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Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time C
(2010 — Celebrate the Assumption)
Prayers this week: God our
protector, keep us in mind; always give strength to your people. For if we can
be with you even one day, it is better than a thousand without you. (Psalm 83:
10-11)
God our Father, may we love you in all things and above all things and reach the
joy you have prepared for us beyond all our imagining. We ask this through our
Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and
ever.
Scripture today: Jeremiah 38:4-6.8-10;
Psalm 39; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53
Jesus said to his disciples: I have come
to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a
baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think
I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there
will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two
against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father,
mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against
daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
(Luke 12: 49-53)
Blazing fire
In our Gospel today our Lord tells us
why he came among us : ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish
it were blazing already!’ (Luke 12:49-53).
He came to set alight a fire and have it blazing. The fire is the fire of God’s
love, a love which filled his own heart and which he wishes to see fill the
heart of each of us. Our Lord was once asked, Which is the first of all the
commandments?
He said, This is the first, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your
strength, and the second is like it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
Our Lord came to see that command fulfilled. His mission was to fulfil it in
himself, and to see it fulfilled in the hearts of each of us. It was to be a
fire blazing on the whole earth. Whenever we think of the fire of that love, in
the first instance we should think, not of our love for God, but of God’s love
for us manifested in Christ. The first source of all love and its foundation, is
God’s love. We live and move and have our being only because God loves us. All
that we have in life, we have only because God loves us. We have been redeemed
from the terrible consequences of sin, only because God loves us. The revelation
of this love is Jesus, and if we wish to come to know the love that God has for
us and be filled with love for him in return, we must come to know Jesus. It is
the teaching of the Church and the testimony of the entire Christian tradition
that Jesus loves each of us with a personal and individual love, just as if each
of us were the only object of his love. This great truth has to be discovered
personally. Of course, the Christian should know that Jesus loves us, but this
knowledge can easily be a mere notion. It has to become personal, realized in a
personal sense. If this is to happen, we must, each of us, be working at this
realization. This is the purpose of spiritual exercises, such as, for instance,
daily meditation on the Gospels and spiritual reading, the devout praying of the
Rosary, the daily examination of conscience, and above all a devout reception of
the Sacraments.
The purpose of these spiritual exercises is to build up a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ. On our part, the foundation of this relationship is our own
realization of the love that he, Jesus, has for me, for each and for all. This
requires thought, prayer and the Sacraments. It is a great work — as our Lord
said once, this is the work of God, to believe in the one he has sent. The whole
purpose of life is to know Jesus, to love him, and on that basis to serve him.
The fire our Lord sets alight begins with the knowledge and love of Him, which
while being our own work is above all the work of God within us. That is to say,
while it is true that this fire of love for God will blaze only if we work on
gaining a personal realization of God’s love for us, fundamentally this itself
depends on what God does in us by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The fire Christ
wishes to set blazing on the earth is the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit is the love of God — the love that the Father has for the Son and which
the Son has for the Father. This love of God which is the Spirit of God is the
Gift of the Father and the Son to mankind. He, the Holy Spirit, was sent at
Pentecost to the infant Church gathered around Mary, and who appeared on each in
the form of tongues of fire. It is He, the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus wishes to
cast on the earth. So let us pray to the Holy Spirit to help us come to know the
love that God has for us, that love which is revealed in the person and the work
of Jesus his Son. Let us resolve to work every day at coming to know and love
Jesus, but understanding well that this can only happen with the help and grace
of the Holy Spirit who is himself the love of the Father and the Son. Personal
holiness does indeed require our own daily work, but far more so is it the
result of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Let us ask that the Holy Spirit
will come. Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in
them the fire of your love!
Let us make our own a prayer to the Holy Spirit written by St Augustine:
“Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, That my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O
Holy Spirit, that my work too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I
love only what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is
holy. Guard me then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.”
(E.J.Tyler)
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A second reflection on the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary
Time C
Scripture today: Jeremiah 38:4-6.8-10;
Psalm 39; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53
Jesus said to his disciples: I have come
to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a
baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think
I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there
will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two
against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father,
mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against
daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
(Luke 12: 49-53)
Fire and suffering
Over the Sundays of the liturgical year
we gradually proceed through the chapters of a particular Gospel, and the Sunday
Gospel for this year is that of St Luke. For the past two weeks we have been
following in that gospel the instruction of Jesus in chapters 12. We have read
Jesus’ judgment on the values of this world and his account of the Christian
life. Today’s gospel speaks of the urgency of our Lord’s mission. “I have come
to cast fire on the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled. I have a
baptism to be baptised with, and how I am constrained till it is accomplished”
(Luke 12:49-53). The “baptism” is his coming
suffering and death. The “fire” is the fire of which John the Baptist spoke — the Holy Spirit and the purifying, sanctifying action of his grace. “He will
baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,” John had said, and it is a fire
that cannot be enkindled till Christ has suffered. But the full accomplishment
of his mission requires that countless others — down through the ages to each of
us — be baptised with the Holy Spirit and with fire, uniting themselves with him
in his passion and death. The touch of Christ’s Cross means that there will be
problems. “Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you
but rather division.” Is not Jesus the prince of peace, we can hear it being
asked? Did not the angels announce at his birth, “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace”? Yes indeed, but when our Lord said, “Peace I leave with
you; my peace I give to you,” he immediately added, “Not as the world gives do I
give to you.” In closing his last discourse with the words, “I have said this to
you that in me you may have peace” he immediately added, “in the world you have
tribulation.” That is to say, the peace Jesus gives is for those who truly
believe, which immediately sets up a division between those who believe and
those who do not. For he says, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you,”
and again, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as one of its
own; but because you are not of the world, because I chose you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you.”
In that sense Jesus has indeed brought not peace but division. He has brought a
great division between those willing to hear his word and to stake their lives
on it, and the rest of the world which thinks all this to be stuff and airy
nonsense, dreams and illusions. Every Sunday in the Creed we proclaim that “we
look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” But if
we do, then according to many, we are just sick — sick in the head. If a father
wants to give to the poor some of the inheritance which the son was expecting;
if a daughter-in-law encourages her husband in generous service, rather than
along the course his ambitious mother had planned for him — then there will be
trouble. Jesus’ own relatives came to get him shortly after he began preaching,
wondering if he was going mad. How much more other families? Such fierce
opposition to the one who embodies God’s message is what is behind the action in
today’s passage from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38: 4-6.8-10). The army of the Chaldeans
was threatening Jerusalem, and Jeremiah was consistently preaching to the king
and people what God had revealed to him, that they should surrender. Those who
did not believe him tried to have him put to death. Such is the typical lot of
the prophet at the hands of those who cannot understand nor accept the message
from God. In the letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 12:1-4), Jesus is described as
the one who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, and we are
exhorted to follow his example. Even as Jesus looked forward eagerly to casting
his fire and completing his baptism of suffering and death, in that same Letter
we are urged to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking
to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” Can we endure this ongoing
baptism as a true disciple of the master, determined to do God’s will day by
day? He, as we read in Hebrews, “for the joy set before him endured the cross,
despising its shame”; yet, as the same letter goes on, “you have not yet
resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”
Let us resolve to unite ourselves with Jesus in his sufferings so as to share in
his resurrection. But for this we need the fire of his Holy Spirit.
(E.J.Tyler)
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time C/II
(August 16) St.
Stephen of Hungary (975-1038)
The Church is universal, but its expression is always affected—for good or
ill—by local culture. There are no “generic”
Christians;
there are Mexican Christians, Polish Christians, Filipino Christians. This fact
is evident in the life of Stephen, national hero and spiritual patron of
Hungary. Born a pagan, he was baptized around the age of 10, together with his
father, chief of the Magyars, a group who migrated to the Danube area in the
ninth century. At 20 he married Gisela, sister to the future emperor, St. Henry.
When he succeeded his father, Stephen adopted a policy of Christianization of
the country for both political and religious reasons. He suppressed a series of
revolts by pagan nobles and welded the Magyars into a strong national group. He
sent to Rome to get ecclesiastical organization—and also to ask the pope to
confer the title of king upon him. He was crowned on Christmas day in 1001.
Stephen established a system of tithes to support churches and pastors and to
relieve the poor. Out of every 10 towns one had to build a church and support a
priest. He abolished pagan customs with a certain amount of violence, and
commanded all to marry, except clergy and religious. He was easily accessible to
all, especially the poor. In 1031 his son Emeric died, and the rest of his days
were embittered by controversy over his successor. His nephews attempted to kill
him. He died in 1038 and was canonized, along with his son, in 1083.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today:
Ezechiel 24: 15-24; Psalm Deuteronomy 32; Matthew 19:16-22
Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, Teacher, what good thing must I do to gain
eternal life? Why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied. There is only
One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments. Which ones?
the man enquired. Jesus replied, 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not
steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother,' and 'love
your neighbour as yourself.' All these I have kept, the young man said. What do
I still lack? Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your
possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then
come, follow me. When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had
great wealth. (Matthew 19:16-22)
Baggage There are three versions of this event in the Gospels. There is our
account of today in St Matthew. There is Mark’s version (Mark 10: 17-22), and
there is Luke’s (Luke 18:18-23). In our passage today from St Matthew, we learn
that the one who approached our Lord is a “young man” (ho neaniskos). In Luke’s
account, he is “a ruler”(tis archoon), which figures inasmuch as he was rich. We
read in John 12:42 that “many of the rulers”(polloi ek toon archontoon) believed
in Jesus, but from
human respect did not confess him. Our young man was “a
ruler,” one of the upper echelon who had a say in things. In Matthew and Mark he
had “many possessions” (kteemata polla), while in Luke he “was exceedingly rich”
(heen plousios sphodra). In Matthew, he addresses our Lord as “Teacher,” while
in Mark and Luke he addresses Christ as “good Teacher.” In Matthew’s account,
the rich young man asks, what “good thing” (ti agathon) ought I do? Whereas in
Mark and Luke, the question simply is, what should I do to gain eternal life?
But in all three versions Christ begins by stating that only one is good, and he
is God. Perhaps this slightly opaque answer is meant by Christ to be a hint, a
suggestive pointer to his own divinity. Why are you addressing me — me — as good
(Mark and Luke), or asking me — me — about what is good (Matthew)? Only one is
good, and he is God. At times our Lord was open about his divinity: the Father
and I are one (John 10: 30), he said before his accusers — at which they took
steps to stone him. At times his allusions were suggestive of the point. If
David calls the Messiah his son, how can he be his lord? (Matthew 22: 45). So
then we have before us the young man, one who had good will and had to that
point lived a good life. He was graced, Mark takes pains to mention, with a
special regard from our Lord. “Jesus looking at him loved him.” But for all his
good will, he had baggage. He was wealthy, had status, and gifts. How did he
turn out?
Christ made him a magnificent offer: Come and follow me — and leave all your
baubles behind. If you do that, you will be on the road to perfection in
earnest. But no. On another occasion — as reported by John in chapter 6 of his
Gospel — our Lord announced the doctrine of the Eucharist. A number of his very
followers turned away from him and went back to their homes. Here, our Lord
offers to the young man a share in his life, his friendship, and undoubtedly his
work. But no. Our passage today is taken from St Matthew — now Matthew is an
interesting case in this connection. We read Matthew’s account of his own call
in chapter 9:9. Christ simply saw him as he was passing by. Matthew was sitting
at his work as tax collector. Presumably he was not without means — his
profession would suggest this, and in the next verse (9:10) we read that he
threw a feast in his house for Jesus and the “tax-collectors and sinners.” So he
had a house, and had means enough to stage the banquet. So he had “things” in
his life too, but they did not constitute the baggage that interfered with his
immediate response to Christ’s call. Once the call came, Matthew rose forthwith
and followed him (9:9). On a slightly later occasion our Lord was passing
through Jericho and this time it was Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector (Luke
19: 2-10) who was involved. Indeed, Luke’s account of this event occurs very
soon after that of the rich “ruler” who had turned down his invitation.
Zacchaeus was “rich” (autos plousios). But deep in his heart he was yearning for
something far, far better. His riches were not true riches at all. Jesus was
passing by and he was determined to see him. We know what happened. Our Lord
with the crowd in tow approached, stopped, looked up and saw Zacchaeus. With a
smile he addressed Zacchaeus by name and invited himself to his home for dinner.
Zacchaeus abandoned his greedy life and became a joyful follower of Jesus
Christ. Riches, then, were not necessarily an obstacle to the Christian life — but the rich young man shows that the things of this world can become the love
of our heart, and block out the call of God to go higher, and seek the
perfection of love.
The one thing that matters, the one thing necessary in this brief span of life
that has been graciously allotted us, is to choose Jesus Christ as the love and
object of our life. All else has its place in relation to that. We must order
our lives in such a way that he is our grand attachment. We should strive to be
ready to lay aside all in an instant, were this required. Matthew did this, and
the rich young man of our Gospel passage today failed. Let us strive to travel
through life lightly, and not be weighed down in spirit by things that obscure
our vision of the one thing necessary.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection: (Matthew 19:16-22)
True human perfection
We are endowed with a natural, instinctive desire to
perfect and develop ourselves, and it is a great
sign of personal vitality if
one has a desire to perfect oneself as much as possible. Parents instinctively
want this for their children, as much as for themselves. There is something very
tragic about a person who no longer cares for his own development, and even more
tragic if a parent does not care about the development of his or her children.
But the question is, what is true development? What is it to aim to be as
perfect a person as possible? What are we to do to reach our full potential and
so not waste the gift of human life? There have been many answers to this. Some
see physical prowess, others pecuniary wealth, others the acquisition of
position in society, as keys to personal development, perfection, fulfilment.
Our Lord gives us the answer. If we wish to be perfect, we should detach
ourselves from all else and follow him (Matthew 19:16-22). The form that this
detachment will take and what concretely it will involve will vary according to
a person's calling in life. The one thing necessary, however, is to love and
follow Jesus totally, with nothing being allowed to interfere with this love.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Trust fully in God and have a greater desire each day never to run away from
him.
(The Forge, no.214)
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Tuesday of the
twentieth week in Ordinary Time C/II
(August 17) St. Jeanne (of the Cross) Delanou
(1666-1736)
An encounter with a shabby old woman many dismissed as insane prompted St.
Jeanne to dedicate her life to the poor. For
1666-1736.jpg)
Jeanne, who had a reputation as a
businesswoman intent on monetary success, this was a significant conversion.
Born in 1666 in Anjou, France, Jeanne worked in the family business—a small shop
near a religious shrine—from an early age. After her parents’ death she took
over the shop herself. She quickly became known for her greediness and
insensitivity to the beggars who often came seeking help. During the Pentecost
season in 1698, Jeanne had two mystic experiences. The first was a vision, the
second a series of pious comments by Frances Souchet, the widowed pilgrim from
Rennes mentioned above. The two events altered Jeanne's outlook. Jeanne, who had
always been devout, even scrupulous, became a new person. She began caring for
needy children. Then the poor, elderly and sick came to her. Over time she
closed the family business so she could devote herself fully to good works and
penance. Using funds raised from generous benefactors she had met in business,
she founded and furnished three orphanages. She attracted followers, and in 1704
a small group of them founded the Sisters of Saint Anne of Providence of Samur.
It was then she took the religious name of Jeanne of the Cross. By the time of
her death in 1736 she had founded 12 religious houses, hospices and schools.
Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1982. (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: Ezechiel 28: 1-10; Psalm Deut
32; Matthew 19:23-30
Then Jesus said to his disciples, I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is
easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, Who
then can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible. Peter answered him, We have left
everything to follow you! What then will there be for us? Jesus said to them, I
tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on
his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or
brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will
receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are
first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
(Matthew 19:23-30)
Happiness It borders on a truism to say that everyone seeks happiness. Happiness
is an instinctive quest, a drive that wells up from the soul and sets the human
being along his course. But the question is, how is it to be attained? I suspect
great numbers of persons do not carefully consider and resolve this question.
They assume that happiness will come with the attainment of goals that, without
too much thought, they take up and make their own. The spoken or unspoken goals
of the family into which they are born and in which they are raised become
theirs. It could be sporting, academic, financial or social success, and if in
due course these are left behind, other goals are taken up and assumed to bring
happiness in life. But what is it to be happy? That is a very great question,
and the mere fact that it has been the object of endless discussion in the
history of human thought shows that, at the very least, its answer is not one to
be glibly assumed. It cannot be understood as being simply the fulfilment of
human needs because this could lead to chaos and lawlessness. All human needs?
No? Which ones, then? In fact, most people, of themselves, do not know what they
truly need. For example, how many, relying on their own reflection, would ever
understand that their greatest need is for God and the doing of his holy will?
Some of the most influential philosophers have missed this point. If we consider
how we generally resolve the most difficult practical problems of everyday life,
in large measure we rely on authoritative guidance. If we are travelling to
another country and must stay there for, say, a month, what do we do? We seek
and rely on advice. So too in the matter of happiness — one of the most
difficult of all matters to determine — we must seek advice from the most
authoritative of guides, one who cannot be mistaken. That Guide is Jesus Christ
who described himself as the Light of the world, as the Way, the Truth and the
Life. This Guide of mankind abides in his body the Church, and in the Church’s
word and teaching he sets forth the path to authentic happiness.
Our Gospel passage today is the immediate sequel to the rich young man’s refusal
to accept Christ’s offer of “perfection.” He had come with his question of how
he was to gain eternal life. He saw clearly that in the possession of eternal
life would perfect happiness be attained. So, what must he do to attain it? Our
Lord’s answer was simple, direct, immediate: “If you will be perfect, go and
sell all you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven,
and come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21). Happiness, then, would indeed be attained
in the pursuit of moral and spiritual perfection, but that in turn would be
attained by the following of him. This is Jesus Christ’s answer to the great
question mankind poses generation after generation, which is how to be happy? In
what does happiness consist? A thousand answers have been given, and Jesus
Christ gives the true one. On the mountain where Christ was transfigured in the
presence of his three disciples, the voice of the Father was heard from the
cloud. “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Man must listen to Jesus Christ,
and his message is that we follow him. Therein we shall find eternal life and
happiness. In our Gospel today (Matthew 19:23-30) our Lord insists on the point.
Full and final happiness which is, of course, found in the kingdom of heaven,
cannot be attained in the abundance of riches. In fact, it will be very hard for
one of great earthly wealth to attain the kingdom of heaven. “I tell you the
truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell
you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of God.” Rather, the abandonment by the heart of the
things of this world and the wholehearted following of him will lead to man’s
fulfilment here and complete happiness hereafter. “I tell you the truth, .....
everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or
children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will
inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last
will be first.”
Life is short, and it is tragic if a person spends his life never knowing
wherein will be found true, lasting and eternal happiness. Jesus Christ gives us
the answer. Let us have the wisdom to accept it in the way the rich young man
did not. The invitation stands: Come, follow me, and do so generously. You will
have me and what I offer. Therein will be found the happiness you seek. So then,
let us every day live in his presence and grow in his love, showing our love for
him by the faithful fulfilment of our daily duties. Therein lies sanctity and
happiness here and hereafter.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection: (Ezechiel
28: 1-10; Matthew 19: 23-30)
The love of possessions
There are occasional passages
that enable us to get inside the mind of Satan, and today’s passage from Ezechiel (28: 1-10) in which God addresses Tyre, is one such. Tyre is accused by
God of considering herself the equal of God because of her intelligence and
wealth. This shows the danger — granted our fallen condition — of possessions,
possessions in the broad sense of the word. We remember that monarchs of various
periods of history, perhaps especially ancient history, were prone to think of
themselves as divine. It was the temptation that Satan put before our first
parents, that they would be like God. While we may not be tempted to think we
are equal to God in such stark terms, there can be degrees of this attitude. St
Paul tells us to put on the mind of Christ who humbled himself, divesting
himself of his divine "form" and becoming as men are, and ever humbler still. In
the Gospel of Matthew (19:23-30) our Lord tells us of the danger of riches, and
we ought interpret that word (riches) in a broad sense.
There is a great imperative. It is that we be detached from all that can hinder
us from a total love for Jesus. Jesus must become our passion in life, and all
that we have or that comes our way we ought use for him and for the fulfilment
of his will.
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Virgin Immaculate, my Mother!, do not abandon me. See how my poor heart is
filled with tears. — I do not want to offend my God!
—I already know, and I trust I shall never forget, that I am worth nothing. My
smallness and my loneliness weigh upon me so much! But... I am not alone. You,
Sweet Lady, and my Father God will never leave me.
Faced with the rebellion of my flesh and the diabolical arguments against my
Faith, I love Jesus and I believe: I do Love and do Believe.
(The Forge, no.215)
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Wednesday of the twentieth week in Ordinary
Time C/II
(August 18) St. Jane Frances de Chantal (1562-1641)
Jane Frances was wife, mother, nun and founder of a religious community. Her
mother died when Jane was 18 months old, and her father, head of parliament at
Dijon, France, became the main influence on her education. She developed into a
woman of
beauty and refinement, lively and cheerful in temperament. At 21 she
married Baron de Chantal, by whom she had six children, three of whom died in
infancy. At her castle she restored the custom of daily Mass, and was seriously
engaged in various charitable works. Jane's husband was killed after seven years
of marriage, and she sank into deep dejection for four months at her family
home. Her father-in-law threatened to disinherit her children if she did not
return to his home. He was then 75, vain, fierce and extravagant. Jane Frances
managed to remain cheerful in spite of him and his insolent housekeeper. When
she was 32, she met St. Francis de Sales (October 24), who became her spiritual
director, softening some of the severities imposed by her former director. She
wanted to become a nun but he persuaded her to defer this decision. She took a
vow to remain unmarried and to obey her director. After three years Francis told
her of his plan to found an institute of women which would be a haven for those
whose health, age or other considerations barred them from entering the already
established communities. There would be no cloister, and they would be free to
undertake spiritual and corporal works of mercy. They were primarily intended to
exemplify the virtues of Mary at the Visitation (hence their name, the
Visitation nuns): humility and meekness. The usual opposition to women in active
ministry arose and Francis de Sales was obliged to make it a cloistered
community following the Rule of St. Augustine. Francis wrote his famous Treatise
on the Love of God for them. The congregation (three women) began when Jane
Frances was 45. She underwent great sufferings: Francis de Sales died; her son
was killed; a plague ravaged France; her daughter-in-law and son-in-law died.
She encouraged the local authorities to make great efforts for the victims of
the plague and she put all her convent’s resources at the disposal of the sick.
During a part of her religious life, she had to undergo great trials of the
spirit—interior anguish, darkness and spiritual dryness. She died while on a
visitation of convents of the community.
St. Vincent de Paul (September 27) said of Jane Frances: "She was full of faith,
yet all her life had been tormented by thoughts against it. While apparently
enjoying the peace and easiness of mind of souls who have reached a high state
of virtue, she suffered such interior trials that she often told me her mind was
so filled with all sorts of temptations and abominations that she had to strive
not to look within herself...But for all that suffering her face never lost its
serenity, nor did she once relax in the fidelity God asked of her. And so I
regard her as one of the holiest souls I have ever met on this earth" (Butler’s
Lives of the Saints). (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today:
Ezechiel 34: 1-11; Psalm 22; Matthew 20:1-16
Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning
to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the
day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw
others standing in the market-place doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go
and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is
right.' So they went. He
went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He
asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
'Because no-one has hired us,' they answered. He said to them, 'You also go and
work in my vineyard.' When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his
foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last
ones hired and going on to the first.' The workers who were hired about the
eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were
hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a
denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.
'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have
made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the
day.' But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't
you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man
who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I
want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last
will be first, and the first will be last. (Matthew 20:1-16)
The value of our work
There are different ways of describing the world, the
universe and mankind. One important way is to say that it is at work. However,
it is not easy to define precisely what it is to be “at work.” The meaning of
“work” in everyday English is broad. The Concise Oxford Dictionary entry for,
say, “utilitarianism” is brief and philosophically accurate. Utilitarianism is
the “doctrine that actions are right because they are useful; the doctrine that
the greatest happiness of the
greatest number should be the sole end of public
action.” But when we turn to the entry for “work,” the discussion of its various
meanings in various turns of phrase goes on for well over a page. It does give,
though, a serviceable definition at the beginning: work is the “expenditure of
energy, striving, application of effort to some purpose.” The trouble with this
definition is that it could apply to an engrossing recreation, such as a hard
game of tennis. Still, even recreation could be, in one sense, a “work.” Man is
fulfilled and gains satisfaction in the pursuit of worthy goals, and this
pursuit involves the application of effort to the purpose. He works to sustain
his life and those who depend on him. He works to contribute to the flourishing
of his family and society in the various departments of human life, such as
culture, administration and economic development. Man’s life can be described as
being “at work.” If he does not work in some sense, he deteriorates,
disorientates, collapses, and will die. Work is his happiness and his life. One
could even say that this is dimly reflected in the characteristic state of the
universe. The world is found to be, in an analogous sense, “at work.” It
mindlessly strives for the fulfilment of its potential. The very order that the
universe displays — galaxies do not implode, the solar system is maintained, the
earth has its atmosphere and biosphere and a broad equilibrium — is a certain
fulfilment of its “action.” The whole universe — with man at its head leading
the way — is working to attain its goals. But the question nagging at man’s
heart is, what is the value of his “work”?
It is evident to almost all societies, as it is evident to man himself, that he
must work. Our Gospel today may be seen as a paradigm of this expectation. The
landowner goes out repeatedly in the course of the day and finds men standing in
the market-place doing nothing. He immediately sends them into the vineyard to
work, promising a reward for their efforts. That is the basic pattern in life:
man works, and attains the fruit or reward of his work. It is what he finds from
experience to be the case, and our Lord confirms that it is the will and
expectation of God. There is an unending amount of work to be done, and God does
not want man to be idle. If he works, he will be rewarded. The question is, what
work will bring the greatest fruit and reward?
There have been those in history who have had brilliance and an abundance of
energy, and who have worked mightily. The results of their “work” have been
plain for all to see both in their own time, and in the ages that have followed
them. Will Alexander the Great’s work and its results ever be forgotten? Many
others could be cited who were the authors of spectacular work in life. But what
does the Creator think, he whose work holds everything in being and makes
possible whatever work is done in the world? In our Gospel passage today
(Matthew 20:1-16), the landowner at the end of the day grants to the last the
same payment given to the first. We are not told why this is so. Nor are we told
that the landowner will do this every day he goes out looking for workers, but
he did it with this set of workers. God will judge the value of our work not
according to the expectations and standards of the world, but according to his
own. This means that whoever we are, and however late in the day we begin to
work for the glory of God, God will surprise us with his mercy and generosity.
It also means that if all our life we are fortunate enough to have been working
in the vineyard of God, we must not let this privilege delude us into deciding
the worth of our own work. Let us work for God with love, and let him be the
judge.
On one occasion our Lord was sitting in the Temple watching people putting their
contributions into the treasury. He saw a poor widow make her way to the spot
and place two small coins in it. He called his disciples to him and pointed her
out to them. She put more into the Treasury than all the others, because while
they put in what they had left over, she put in all she had to live on. She
would have been rewarded much more than they for her seemingly much less “work.”
Let us not be concerned for our poor abilities, circumstances and, in general,
work in life. It will be most pleasing to God if we give to him all we have,
striving with real effort to do his will.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection (Ezechiel 34: 1-11)
Seeking out the lost
God speaks to the shepherds of the House of Israel and
condemns them because they have "failed to
make weak sheep strong, or to care
for the sick ones, or bandage the wounded ones." They had "failed to bring back
strays or look for the lost" (Ezechiel 34: 1-11). We remember how our Lord said
that he was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, and on another
occasion said that he was not sent to call the virtuous, but sinners to
repentance. He was making the point of what was the priority. He was sent to
save the world from sin. As baptised and confirmed members of Christ's faithful,
we share in our Lord's mission. Our Lord continues to search for the stray and
to look for the lost, and he does so through the members of his body the Church.
This means each of us. In our living of our Faith day by day in family,
workplace, and parish, do we have this concern for those straying or lost, or
are we contenting ourselves with trying to live a devout life in the company of
other devout people, and leaving it at that?
If we do not take responsibility for this, God says we will be held to account.
Let us pray for a share in Christ's love for the lost sheep, for a Christlike
compassion for those straying from God, and the wisdom to know what to do about
it. Let us be truly apostolic in our everyday life.
(E.J.Tyler)
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With God’s grace, you have to tackle and carry out the impossible… because
anybody can do what is possible.
(The Forge, no.216)
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Thursday of the twentieth week in Ordinary Time C/II
(August 19) St. John Eudes (1601-1680)
How little we know where God’s grace will lead. Born on a farm in northern
France, John died at 79 in the next “county” or department. In that time he was
a religious, a parish missionary, founder of two religious communities and a
great promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of
Mary. He joined the religious community of the Oratorians and
was ordained a
priest at 24. During severe plagues in 1627 and 1631, he volunteered to care for
the stricken in his own diocese. Lest he infect his fellow religious, he lived
in a huge cask in the middle of a field during the plague. At age 32, John
became a parish missionary. His gifts as preacher and confessor won him great
popularity. He preached over 100 parish missions, some lasting from several
weeks to several months. In his concern with the spiritual improvement of the
clergy, he realized that the greatest need was for seminaries. He had permission
from his general superior, the bishop and even Cardinal Richelieu to begin this
work, but the succeeding general superior disapproved. After prayer and counsel,
John decided it was best to leave the religious community. The same year he
founded a new one, ultimately called the Eudists (Congregation of Jesus and
Mary), devoted to the formation of the clergy by conducting diocesan seminaries.
The new venture, while approved by individual bishops, met with immediate
opposition, especially from Jansenists and some of his former associates. John
founded several seminaries in Normandy, but was unable to get approval from Rome
(partly, it was said, because he did not use the most tactful approach). In his
parish mission work, John was disturbed by the sad condition of prostitutes who
sought to escape their miserable life. Temporary shelters were found but
arrangements were not satisfactory. A certain Madeleine Lamy, who had cared for
several of the women, one day said to him, “Where are you off to now? To some
church, I suppose, where you’ll gaze at the images and think yourself pious. And
all the time what is really wanted of you is a decent house for these poor
creatures.” The words, and the laughter of those present, struck deeply within
him. The result was another new religious community, called the Sisters of
Charity of the Refuge. He is probably best known for the central theme of his
writings: Jesus as the source of holiness, Mary as the model of the Christian
life. His devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary led
Pius XI to declare him the father of the liturgical cult of the Hearts of Jesus
and Mary.
“Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in
ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desires and his
disposition live and reign there. All our religious exercises should be directed
to this end. It is the work which God has given us to do unceasingly” (St. John
Eudes, The Life and Reign of Jesus in Christian Souls).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: Ezechiel 36: 23-28; Psalm 50; Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a
king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those
who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to
come. Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been
invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened
cattle have been
slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' But they
paid no attention and went off— one to his field, another to his business. The
rest seized his servants, ill-treated them and killed them. The king was
enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited
did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet
anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the
people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with
guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who
was not wearing wedding clothes. Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here
without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. Then the king told the
attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are invited, but
few are chosen. (Matthew 22:1-14)
The Wedding
The first image that our Lord’s parable places before us is of the
kingdom of heaven being likened to “a wedding banquet.” God had promised to
Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Abraham
would be father to a great people. His grandson Jacob prophesied (in one
rendering) that “the sceptre shall never depart from Judah ... until he comes to
whom it belongs” (Genesis 49:10). So a “sceptre” is involved — God’s chosen
people will be a kingdom in some sense, and “the sceptre” will be held by Judah
till the coming of the Messiah “to whom it belongs.” The Messiah will be King.
The Scriptures add more and more to profile of the Messiah. He will be the Son
of David. He will be the Son of Man, as portrayed in the book of Daniel. He will
be “Lord” — “the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your
enemies a footstool” (Psalm 110:1). Especially significant for the idea of the
Messiah was God’s description of himself as Bridegroom or Husband of his chosen
people. God’s relationship with his people involved a covenant, and this
covenant was like a marriage. The violations and neglect of the covenant were
like infidelities within a marriage. Finally the Messiah came: as Andrew said to
his brother Simon (John 1: 41), “we have found the Messiah!” Now, how did our
Lord as Messiah describe himself? More often than not he referred to himself as
“the Son of Man,” evocative of the prophecies of Daniel. But very importantly,
he also described himself as the Bridegroom. John the Baptist described Christ
as Bridegroom to God’s people: “I am not the Messiah: I am sent before him. It
is the bridegroom who has the bride” (John 3: 28-29). Our Lord, in speaking to
John’s disciples, confirmed this by referring to himself as the bridegroom: “How
can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come
when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast” (Matthew 9:
15). In our Gospel today our Lord tells the parable in which, right at the
outset, he describes the kingdom of heaven as being “like a king who prepared a
wedding banquet for his son.”
While in the Old Testament God describes himself as the Bridegroom and the
people as his spouse, in our parable today God is now the King and it is his Son
who is the Bridegroom. While the Son is distinct from the King, of course, the
Son assumes the relationship with the people which the God the King had with
them in the Old Testament. In fact, the parable assumes that this was always the
plan. Moreover, the kingdom is described as a feast, and in this it is the
fulfilment of what the prophet Isaiah had spoken of. “On this mountain the LORD
Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged
wine--the best of meats and the finest of wines” (Isaiah 25: 6). It will be a
banquet of immense joy, and our Lord makes clear that it is a wedding banquet.
The parable also broadly covers salvation history and its tragedies of refusal.
Invitations had gone out, but they were roughly refused. “He sent his servants
to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they
refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have
been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have
been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' But
they paid no attention and went off — one to his field, another to his business.
The rest seized his servants, ill-treated them and killed them.” This brought
down a divine judgment on those specially chosen people: “The king was enraged.
He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” It
illustrates the wonderful prospects that our being chosen by God offer us, and
it also illustrates the sombre doom that our neglect and refusal will bring. The
king sends out his emissaries to bring in all they can find — an obvious
allusion to the mission of the Church to the world. All mankind is called to
enter the kingdom. This time they come and the wedding hall is filled — but
still, one is found unprepared, untidy, unworthy. So while all are called, all
must be found worthy. The kingdom constitutes a wonderful future, but we must so
live as to be judged worthy of admittance.
Let us understand the glory of which we are part. By baptism we are already
members of Christ’s mystical body the Church. We are in him and he is in us. We
are members of his bride the Church, and he is the Bridegroom. The kingdom will
be like a wedding feast, celebrating the spiritual espousal of Christ with his
Church. Let us make it the principal object of our life, to be wearing a proper
wedding garment. That is to say, we must put on the person of Jesus Christ,
striving to be like him down to the inmost core of our mind, heart and soul. To
it, then!
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection: (Ezechiel 36: 23-28)
The coming of the Sanctifier
One of the keystone passages of the Old Testament
is that of Ezechiel 36: 23-28. It foretells the coming of the Holy Spirit as the
Sanctifier. He would be the Gift not just to particular individuals enabling
them to fulfill certain key missions on God's behalf such as to prophesy (as a
prophet) or to rule (as a judge such as Samson, or a king such as David). He
would be sent to make holy the hearts of all God's people and cleanse them of
their sins. He would come as the great Sanctifier of all who believed. Let us
notice in the passage that God would do this precisely to manifest his holiness:
"I mean to display the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among
the nations, which you have profaned among them."
So having received the Holy Spirit, as we have at our Baptism and Confirmation,
let us be resolved every day to seek personal sanctity through his grace,
knowing that we will thus glorify God and show forth his holiness. In a world of
sin that has lost the sense of sin and that cares not greatly for holiness as
such, while it passingly refers to God, let us bear witness to a God who is
present and who is holy. Be holy, God said, for I am holy.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Reject your pessimism and don’t allow those around you to be pessimistic. — God
should be served with cheerfulness and abandonment.
(The Forge, no.217)
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Friday of the twentieth week in Ordinary Time C/II
(August 20) Saint Bernard, abbot and doctor of the Church (1091-1153)
Man of the century! Woman of the century! You see such terms applied to so many
today—“golfer of the century,” “composer of the century,” “right tackle of the
century”—that the line no longer has any punch. But the “man of the twelfth
century,” without doubt or controversy, has to be Bernard of Clairvaux. Adviser
of popes, preacher of th
e Second Crusade, defender of the faith, healer of a
schism, reformer of a monastic Order, Scripture scholar, theologian and eloquent
preacher: any one of these titles would distinguish an ordinary man. Yet Bernard
was all of these—and he still retained a burning desire to return to the hidden
monastic life of his younger days. In the year 1111, at the age of 20, Bernard
left his home to join the monastic community of Citeaux. His five brothers, two
uncles and some 30 young friends followed him into the monastery. Within four
years a dying community had recovered enough vitality to establish a new house
in the nearby valley of Wormwoods, with Bernard as abbot. The zealous young man
was quite demanding, though more on himself than others. A slight breakdown of
health taught him to be more patient and understanding. The valley was soon
renamed Clairvaux, the valley of light. His ability as arbitrator and counsellor
became widely known. More and more he was lured away from the monastery to
settle long-standing disputes. On several of these occasions he apparently
stepped on some sensitive toes in Rome. Bernard was completely dedicated to the
primacy of the Roman See. But to a letter of warning from Rome he replied that
the good fathers in Rome had enough to do to keep the Church in one piece. If
any matters arose that warranted their interest, he would be the first to let
them know. Shortly thereafter it was Bernard who intervened in a full-blown
schism and settled it in favour of the Roman pontiff against the antipope. The
Holy See prevailed on Bernard to preach the Second Crusade throughout Europe.
His eloquence was so overwhelming that a great army was assembled and the
success of the crusade seemed assured. The ideals of the men and their leaders,
however, were not those of Abbot Bernard, and the project ended as a complete
military and moral disaster. Bernard felt responsible in some way for the
degenerative effects of the crusade. This heavy burden possibly hastened his
death, which came August 20, 1153.
“In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not
her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that
you may more surely obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in
her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking
her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe
from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection
you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if
she shows you favour, you shall reach the goal” (St. Bernard).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: Ezechiel 37: 1-14;
Psalm 24; Matthew 22:34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the
Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested
him with this question: Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?
Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the
Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matthew
22:34-40)
Love
Our Lord had
been triumphant in debate. In the same chapter as our Gospel passage today, we
read that “the Pharisees went off and began to plot how they might trap Jesus in
speech. They sent their disciples to him, accompanied by Herodian sympathizers”
with their trick question about the religious legality of paying taxes to the
Roman authority. Whatever answer Jesus gave, they thought, they would have him.
His reply confounded them: “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God
what belongs to God.” Then “that same day some Sadducees” came with their
question — a puzzle about the woman who married seven times. How could there be
a resurrection if she had seven husbands to live with at that great Day? Once
again, they were silenced, and the crowd was held spellbound by Christ’s
teaching. We read that “when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the
Sadducees, they gathered in a body” before him. So while on the previous
occasion they had sent their disciples with the trap question they had prepared,
this time they came themselves and together — perhaps for mutual support and to
pit their united intellects against the supposed prophet. The question posed to
him this time was a fundamental one, and it was a lawyer among them who put it.
It concerned the Law, and which of its commandments was the greatest. The fact
was that Christ by his actions and example was calling into question their own
teaching on the Law, and the religious weight of the numerous prescriptions that
were handed on and enforced by the scribes and Pharisees. Christ disregarded the
elaborate and quasi ceremonial washing before meals. He ignored their insistence
on the way the Sabbath rest was to be observed, himself curing on the Sabbath
and ordering those cured to take up their mats on the Sabbath day and go home
carrying them. His disciples were allowed by him to pick ears of corn on the
Sabbath. These matters were of great moment for them. What, then, was the
greatest commandment of the Law? It was an important encounter.
Christ immediately quoted from the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. As such,
he was drawing from inspired writings that were accepted by all — by the
Pharisees and the Sadducees — and which were commonly attributed to Moses
himself. The teaching of Moses was taken as contained in the Pentateuch and it
was this that our Lord immediately cited. The first of all the commandments is,
Christ tells them, that which is stated in Deuteronomy 6: 5. The Lord alone is
God, and you shall love him with all your heart, soul and strength. This,
presented as from the mouth of Moses himself, follows the text of the Ten
Commandments according to the version given in this book. It also follows God’s
directive to Moses that he transmit his commands to the people. Deuteronomy is
clear that Moses taught that the observance of God’s commandments was to be a
work of love. This was the true Mosaic spirit, and this was the first thing God
required of his people in the commandments he had given them. Though our Lord
was not asked for a “second” commandment, he proceeded to give it because it
related to what stood high in his own teaching: man’s dealings with his
neighbour. This itself shows how important this is in Christ’s revelation. Our
Lord lit upon a single sentence in what was a multitude of prescriptions in the
book of Leviticus, and all of them were commands given by God to Moses — though
not ranked in order of importance. Christ firmly identified which of all of them
was of pre-eminent importance, surpassed only by the command to love God with
all one’s heart. It was that contained in the second part of a specific verse,
19:18: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. So in his reply to the
assembled scribes and Pharisees — the masters and leaders of religious practice
in the nation — Christ gave the key to the interpretation of the Law of Moses.
The Law of God given to Moses and explained by Moses himself to the chosen
people of God was fundamentally a law of love: love for God himself and love for
neighbour as oneself.
The exemplar of the teachings of Moses, the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, is
Jesus Christ. He is not merely yet another prophet, nor merely the greatest of
them. Indeed, he is not merely another Moses, nor merely the one who, as “The
Prophet” whom Moses foretold, surpasses Moses himself. He is the Son of God and
the Redeemer of man. Our calling is to contemplate him, learn from him, and with
the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit, to become more and more like him in
love — love for God and love of neighbour. Let us make that our daily project,
then!
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection: (Ezechiel 37: 1-14)
The promise of the Sanctifier
One of the most striking of the Old Testament
prophecies is that in which Ezechiel is granted a vision of the condition of
God's people. They are a valley full of bones (Ezechiel
37: 1-14). But the prophecy itself is about the power of God and how
God will manifest his power in his mercy. These bones will take life and will
become an immense army through the breath coming from God. This powerful breath
coming as a gift of God is surely a portent of the Holy Spirit who would come to
Christ’s disciples and make of them a new people of God, Christ's Church, and
through the ministry of the Church and the Sacrament of Baptism he would come to
mankind. He comes to give life where there is little or no life.
We have been given that Holy Spirit, and we ought therefore look upon our
weakness, especially our spiritual weakness, with hope and optimism born of
faith in the power of God. God shows us his power in his deeds of mercy. The
greatest deed of divine mercy is the gift and the work of our sanctification, to
which we are all called. Every day we ought begin again the great quest of life,
with high aims and great desires, the quest for personal sanctity. It will come
through our daily efforts and the grace of God.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Get rid of that human prudence which makes you so very cautious, so — sorry to
be so blunt! — cowardly.
—Let us not be narrow—minded. Let us not be infantile men or women, who are
nearsighted and lack a supernatural breadth of vision…! Could we be working for
ourselves? Of course not!
Well then, let us say quite fearlessly: Dearest Jesus, we are working for you,
and… are you going to deny us the material means we need? You know full well how
worthless we are; still, I would not treat a servant working for me in that way…
Therefore, we hope and are sure you will give us all we need to be able to serve
you.
(The Forge, no.218)
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Saturday of the twentieth week in Ordinary
Time C/II
(August 21)
Saint Pius X, pope (1835-1914)
Pope Pius X is perhaps best remembered for his encouragement of the frequent
reception of Holy Communion, especially by children. The second of 10 children
in a poor Italian family, Joseph Sarto became Pius X at 68, one of the twentieth
century’s
greatest popes. Ever mindful of his humble origin, he stated, “I was
born poor, I lived poor, I will die poor.” He was embarrassed by some of the
pomp of the papal court. “Look how they have dressed me up,” he said in tears to
an old friend. To another, “It is a penance to be forced to accept all these
practices. They lead me around surrounded by soldiers like Jesus when he was
seized in Gethsemani.” Interested in politics, he encouraged Italian Catholics
to become more politically involved. One of his first papal acts was to end the
supposed right of governments to interfere by veto in papal elections—a practice
that reduced the freedom of the conclave which had elected him. In 1905, when
France renounced its agreement with the Holy See and threatened confiscation of
Church property if governmental control of Church affairs were not granted, Pius
X courageously rejected the demand. While he did not author a famous social
encyclical as his predecessor had done, he denounced the ill treatment of
indigenous peoples on the plantations of Peru, sent a relief commission to
Messina after an earthquake and sheltered refugees at his own expense. On the
eleventh anniversary of his election as pope, Europe was plunged into World War
I. Pius had foreseen it, but it killed him. “This is the last affliction the
Lord will visit on me. I would gladly give my life to save my poor children from
this ghastly scourge.” He died a few weeks after the war began. He was canonized
in 1954.
Describing Pius X, a historian wrote that he was “a man of God who knew the
unhappiness of the world and the hardships of life, and in the greatness of his
heart wanted to comfort everyone.” (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: Ruth 2:
1-3.8-11;4:13-17; Psalm 127; Matthew
23:1-12
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his
disciples: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you
must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for
they do not practise what they preach. They tie up
heavy loads and put them on
men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move
them. Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries
wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honour at
banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted
in the market-places and to have men call them 'Rabbi'. But you are not to be
called 'Rabbi', for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do
not call anyone on earth 'father', for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
Nor are you to be called 'teacher', for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The
greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be
humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
(Matthew 23: 1-12)
Humility
At times one sees references to Jesus as
a social revolutionary who opposed authority in society and religion, attempting
to overturn the corrupt institutions of his time and place. There is no doubt
that the religious authorities felt threatened by Jesus — Pilate could see
clearly that their implacable hostility was due to jealousy. The people hung on
his words and were struck by his holy authority. The core leadership (though not
all the leaders, by any means) hated him. But it must be remembered that our
Lord in no way opposed their office and class as such. In our Gospel he commands
respect for their office and an obedience to their proper and best teachings,
which is to say, in the legitimate exercise of their office. “Jesus said to the
crowds and to his disciples: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in
Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you.” He himself
is found dining in the home of Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees may be
largely credited with enforcing in the nation the Sabbath observance, which was
a linchpin of Jewish life. But, he says, “do not do what they do, for they do
not practise what they preach.” So our Lord’s principal critique of the scribes
and Pharisees was of their own practise of religion, and the bad example they
gave of self-exaltation. Now, while our Lord in our passage today commands
religious obedience to them, we know from elsewhere in the Gospels that he did
criticize many of their prescriptions on how the Sabbath was to be observed,
their prescriptions on the practice of Corban, and various other matters. But it
was the heart of their religion which our Lord especially condemned. They
fiddled and fussed with human regulations meant to protect the weighty matters
of God’s Law, but forgot and neglected in their own lives those weighty matters
of love, justice and true adoration of God. They lived in self-exaltation. John
the Baptist called them a brood of vipers and our Lord called them white-washed
sepulchres. Our Lord feared the contagion of their example, for they were the
leaders. He did not want his disciples to be seeking their own glory in their
religion.
