been said by any prophet before him. It was utterly new — but of course with distant types of it and pointers to it in the religion, beliefs, and ritual of the Old Testament. No other prophet had claimed to be the bread from heaven that would give eternal life to the world, and that this bread would be his own flesh. Our Lord’s words must have been a sensation, and must have caused a tremendous stir. It was the mystery of mysteries connected with his person. In all of his mounting witness to his own person and teaching, this act of witness is perhaps the most signal. The true bread of heaven would be the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth. What on earth did he mean? His uncompromising explanation would follow.
(E.J.Tyler)

Second reflection for Thursday of the third week of Eastertide

The Holy Spirit draws us to Jesus and to the Father Our Lord said at the Last Supper that eternal life is this, to know you Father, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. On the occasion of our Gospel today (John 6: 44), our Lord said that no one comes to him unless he is drawn by the Father. Now, how

does the Father draw us to the Son? It is by the action of the Holy Spirit.

We see a striking instance of this in the work of the deacon Philip as narrated in Acts 8: 26-40: The Spirit said to Philip, 'Go up and meet that chariot.' He did so, and began instructing the Ethiopian on the meaning of the Scriptures and how they spoke of Jesus. His words led to the Ethiopian coming to know and believe in Jesus, and seeking baptism. With this, 'Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord.'

The Holy Spirit is the great divine Agent by means of whom we come to know the Lord Jesus, and through Jesus the Father, for 'to see me is to see the Father.' Let us pray constantly then to be led by the Holy Spirit to come to know Jesus, and in our everyday life to lead others to know him.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Try to be considerate, well—mannered. Don’t be boorish!

—Try to be polite always, which doesn’t mean being affected.
(The Forge, no.99)

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They alone are able truly to enjoy this world, who begin with the world unseen. They alone enjoy it, who have first abstained from it. They alone can truly feast, who have first fasted; they alone are able to use the world, who have learned not to abuse it; they alone inherit it, who take it as a shadow of the world to come, and who for that world to come relinquish it.

JHN, from the sermon ‘The Cross of Christ the Measure of the World’ (1841)

Friday of the third week in Eastertide C

Prayers today: The Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive strength and divinity, wisdom and power and honour, alleluia. (Rv 5:12)

(April 23) St. George
If Mary Magdalene was the victim of misunderstanding, George is the object of a vast amount of imagination. There is every reason to believe that he was a real martyr who suffered at Lydda in Palestine, probably before the time of Constantine. The Church adheres to his memory, but not to the legends surrounding his life. That he was willing to pay the supreme price to follow Christ is what the Church believes. And it is enough. The story of George's slaying the dragon, rescuing the king's daughter and converting Libya is a twelfth-century Italian fable. George was a favourite patron saint of crusaders, as well as of Eastern soldiers in earlier times. He is a patron saint of England, Portugal, Germany, Aragon, Catalonia, Genoa and Venice. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 117:1bc, 2; John 6:52-59

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, I tell you

the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live for ever. He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. (John 6:52-59)

The Eucharist The Oxford Movement of the third decade of nineteenth century England strove to defend intellectually the dogmatic character of Christianity against a growing liberalism that eschewed revealed dogma as rationally unsustainable. It insisted on the inviolable character of revealed dogma, and on the uniqueness of revealed religion. Revealed religion could not be reduced to what might be called the Natural Religion which is evidenced across the sweep of human history and society.

However, this was not to say that the only form of divine revelation was the Judaeo-Christian Revelation — as recorded in the inspired Old and New Testaments. John Henry Newman firmly taught that there was a universal revelation, which is to say that the religions of man contained — together with their errors — certain tenets which in one way or another God had been revealing to the peoples. This universal revelation was not authenticated, but its presence could be judged by the yardstick of Judaeo-Christian Revelation which was authenticated. From the Christian perspective, this point could be granted in respect to, say, certain teachings of Islam on the One God and his absolute transcendence. There is no god but the One God of Abraham. I refer to this teaching, perfectly true as far as it goes, as an introduction to our Gospel today. There is no other god but the Lord and he dwells in light inaccessible. He is beyond. But if this is all that is said about God’s relationship with man and the world, then it stops far short of the fullness of his revelation. In fact it is open to the admission of numerous errors about him. For as it turns out, God is not simply beyond, above, high and utterly other. He is also unbelievably near and at one with us. He is God-with-us. He chose a people so as to prepare to make a home with both them and the world. And, breathtaking surprise! God the Son became one of us so as to be with us as our Brother. More still! The God who is our Brother bore on his shoulders the sins of each of us and died to set us free from them. He rose, returned to the right hand of his heavenly Father, and by their joint gift of the Spirit, brought each of us who are baptized into union with the three divine Persons.

God is thus revealed as a God who loves and serves. He kneels before his friends as represented in the Twelve, and washes their feet, going on from there to die for them. But especially amazing is his ongoing gift which is revealed in our Gospel passage today. “Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.” Let us remember that our Lord’s unique words on this are uttered publicly. Were we to have had only the first three gospels (called the “synoptics” because of their likeness to one another), we may have thought that it was only in the privacy of the Last Supper that our Lord revealed the stunning gift of the Eucharist. But not so. It was revealed in the full light of day, publicly, in a synagogue — the synagogue of Capernaum. Our Lord did not even “tone it down” by explaining that the gift of his flesh as food would be in a sacramental mode. It was the starkest of statements. If they were to live, they must eat his flesh and drink his blood. The one who eats his flesh will be raised up by him at the last day. He is not speaking metaphorically, he insists. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink (John 6:52-59). Nothing like this had ever been said before, let alone publicly for it to be reported everywhere — and perhaps distorted and used by his enemies. It was a daring and unprecedented announcement and was, in fact, a fundamental teaching of the new revelation by Jesus Christ. God — the God of light inaccessible — was pouring himself out for man as their very food. He was not only before them as their Brother, but he was becoming much nearer still. He was, as their Brother and their God, making himself their very sustenance. They were to feed on him, and in this way they would live forever. It is an ultimate revelation of the love of God. God is utter love. How beautiful is God!

The holy Eucharist, coming to us in the life and the ministry of the Church which is the mystical body of Christ, is our principal means of union with the God of all heights. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” Together with the doctrines of the triune God and the Incarnation, the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist is the most remarkable religious doctrine in the history of all religions. It is the mystery of faith, and it is, in the celebration of Holy Mass, the ongoing revelation of the love of God for man.

(E.J.Tyler)

A second reflection for Friday of the third week of Eastertide (Acts 9: 1-20)

Our precious vocation Chesterton was a famous English lay convert of the early decades of the 20th century who became a great apologist for Catholicism. One of his written sayings was "How odd of God to choose the Jews." Apart from pointing to the special election by God of the Jews as his chosen people with a world mission, Chesterton's remark may be thought of as applicable to every vocation. Why me, and not others? Each of us is chosen by God in Christ “to be holy and full of love in his sight” for reasons we do not know. Our vocation is precious and it is mysterious.

Consider the mysteriousness and the uniqueness of St Paul's vocation, as narrated in Acts 9:1-20. The Lord Jesus told Ananias that 'this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.' What sort of background did Paul have for this extraordinary calling? A seemingly poor one indeed, and scarcely to be compared with that of the Twelve. Yet he was Christ's chosen instrument. Why him? There is a great mystery here manifesting the inscrutable mercy of God and his loving power.