Accordingly, he says, “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make
their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the
place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they
love to be greeted in the market-places and to have men call them 'Rabbi'.” This
self-exaltation was at the root of their oppression of others precisely in
religion. “ They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they
themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” The burdens of
religion which they imposed enforced their sense and practice of power. They
gloried in their titles and made of them a means of personal exaltation. As the
religious leaders they did not serve, but sought to be served. Christ’s
disciples were not to take their cue from them. “But you are not to be called
'Rabbi', for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call
anyone on earth 'father', for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are
you to be called 'teacher', for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest
among you will be your servant.” Our Lord was not condemning the use of titles
as such. He himself gave a title to Simon: it was Peter, the Rock. Simon
thenceforth was known for this title and it was his by Christ’s designation.
Christ called James and John, “sons of thunder.” He gave to John the Baptist the
title of “prophet.” He said to his disciples that he was indeed their Master and
Lord. When speaking to Nicodemus he said to him that he was “a teacher in
Israel,” and doubtless our Lord would have allowed Nicodemus to be addressed as
such. What our Lord was condemning was the self-exaltation in such practices.
They ought to have been the occasion of humble service. At the Last Supper, when
our Lord concluded his washing of the feet of his disciples, he said, you call
me Master and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. So it was right
to use these titles, but they expressed humble service. It was legitimate for
his disciples to use appropriate titles (such as Apostle, Rock, and others in
later history) provided they expressed Christ-like service and humility before
God and man.
Life is short and eternity is long. Let us use every day to grow in the spirit
of Christ, who left aside the glory and position that was his as God and became
as we are, indeed humbler still, even to death on a cross. But God raised him
up. Thus does our Lord conclude his words with this ominous and yet exhilarating
dictum: “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself
will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”
(Matthew 23: 1-12). Let us make that the
programme of our everyday life.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection: (Ezechiel
43: 1-7)
Giving glory to God
One of our favourite prayers ought be
that which we repeat during the Rosary: "Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit." We are created to give glory to God, and our happiness
will lie in giving God more and more glory. St Ignatius Loyola coined this great
caption for the generous Christian: All for the greater glory of God! One of the
striking features of the visions of the prophet Ezechiel is their revelation of
God's glory. In ch.43: 1-7, the prophet tells us that he "saw the glory of the
God of Israel approaching from the east." The "vision was like the one I had
seen" previously. He tells us that "the glory of the Lord arrived at the
Temple", and he "saw the glory of the Lord fill the Temple." So through the
prophet, God was impressing upon his people his glory, and their vocation to
recognise it especially as connected with his presence in the Temple.
Let us cultivate in our hearts the desire to do all for the greater glory of God. It will
involve recognising and honouring with profound reverence his very presence,
wherever it is — and we are enlightened in this by our Faith. He is present in
our souls if we are in the state of grace. He is present in the Tabernacle of
our churches, in the Sacraments, in the Priesthood and its ministry. He is
present in so many ways in his body the Church. Let us live each day in such a
way that God will be honoured and glorified, and that through us he will be
enabled to glorify his name.
(E.J.Tyler)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An act of faith: Nothing can prevail against God! Nothing can prevail against
God’s people!
—Don’t forget it.
(The Forge, no.219)
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Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time C/II
(August 22) The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Pius XII established this feast in 1954. But Mary’s queenship has roots in
Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced
that Mary’s Son would receive
the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary
“mother of my Lord.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, Mary is closely
associated with Jesus: Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. We can also
recall that in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in
court. In the fourth century St. Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen” and
Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the eleventh to
thirteenth centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of
Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan crown as
well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her queenship. The feast
is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day
of that feast. In his encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pius XII points out
that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is
closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her
pre-eminent perfection and because of her intercessory power.
“Let the entire body of the faithful pour forth persevering prayer to the Mother
of God and Mother of men. Let them implore that she who aided the beginnings of
the Church by her prayers may now, exalted as she is in heaven above all the
saints and angels, intercede with her Son in the fellowship of all the saints.
May she do so until all the peoples of the human family, whether they are
honoured with the name of Christian or whether they still do not know their
Saviour, are happily gathered together in peace and harmony into the one People
of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity” (Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church, 69). (AmericanCatholic.org)
Prayers this week: Listen, Lord, and answer me. Save your servant who trusts in
you. I call to you all day long, have mercy on me, O Lord (Psalm 85:1-3)
Father, help us to seek the values that will bring lasting joy in this changing
world. In our desire for what you promise make us one in mind and heart. We ask
this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
God.
Scripture today:
Isaiah 66:18-21; Psalm 117:1, 2; Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13; Luke
13:22-30
Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way
to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He
answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you,
will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the
house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and
saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not
know where you are from. And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and
you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you
are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ And there will be wailing and
grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in
the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the
east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in
the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are
first who will be last.” (Luke 13:22-30)
The narrow door
One cannot help but notice
that in a large proportion of TV current
affairs programmes, it is the moral dimension that is portrayed and discussed.
It could be some malpractice in a large company. It could be some corruption in
a government department or in some police department, or whatever.
This is not
to say that the moral judgment the programme makes on such ethical issues is
even generally correct. But it does show how fundamental is the moral and
ethical dimension to all human activity, be it personal, be it in the family or
in society at large. Moral judgments and the lack of them lead to great good or
evil in society, war, massive company frauds, infidelity in the home, or by
contrast, great and beautiful developments in society. Society hangs on the
action of the conscience. So do our eternal prospects. In his famous Letter to
the Duke of Norfolk (1875), Cardinal Newman described conscience as nature’s
(‘the aboriginal’) vicar of Christ. The narrow door is, in the first instance,
obedience to the voice of conscience. Our conscience is the power of our mind to
judge whether what we are intending to do, or are now doing, or have already
done, is morally good or bad. At the heart of our conscience, and pervading all
its judgments, is the instinctive awareness and judgment that we are obliged to
follow faithfully whatever we know to be objectively just and right. What is
just and right is known by the prudent exercise of our moral judgment, and is
revealed to us in the teaching of Christ and his Church. If we are aware that we
do not yet know what is morally right in any matter that we must act upon, our
conscience tells us that we should try to determine it from the most
authoritative and reliable sources. If we do not form our conscience in this
manner when we sense that we should, we know in our conscience that we shall be
held to account for the good we have failed to do and the evil we have done by
our culpably mistaken judgment. It is so important in everyday life that we
learn to live by a sensitive, upright and properly informed conscience.
The properly formed conscience is the first narrow door that our Lord refers to
in the Gospel. By means of the conscience we attain to knowledge of the
objective moral order. It is manifestly wrong to think that the only objective
facts are physical ones. Moral laws are just as factual. A moment’s reflection
makes clear that the life of individuals and of society depends for its
wellbeing on obedience to a properly formed conscience apprehending the
objective moral law. There are two dangers we must avoid. Firstly, there is the
danger of choosing to ignore one’s conscience when the following of it will be
inconvenient or costly. In this case, the voice of conscience is ignored and
other considerations are allowed to hold sway. Rather, our truest flourishing
depends on our faithfully attending to our best conscience, whatever be the
cost. The second danger is to fail to take steps to enlighten one’s conscience
by consulting the best sources, so as to ensure that one’s conscience will guide
us to the knowledge of what is objectively right and good. Apart from our own
conscientious efforts to judge aright, the principal sources are the advice of
prudent and upright persons, and the formal teaching of the Church when speaking
in Christ’s name. This is important because, as mentioned above, the properly
disposed and informed conscience is, in the context of our human nature, the
original representative of God (or, to use Newman’s expression, “the aboriginal
vicar of Christ”). The Creator has shown by the entire history of man, by his
providence, and by his historical and supernatural revelation, that typically he
speaks to man through his representatives. The chosen people heard from properly
accredited prophets what was the will of God. The greatest of his
representatives was his own divine Son become man and now abiding in the Church,
his body. Conscience is his original and natural messenger and representative,
but of course it must be a conscience that acts prudently and which is committed
to being properly informed. This is the conscience equipped to grasp objective
moral truth.
Therefore our union with Christ and our path to sanctity will depend on our
fidelity to the conscience in all its detail, provided we understand the
conscience in the way described. Our Lord tells us in the Gospel that we are to
try our best to “enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to
enter and will not succeed” (Luke 13: 22-30). The narrow door is the correctly
formed conscience which apprehends moral duty and God’s revelation as it comes
to us through Christ and his teaching Church. Let us ask our Lord and our Lady
to help us every day to try our best to enter by this narrow gate that leads to
life here and hereafter.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church nos. 1776
- 1785
(Judgment of conscience; formation of conscience)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don’t lose heart. Carry on! Carry on with that holy stubbornness which in
spiritual terms is called perseverance.
(The Forge, no.220)
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Monday of the twenty-first week in Ordinary
Time C/II
(August 23) St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617)
The first canonized saint of the New World has one characteristic of all
saints—the suffering of opposition—and another characteristic which is more for
admiration than for imitation—excessive practice of mortification. She was born
to parents of
Spanish
descent in Lima, Peru, at a time when South America was in its first century of
evangelization. She seems to have taken Catherine of Siena as a model, in spite
of the objections and ridicule of parents and friends. The saints have so great
a love of God that what seems bizarre to us, and is indeed sometimes imprudent,
is simply a logical carrying out of a conviction that anything that might
endanger a loving relationship with God must be rooted out. So, because her
beauty was so often admired, Rose used to rub her face with pepper to produce
disfiguring blotches. Later, she wore a thick circlet of silver on her head,
studded on the inside, like a crown of thorns. When her parents fell into
financial trouble, she worked in the garden all day and sewed at night. Ten
years of struggle against her parents began when they tried to make Rose marry.
They refused to let her enter a convent, and out of obedience she continued her
life of penance and solitude at home as a member of the Third Order of St.
Dominic. So deep was her desire to live the life of Christ that she spent most
of her time at home in solitude. During the last few years of her life, Rose set
up a room in the house where she cared for homeless children, the elderly and
the sick. This was a beginning of social services in Peru. Though secluded in
life and activity, she was brought to the attention of Inquisition
interrogators, who could only say that she was influenced by grace.
What might have been a merely eccentric life was transfigured from the inside.
If we remember some unusual penances, we should also remember the greatest thing
about Rose: a love of God so ardent that it withstood ridicule from without,
violent temptation and lengthy periods of sickness. When she died at 31, the
city turned out for her funeral. Prominent men took turns carrying her coffin.
Scripture today:
2 Thessalonians 1: 1-5.11-12; Psalm 95; Matthew 23:13-22
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the
Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not
enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter. “Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make
one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much
as yourselves. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If one swears by the temple,
it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is
obligated.’ Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the
gold sacred? And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if
one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’ You blind ones, which is
greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? One who swears by
the altar swears by it and all that is upon it; one who swears by the temple
swears by it and by him who dwells in it; one who swears by heaven swears by the
throne of God and by him who is seated on it.” (Matthew 23:13-22)
Blind! We read in the Gospel of St Mark (10: 46-52) that as Jesus was passing
out of Jericho with his disciples and a considerable number of people, a blind
beggar was sitting by the road begging. He was utterly blind and unable to
sustain himself. He depended entirely on begging. He caught the news that the
one passing by was none other than Jesus of Nazareth, and despite the crowd his
loud, repeated and insistent shouts carried and reached the ears of Jesus.
“Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on me!” At this, Jesus stopped. Let us imagine
him stopping, with concern filling his heart. He had heard, and immediately
detected the appeal of distress. The crowd gradually stopped too. Then the voice
of Jesus was heard: bring him to me! The blind man suddenly found that the noise
around him subsided, and he was told to come, for Jesus was calling for him. He
threw aside his cloak and rose, head and heart afire with expectation, and was
led to Jesus. A calm, strong and compassionate voice asked him, “What do you
want me to do for you?” We know the sequel. Bar Timaeus was cured, and he
forthwith became a disciple, and “followed Jesus along the way.” Our Lord was
full of compassion for his state of blindness, and his curing led to an
immediate discipleship, which indicated that in the midst of his blindness there
was a religious and willing heart. But in our Gospel today, there is a different
blindness which confronted our Lord. There were blind people who were implacably
opposed to him and certainly in no way looked to him for healing. While the
blind beggar knew he was blind, the scribes and Pharisees to whom our Lord was
speaking were blind, but thought they saw clearly. Jesus told them to their very
faces that they were blind (tuphloi), and repeated it three times with biting
force. “Woe to you, blind guides!” They were “fools and blind (mooroi kai
tuphloi)!” The word “fools” (mooroi) was particularly harsh. The English word
“moron” — an adult whose mental development is arrested, or even a degenerate
fool, derives from this Greek word.
The point about their blindness, though, was that they were leading others into
blindness. “You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter
yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.” Again — and our
Lord’s voice fills with indignation rising from a heart filled with compassion
for the needy and helpless — he says to them, “You traverse sea and land to make
one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much
as yourselves.” In their case, the blindness that has enveloped them has its
origin in personal choice and sin. They are hyprocrites (hupokritai)! They pose
as religious and zealous for God, but their religion is mere
self-aggrandizement. Twice our Lord in this passage tells them that they are
hypocrites. Their religion is a show, a mask, a front, whereas their hearts are
far from God. Their religion is a means of self-seeking. It is hypocritical. Let
it be remembered that our Lord does not explicitly say that all the scribes and
Pharisees were thus. Nicodemus was a disciple and he was a Pharisee. Joseph of
Arimathea was a “counsellor” (bouleutees), suggesting that he may have been a
member of the Sanhedrin (Luke 23: 50). Luke tells us that he was good and
righteous, that he did not agree with the others and that he awaited the kingdom
of God. Luke praises him highly. St John tells us that many of “the rulers”
believed in Jesus but because of a fear of these Pharisees, did not confess to
it (John 12: 42). So those to whom our Lord addressed himself were blind, and
this was because of serious sin, a sin of pride and self-exaltation. They sought
their own glory and not that of God. Accordingly, their religious judgments and
priorities went entirely astray. Blindly, “you say, ‘If one swears by the altar,
it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift
sacred? One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it; one
who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it; one who
swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who is seated on it”
(Matthew 23:13-22).
Deliberate sin is the greatest affliction that can strike the human heart, and
it has ramifications throughout the person. Among its effects is blindness.
While Christ was able to cure the blindness of Bar Timaeus at a mere word, in a
sense he was helpless before the sinful blindness of these particular scribes
and Pharisees. It resisted God and it led others astray, even to perdition. On
another occasion our Lord told his enemies that their father was the devil, and
that he was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. The devil too is blind,
but it is a blindness arising from total sin. Let us flee from all deliberate
sin, then! It is the path to a blindness that leads to Hell.