Each of us has a vocation, a calling that has its origins in eternity, before the world began. Each of us is the object of God's inscrutable mercy, his loving choice. Our vocation, whatever it be, is precious. Let us not squander it. Live it to the full, daily. Let us meditate at length on the calling of St Paul.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Charity succeeds always. Without charity nothing can be done.

Love, then, is the secret of your life... Do love! Suffer gladly. Toughen up your soul. Invigorate your will. Make sure that you surrender yourself to God’s will, and efficacy will follow.
(The Forge, no.100)

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From the age of fifteen, dogma has been the fundamental principle of my religion: I know no other religion; I cannot enter into the idea of any other sort of religion; religion, as a mere sentiment, is to me a dream and a mockery. As well can there be filial love without the fact of a father, as devotion without the fact of a Supreme Being. What I held in 1816, I held in 1833, and I hold in 1864. Please God, I shall hold it to the end.

JHN, from the Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1864)

Prayers today: In baptism we have died with Christ, and we have risen to new life in him, because we believed in the power of God who raised him from the dead, alleluia. (Col 2:12)

God our Father, by the waters of baptism you give new life to the faithful. May we not succumb to the influence of evil but remain true to your gift of life. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 24) St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622)
If a poor man needed some clothing, Fidelis would often give the man the clothes right off his back. Complete generosity to

others characterized this saint's life. Born in 1577, Mark Rey (Fidelis was his religious name) became a lawyer who constantly upheld the causes of the poor and oppressed people. Nicknamed "the poor man's lawyer," Fidelis soon grew disgusted with the corruption and injustice he saw among his colleagues. He left his law career to become a priest, joining his brother George as a member of the Capuchin Order. His wealth was divided between needy seminarians and the poor. As a follower of Francis, Fidelis continued his devotion to the weak and needy. Once, during a severe epidemic in a city where he was guardian of a friary, Fidelis cared for and cured many sick soldiers. He was appointed head of a group of Capuchins sent to preach against the Calvinists and Zwinglians in Switzerland. Almost certain violence threatened. Those who observed the mission felt that success was more attributable to the prayer of Fidelis during the night than to his sermons and instructions. He was accused of opposing the peasants' national aspirations for independence from Austria. While he was preaching at Seewis, to which he had gone against the advice of his friends, a gun was fired at him, but he escaped unharmed. A Protestant offered to shelter Fidelis, but he declined, saying his life was in God's hands. On the road back, he was set upon by a group of armed men and killed. He was canonized in 1746. Fifteen years later, the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, which was established in 1622, recognized him as its first martyr. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 9:31-42; Psalm 116:12-17; John 6:60-69

On hearing Jesus’ teaching, many of his disciples said, This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? Aware that his disciples were

grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, This is why I told you that no-one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him. From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. You do not want to leave too, do you? Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. (John 6: 60-69)

The word of life The Christian, and in particular the Catholic, precisely because of his gift of supernatural faith from his baptism, could have difficulty appreciating the impact of Christ’s singular teaching on his hearers at the time. We accept Christ as being not merely the greatest of the prophets, not merely the Prophet and Messiah foretold by the Scriptures, but the very Son of God, God from God who has become man. This fundamental wonder validates all other wonders announced by him. So we take

in our stride, as it were, the various mysteries of our Faith — the danger being that we can fail to live our life in a manner truly based on these mysteries. It is worth the trouble to place ourselves in the scenes of the Gospels and imagine Jesus Christ setting forth his teaching. It was “bad enough,” as we might express it, for the Pharisees and religious leaders to have heard Jesus speaking of God as his own Father in a way that placed him on a par with God; it was “bad enough” to have heard him say repeatedly that he had actually come down from heaven where he was before; it was “bad enough” to have heard and seen him flouting their traditions and rulings on such matters as the manner of Sabbath observance; it was “bad enough” to have heard him state that he and the Father are one, and that before Moses ever was, I am — here in the Synagogue, though, he had the temerity to proclaim that his own flesh must be eaten and his own blood be drunk if people were to have life. This unprecedented teaching with nothing of its like in the prophets before him, divided his very disciples. Many left and returned to their homes, saying that Jesus of Nazareth was, in effect, impossible. We get the impression that there was a majority walk-out and Jesus was left with the Twelve — and, of course — many others. As a result of the proclamation of the doctrine of the Eucharist our Lord was left with a considerably diminished constituency, as some might say nowadays. It was, pundits would have called it, a political and marketing gaffe, and that he was finished from then on.

Our Lord saw this — for it is obvious from the Gospels that in intelligence he transcended all parties. The Eucharist was part of an ensemble of teachings about his own person which Christ gave, the acceptance of which was to be part and parcel of the following of him. He would give his own flesh to be eaten and his own blood to be drunk, and this would be the means whereby people would receive life eternal. To speak of the separation of the body and blood should have evoked in the mind of an observer the thought of a victim sacrificed. His words having this allusion, clearly he himself would be the victim. Did his hearers catch anything of this evocation, this allusion, this point? We are not informed. By eating of the sacrificed victim, a person shared in the effect of the sacrifice which was reconciliation and communion with God. A great sacrifice was coming, and Jesus would be the sacrifice. Clearly, too, only he could be the Priest. With it there would be a great communion in this sacrifice — and by participating in it they would share in his life, life eternal. Thus would the sin of the world be taken away and its blessings brought to those who believed in him and accepted his word. It was a breathtaking revelation and the only basis for accepting it could be that he, Jesus, had uttered it. But many of his disciples thought it was too much — it was “over the top,” impossible. But he had said it, and without any qualification, so if they were to continue following him this doctrine would be “all part of the package,” as one might say. So they left him — and so it has been in crisis moments in the history of the Church ever since. The doctrine of the Eucharist is the mystery of our faith and is one of the fundamental tests of belief and discipleship. Seeing so many of his disciples leave, our Lord turns to the Twelve and asks if they too planned to go. Peter — significantly for the future of the Church and Peter’s successors, answers. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:60-69).

I myself date the true turning away of Judas from this point. We do not know how well or poorly Judas had been growing in discipleship following his personal call. None of the disciples had been perfect in their discipleship, and Judas remains in the shadows as do others of the Twelve. But it is at this point, immediately after Simon Peter’s magnificent profession of faith and acceptance of Christ’s doctrine, that Christ refers to Judas as a devil. I suspect that Judas, in his heart, rejected the doctrine he had just heard, but chose to remain in our Lord’s company. His motives became profoundly compromised. Satan had a clear foothold among the Twelve, and in Judas had one of his own. How important is total acceptance of this doctrine!
(E.J.Tyler)

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Have the piety and simplicity of a child, and the strength and fortitude of a leader.
(The Forge, no.101)

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When [Christ] poured out His precious blood upon the Cross, it was not a man’s blood, though it belonged to His manhood, but blood full of power and virtue, instinct with life and grace, as issuing most mysteriously from Him who was the Creator of the world.