(E.J.Tyler)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second reflection: (2 Thessalonians 1: 1-5. 11-12)
The cross the prelude to glory Let us notice in this passage of St Paul's second
letter to the Thessalonians (ch.1: 1-5.11-12)
the pride he takes in the
Thessalonians for their constancy and faith under all their "persecutions and
troubles." But notice also what he says to be the purpose of it all in terms of
the judgment of God. The "purpose of it is that you may be found worthy of the
kingdom of God; it is for the sake of this that you are suffering now." So their
sufferings are intended by God as the prelude of their future glory in Christ.
Moreover, by means of their sufferings God would be glorified in them — "in this
way the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you and you in him."
The suffering of the Christian mirrors and shares in the pattern of our Lord's
life. The cross was the prelude to glory. We ought pray for the great grace of
appreciating this profoundly so that when suffering comes we will know that it
has been permitted by God for our sanctification, and that will be for his
glory. Knowing this we will not be resentful and unforgiving, but grateful. This
will be the result of faith and will result in greater faith.
The saints knew that the cross is a blessing. St Rose of Lima, whose feast is
today (August 23), wrote that the Lord communicated to her that "without the
burden of affliction one cannot arrive at the height of glory; that the measure
of heavenly gifts is increased in proportion to the labours undertaken;..
without the cross there is no road to heaven." She continues: "I tell you most
solemnly: no grace without suffering." (Second Reading from the Office of
Readings for this day). This is a remarkable feature of the divine plan which we
would never have known had it not been revealed in Christ. Let us pray for the
grace to appreciate our Lord's words that being his disciple involves taking up
the cross daily and following in his footsteps.
(E.J.Tyler)
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My Lord, you always come to meet our real needs.
(The Forge, no.221)
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Feast of St Bartholomew (August 24)
(Tuesday of the twenty first week in Ordinary Time C/II 2010)
Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
In the New Testament, Bartholomew is mentioned only in the lists of the
apostles. Some scholars identify him with Nathanael, a
man of Cana in Galilee
who was summoned to Jesus by Philip. Jesus paid him a great compliment: “Here is
a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him” (John 1:47b). When Nathanael
asked how Jesus knew him, Jesus said, “I saw you under the fig tree” (John
1:48b). Whatever amazing revelation this involved, it brought Nathanael to
exclaim, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (John
1:49b). But Jesus countered with, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw
you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this” (John 1:50b).
Nathanael did see greater things. He was one of those to whom Jesus appeared on
the shore of the Sea of Tiberias after his resurrection (see John 21:1-14). They
had been fishing all night without success. In the morning, they saw someone
standing on the shore though no one knew it was Jesus. He told them to cast
their net again, and they made so great a catch that they could not haul the net
in. Then John cried out to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When they brought the boat
to shore, they found a fire burning, with some fish laid on it and some bread.
Jesus asked them to bring some of the fish they had caught, and invited them to
come and eat their meal. John relates that although they knew it was Jesus, none
of the apostles presumed to inquire who he was. This, John notes, was the third
time Jesus appeared to the apostles. (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today:
Revelation 21:9b-14; Psalm 145:10-13, 17-18; John 1:45-51
Philip found Nathanael and told him, We have found the one Moses wrote about in
the Law, and about whom the
prophets also wrote— Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Joseph. Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? Nathanael asked. Come and
see, said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, Here is
a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false. How do you know me? Nathanael
asked. Jesus answered, I saw you while you were still under the fig-tree before
Philip called you. Then Nathanael declared, Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you
are the King of Israel. Jesus said, You believe because I told you I saw you
under the fig-tree. You shall see greater things than that. He then added, I
tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending
and descending on the Son of Man. (John 1:45-51)
Nathanael In each of the
Synoptic Gospels, the individual listed next to and after Philip is
“Bartholomew” — and it is traditionally taken that this is the Nathanael who,
John reports in his Gospel, is introduced to Jesus by Philip. Perhaps
“Nathanael” is his first name (as “Philip” was a first name), and presumably
“Bartholomew” is the surname: Bar-Tholomew. He was Nathanael, the son of
Tholomew. “Nathanael” appears Hebraic (Nathan-a-el), and Tholomew (Tholomaios)
appears Greek. Perhaps, being from Galilee, Nathanael’s family had non-Hebraic
origins. We notice too that in St Mark’s list of the Twelve, Philip is placed
next to, and just before, Bartholomew (Mark 3:18). It is the same with Matthew
(10:3) and with Luke (6:14). Perhaps this indicates a special friendship and
association between the two even within the Twelve. It may even reflect their
association with one another in the circumstances of their call, which is to say
the order in which they met Jesus. Philip is placed next to Bartholomew (Nathanael)
but just before him. It is John, in our passage today (John 1:45-51), who
narrates the circumstances of their call, with a special emphasis on that of
Nathanael. John does not give a formal list of the Twelve as do the Synoptics,
but in his Gospel Philip is directly associated with Nathanael in their call to
follow Christ. Philip is called first, and Philip then brings Nathanael to
introduce him to Christ (John 1: 45-51). It
is also interesting to notice that of the first of our Lord’s disciples in his
first chapter, John gives most space to the first meeting between Christ and
Nathanael. He devotes six verses to the occasion — twice as much as that given
to John and Andrew, and Simon and Philip. It suggests that the call of Nathanael
has something quite special about it — but I would like here to notice one
feature in particular. It is the joy and praise with which Christ welcomed
Nathanael. If we look at the words of Christ addressed to others in this first
chapter of St John, the most explicit words of praise are those directed to
Nathanael. He, Nathanael, is “a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile!”
(John 1: 47).
I once saw a film documentary of Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer. He was a
Spanish priest who lived from 1902-1975, and who dedicated his life to spreading
the point that, whatever be the Christian’s walk in life, that person is called
to be a saint. The film showed him speaking to a large concourse of people in, I
think, Brazil. Following his animated address, full of warmth and clear teaching
on the holiness to which the ordinary person is called, he received questions
from the audience. What was striking was how positive, commendatory and
encouraging he was to each questioner. He was unstinting in his praise of people
and unhesitatingly assured them that they were doing well and ought continue
with even greater generosity. He did not hesitate to praise them. He would have
brought happiness to people in their struggles. Even the viewer of the film
would have felt encouraged and affirmed. Doubtlessly Escriva would have been
severe with those who were neglectful of the moral and Christian life, but for
those who were trying, he was fulsome in praise and encouragement — and in this,
of course, he was a very good teacher. Now, when we consider the Gospels, we can
see that in this characteristic, Escriva was Christ-like. We remember how Christ
said of the centurion that he had not found his equal in faith in all of Israel
— fulsome praise for a gentile! He praised others for their faith, such as the
Canaanite woman who pestered him for an exorcism of the demon in her daughter.
She had great faith. In our Gospel today Jesus gives to Nathanael unstinting
praise: he was a true Israelite, a true son of Abraham, a person of real truth.
There was no guile in him. Our Lord’s attack on those implacably hostile to him
was for their lack of truth — they were, for instance, hypocrites. Satan himself
was a liar from the beginning. In Nathanael there was no guile, and because of
this he immediately and totally responded in faith to the One before him who was
Truth himself: You are the Son of God, the Messiah! But it began with Christ’s
high praise of Nathanael. While Satan, as we read in the book of Job, accuses
(ha-Satan, accuser), Christ, the Son of God, praises, supports, commends those
of good will.
Let us approach the throne of God in prayer with confidence in the mercy and
compassion of God our Father, Jesus our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit our
Defender and Counsellor. We are surrounded with a cloud of witnesses who are our
friends. Jesus Christ smiles on us as we struggle on, relying on his help. We
fail and we repent, rising again for the onward struggle, smiling amid the
wounds. Our Friend goes before us, praising, commending, encouraging. Let us
place ourselves with Nathanael, and observe how the gaze of Christ passes on to
us. He continues to smile as he reads our hearts, hearts that wish to follow him
in love.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection
(John 1: 45-51)
St Bartholomew (Nathanael): his dispositions
Consider Nathanael's response to our
Lord once he heard him speak (John 1: 45-51). Our Lord displayed a little of his
power and knowledge beyond the ordinary: "I saw you under the fig tree," he said
to Nathanael. Nathanael’s response went from what appears to have been something
of doubt and possibly cynicism ("Can anything good come from Nazareth?") to a
remarkable faith in our Lord and to a perception of his nature. "You are the Son
of God, you are the King of Israel" — that is, the Messiah. When we remember
that the purpose of St John's Gospel was precisely to show that Jesus is the
Messiah the Son of God (John 20:31), this is an impressive leap of faith at
first meeting. What are we to make of it? It is clear that Nathanael was an
Israelite of wonderful religious dispositions. He was so disposed that the
slightest revelation of Christ's nature allowed him to pierce beyond the signs
to the person of our Lord behind. How different from so many our Lord would have
to deal with! Our Lord himself acknowledged these impressive dispositions when
he said of the approaching Nathanael: "There is an Israelite who deserves the
name, incapable of deceit."
Nathanael was very good soil for the word of God. The seed sown bore fruit
immediately. It shows the fundamental importance of right dispositions. Let us
ask God to help us to be rightly disposed for what he has revealed, as coming to
us by the Church.
(E.J.Tyler)
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You are not getting worse. — It is just that now you have more light to see
yourself as you really are. You must avoid even the slightest hint of
discouragement.
(The Forge, no.222)
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Tuesday of the
twenty-first week in Ordinary Time (2
Thessalonians 1: 1-5.11-12)
Revelation from "Scripture alone"?
The bedrock reality on which we as
Christians base our lives is the call of God addressed to each of us. If we live
according to that call to live in Christ we shall share in the glory of Christ.
As St Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2: 1-3, "Through the Good News that we brought
God called you so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Now, how was this "Good News" brought to us? St Paul gives a directive that we
should note well. The classical Protestant position is that we receive the
Gospel and the Revelation it contains by "Scripture alone." So widespread is
this idea in Christian society that even many Catholics feel it necessary to
find the whole support for any Christian doctrine in Scripture alone. It is an
assumption that has spread in people's minds. But St Paul, in the sentence that
follows on the one just quoted, says to his readers the Thessalonians to "stand
firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by
word of mouth or by letter." So they were being instructed by the inspired
author himself to be faithful to what they had been told by means of two
channels: yes, by his (inspired) letter, but also what he had taught them by
word of mouth. They were to "keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by
word of mouth or by letter." The Church as acting in and represented by Paul,
Silvanus and Timothy handed on the Gospel not only by Scripture but by "word of
mouth" too.
The Gospel comes to us in both Scripture and the Church's Tradition. Let us then
renew our appreciation of the priceless means whereby the Gospel which takes us
to glory comes to us: the Scriptures and the teaching Church, both being
creations of the Holy Spirit.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Wednesday of the twenty-first week in Ordinary Time C/II
(August 25) St. Louis of France (1214-1270)
At his coronation as king of France, Louis bound himself by oath to behave as
God’s anointed, as the father of his people and feudal lord of the King of
Peace. Other kings had done the same, of course. Louis was different in that he
actually interpreted
his kingly duties in the light of faith. After the violence
of two previous reigns, he brought peace and justice. He was crowned king at 12,
at his father’s death. His mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled during his
minority. When he was 19, (and his bride 12) he was married to Marguerite of Provence. It was a loving marriage, though was not without challenge. They had
11 children. Louis “took the cross” for a Crusade when he was 30. His army
seized Damietta on the Nile but not long after, weakened by dysentery and
without support, they were surrounded and captured. Louis obtained the release
of the army by giving up the city of Damietta in addition to paying a ransom. He
stayed in Syria four years.
He deserves credit for extending justice in civil administration. He drew up
regulations for his officials which became the first of a series of reform laws.
He replaced trial by battle with a form of examination of witnesses and
encouraged the beginning of using written records in court. Louis was devoted to
his people, founding hospitals, visiting the sick and, like his
patron St.
Francis, caring even for people with leprosy. (He is one of the patrons of the
Secular Franciscan Order.) Louis united France—lords and townsfolk, peasants and
priests and knights—by the force of his personality and holiness. For many years
the nation was at peace. Every day Louis had 13 special guests from among the
poor to eat with him, and a large number of poor were served meals near his
palace. During Advent and Lent, all who presented themselves were given a meal,
and Louis often served them in person. He kept lists of needy people, whom he
regularly relieved, in every province of his dominion. Disturbed by new Muslim
advances in Syria, he led another crusade in 1267, at the age of 41. His crusade
was diverted to Tunis for his brother’s sake. The army was decimated by disease
within a month, and Louis himself died on foreign soil at the age of 44. He was
canonized 27 years later.
Louis was strong-willed, strong-minded. His word was trusted utterly, and his
courage in action was remarkable. What is most remarkable was his sense of
respect for anyone with whom he dealt, especially the “humble folk of the Lord.”
To care for his people he built cathedrals, churches, libraries, hospitals and
orphanages. He dealt with princes honestly and equitably. He hoped to be treated
the same way by the King of Kings, to whom he gave his life, his family and his
country.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today:
2 Thessalonians 3: 6-10.16-18; Psalm 127; Matthew 23:27-32
Jesus said,
Woe to you, teachers of the
law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look
beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and
everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as
righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Woe to
you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the
prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'If we had lived
in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in
shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you testify against yourselves that you
are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the
measure of the sin of your forefathers! (Matthew
23:27-32)
Moral life
The nature and reality of morality is a
fundamental philosophical issue. One modern philosopher stated that David Hume
was the sharpest mind in British Philosophy, and that Theism had to come to
engage with Hume in order to get a hearing. Hume's main ethical writings are to
be found in A Treatise on Human Nature (1739–40), An Enquiry
Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751), parts of An Enquiry
Concerning Human Understanding (1748), and in his Dialogues
Concerning Natural Religion (1779). Hume's ethical thought is part of
his attempt to explain all of human nature in terms of natural causes and
events, including how we make moral judgments and why we have religious beliefs.
Visible, physical nature is all there is. For Hume, everything about us is open
to empirical investigation and to explanation in naturalistic terms. Hume often
compares humans with other animals, tracing the bases of human morality to
features we share with them. For instance, moral judgments are essentially
functions of sentiment. Traits that elicit our approval are those that are
useful or agreeable to oneself or others. Our ends depend on what we desire,
which depends on what we feel (with respect to pleasure and pain). Morality is
thus based on sentiment and passion — and by positing such a system he excludes,
of course, God as a moral assessor. The long and the short of it is that the
physical and empirically verifiable world is all that there is. Hume’s writings
were an important engine in the advance of the secular view in which God, sin,
and one’s inner moral state are but shadows. But Hume is wrong. We perceive that
there is a moral law that cannot be reduced to how we feel, to sensations and
passions. We are conscious by moral perception that we are morally corrupt as
the case may be. Indeed, in our clear moments we can see that the moral law and
our inner moral condition is far more real than the rocks and trees we see
before us. Hume thought that the only hard facts were facts that felt hard.
But this is wrong. Sin is a hard objective fact — and anyhow, within the normal
and healthy conscience, sin will be felt to be very hard. We can shut our eyes
to the mountains, the valleys and to the physical things about us, but we cannot
shut our eyes to manifest duty and the moral collapse and degradation following
on its neglect. The worst character in Shakespeare’s Macbeth was Lady Macbeth.
She was a veritable Herodias, the architect of John the Baptist’s execution. Her
heart was hard as flint, but she could not escape the tightening grip of her own
fearsome conscience. Sleep-walking, she plaintively cried, “Out, damned spot!