JHN, from the sermon ‘Christ, the Son of God made Man’ (1836)

Fourth Sunday of Eastertide C

Prayers today: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord; by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, alleluia. (Psalm 32: 5-6)

Almighty and ever-living God, give us new strength from the courage of Christ our shepherd, and lead us to join the saints in heaven. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

(April 25) St. Pedro de San José Betancur (1626-1667)
(St Mark this year transferred to the next day, Monday April 26)
Known as the "St. Francis of the Americas," Pedro de Betancur is the first saint to have worked and died in Guatemala. Pedro very much wanted to become a priest, but God had other plans for the young man born into a poor family on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Pedro was a shepherd until age 24, when he began to make his way to Guatemala, hoping to connect with a relative engaged in government service there. By the time he reached Havana, he was out of money. After working there to earn more, he got to Guatemala City the following year. When he arrived he was so destitute that he joined the bread line which the Franciscans had established. Soon, Pedro enrolled in the local Jesuit college in hopes of studying for the priesthood. No matter how hard he tried, however, he could not master the material; he withdrew from school. In 1655 he joined the Secular Franciscan Order. Three years later he opened a hospital for the convalescent poor; a shelter for the homeless and a school for the poor soon followed. Not wanting to neglect the rich of Guatemala City, Pedro began walking through their part of town ringing a bell and inviting them to repent. Other men came to share in Pedro's work. Out of this group came the Bethlehemite Congregation, which won papal approval after Pedro's death. A Bethlehemite sisters' community, similarly founded after Pedro's death, was inspired by his life of prayer and compassion. He is sometimes credited with originating the Christmas Eve posadas procession in which people representing Mary and Joseph seek a night's lodging from their neighbours. The custom soon spread to Mexico and other Central American countries. Pedro was beatified in 1980. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 13: 14.43-52; Psalm 99; Apocalypse 7: 9.14-17; John 10: 27-30

Jesus said to the Jews, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10: 27-30)

After the Fall One of the most notable developments of the very recent period has been the rise of a world-wide concern for the environment. The nations have realized that man has spoiled much of the world’s natural habitat, and that his future resources and the beauty of his abode is under serious threat. This concern cannot but be good, and it is an excellent thing that we are now far more concerned to protect the world than merely to exploit it. Such a concern, though, ought be consistent, and should include

a concern for deeper areas of destruction. I am referring to the deterioration of man’s moral environment which goes on from generation to generation in the life of society and in individuals. This is, strangely, of little concern for many persons. The natural world is real and concrete for them, and it is appalling to them that its beauty and its resources are being so profoundly spoiled. The moral world, though, is not very real and concrete because it is not visible and tactile. What is real is what is tangible. This is an assumption which has been developing for the last few centuries such that now it is a great philosophical question whether there is, for instance, a supernatural at all. The assumption just mentioned also affects our perception of the moral dimension of man. Our tendency is to regard it as secondary and somewhat subjective, whereas in fact it is primary, fundamental and absolutely objective. It is the moral life of man that affects everything for good or for ill, including the way he cherishes or despoils his physical environment. I make this observation to introduce the calamity that occurred right at the first appearance in history of man. He did something which had horrific effects, not on his physical environment but on his entire moral world. He was the child of God, coming from God’s hand and placed by him in what the inspired Scriptures call “a garden in Eden.” There “he placed the man he had formed,” together with “the woman.” But they rebelled. It was an earthquake of the moral world and left man’s moral life in ruins. His power to be good had gone.

The world has had experiences of earthquakes at the base of the sea that cause tidal waves that engulf populations. The first man and woman broke off their communion with God in which they had been placed, and chose a total rebellion. They wished to be gods in the sense of being independent of the one and only God, their Father. It brought on a vast tsunami of sin that inundated the moral world of all their descendants, affecting the physical world as well. But God did not abandon man to the power of death. Rather, he foretold in a mysterious way (Genesis 3:15) that evil would be conquered and that man would be lifted up after his fall. There was, at the beginning, a first proclamation of the Messiah and Redeemer. The future would see the salvation of God by the hand of the Messiah. So great would this salvation be that the original fall of man would be, in a sense, a “happy fault” because — as the Church sings in the Liturgy of the Easter Vigil — it gained for us so great a Redeemer. This is the context of our Gospel passage today in which Jesus Christ, the one and only Redeemer of man, speaks of saving his sheep. “Jesus said to the Jews, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10: 27-30). He knows each of us. While Christ was preparing in the desert for his public ministry, Satan showed him all the kingdoms of the world “in a moment of time.” If the devil could do this, how easy it would have been for Christ to have seen before him, in numerous other “moments of time,” you and I. He knew each of us then, and knows us now. No-one can snatch us out of his hand, for he and the Father are one, the one and only God. Jesus Christ is the one who can clean up and restore the ruins of the moral world into which we are all born. The restoration begins at our baptism when we are born again in him. It is completed with our sanctification in him.

Let us often think of that from which we have been saved, while remembering that sin is still at the door, and, indeed, has a certain entrance. The battle is joined, but we are now with Christ and he has delivered the victory for those who choose never to leave his side. If we depart from him, who is there to save us? No one else would even claim to — except those who deny that sin is of much importance or reality anyway, and that the visible, the tactile, the concrete is all that really matters. But what really matters is the conquest of sin and the acquisition of holiness. Jesus Christ is the one who turns the tide. It is he, and he only, who can make us free. To him, then!
(E.J.Tyler)

Further reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.410-412 (After the Fall)

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Scripture today: Acts 13: 14.43-52; Psalm 99; Apocalypse 7: 9.14-17; John 10: 27-30

Jesus said to the Jews, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10: 27-30)

Vocations There is a widespread need in society for advice and guidance. In the world of commerce there are numerous kinds of consultants - management, personnel, even chaplaincies. In the general community there are psychiatrists, psychologists, marriage counsellors. Professional and non-professional guidance is everywhere and serves a tremendous human need. But who is the greatest guide of all? The Guide of all mankind is Christ who described himself as the Good Shepherd. In the days of our

Lord, a shepherd did not drive his sheep ahead of him with dogs and vehicles. Our Lord on various occasions spoke of himself as the good shepherd. As we read in the Gospel, the sheep hear his voice and follow him. He guided his sheep by calling and leading them. In the Gospel of St John our Lord also says that he is the Sheepgate, the gate into the fold. In calling himself the gate he allows for no other gate at all. There is only one gate, and he is that gate. ‘All others who came before me,’ he says, ‘are thieves and marauders.’ That is to say, unless we pass through this gate, which is Jesus himself, we shall not be safe from deadly attacks, nor will we ever gain access to the pasture of eternal life. But if souls are to pass through this gate, there must be shepherds to guide them through it. And so we think of Christ’s words, we think of the need of shepherds for Christ’s sheep. First and foremost these are the ordained priests, led by the Church’s chief pastor the Pope, and the bishops united with him. A sheep without a shepherd may never get to the gate and pass through it. If he does, it may be the luckiest thing of all. There is, therefore, always the need for more priests. While some parts of the Church are worse off in this respect than others, everywhere there is the need of more priests, so that more and more people will be led through the gate which is Christ.

If there are to be more priests and more who shepherd the sheep by their words and example of total commitment to Christ, what must be done? Vocations to the priesthood and religious life depend considerably on the religious formation that is given to the young in their own families. The Church teaches that every home has the vocation to be a domestic church, where Christ abides. Pope Pius XII said that if mothers and fathers are giving an example of true Christian virtue, their families will be the first seminaries and the first religious novitiates. St Therese of Lisieux came from a family of several daughters, and they became religious. In the case of that family, the parents have both been beatified. Sadly, very often the parents of children do not want any of their children to be priests or religious, and do nothing to foster such a thought in the minds of their children. Pope Pius XII once said that parents should put aside their fears in this matter and by daily example of Christian life attempt to bring about this greatest of honours they could ever possess. Our Lord wants all who love the Church to increase vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life by prayer, holiness of life and fidelity to the Church’s teaching. If parents respect and love the priesthood and impart this respect and love to one’s children, vocations will flourish. Children will be open to a vocation and if they are not granted one, they will place high value on their own children being granted one. But if parents have little respect for the priesthood, children will grow up with the same attitude, and will scarcely value a vocation should God grant them one. The priesthood is a high vocation, and this thought is what every parent ought impart to their children.

Let us pray for vocations to the priesthood. Every such vocation, if lived in fidelity, is a jewel in the sight of God, and an incalculable source of spiritual good, for the priest by his ordination is an alter Christus, another Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Peace, and the joy which comes with it, cannot be given by the world.

—Men are forever “making peace” and forever getting entangled in wars. This is because they have forgotten the advice to struggle inside themselves and to go to God for help. Then He will conquer, and we will obtain peace for ourselves and for — our own homes, for society and for the world.

If we do things in this way, you and I will have joy, because it is the possession of those who conquer. And with the grace of God — who never loses battles — we will be able to count ourselves conquerors as long as we are humble.
(The Forge, no.102)

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Unbelievers call themselves rational; not because they decide by evidence, but because, after they have made their decision, they merely occupy themselves in sifting it.

JHN, from the sermon ‘Love the Safeguard of Faith against Superstition’ (1839)

Feast of St Mark the Evangelist
(Monday of the fourth week in Eastertide C) 2010

Prayers today: Christ now raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has power over him, alleluia. (Rom 6:9)

Father, through the obedience of Jesus, your servant and your Son, you raised a fallen world. Free us from sin and bring us the joy that lasts for ever. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 26) in 2010, St Mark the Evangelist (because April 25 is a Sunday)

St. Mark Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. (When Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of Mark's mother.) Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident, from Paul's refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite Barnabas's insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Later, Paul asks Mark to visit him in prison so we may assume the trouble did not last long. The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus' rejection by humanity while being God's triumphant envoy. Probably written for Gentile converts in Rome — after the death of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70 — Mark's Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a "scandal": a crucified Messiah. Evidently a friend of Mark (Peter called him "my son"), Peter is only one of the Gospel sources, others being the Church in Jerusalem (Jewish roots) and the Church at Antioch (largely Gentile). Like one other Gospel writer, Luke, Mark was not one of the 12 apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus personally. Some scholars feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when describing the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane: "Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked" (Mark 14:51-52). Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the large basilica there is believed to contain his remains. A winged lion is Mark's symbol. The lion derives from Mark's description of John the Baptist as a "voice of one crying out in the desert" (Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The wings come from the application of Ezekiel's vision of four winged creatures (Ezekiel, chapter one) to the evangelists. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: 1 Peter 5: 5-14; Psalm 88; Mark 16: 15-20

Jesus said to [the Eleven], Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and

is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. (Mark 16: 15-20)

The great one There were persons of ancient times who gained the title of “great.” One thinks, perhaps, of Darius the Great (550–486 BC), or more obviously, of Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.). Most would regard Alexander as the greatest military general of all time, setting out to conquer the entire civilized world that he knew — which in the main was the Persian Empire and some areas to its east. He brought fire, sword and death wherever his troops arrived, and one might be justified in thinking that

were he to have lived in the modern world, he might have been tried for crimes against humanity. In his moral life he was scarcely admirable, and the one mention that he is given in the Old Testament condemns him for his pride. He was great in his impact and influence, and had he lived long enough, one wonders what could have stopped him from conquering as much of the world as he pleased. It seems he had aspirations of attacking Carthage to the East, and had he been granted a long rather than a brief life he might have set his sights on the fledgling but rising Rome. The point I am making here is that in Alexander we have a man who set out to conquer the world as he knew it, and who allowed life to those who accepted his ambitions, and brought death to those who opposed them. As we think of those who attained the title of “great,” let us think of the unnoticed event on the outskirts of the Roman Empire nearly three centuries after Alexander. An angel was sent to a virgin named Mary, and announced to her that her son would be “great.” He would be great, and would be called the Son of the Most High. In our Gospel today, this great One, great without qualification because he was not only human but divine, sends his disciples out to conquer the world. He sends them out on a mission much grander than that which drove Alexander, Julius Caesar or any of those who sought to conquer those parts of the world that mattered. He sends them out to the whole world (eis ton kosmon apanta), to make subjects of every creature — all creation (pase te krisei).

We have here One who is superior to all the “greats” of this world. Barely three years before our Gospel scene, this same Person had not been known publicly. He was spending forty days in the wilderness preparing for his mission to extend God’s Kingdom in his own Person to the world. There in the desert he was encountered by the dark and sinister Prince, whom at the Last Supper he would refer to as the Prince of this world. That Prince said to him in the wilderness that, if he would but worship him, he would hand over to him the kingdoms of the world — for it was in his power to grant them to whomsoever he pleased. It was a flourish of boast and bravado, but there was enough truth in it to prevent it from being ridiculous. One wonders to what extent Satan has had a hand in the conquests of those who have gained the title of great. Satan recognized that, whatever about Darius, Alexander and many others, here was One who was great without qualification. He aimed to conquer the world, and perhaps Satan could divine that he had it in him to do just that — but the problem for Satan was that this Man before him was a man of God. Jesus absolutely rejected Satan, and by his death and resurrection went on to take away the sin of the world. Now he was in glory, and was set to embark on his world-wide conquest, a campaign to last to the end of the world when he would hand all back to his Father. To him had been granted all authority in heaven and on earth. He was Lord of lords and King of kings, and, risen from the dead, was setting out to conquer. Those who accepted him — who believed — would be saved. Those who refused him — who knowingly refused the light of faith — would be condemned. These were the ultimate alternatives. A victory march had begun, and the means of the coming conquest was a share in the Cross of the King. The weapon of victory was the love of Christ that was humble, self-denying, and obedient to the will of the Father. Glory was coming, but the path to this glory was obedient suffering in imitation of the Master.

We are told that “After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it” (Mark 16: 15-20). We ourselves, two millennia later, have the same Lord of lords near and with us. He speaks the same words in our hearts. He is present in his body the Church, and he asks us to give our hearts to him and to make our lives an instrument of his work of conquest. He is the King and the Lord!
(E.J.Tyler)

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Your life, your work, should never be negative, nor anti anything. It is — it must be! — positive, optimistic, youthful, cheerful and peaceful.
(The Forge, no.103)

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Under the shadow indeed of the Church, and in its due development, Philosophy does service to the cause of morality; but, when it is strong enough to have a will of its own, and is lifted up with an idea of its own importance, and attempts to form a theory, and to lay down a principle, and to carry out a system of ethics, and undertakes the moral education of the man, then it does but abet evils to which at first it seemed instinctively opposed.

JHN, from The Idea of a University Part I (1852)

Tuesday of the fourth week in Eastertide C

Prayers today: Let us shout out our joy and happiness, and give glory to God, the Lord of all, because he is our King, alleluia. (Rv 19: 7, 6)

Almighty God, as we celebrate the resurrection, may we share with each other the joy the risen Christ has won for us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, . .