Out, I say!” (5.1) trying, in her sleep, to wash her hands clean of the blood of
King Duncan. Morality and the inner moral state of man is the most real thing in
the world. Sanctity soars above the mountains in its hard reality and in its
significance for the world. The most important thing in life is not to feel and
gain coins but to be good and holy. I say all this to introduce our Lord’s words
directed to “the teachers of the law and the Pharisees” in our Gospel today
(Matthew 23:27-32). Our Lord exulted in the
beauty of the lilies of the field, but he exulted far more in moral goodness.
Conversely, he powerfully lambasted deliberate sin and spiritual corruption.
These were the principal realities in the world, and David Hume — subtle and
influential philosopher though he was — had it all wrong. “Woe to you, teachers
of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which
look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and
everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as
righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” Those
teachers of the law and Pharisees to whom our Lord spoke were “whitewashed
tombs,” and “inside” were full of “everything unclean.” They were dead within — “full of dead men’s bones.” “Woe to you!” our Lord solemnly warned them. The
tragedy of our age is that, characteristically, we have lost the sense of sin
and have reduced sin to something like a mere subjective state or feeling.
What we can see and touch is only part of what there is. In actual fact, what we
cannot see and touch with our senses is much more real. Pre-eminent among the
unseen realities of life is man’s moral and spiritual condition. As we think of
Christ’s condemnation of the unseen state of heart of the scribes and Pharisees,
let us also think of those whom he highly praised. At his first meeting with
Nathanael, he accorded to him the highest praise. He was a true Israelite, one
in whom there was no guile. Let us make goodness and holiness of heart our
quest. This is the true and solid foundation of everything, and it will take us
to heaven.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection: (2
Thessalonians 3: 6-10.16-18)
Being like God by means of our work
In his second letter to the
Thessalonians (ch.3: 6-10.16-18) St Paul refers to work —
he is severe in his
strictures concerning the one who refuses to work. They are to "keep away from
any of the brothers who refuses to work or to live according to the tradition we
passed on to you." They are to imitate Paul and his companions, who never ceased
to work. The first pages of the Bible portray God at work, the work of creation.
His work is set in a framework the devout reader will easily understand. God's
work is presented as being a working week, as it were, for he is shown as
completing the work of creation in six days and then resting on the seventh. All
could understand this, that God really does work, and that our daily work, set
within the normal working day week with the sabbath rest at the end of it, makes
us like unto him. It is therefore unlike God not to be willing to work. On one
occasion when our Lord was criticized for doing what the leaders of the Jews
said was not permitted on the Sabbath, he replied that his Father was working,
so he would too.
It is in our work that we fulfill the duties and responsibilities that God in
his providence has given us to fulfill. So we should work with all our heart,
doing all for the glory of God. In this way through our work we are sanctified,
we sanctify our work itself and make it a worthy offering to God, and by means
of it we sanctify others — those for whom we are working. Let us be like God
then, by filling up our lives with the work he has given us to do, no matter how
ordinary it may appear. Therein lies the grandeur of the ordinary working life.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Along the way to personal sanctity we can at times get the impression that we
are going backwards instead of forwards, that we are getting worse instead of
better.
As long as there is interior struggle this pessimistic thought is only an
illusion, a deception to be rejected as false.
—Persevere and don’t worry. If you fight with tenacity you are making progress
and are growing in sanctity.
(The Forge, no.223)
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Thursday of the twenty-first week in
Ordinary Time C/II
(August 26) St. Joseph Calasanz (1556-1648)
From
Aragon, where he was born in 1556, to Rome, where he died 92 years later,
fortune alternately smiled and frowned on the work of Joseph Calasanz. A priest
with university training in canon law and theology, respected for his wisdom and
administrative expertise, he put aside his career because he was deeply
concerned with the need for education of poor children. When he was unable to
get other institutes to undertake this apostolate at Rome, he and several
companions personally provided a free school for deprived children. So
overwhelming was the response that there was a constant need for larger
facilities to house their effort. Soon Pope Clement VIII gave support to the
school, and this aid continued under Pope Paul V. Other schools were opened;
other men were attracted to the work and in 1621 the community (for so the
teachers lived) was recognized as a religious community, the Clerks Regular of
Religious Schools (Piarists or Scolopi). Not long after, Joseph was appointed
superior for life. A combination of various prejudices and political ambition
and manoeuvring caused the institute much turmoil. Some did not favour educating
the poor, for education would leave the poor dissatisfied with their lowly tasks
for society! Others were shocked that some of the Piarists were sent for
instruction to Galileo (a friend of Joseph) as superior, thus dividing the
members into opposite camps. Repeatedly investigated by papal commissions,
Joseph was demoted; when the struggle within the institute persisted, the
Piarists were suppressed. Only after Joseph’s death were they formally
recognized as a religious community. (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: 1 Corinthians 1:
1-9; Psalm 144; Matthew 24:42-59
Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay
awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if
the master
of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you
also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will
come. “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put
in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I
say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that wicked
servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ and begins to beat his
fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant’s master will
come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and
grinding of teeth.” (Matthew 24:42-59)
Stand ready
One of the most startling things that
recurs constantly in history is the sudden end of many human lives. Alexander
the Great rose like a great meteor across the sky, imposed himself remorselessly
on the attention of all, and then suddenly faded and disappeared. In the prime
of young and victorious manhood, “having advanced to the ends of the earth..
(which).. “fell silent before him,” his “heart became proud and arrogant” (1 Maccab 1:1-8). Then he suddenly fell sick and died. No-one knew that his end
would be so sudden. Julius Caesar, conqueror of Gaul and later of Pompey,
entered Rome victorious and became the first of the emperors. But suddenly he
was assassinated — and by personal acquaintances! These famous classical figures
are but emblems of a pattern that embraces great and small. A couple marry and
move on to their farming property, raising a large family. The marriage is a
good one but suddenly the husband collapses with a massive heart attack and
dies. His wife and children are left bereft. Death has come without warning.
Death is the mystery of life, and it is the most natural thing in the world to
wonder why a living thing has to die. There is nothing untoward about the idea
of a living thing passing from one stage of life to another, but the mystery is
that life comes to its end in death. Man has generally surmised that with death
there begins an Afterlife, but death retains its terrible sting. What is awful
about death is its unpredictability. Two priests set out on a long drive north
of Sydney, and they stop for ten minutes to pick up a third. Later that morning
all three are killed in a collision on the roads. If they had not stopped to
pick up the third, the catastrophe would not have happened because of the
several minutes of difference it would have made to the course of events. No-one
in the world expected that death was nigh, and about to fall. As the famous
Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly, reportedly said on the gallows, “such is
life!” The point is, that if life is like this, it would seem to be common sense
that we so live as to be prepared.
Now, Christ lays down as imperative that
we be prepared for a sudden death. He, the Author of life and the world, is
warning us. It would therefore seem that normally we cannot expect that God will
change life’s natural course to suit our preferences. That is to say, we cannot
expect time to get ready for death — this may be our lot, but it may not be. It
is therefore a matter of ordinary prudence that we always be prepared, and our
Lord gives a parallel from ordinary life. When we leave our home to go shopping,
or get out of our car to enter a building, we lock the door behind us in case a
thief is about. So too, we remain prepared for a sudden coming of the Son of
Man. “Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day
your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the
hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let
his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you
do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Our Lord is even more explicit as to
what this means. Being always prepared means always striving to fulfil our
God-given responsibilities. It means being ever “on the job” of doing the will
of God with as pure a love for him as is possible. It means making sure we are
not distracted away from what God expects of us, and indulging in our own
preferences, fancies and self-seeking. A person who has lived a good life, but
then at a certain point dallies with what is not pleasing to God, and then with
what is most offensive to him, is on a serious knife-edge. How tragic if at this
precise point he is called before the Judgement Seat! “Who, then, is the
faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?... But if that wicked
servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ and begins to beat his
fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant’s master will
come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and
grinding of teeth” (Matthew 24:42-59).
Let us resolve so to live that we are always prepared. Crack troops are always
prepared and are not caught napping. Let us spend each day in such a way that
were it to be our last, we would be ready. Let us so pray that we are always
ready. Let us so do our work that we are always ready — joyful, trusting, pure
in intention and single-minded of heart. Our business in life is to do God’s
will, and this life is the test of our readiness to do this. As our Lord says,
“Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection
(1 Corinthians 1: 1-9; Matthew 24: 42-51)
Be always at our "employment"
There are many facets to the basic
attitudes of the Christian. One is that of being ever in a state of expectation.
The Christian is someone who is waiting, awaiting the coming of Jesus, and day
by day he lives accordingly.
St Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians
(ch.1: 1-9) refers to the Corinthian Christians "waiting for our Lord Jesus
Christ to be revealed." Our Lord says in today's Gospel that his disciples are
to "stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming"
(Matthew 24: 42). They "must stand ready because the Son of man is coming at an
hour you do not expect." Our Lord explains that this means being constantly at
the employment given by the master: "Happy that servant if his master's arrival
finds him at this employment." We must use the time of life to do as good a job
as possible with the responsibilities which God in his providence has entrusted
to us. Our whole life is to be shaped by this awareness that Jesus is coming. We
must be ready.
The philosopher Heidegger’s most famous book was Being and Time.
Our being is essentially caught up in time and this time is always passing,
never to be recovered. Let us use all the time given to us by God to be at our
God-given employment so as to be able to stand ready at the coming of Christ, be
this coming in daily moments of grace, be it at our death, or be it at the end
of time.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Interior dryness is not lukewarmness. When a person is lukewarm the waters of
grace slide over him without being soaked in. In
contrast, there are dry lands
which seem arid but which, with a few drops of rain at the right time, yield
abundant flowers and delicious fruit.
That is why I ask: When are we going to be convinced? How important it is to be
docile to the divine calls which come at each moment of the day, because it is
precisely there that God is awaiting us!
(The Forge, no.224)
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Friday of the twenty-first week in Ordinary
Time C/II
(August 27) St. Monica (322?-387)
The circumstances of St. Monica’s life could have made her a nagging wife, a
bitter daughter-in-law and a despairing parent, yet
she did not give way to any
of these temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in
marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North
Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and
was licentious. Monica also had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who
lived in her home. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and
piety, but always respected her. Monica’s prayers and example finally won her
husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year
after his baptism. Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The
oldest, Augustine, is the most famous. At the time of his father’s death,
Augustine was 17 and a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica was distressed to
learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy and was living an immoral
life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one
night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith.
From that time on she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In
fact, she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted. When he was 29,
Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. Monica was determined to go
along. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye
to a friend. Instead, he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she
learned of Augustine’s trick, but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome
only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica
pursued him to Milan. In Milan, Augustine came under the influence of the
bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica’s spiritual director. She accepted
his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had
become second nature to her (see Quote, below). Monica became a leader of the
devout women in Milan as she had been in Tagaste. She continued her prayers for
Augustine during his years of instruction. At Easter, 387, St. Ambrose baptized
Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa.
Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was near the end. She
told Augustine, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not
know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in
this world being now fulfilled.” She became ill shortly after and suffered
severely for nine days before her death. Almost all we know about St. Monica is
in the writings of St. Augustine, especially his Confessions.
When Monica moved from North Africa to Milan, she found religious practices new
to her and also that some of her former customs, such as a Saturday fast, were
not common there. She asked St. Ambrose which customs she should follow. His
classic reply was: “When I am here, I do not fast on Saturday, but I fast when I
am in Rome; do the same and always follow the custom and discipline of the
Church as it is observed in the particular locality in which you find yourself.”
(AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today:
1 Corinthians 1: 17-25; Psalm 32; Matthew 25:1-13
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went
out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The
foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise
brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold,
the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed
their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for
our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be
enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’
While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went
into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other
virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply,
‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know
neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:1-13)
Stay awake John Henry
Newman was nineteenth century England’s foremost apologist of the religion of
revealed dogma. He was a master of English prose, and his writings spanned
various genres — sermons, theological and philosophical investigation, history,
educational theory, autobiography,
poetry and novels, and an abundance of
correspondence. He wrote two novels, and each is concerned with religious
belief. The second of the two, Callista, was published in 1855. It
has for its heroine the young woman Callista, a pagan and quintessential Greek.
In her encounter with St Cyprian (ch.19), she objects to the Christian dogma of
Hell. The maxims of Christianity are beautiful, indeed too beautiful to be
believed, she said to him. But “its dogmas are too dismal, too shocking, too
odious to be believed. They revolt me.” “Such as what?” asked St Cyprian (Caecilius).
“Such as this,” answered Callista. “Nothing will ever make me believe that all
my people have gone and will go to an eternal Tartarus.” (The classical
“Tartarus” was something vaguely like Hell.) Cyprian (Caecilius) proceeded to
demonstrate the rationality of an eternal Tartarus — without specifying any
particular persons, such as her own people, who would go there. At the end of
his account, Callista said, “I cannot answer you, sir, but I do not believe the
dogma on that account a whit the more. My mind revolts from the notion. There
must be some way out of it.” This imagined dialogue between the educated and
persecuted Bishop of Carthage and a pagan Greek woman (who later becomes a
Christian and dies a martyr), indicates the natural human presentiment that
there is a good God who loves, a God who has instituted a just order of things.
Such an intimation revolts at the thought of an eternal Hell. Such is the
expectation of fallen nature which profoundly underestimates the enormity of sin
and separation from God. The pagan Callista revolted from the “dogma” of Hell,
but forgot that this “dismal” dogma was answered by other dogmas of great joy,
those of the Incarnation and the Redemption.
This tension between the almighty and saving love of God and the stern fact of a
judgment appears often in our Lord’s teaching, and our Gospel today (Matthew
25:1-13) is one such instance. The kingdom of heaven — God’s rule and lordship — is likened to a wedding banquet, and the bridegroom is coming. God’s rule is,
then, a wondrous relationship of spousal love between the Lord and his own
people. He is the Bridegroom who is coming, and all must be vigilant for his
arrival. This image of the divine Bridegroom is deeply etched in the writings of
the prophets, and I suspect it is an overtone of the very name of “Yahweh.”
Yahweh is the one who is, and who will be with his people. As who I am, I shall
be with you. It is not a long step from this to the prophetic image of the
Bridegroom. But all through the Scriptures there is the threat of the people
being cast out if they are incorrigibly unfaithful. Even so, God will be
faithful. So at the outset, while the joy of the wedding is constantly before
us, there is the terrible possibility of being excluded. God is the Bridegroom,
and he is present in the person of Jesus Christ. There is so much to anticipate
with joy, and this is captured in the image of the ten virgins who took their
lamps and went to meet the Bridegroom. But this is not mere magic. It is a moral
matter involving a personal responsibility to take great care to be ready for
the Bridegroom’s arrival. So it is that among the ten virgins there were several
who took no care. They were unprepared, presumably because they dissipated their
time and thoughts on other things of their preference. They did not keep their
thoughts on the Bridegroom, his interests and his arrival. They knew his arrival
could be at any point, but basically they did not care. So they were caught
unprepared, and returned with the gates now locked. The terrible fact is that
once the gates are locked they will not be opened again. As we read, “Then the
door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open
the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
No other prophet before Jesus Christ spoke so much of the Last Things: the
possibility of a sudden end, the divine judgment, and then either Heaven or
Hell. God is love, as St John writes in his inspired Letter. He is the
Bridegroom of the Church, and the Bridegroom of our souls. At the same time he
is our Judge. These things the heart of man intimates, but revelation shows the
greatness of the divine love and the enormity of sin. Let us then take our stand
with Jesus Christ; guarding against all the enemies that can suddenly fall upon
us and take us captive.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection (1 Corinthians 1: 17-25)
Christ crucified, the wisdom of God There have been
various schemes developed by
great minds — philosophers, architects, governors — for the improvement of
mankind. How many, though, have identified the fundamental problem in human
society and in man? God has revealed it as being sin, both the original sin and
the ongoing sins of mankind. Apart from identifying the problem, how many have
come up with a solution? God has not only revealed what the problem is. He has
solved the problem, providing us with the solution that each person is free to
make his own, and apply to his life. The solution was the crucifixion of his
son, Jesus Christ. That would sound madness to a pagan and foolish to the
religious. But this is, as St Paul says, “the power and the wisdom of God.”