(April 27) St. Louis Mary de Montfort (1673-1716)
Louis's life is inseparable from his efforts to promote genuine devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus and mother of the

Church. Totus tuus (completely yours) was Louis's personal motto; Karol Wojtyla chose it as his episcopal motto. Born in the Breton village of Montfort, close to Rennes (France), as an adult Louis identified himself by the place of his Baptism instead of his family name, Grignion. After being educated by the Jesuits and the Sulpicians, he was ordained as a diocesan priest in 1700. Soon he began preaching parish missions throughout western France. His years of ministering to the poor prompted him to travel and live very simply, sometimes getting him into trouble with Church authorities. In his preaching, which attracted thousands of people back to the faith, Father Louis recommended frequent, even daily, Holy Communion (not the custom then!) and imitation of the Virgin Mary's ongoing acceptance of God's will for her life. Louis founded the Missionaries of the Company of Mary (for priests and brothers) and the Daughters of Wisdom, who cared especially for the sick. His book, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, has become a classic explanation of Marian devotion. Louis died in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, where a basilica has been erected in his honour. He was canonized in 1947.
“Mary is the fruitful Virgin, and in all the souls in which she comes to dwell she causes to flourish purity of heart and body, rightness of intention and abundance of good works. Do not imagine that Mary, the most fruitful of creatures who gave birth to a God, remains barren in a faithful soul. It will be she who makes the soul live incessantly for Jesus Christ, and will make Jesus live in the soul” (True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin). (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 11:19-26; Psalm 87:1b-7; John 10:22-30

Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's

Colonnade. The Jews gathered round him, saying, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered, I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10:22-30)

Who are you? The great question about Jesus of Nazareth has always been, who is he and what is he? Let us visualize the scene of our Gospel today. St John tells us that it is winter — so it was cold — “and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.” Solomon’s Colonnade was an open roofed walkway running along the eastern wall in the Court of the Gentiles of Herod’s temple. It had magnificent double columns nearly 40 feet high, positioned at regular intervals. It was an

obvious place to walk and to gather. Being winter, perhaps our Lord was briskly walking up and down with some of his disciples (including John who reports the incident), all keeping warm by the exercise and engaged in conversation both serious and light. Let us imagine ripples of gentle laughter among them, interspersed with teaching and observations by our Lord himself as they moved along. There is no mention of any crowds, so perhaps it is relatively early before the people begin to arrive in the Temple area. The small group is approached by the “Jews,” leaders consisting, perhaps, of priests, scribes and Pharisees. The question they are about to ask is formal, so we might assume that the ones approaching are persons of consequence. Our Lord and his small group draw to a halt, and the visitors gather around him. Their question is, who are you? “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:22-30). All along, our Lord had been discreet about this because, on the one hand there were those who would not believe were he to tell them, and on the other there were many who would misinterpret what he said. To claim to be the Messiah would immediately evoke strong political hopes in the hearts of many. Let us notice that their question is not altogether unlike that formulated by Satan in the wilderness just as our Lord’s ministry was beginning: “If you are the Son of God...” The leaders here ask our Lord, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” The great question was, who are you and what is your mission?

Prior to his conception, the Angel Gabriel had told the Virgin Mary who he was and what would be his mission. He would be great and would be called the Son of the Highest, the Son of God. He would be the promised King forever. An angel had told Joseph that the child to be born of the Virgin would save his people from their sins. Twelve years later, Mary and Joseph found their Child in the Temple with the doctors of the Law, and he said to them, Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s affairs — a possible rendering being, that I must be in my Father’s house? This extraordinary Youth was very aware of who he was. Throughout his public ministry he revealed more and more about himself. He was giving more and more hints, all the while wary of the misconceptions which the people could begin to entertain about him. On one occasion he asked his disciples who the people were saying he was. It was a lead-in to his question to them — who do you say I am? He received a magnificent answer from Simon Peter, “You are the Christ — the Messiah — the Son of the living God.” With that, our Lord could go to work, as it were. He thereupon appointed Simon as the Rock of his Church, and announced that he would give to him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever Peter bound on earth would be ratified in heaven. The forces of Hell would never prevail against his Church, he promised — implying that he himself would absolutely identify with his Church. So it was that the leaders now were before him, and they demanded to know who he was. It was a formal question, coming from the heads of religious life of the nation. Unhesitatingly, and perhaps to their amazement, our Lord gave a resounding answer: I am the Good Shepherd. I give life eternal life to all of God’s sheep. God is my own Father, and the Father and I are one. Our Lord calmly and in the presence of his disciples and the leaders, said that he was divine. The Father and I are one. No one in all of sacred history from Abraham to that moment had said anything like this. At that, they tried to stone him.

The fundamental thing we must constantly appreciate is that the man Jesus is divine. He is human but he is not a human person. He is a divine person who took to himself a truly human nature, while being in the first instance divine. It is the mystery of mysteries that a man of a certain height, a certain bearing, with certain features, who spoke with a certain accent, who thought, spoke and acted in certain definite (and therefore limited) ways, was the infinite God. The second divine person — pure Being — had become a man. His mission was to set the world right before God by atoning for its sin and by pouring out the divine Spirit on the hearts of all who believe. Let us hear what our Lord says in today’s Gospel and receive it into our hearts with total faith.
(E.J.Tyler)

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John 10:22-30 Second reflection for Tuesday of the fourth week in Eastertide

Christ’s sheep There are various ways of describing people and of categorising them. It can be by race, creed, culture, or

whatever. But let us ask, ultimately in the sight of God, is there a fundamental difference between person and person that makes all the difference? Yes, there would appear to be, if we are to go on our Lord's own words. Some are his sheep and some are not. Consider the passage from St John's Gospel, 10: 22-30. Addressing "the Jews", our Lord says "..you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine. The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me." At the last Judgement as narrated by St Matthew (ch. 25), all will be divided into two groups, the sheep and the goats. Now, we who are baptised have been given to Jesus by the Father. We are his sheep. What remains is that, as his sheep, we listen to Jesus and follow him.

There are very many who do not know Jesus formally, and who are not baptised, but still the fundamental division can be said to stand. There are those who are his sheep and those who are not. Cardinal Newman described the conscience as the "aboriginal vicar of Christ," which is to say, the fundamental representative of Christ within human nature. If a person is intent on listening to the authentic voice of his conscience no matter what the cost, and succeeds in following it (even if mistaken in its practical judgment), that person is on the way to belonging to Jesus and being counted among his sheep. He is hearing the voice of Christ, even if that voice is muffled. St Paul persecuted the Church of God, but his readiness to follow Christ when Christ made himself known to him showed that he was all along following his conscience, however profoundly mistaken in its practical judgment it was.

There are those who are Christ’s sheep, and there are those who are not. Let us rejoice that, by the Father's choice, we are counted among his sheep, but let us be determined to follow our Good Shepherd wherever he goes.
(E.J.Tyler)

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In national life there are two things which are really essential: the laws concerning marriage and the laws to do with education. In these areas the children of God have to stand firm and fight with toughness and fairness, for the sake of all mankind.
(The Forge, no.104)

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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.

JHN, from the sermon ‘The Cross of Christ the Measure of the World’ (1841)

Wednesday of the fourth week in Eastertide C

Prayers today: I will be a witness to you in the world, O Lord. I will spread the knowledge of your name among my brothers, alleluia. (Ps 17:30; 21:23)

God our Father, life of the faithful, glory of the humble, happiness of the just, hear our prayer. Fill our emptiness with the blessing of this eucharist, the foretaste of eternal joy. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, .

(April 28) St. Peter Chanel (1803-1841)
Anyone who has worked in loneliness, with great adaptation required and with little apparent success, will find a kindred spirit in Peter Chanel. As a young priest he revived a parish in a "bad" district by the simple method of showing great devotion to the sick. Wanting to be a missionary, he joined the Society of Mary (Marists) at 28. Obediently, he taught in the seminary for five years. Then, as superior of seven Marists, he travelled to Western Oceania where he was entrusted with a vicariate. The bishop accompanying the missionaries left Peter and a brother on Futuna Island in the New Hebrides, promising to return in six months. He was gone five years. Meanwhile, Pedro struggled with this new language and mastered it, making the difficult adjustment to life with whalers, traders and warring natives. Despite little apparent success and severe want, he maintained a serene and gentle spirit and endless patience and courage. A few natives had been baptized, a few more were being instructed. When the chieftain's son asked to be baptized, persecution by the chieftain reached a climax. Father Chanel was clubbed to death, his body cut to pieces. Within two years after his death, the whole island became Catholic and has remained so. Peter Chanel is the first martyr of Oceania and its patron. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 12:24-13:5a; Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6 and 8; John 12:44-50

Then Jesus cried out, When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he beholds

me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no-one who believes in me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. (John 12:44-50)

Jesus Christ I believe it can help us to appreciate the singularity of our Lord’s utterances if we imagine them as coming from the mouth of a mere prophet or great leader of religion. The solemnity and deliberation with which our Lord states them in our scene today is indicated in the manner of his proclamation. We read that he “cried out” — and the Greek verb (ekraxen) suggests with a particularly loud voice. It is very public, for the ordinary people and for all the leaders. It is as if the entire chosen people is

being informed, and the message is — believe in me and in whatever I say! A hostile observer might have said that he was displaying enormous temerity because his thunderous proclamation was all about himself. The burden of his teaching was that people, all people, must have complete faith in him. When we compare this with the prophets before him, this is a very different emphasis. The prophets proclaimed a message from God who had sent them to prophesy, and while they expected all to believe they had received a true prophetic call, they themselves were not at the forefront of the message. The word of God was not about them. Not so with Jesus of Nazareth. The word he proclaimed was very largely about himself. His prophetic message, proclaimed before all in a loud voice, was that the one who looked on him looked on the one who sent him. The one who believed in him believed in the one who sent him, and the one who sent him was God, his own Father. These are extraordinary statements that had no precedent. The prophets spoke of their being called from their home and their work to act as prophets of God. But Jesus speaks of having come “into the world.” He was sent “into the world” by the Father, and he who sees him, Jesus, sees the one who sent him. What prophet ever said such a thing, or what serious leader of the religions of man? Mahomet never said that he came “into the world,” and that to look at and believe in him was to look at and believe in Allah. Such things could not have been said by one who was such as Jesus Christ was, if they were untrue.

The burden of our Lord’s words in our passage today is, believe in me and you will be in the light. If you refuse to believe in me, you will be judged and condemned on the last day. So our stand with regard to the person of Jesus Christ will have eternal consequences. “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day” (John 12:44-50). Our Lord’s warning has an immense reach, for the prophets did not speak of the rejection of their words as bringing a condemnation on the last day. Jesus Christ transcends the prophets, while standing in their line. He transcends every other religious leader of all time. Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, Mahomet, the leaders of thought such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle — none soared to the heights of Christ’s claims and the credibility he gave to them. His holiness is unmatched, his redemptive mission unique, his claims without parallel, and his credentials clear. The one who calls Jesus Christ deluded is an embarrassment to all. The one who calls him a hoax and a trickster cannot get a serious hearing. More commonly, the answer of the objector is to call into question the witnesses. They made it up. The chief priests, St Matthew tells us, had the soldiers spread the story that while they were asleep the disciples came and stole the body away — and as St Augustine retorts, how would the soldiers have known if they were asleep? Islam maintains that St Paul invented much of Christianity, and in any case that Jesus of Nazareth was too holy to have been crucified. He did not die on the cross at all, and so he could not have risen from the dead. But all these evasions of the historical record are gratuitous and without evidence. The facts of the case are indeed wondrous, but it is clear that they are facts. The fact presented in our Gospel today is our Lord’s revelation of his person and authority. He is the divine Son of the Father who sent him.

Let us place ourselves in the presence of Jesus Christ as he proclaims the revelation of his own divine person and his union with the Father who sent him. If we believe in him we believe in the Father who sent him. In looking on him, we are looking on the Father who sent him. He is the light of the world, and in accepting his word we are saved from the darkness, and from condemnation at the last day. Let us live by his word, shaping our whole lives accordingly.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Second reflection for Wednesday of the fourth week of Eastertide (Acts 12:24-13:5)

Listen to the Spirit Years back it was said that the Holy Spirit is the hidden Person of the Blessed Trinity. There is a sense in which this is correct, but one of the striking features of, for instance, the Acts of the Apostles, is the clarity of its presentation

of the Person of the Holy Spirit. Throughout the entire Scriptures, Old Testament as well as New, there are references to the action of the Holy Spirit. The revelation of his Person is gradual, and his action and presence in the Gospels is clear. But with the Acts of the Apostles, his action becomes striking. For instance, in our first reading for today (Acts 12:24-13:5) the Holy Spirit is openly at work and being heard in the Church in Antioch. He directs that Saul and Barnabas be set apart for a mission, and it is He who sends them on it. The Church of Antioch was open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and listening responsively to his inspirations. The example of the Christians at Antioch shows that it is possible to be very aware of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The task is to learn to be aware of it.

One modern saint, St Josemaria Escriva, was told by his spiritual director in the early years of his priesthood (his spiritual director was a Jesuit by the name of Father Sanchez) to take great care always to listen to the Holy Spirit. St Josemaria took that advice to heart and made it his life-long practice. Let us take that advice to heart ourselves. But it is something to be learned — with the help of the same divine Spirit. We must learn to listen to Him who is our guide and our sanctifier, the One who enables us to bear witness to Christ, just as he enabled Paul and Barnabas.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Joy is a Christian possession which we will have as long as we keep fighting, for it is a consequence of peace. Peace is the fruit of having conquered in war, and the life of man upon this earth — as we read in Sacred Scripture — is a warfare.
(The Forge, no.105)

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And really in the present state of things, it is difficult to say anything in behalf of Catholicism, if it is to make any impression, without incurring grave criticism of one kind or another.

JHN, from Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England (1851)

Thursday of the fourth week in Eastertide C

Prayers today: When you walked at the head of your people, O God, and lived with them on their journey, the earth shook at your presence and the skies poured forth their rain, alleluia. (See Ps 67:8-9.20)

Father, in restoring human nature you have given us a greater dignity than we had in the beginning. Keep us in your love and continue to sustain those who have received new life in baptism. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, .