We make this solution our own by following in the footsteps of Christ crucified,
turning our sufferings into a means of redemption and sanctification, by
accepting them in obedience to the will of God.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Be clever, spiritually clever. Don’t wait for the Lord to send you setbacks; go
out to meet them with a spirit of voluntary atonement. — Then you’ll receive
them not so much with resignation (an old—sounding word) as with Love — a word
which is forever young.
(The Forge, no.225)
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Saturday of the twenty-first week in Ordinary Time C/II
(August 28) Saint Augustine, bishop and doctor of the Church
A Christian at 33, a priest at 36, a bishop at 41: many people are familiar with
the biographical sketch of Augustine of Hippo,
sinner turned saint. But really
to get to know the man is a rewarding experience. There quickly surfaces the
intensity with which he lived his life, whether his path led away from or toward
God. The tears of his mother, the instructions of Ambrose and, most of all, God
himself speaking to him in the Scriptures redirected Augustine’s love of life to
a life of love. Having been so deeply immersed in creature-pride of life in his
early days and having drunk deeply of its bitter dregs, it is not surprising
that Augustine should have turned, with a holy fierceness, against the many
demon-thrusts rampant in his day. His times were truly decadent—politically,
socially, morally. He was both feared and loved, like the Master. The perennial
criticism levelled against him: a fundamental rigorism. In his day, he
providentially fulfilled the office of prophet. Like Jeremiah and other greats,
he was hard-pressed but could not keep quiet. “I say to myself, I will not
mention him,/I will speak in his name no more./But then it becomes like fire
burning in my heart,/imprisoned in my bones;/I grow weary holding it in,/I
cannot endure it” (Jeremiah 20:9).
“Too late have I loved you, O Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new! Too late I
loved you! And behold, you were within, and I abroad, and there I searched for
you; I was deformed, plunging amid those fair forms, which you had made. You
were with me, but I was not with you. Things held me far from you—things which,
if they were not in you, were not at all. You called, and shouted, and burst my
deafness. You flashed and shone, and scattered my blindness. You breathed odours
and I drew in breath—and I pant for you. I tasted, and I hunger and thirst. You
touched me, and I burned for your peace” (St. Augustine, Confessions).
(AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Psalm 33:12-13, 18-21; Matthew 25:14-30
Jesus told his disciples this parable: A man going on a journey called his
servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of
money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his
ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents
went at once and put his money to work and
gained five more. So also, the one
with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one
talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a
long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he
said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' His
master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful
with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your
master's happiness!' The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said,
'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' His master
replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a
few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your
master's happiness!' Then the man who had received the one talent came.
'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have
not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and
went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where
I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you
should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I
would have received it back with interest. 'Take the talent from him and give it
to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and
he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken
from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (Matthew
25:14-30)
Our work Joseph
Butler (1692–1752) was an Anglican bishop, and an important philosopher in the
defence of the Christian religion. He was born in Wantage in the English county
of Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). He is known for his attack on Hobbes's egoist
philosophy and Locke's theory of personal identity, and for his influence on
many philosophers, including David Hume, Thomas Reid, and Adam Smith. He is most
famous for his Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel (1726)
and his Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed (1736). The
Analogy is an important work of Christian apologetics in the history of the
controversies over the deism that was dominant in his century. In his defence of
revealed religion he concentrated on "the general analogy between the principles
of divine government, as set forth by the biblical revelation, and those
observable in the course of nature, [an analogy which] leads us to the
warrantable conclusion that there is one Author of both." That is to say, he saw
a strong similarity between the pattern of divine government at work in biblical
revelation and that which can be seen in the course of nature. This similarity
suggested, he argued, that if we allow that the course of nature points to a
divine Author (which the deists maintained), then the biblical revelation points
to the same divine Author (because it manifests the same kind of government). It
was the divine authorship of biblical revelation, of course, which the deists
rejected. Now, I only mention the writings of Butler to introduce the idea of an
analogy between God’s ways in the order of nature and his ways in the order of
revealed religion. Now, by his numerous parables and illustrations from everyday
life, our Lord suggests a likeness between what is expected of man in everyday
life, and what God expects of us in revealed religion. For instance, there is
the fundamental matter of human work. All grant that work is central to life.
That is to say, work that builds up the good things of life is absolutely
commended by man and society. In similar fashion, our Lord’s teaching shows that
God himself commends a life of enterprising work on all the good things
contained in his supernatural revelation in Christ.
In our Gospel today (Matthew 25:14-30) our
Lord tells his story of the “man going on a journey” who “called his servants
and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to
another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability.
Then he went on his journey.” This is a perfectly familiar scene from ordinary
life. A person entrusts his assets to certain qualified people and expects them
to build up his property. He gives different amounts to different persons, but
of course he expects all of them to apply their best energies to the flourishing
of his business. So he leaves it to them, and at a later date he approaches them
to see how much his interests have been forwarded. All of this is a common
feature of modern life — and it seems to have been a feature of the life and
times of our Lord. But in our Lord’s story, it transpires that one of the agents
did nothing with his charge. He made no attempt to build on the capital, but
contented himself merely with not losing it. He did not even put it into the
bank so as at least to gain a basic bank interest and retain its value. He
simply buried it away — in modern terms, in his own safe. So it depreciated, and
to that extent the property declined. Who would commend this lack of action? In
altogether exceptional circumstances of an international freefall in all
currencies, exceptional caution and a purely holding action may be
understandable. But the total lack of enterprise in this case was culpable. The
point is, that all know that we must work at building up the good things of the
natural order in life. All know this, and so it is entirely understandable that
God too will expect this of us in the good things he has revealed
supernaturally. In the first instance, those things are all that is contained in
the business of faith in Jesus Christ. This is the work of God, our Lord said,
that you believe in the one he has sent (John 6: 29). Our greatest work in life
is that we grow in our faith, and on that basis that we grow in our hope in God
and in our love for Jesus Christ our Redeemer and our God. The saint is the
truly enterprising one in this work. The mediocre person is the lazy one, in
God’s sight.
Let us all get cracking, then. We all have a great work to do, and that pressing
work is our own sanctification, and the sanctification of others. This is the
will of God, St Paul writes, your sanctification. The toughest work of all is
that to which we are all called: to become hidden saints, with hearts like that
of Jesus Christ. We must so labour that the love of God flourishes and triumphs
over all in our heart. As one modern saint writes, “You will become a saint if
you have charity, if you manage to do the things which please others and do not
offend God, though you find them hard to do” (The Forge, 556). Let us to
the work, then! Ah! Now I begin!
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection: (Matthew 25: 1-13)
The servant who received but one talent Let us notice a detail in the words of
St Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor.1: 26-31), and in particular how he describes
their status. "How many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how
many were influential people, or came from noble families?"
That is to say, they
were very ordinary people (but called to a divine and marvellous vocation). In
another letter, his first to the Thessalonians (ch.4: 9-11), he instructs the
Thessalonians to make a point of living quietly, attending to their own business
and earning their living (all the while making greater and greater progress in
love). He expected them to live what other people would call ordinary lives. It
reminds us of the hidden greatness of the ordinary life. Let us but think of the
Holy Family all those years at Nazareth. Think of our Lady and St Joseph, and
our Lord himself. They were seemingly very ordinary people immersed in a very
ordinary life, yet year after year they made tremendous progress in the life of
grace. Their lives were filled with the perfect fulfilment of the very ordinary
round of duties God had given them. Let us now think of our Lord's parable of
the talents, and in particular of the servant entrusted with just the one talent
(Matthew 25: 1-13). We could call that servant with the one talent an ordinary
person living an ordinary life. He did not put his talent to use for his
master's interests and was condemned accordingly.
So then, whatever be our talents and opportunities, however modest they may be
or seem to us and to others, we must work wholeheartedly with them for the
Master. Therein lies the grandeur of the ordinary life.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Today, for the first time, you had the feeling that things were getting simpler,
that everything was “sorting itself out”. At last you see an end to the problems
that were worrying you. And you understand that they are more thoroughly and
better resolved the more you abandon yourself into the arms of your Father God.
What are you waiting for to start behaving always as a son of God? This should
be the driving force in your life.
(The Forge, no.226)
---------------Back to index for this period---------------------------Back to index to Liturgical Days---------
Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time C
Prayers this week: I call to you all day long, have mercy on me, O Lord. You are
good and forgiving, full of love for all who call on you.
(Psalm 85: 3.5)
Almighty God, every good thing comes from you. Fill our hearts with love for
you, increase our faith, and by your constant care protect the good you have
given us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
(August 29) The Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist
The drunken oath of a king with a shallow sense of honour, a seductive dance and
the hateful heart of a queen combined to bring about the martyrdom of John the
Baptist. The greatest of prophets suffered the fate of so many Old Testament
prophets before him: rejection and martyrdom. The “voice crying in the desert”
did not hesitate to accuse the guilty, did not hesitate to speak the truth. But
why? What possesses a man that he would give up his very life? This great
religious reformer was sent by God to prepare the people for the Messiah. His
vocation was one of selfless giving. The only power that he claimed was the
Spirit of Yahweh. “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one
who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Scripture
tells us that many people followed John looking to him for hope, perhaps in
anticipation of some great messianic power. John never allowed himself the false
honour of receiving these people for his own glory. He knew his calling was one
of preparation. When the time came, he led his disciples to Jesus: “The next day
John was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by,
he said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God.’ The two disciples heard what he said and
followed Jesus” (John 1:35-37). It is John the Baptist who has pointed the way
to Christ. John’s life and death were a giving over of self for God and other
people. His simple style of life was one of complete detachment from earthly
possessions. His heart was centred on God and the call that he heard from the
Spirit of God speaking to his heart. Confident of God’s grace, he had the
courage to speak words of condemnation or repentance, of salvation.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today:
Ecclesiasticus 3: 19-21.30-31; Psalm 67;
Hebrews 12: 18-19.22-24; Luke 14:1.7-14
On a Sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and
the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who
had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honour at the
table. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at
table in the place of honour. A more distinguished guest than you may have been
invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,
‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to
take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest
place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a
higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the
table. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles
himself will be exalted.” Then he said to the host who invited him, “When you
hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your
relatives or your wealthy neighbours, in case they may invite you back and you
have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled,
the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to
repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
(Luke
14:1, 7-14)
Humility
An act of humility can be a good worldly tactic. That is to say, it can
be a calculated and successful means of gaining the praise and esteem of others.
A show of humility may be the best way to gain acceptance after a serious
mistake or moral failure. It can also be a good strategy after, say, an election
victory. But this worldly-wise humility need have nothing to do with humility of
heart, and expressions of humility in the world can spring from nothing other
than political or social savvy. In today’s Gospel our Lord speaks of humility
not in terms of immediate temporal advantage, but in ultimate terms. “Everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be
exalted” (Luke 14:1.7-14). To understand the specifically Christian virtue of
humility, we must read the Gospels and contemplate the heart of Jesus Christ.
This is exactly what our Lord invites us to do: “Come to me, all you that labour
and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” Further, humility is a fundamental
feature of the heavenly Father, for at the Last Supper Christ said, “he who sees
me sees the Father.” Therefore, as Christ is meek and humble, so is the Father.
Everything we see the Son doing in the Gospels that manifests the humility of
his heart, reveals also the humility of the Father. So then, humility reigns in
the highest heavens, in the very heart of God. It therefore also pertains to the
Spirit of God. It is the Holy Spirit’s wonderful gift. If we think of this
divine virtue, this virtue reigning at the heart of the Godhead, we shall esteem
Christ-like humility and strive to grow in it. We grow in it by humbling
ourselves, rather than by exalting ourselves. By contrast, while humility reigns
in heaven, pride reigns in Hell. The first sin that was ever committed was a sin
of pride, and it was committed in heaven by one of the most illustrious of the
angels — Lucifer, the bearer of light. He became the prince of darkness and the
father of lies. He exalted himself and so was humbled.
The book of Genesis tells us that God created our first parents and placed them
in the Garden of Eden. Leaving them to enjoy its fruits, he commanded them to
respect the divine law of good and evil. They were not to eat of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. But then another personality entered the scene,
Satan. He intervened with his insinuating temptation to attempt to rival God.
“No,” he said, “if you eat this forbidden fruit, you will be like God.” Eve
liked the thought of it, took the evil plunge, and went and enticed Adam to do
the same. So Lucifer, full of self-exaltation himself, enticed our first parents
to exalt themselves in like manner before God.
Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, our Lord tells us in the Gospel
(Luke
14:1, 7-14).
Before the world began, pride took root among the highest angels in heaven and
wrought havoc. They were cast out into hell. At the dawn of human history, pride
took root in our first parents and wrought havoc among them and among all of
mankind. They were cast out of the Garden in which they had been placed. A
Redeemer from heaven, God’s own Son, would have to come in order to restore the
situation. We ought look on pride, or the effort to exalt ourselves before
others, as ridiculous and ruinous. I remember when I was growing up we had a
dog, and every bone we gave the dog, the dog would bury. And it knew exactly
where all its bones were. One day a sister of mine brought another dog into our
home for a while, and what did our dog do? Just to assert its superiority, it
went and dug up all his bones, put them together in a big heap in one corner of
the back yard and stood over them, watching the new dog that had just arrived.
The new dog, all frustrated at the sight, could only bark back from a distance.
Our dog just watched, very satisfied at being superior to the other dog because
it had all those bones. It was funny and ridiculous, but how like human beings
our dog was! How often we want to be, and try to be, and succeed in being, the
top dog before others!
As St Paul writes, let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. Though he
was God himself, St Paul continues, Christ did not look on equality with God as
something to hang on to, but rather he humbled himself and took the form of a
slave, and even went humbler still, to death on a cross. And so God raised him
up on high and placed him at his own right hand. Our Lord himself is the great
example of what he means when he says that the one who humbles himself will be
exalted. So let us study the example of our Lord. Each day let us spend a few
minutes with a Gospel passage, putting ourselves in the scene and observing our
Lord prayerfully. Let us learn from him, especially from his humility, his
shunning of all self-exaltation, for “everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.”
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection: (Luke 14:1, 7-14)
Love for the poor
If we are earnest about following our Lord closely,
there will
be some things we are instinctively drawn to work on in our life. It could be
extra time in prayer, which is wonderful. It could be extra time given to the
apostolate, which is wonderful. It could be extra efforts in the religious and
spiritual education of our children, which is wonderful. But there will be many
things that we will tend to neglect. Time will be needed for us to see what
these things are. We must be open to that development in ourselves and committed
to the full will of God, if we want truly to advance to a close union with and
likeness to Christ. We shall have to take the means to become more aware of what
needs to be done in our life, and hence there will have to be regular spiritual
reading, listening carefully to the homilies at Mass, taking regular spiritual
direction, and so forth.
One thing we must do is to develop a Christ-like love for the poor. God loves
the poor, the suffering, the outcast, the one who is deprived in some way, and
he is rich in mercy. If we aspire to be his children, we must learn to love the
poor too, and to be merciful to those in need. God will show his mercy to the
poor precisely through us. Our Lord in the Gospel today (Luke 14:1.7-14) says to
the Pharisee who had invited him to the meal, “When you have a party, invite the
poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means
that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous
rise again.” Our Lord was making a general point. We must learn to love the
poor, the needy, the helpless, and do what we can to help them. Indeed, in our
Lord’s description of the General Judgment, which we find in chapter 25 of St
Matthew, he says that we will be judged on how we have helped those in need,
because what we do to the least, he will regard as having been done to himself.
We will be rewarded or punished accordingly.
We ought ask ourselves, do I have much love for the poor as yet? Have I begun to
grow in this aspect of the imitation of Christ? If we in our hearts have to
admit that we do not love the poor very much nor help them much, then we must
admit to that in the presence of God, and ask for the grace to start working on
it by taking some attainable and concrete steps in that direction. Let us pray
for the grace to make a real beginning in putting on the mind of Christ our Lord
in this aspect of our Christian life. The saints loved the poor. So must we, if
we wish to be like Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further Reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2443-2449
(Love
for the poor)
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Turn to Our Lady — the Mother, Daughter and Spouse of God, and our Mother — and
ask her to obtain more graces for you from the Blessed Trinity: the grace of
faith, of hope, of love and of contrition. So that when it seems that a harsh
dry wind is blowing in your life, threatening to wither those flowers of your
soul, they will not wither… and neither will those of your brothers.
(The Forge, no.227)
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Monday of the
twenty-second week in Ordinary Time C/II
(August 30) St. Jeanne Jugan (1792-1879)
Born in northern France during the French Revolution—a time when
congregations of women and men religious were being suppressed by the national
government, Jeanne would eventually be highly praised in the French academy for
her community's
compassionate
care of elderly poor people. When Jeanne was three and a half years old, her
father, a fisherman, was lost at sea. Her widowed mother was hard pressed to
raise her eight children (four died young) alone. At the age of 15 or 16, Jeanne
became a kitchen maid for a family that not only cared for its own members, but
also served poor, elderly people nearby. Ten years later, Jeanne became a nurse
at the hospital in Le Rosais. Soon thereafter she joined a third order group
founded by St. John Eudes (August 19). After six years she became a servant and
friend of a woman she met through the third order. They prayed, visited the poor
and taught catechism to children. After her friend's death, Jeanne and two other
women continued a similar life in the city of Saint-Sevran. In 1839, they
brought in their first permanent guest. They began an association, received more
members and more guests. Mother Marie of the Cross, as Jeanne was now known,
founded six more houses for the elderly by the end of 1849, all staffed by
members of her association—the Little Sisters of the Poor. By 1853 the
association numbered 500 and had houses as far away as England. Abbé
Le
Pailleur, a chaplain, had prevented Jeanne's re-election as superior in 1843;
nine year later, he had her assigned to duties within the congregation, but
would not allow her to be recognized as its founder. He was removed from office
by the Holy See in 1890. By the time Pope Leo XIII gave her final approval to
the community's constitutions in 1879, there were 2,400 Little Sisters of the
Poor. Jeanne died later that same year, on August 30. Her cause was introduced
in Rome in 1970, and she was beatified in 1982 and canonized in 2009. Jeanne
Jugan saw Christ in what Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta would describe as his
"distressing disguises." With great confidence in God's providence and the
intercession of St. Joseph, she begged willingly for the many homes that she
opened, relying on the good example of the Sisters and the generosity of
benefactors who knew the good that the Sisters were doing. They now work in 30
countries. "With the eye of faith, we must see Jesus in our old people—for they
are God's mouthpiece," Jeanne once said. No matter what the difficulties, she
was always able to praise God and move ahead.
In his homily at the beatification Mass, Pope John Paul II praised
"the quiet but eloquent radiance of her life." He continued: "In our day, pride,
the pursuit of efficacy, the temptation to use power all run rampant in the
world, and sometimes, unfortunately, even in the Church. They become an obstacle
to the coming of the Kingdom of God. This is why the spirituality of Jeanne
Jugan can attract the followers of Christ and fill their hearts with simplicity
and humility, with hope and evangelical joy, having their source in God and in
self-forgetfulness." (AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: 1 Corinthians 2:
1-5; Psalm 118; Luke
4:16-30
Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had
grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath
day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He
unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to
the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to
the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat
down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to
them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke
highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you
will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in
your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’” And he
said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when
the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over
the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a
widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but
only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were
all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to
the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down
headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
(Luke 4:16-30)
Nazareth
Our Gospel scene today has a certain
uniqueness in that there is no other instance recorded in the Gospels when a
synagogue congregation, obviously consisting of the substance of the village
population, rose up in anger and drove our Lord out for a lynching. There is
recorded in the Gospel of St John occasions when our Lord, in the presence of
the religious leaders, claimed that God was his own Father, that he and the
Father were one, and that the divine name was his — “before Abraham ever was, I
am.” The leaders took up stones to stone him, but he escaped. Christ seems to
have effortlessly escaped whenever he wished. But on this occasion at Nazareth
Christ does not claim divinity. He clearly alludes to his being the Messiah by
applying to himself the prophecy of Isaiah. But how are we to account for the
singular violence of his own townsmen? The narration in the Gospel is clear. It
was an upsurge of powerful village violence. There was no trial by competent
authorities. Jesus was grabbed and hustled out, shoved and pushed to a local
precipice. The design was to kill him. When Christ was arrested by the Temple
authorities in the Garden of Gethsemane and then tried before the Sanhedrin,
they had no power to put him to death. This required the sanction of the Roman
procurator, which through loud pressure and threats they obtained. But they had
to obtain it. Here at Nazareth we are speaking of a tiny backwater village of
which perhaps few outsiders received much news. They were about to kill one of
their own sons. It has to be regarded as a sensation, and doubtlessly that is
one reason why it found a place in the Gospels. The whole amazing event, this
terrible storm in this tiny tea-cup, suggests that our Lord led a most ordinary
life during his thirty years at Nazareth. They were amazed at him when he spoke:
Where did he get all this, they asked? It may suggest that Christ had rarely if
ever spoken publicly at Nazareth before. It may suggest that till the
commencement of his public ministry he had never done anything that drew notable
attention to himself. But on the occasion of his return from his public
ministry, he did.
In his Gospel, St John tells us of the
first miracle worked by Jesus Christ — it was at the instigation of his mother,
and it was at the wedding feast of Cana. Significantly, John tells us that on
that occasion Jesus let his glory be seen, suggesting that nothing of his glory
was seen prior to this. Christ’s lot over the years of his childhood, youth, and
early manhood at Nazareth had been a hidden one. He shared this situation with
Mary and Joseph his foster-father. It was the hidden, ordinary and obscure
situation of countless human beings. Now, though, he was back and had brought
with him a reputation of prophetic ministry elsewhere in Galilee. When during
his synagogue address at Nazareth — or perhaps during his addresses over a few
Sabbaths — Christ warned his townsmen about their lack of faith, everything
became ominously sour. The townspeople, perhaps influenced by some leaders,
became suddenly angry at their childhood, adolescent and early adult companion.
Doubtless Satan was busy exploiting the changing atmosphere. At the Last Supper
we read that he entered Judas, who went out into the night to arrange our Lord’s
betrayal. We also gain the impression from the number of exorcisms that featured
in our Lord’s public ministry that Satan and the demons were especially present
and active at his time. Could we not see in this upsurge of lethal hostility a
sequence of events in which Satan was busy too, and in some sense entering the
hearts of those leading the fray? All of these things show forth the thoroughly
authentic character of the Incarnation, in which God truly became man. The
infinite God, while remaining himself, took on a limited nature and so exposed
himself to the merciless pounding of sin and of ordinary events. This happened
precisely when he began to reveal his glory. He gained disciples, and he gained
enemies. When Christ warned his disciples that he came to bring not peace but
division, he had experienced this first-hand in his own tiny village. Our Gospel
scene (Luke 4:16-30) reminds us of the havoc
of fallen human nature.
It also reminds us of the grandeur of Jesus Christ. He calmly, clearly and most
impressively bears witness to the truth of his person before his own townsmen.
Moreover, in the attempt at murder, we have a portent of Christ’s invincible
power. The people drove him to the brow of the hill of their town, but he passed
through their midst and went on. We are not given a description of this striking
event, so calm, so deft, so masterful. It does indicate, though, that Christ was
lord of the events, and nothing could dominate him beyond what he allowed. So it
would be in his public life, till his hour came. Jesus Christ is Lord. Man as he
is, he is Lord of lords and King of kings.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Second reflection: (Luke
4: 16-30)
God loves the poor in spirit
Let us notice a detail in the prophecy
of Isaiah that
our Lord explicitly refers to in telling his own townsmen of his
mission (Luke 4: 16-30).
The prophet Isaiah, in speaking of the coming Messiah,
says of him that he is sent "to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim
liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight." God looks with special
compassion on the unfortunate, and his blessings (especially the blessing
brought by the Messiah) are especially intended for them, the poor. Now, we are
all poor, needy, captive and blind. But for a variety of reasons (such as the
feeling that we do not need it) we can reject what God offers. We see this in
evidence in this very passage from Luke. Our Lord's townspeople rejected him,
after our Lord referred to examples in the Scriptures during the times of Elijah
and Elisha, where the poor and the needy were not judged to be worthy.
Let us ask God for the grace to be like him in his love for the poor, while
being poor in spirit ourselves. Let us humbly recognise our profound need for
all he offers.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Be filled with faith and rest assured! The Lord tells us this through the
prophet Jeremiah: orabitis me, et ego exaudiam vos — whenever you call
upon me, whenever you pray!, I will listen to you.
(The Forge, no.228)
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Tuesday of the twenty-second week in Ordinary
Time C/II
(August 31) Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus
The actions of these two influential Jewish leaders give insight into the
charismatic power of Jesus and his teachings—and the risks that could be
involved in following him. Joseph was a respected, wealthy civic leader who had
become a disciple of Jesus. Following the death of Jesus, Joseph obtained Jesus'
body from Pilate, wrapped it in fine linen and buried it. For these reasons
Joseph is considered the patron saint of funeral directors and pallbearers. More
important is the courage Joseph showed in asking Pilate for Jesus' body. Jesus
was a condemned criminal who had been publicly executed. According to some
legends, Joseph was punished and imprisoned for such a bold act. Nicodemus was a
Pharisee and, like Joseph, an important first-century Jew. We know from John's
Gospel that Nicodemus went to Jesus at night—secretly—to better understand his
teachings about the kingdom. Later, Nicodemus spoke up for Jesus at the time of
his arrest and assisted in Jesus' burial. We know little else about Nicodemus.
(AmericanCatholic.org)
Scripture today: 1 Corinthians 2:
10-16; Psalm 144; Luke 4:31-37
Then Jesus went
down to Capernaum, a
town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed
at his teaching, because his message had authority. In the synagogue there was a
man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice,
Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I
know who you are— the Holy One of God! Be quiet! Jesus said sternly. Come out of
him! Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without
injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, What is this
teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come
out! And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.
(Luke 4:31-37)
Christ and Satan
One of the sensational scenes
in John Henry Newman’s novel, Callista, is that of the sudden
possession of Juba by a demon (ch.23). Newman depicts the demon as having
assumed the form of a strange, crawling animal at the beck and call of Gurta the
witch. Juba, haughty
against God and against the devil, yet often tinkering with
the demons and the occult, had just insulted Gurta. With a whistle she summoned
the uncouth animal to her. Taking it into her arms she suddenly flung it at
Juba. Struck by the animal, Juba was hit by a shock, and within minutes the
demonic possession began to prevail. Newman proceeds with a gripping account of
the loss of mind, of will, of all that allowed Juba to have command of himself — Satan took over. God had judged, and a demon was allowed to do its terrible
work. In the last chapter of the novel (ch.35) the possessed Juba is brought
struggling violently into the presence of the martyred body of St Callista. St
Cyprian is nearby, the celebrant of the Eucharist. Juba is made to touch her
feet with his hands, and with a shriek he is delivered of the demon. As Newman
puts it, “the evil spirit had gone out; but he was an idiot.” It was the first
of the miracles that followed the martyrdom of Callista. Juba attached himself
to the church, and though he could be taught very little, he was not
troublesome. At the end of ten years in this condition he suddenly went to the
bishop and asked for baptism, saying that Callista had restored his mind. It was
so, and he was baptized. The next morning he was found at the tomb of Callista,
dead. Why do I mention this? I mention it only to show the powerful and
devastating effect of the entry of Satan into a person. In the fictional Juba’s
case it followed deliberate pride against God, man and against Satan too. Yet he
tinkered with Satan himself. There was a real case of Satanic entry — and that
was with Judas, one of the Twelve, no less. St John tells us that during Last
Supper itself Satan entered Judas. Then he went out into the night. He had
descended into the darkness, and its final result was his own hanging of
himself. Our Lord said that the Devil was a liar and a murderer from the
beginning.
In our Gospel passage today our Lord enters the synagogue on the Sabbath to
teach — as was his custom, it seems, during his public ministry. One of the
notable features of the general situation as described by the Gospels is the
frequent case of demon possession. There is nothing of this described in the Old
Testament books. Indeed, the devil is rarely mentioned there at all, let alone
his possession by many in the general population. But in the Gospels Satan
figures frequently, and makes his appearance immediately on John the Baptist’s
public identification of Christ as the Messiah. We read that Christ then went
into the wilderness and was tempted by the Devil. In our passage today Christ
taught in the synagogue with authority and dramatic effect, and the congregation
was profoundly moved. It seems to have been too much for the demon which, to
that point, had been quietly in possession of a man in the synagogue. It
bellowed out at our Lord, obviously in agony at the spectacle and presence of
this Man of the ages. “He cried out at the top of his voice, Ha! What do you
want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you
are— the Holy One of God!” It was helpless before him, and its proud
helplessness drove it to reveal its presence among the people. We have no
indication of whether — as in the fictional case of Juba, and in the factual
case of Judas — the unfortunate man was just hapless or indeed culpable in being
possessed. On one occasion Christ exorcised a boy — so we must presume that
demon-possession was not always due to sin and dallying with Satan. But whatever
be the circumstances, it is evident that Satan did evil to the person over which
he had some control. Now, in this case, what do we see? At a mere word from
Christ, Satan is sent packing from the man in the synagogue. Moreover, we are
told explicitly that the man was left unharmed. “Be quiet! Jesus said sternly.
Come out of him! Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out
without injuring him” (Luke 4:31-37). It
shows the power, the goodness and the beauty of Christ before the evil one.
One of the discoveries of modern science is that the universe if very, very
vast. The human race is vast. The natural world is vast. But we learn from
revelation that the unseen is much more vast. Consider the countless generations
of souls that have passed on from this life and are in one of three states:
heaven, purgatory, or — horrible thought! — hell. Consider the numerous angelic
spirits who serve God and who have been and are Angels Guardian of countless
human beings now and in the past. Consider the great and canonized saints now in
heaven. Consider the great God, Father, Son and Spirit. Consider the baleful
demonic world. Let us make our choice. Our choice is for God — now, today and
forever!
(E.J.Tyler)
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I refer everything to you, my God. Without you — who are my Father — what would
become of me?
(The Forge, no.229)
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