(April 29) St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
The value Catherine makes central in her short life and which sounds clearly and consistently through her experience is complete surrender to Christ. What is most impressive about her is that she learns to view her surrender to her Lord as a goal to be

reached through time. She was the 23rd child of Jacopo and Lapa Benincasa and grew up as an intelligent, cheerful and intensely religious person. Catherine disappointed her mother by cutting off her hair as a protest against being overly encouraged to improve her appearance in order to attract a husband. Her father ordered her to be left in peace and she was given a room of her own for prayer and meditation. She entered the Dominican Third Order at 18 and spent the next three years in seclusion, prayer and austerity. Gradually a group of followers gathered around her—men and women, priests and religious. An active public apostolate grew out of her contemplative life. Her letters, mostly for spiritual instruction and encouragement of her followers, began to take more and more note of public affairs. Opposition and slander resulted from her mixing fearlessly with the world and speaking with the candour and authority of one completely committed to Christ. She was cleared of all charges at the Dominican General Chapter of 1374. Her public influence reached great heights because of her evident holiness, her membership in the Dominican Third Order, and the deep impression she made on the pope. She worked tirelessly for the crusade against the Turks and for peace between Florence and the pope. In 1378, the Great Schism began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes and putting even saints on opposing sides. Catherine spent the last two years of her life in Rome, in prayer and pleading on behalf of the cause of Urban VI and the unity of the Church. She offered herself as a victim for the Church in its agony. She died surrounded by her "children."
Catherine ranks high among the mystics and spiritual writers of the Church. In 1939, she and Francis of Assisi were declared co-patrons of Italy. Paul VI named her and Teresa of Avila doctors of the Church in 1970. Her spiritual testament is found in The Dialogue. Catherine's book The Dialogue contains four treatises—her testament of faith to the spiritual world. She wrote, "No one should judge that he has greater perfection because he performs great penances and gives himself in excess to the staying of the body than he who does less, inasmuch as neither virtue nor merit consists therein; for otherwise he would be an evil case, who for some legitimate reason was unable to do actual penance. Merit consists in the virtue of love alone, flavoured with the light of true discretion without which the soul is worth nothing." (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 13:13-25; Psalm 89:2-3, 21-22, 25 and 27; John 13:16-20

Jesus said, I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfil the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.' I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am. I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me. (John 13:16-20)

The Supper Our scene today from the Gospel of St John follows Christ’s washing of the feet, including the feet of his betrayer. There are interesting things to notice about St John’s account of the Last Supper. To begin with, it is by far the longest account of it among the four Gospels. St Matthew devotes some eleven verses to the Supper (26: 20-30), during which he narrates the institution of the Eucharist. St Mark devotes some eight verses to it (14: 18-26), and it too includes the institution of the

Eucharist. St Luke gives twenty four verses to it, which is more than twice as much as Matthew, and three times as much as Mark. It includes the Eucharist (22: 14-38). The Eucharist (approximately four verses in each Gospel) is narrated within the context of Christ’s sorrowful prediction of his coming Passion and his betrayal by Judas. Luke has more instruction to the Apostles on humble service, their high destiny, and their coming crisis during the Passion. But none of the synoptic Gospels compare with John’s account in the copiousness of Christ’s teaching. Inasmuch as each of the three Gospels included the essential matter which was the institution of the Eucharist, and inasmuch as all knew that it was at the Last Supper that the Eucharist was instituted (for the Eucharist was its living Memorial), John passes over that and gives his space to Christ’s teaching and prayer. I suppose one could even say that the very brevity of the accounts of the Last Supper in the three first Gospels may lead some readers to miss, somewhat, its importance. But John devotes nearly a fifth of his Gospel to the Last Supper. One of the features of the Gospel of St John is that he takes one or two incidents, and then gives our Lord’s extensive teaching. Chapter 6 is given over to the doctrine of the Eucharist — far more than in any other Gospel. This pattern of fulsome teaching is especially present in his account of the Last Supper.

St John looks back to the great event on the night Jesus was betrayed, and vividly remembers our Lord’s instructions to those who constituted his Church in embryo. He was giving them a magna carta, as it were, of how they were to guide his Church and what it means to be a disciple. Christians celebrated the Eucharist, of course, and read the account of it in the earlier gospels. Those Gospel verses narrating the Eucharist were heard in the regular celebration of the Eucharist, but Christ had also spoken at length of discipleship and life in the Church, and we have a specimen of his teaching in our Gospel passage today (John 13:16-20). Our Lord has just acted towards his disciples as a slave would act towards his master: he has bent down and washed the feet of each — even though he was their Master and their Lord, as he acknowledged minutes later. They were told to remember his example, and wash each others’ feet. Our Lord is speaking to those who will sit on the twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel, and he insists that their greatness must consist in humble service. His entire life was encapsulated in that symbolic action of the washing, and he asked that our lives be expressed in similar fashion. The life of the Church and her members was to be like that of her Lord — “no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” We must ever have before us the image and the example of Jesus Christ who humbled himself and became as we are, and lowlier still, even to death on the Cross. But there is a terrible anomaly among Christ’s disciples. There are those who are faithful, and there are those who are unfaithful. Indeed, there are those who turn against Christ. There was a Judas at the Last Supper, and there will be Judases till the end of time: “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfil the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me'.” All our lives let us, as John did, return to the thought of the Last Supper.

A very significant element in St John’s Gospel is our Lord’s use of the name of Yahweh God in referring to himself. He is the “I am” of the Scriptures. “Before Abraham ever was,” our Lord said to the leaders of the Jews, “I am (ego eimi).” So too he says to the Twelve during the Last Supper, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am (ego eimi).” He is alluding to his divinity, and stressing the absolute necessity of accepting it. Let us then take our stand with Jesus Christ, true God and true man, and resolve to live in imitation of him both within the Church and in our daily life in the world.
(E.J.Tyler)

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Second reflection for Thursday of the fourth week of Eastertide

Jesus the Saviour (Acts 13:13-25) One of the dangers to Christian belief is the assumption widespread in society that Jesus is

great, yes, but basically just one of many who are great, and not unique nor indispensable to the human race. In our world and society there are many religions, all with their numerous deeply convinced believers. Living in such a cultural environment, we ourselves can come to accept the common premise that there are many ways to God or to the Absolute, each of which is as valid as the next. In the passage from the Acts of the Apostles for today (13: 13-25) St Paul, being invited to address the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia, speaks of Jesus as the culmination of all that God had been preparing for in the history of his saving work. He was the fulfilment of all that God had promised, of whom John the Baptist had said that he was not worthy to undo his sandal strap. "To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David's descendants, Jesus, as Saviour.."

If we are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world as Jesus said we are to be, we must preserve a lively conviction that Jesus is the Saviour, the one and only Saviour of the world, the image of the Father and the only way to him. In our respectful dialogue with the religions of man, this must be our message.
(E.J.Tyler)

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This divine warfare of ours is a marvellous sowing of peace.
(The Forge, no.106)

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We should be on our guard lest we suppose ourselves to have such a clear knowledge of God’s ways, as to rely implicitly on our own notions and feelings. Men attach an undue importance to this or that point in received opinions or practices, and cannot understand how God’s blessing can be given to modes of acting to which they themselves are unaccustomed.

JHN, from the sermon ‘Contracted Views in Religion’ (1831)

Friday of the fourth week in Eastertide C/I

Prayers today: By your blood, O Lord, you have redeemed us from every tribe and tongue, from every nation and people: you have made us into the kingdom of God, alleluia. (Rv 5:9-10)

Father of our freedom and salvation, hear the prayers of those redeemed by your Son’s suffering. Through you may we have life; with you may we have eternal joy. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

(April 30) St. Pius V (1504-1572)
This is the pope whose job was to implement the historic Council of Trent. If we think popes had difficulties in implementing Vatican Council II, Pius V had even greater problems after that historic council more than four centuries ago. During his papacy

(1566-1572), Pius V was faced with the almost overwhelming responsibility of getting a shattered and scattered Church back on its feet. The family of God had been shaken by corruption, by the Reformation, by the constant threat of Turkish invasion and by the bloody bickering of the young nation-states. In 1545 a previous pope convened the Council of Trent in an attempt to deal with all these pressing problems. Off and on over 18 years, the Church Fathers discussed, condemned, affirmed and decided upon a course of action. The Council closed in 1563. Pius V was elected in 1566 and was charged with the task of implementing the sweeping reforms called for by the Council. He ordered the founding of seminaries for the proper training of priests. He published a new missal, a new breviary, a new catechism and established the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes for the young. Pius zealously enforced legislation against abuses in the Church. He patiently served the sick and the poor by building hospitals, providing food for the hungry and giving money customarily used for the papal banquets to poor Roman converts. His decision to keep wearing his Dominican habit led to the custom of the pope wearing a white cassock. In striving to reform both Church and state, Pius encountered vehement opposition from England's Queen Elizabeth and the Roman Emperor Maximilian II. Problems in France and in the Netherlands also hindered Pius's hopes for a Europe united against the Turks. Only at the last minute was he able to organize a fleet which won a decisive victory in the Gulf of Lepanto, off Greece, on October 7, 1571. Pius's ceaseless papal quest for a renewal of the Church was grounded in his personal life as a Dominican friar. He spent long hours with his God in prayer, fasted rigorously, deprived himself of many customary papal luxuries and faithfully observed the spirit of the Dominican Rule that he had professed. (AmericanCatholic.org)

Scripture today: Acts 13:26-33; Psalm 2:6-11ab; John 14:1-6

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:1-6)

The only way One of the greatest acquisitions of Western thought and culture has been the recognition of human rights. Power over others must not be regarded as simply a prize for the strongest, but as a gift to be put to the service of human beings who have rights. Our Lord said to Pontius Pilate that he would have no power over him at all, had it not been given to him from above. Power is a responsibility to be exercised in the service of man’s rights, and these are grounded in his dignity as a human

being. “That is why,” our Lord continued, “the ones who handed me over to you bear the greater guilt.” A fundamental human right — indeed the most fundamental of all — is the right to seek and serve God according to one’s lights, provided the legitimate rights of others are not thereby disregarded. This recognition of the right to freedom of religious inquiry and practice has brought with it, though, a philosophical pitfall that is widespread in Western culture. It is the tendency to think that there is no religious error, or rather, that there is no objective truth in religion. While we readily grant the right of others to think and live as they please in religion, typically we take the next step of thinking that religious belief is purely subjective. It involves little grasp of objective reality, but is, rather, a reflection of personal preference or religious and cultural conditioning. This means that though the right to think as one pleases in religion is allowed, paradoxically the right to think that there is objective truth and error in religion is not allowed. This is deemed to be intolerant, and so it is considered intolerable. The positive gain of respect for human rights has in fact brought with it the tendency to think that objective truth in religion is a phantom or a matter of indifference. But of course, this position is irreconcilable with Christianity which makes firm claims about truth and error.

In his religions, man aims for contact with the Beyond, with the powers above who can help him. He aims at communion with what we might call the Ultimate — however this is imagined or conceived among the peoples. It would be impossible to enumerate or catalogue in their entirety the religions of man — although in the last century or more we have gone a long way in that direction. But what would the student of religions say of the claim of one of them that it is the only way to the Ultimate? When faced with the plethora of sincere attempts to seek God or the gods, the claim would seem to be preposterous and scarcely to be taken seriously. In fact, such a claim is rare because it is so obviously unreasonable. If anything, the tendency of the detached observer is, as mentioned above, to think that none of the religions of man attain the final reality of things. They satisfy and express his longings, and that is all. But ah! there is one great exception. In our Gospel today, Jesus of Nazareth makes a breathtaking claim about the religion of man. Christianity claims to have the means of attaining the Ultimate reality — and indeed, it is the only means. That means is Christ. It is extraordinary and seemingly preposterous, but so it is. In our Gospel today, our Lord calmly says that he is going to prepare us a place in his own Father’s House. He continues, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:1-6). He, Jesus Christ, is the way to the Father; he is the truth of the Father and he is the life of the Father. Seeing him, one sees the Father. Moreover, he is the only way, for no-one comes to the Father except through him. No one can reach God in truth and in fact but by means of Jesus Christ. So if the Buddhist, the Muslim, the man of traditional religion, or the atheist, attain to heaven, in fact this has only been through Jesus Christ. Christ has got him there.

This is a hard saying for the modern ear. But it in no way is disrespectful of other religions, nor does it set aside their great value. Jesus Christ is the Word of God. Through him all things were made. Therefore he is present in all of creation, be it interior or exterior to man. Even if a person fails to learn specifically of Jesus Christ or has little opportunity of taking him seriously, Christ’s presence in creation as the Word will afford him the means of a form of contact with him who is the way to the Father. Cardinal Newman called the conscience of man the “aboriginal vicar of Christ,” and there is a long tradition in English thought that considers nature to be the voice of God. There is a sense in which there is a universal revelation, but it will be more difficult. All of this is a further matter. Our point today is the unique character and role of Jesus Christ for all of mankind. In absolute terms, he is the only way to the Father. Let us choose him, then!
(E.J.Tyler)

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Second reflection for Friday of the fourth week of Eastertide (John 14:1-6)

Peace in trouble One of the widespread problems of our time is that of depression, even among the young, who are traditionally noted for their optimism and idealism. There are reports of a sharp increase among the young in the use of antidepressants. It is possible that people too readily allow themselves to sink into depression and emotional trouble. It is notable how often our Lord tells his disciples not to be troubled, not to be afraid. His directive is in the manner of a command. Inasmuch as he himself was at times troubled, and profoundly so, he obviously means that we are not to allow ourselves to be troubled as one who has nothing secure to rely on. Our Lord's peace and indomitable strength in the midst of trouble came from the thought of his Father and his Father's will.

At the Last Supper our Lord says to his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still and trust in me" (John 14:1). So, even if we are depressed and are unable to overcome it, even if we cannot cope despite our genuine efforts, we are to trust in God still, and in Jesus. Jesus is our stay in times of trouble, Jesus and our homeland that is ahead of us. "I am going to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am, you may be too." Our final port is always in sight, because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We reach the Father through him (John 14:1-6). If we stay with him, we shall most certainly arrive.
(E.J.Tyler)

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The person who stops struggling causes harm to the Church, to his own supernatural undertaking, to his brothers and to all souls.

—Examine yourself. Could you not put a more lively love for God into your spiritual combat? — I am praying for you… and for everyone. You should do the same.
(The Forge, no.107)

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I need not tell you, my Brethren, how suddenly the word of truth came to our ancestors in this island and subdued them to its gentle rule; how the grace of God fell on them, and, without compulsion, as the historian tells us, the multitude became Christian; how, when all was tempestuous, and hopeless, and dark, Christ like a vision of glory came walking to them on the waves of the sea.

JHN, from the sermon ‘Christ upon the Waters’ (1850)

Liturgical Season	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
Holy Week C/II					1 Holy Thursday	2 Good Friday	3 Holy Saturday
Octave of Easter	4 Easter Vigil Easter Sunday	5	6	7	8	9	10
2nd Week of Eastertide	11 Divine Mercy	12	13	14	15	16	17
3rd Week of Eastertide	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
4th Week of Eastertide	25	26 Feast of St Mark	27	28	29	30