Since we are travellers and pilgrims in the world, let us ever ponder on the end of the road, that is of our life, for the end of our roadway is our home (St Columban, 8th sermon).
GospelJohn 8:1-11 (English Standard
Version, Anglicised)
At that time: Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the
morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat
down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had
been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him,
‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law,
Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’ This they said to
test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent
down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him,
he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the
first to throw a stone at her.’ And once more he bent down and wrote on the
ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the
older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus
stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’
She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and
from now on sin no more.’
More than 40 years ago I did a number of brief supplies in parishes in one of the western states of the USA. In one parish, where I stayed only from Saturday till Monday morning, the Sunday gospel was one showing the mercy of Jesus. I forget which one, but know it wasn't today's. In my homily I emphasised God's love for us as sinners and how he wants to welcome us back when we turn away from him, partly or fully, by sinning.
On Monday morning I found an anonymous note that had been shoved under the front door of the priest's house. The style was that of a teenage girl. But the message was one for which I thanked God.
The writer said that for years she had hated God, thinking that God hated her. But whatever was in the gospel that Sunday and whatever I said in my homily had touched her deeply, making her aware of God's unconditional love for her precisely as a sinner, a love that led her to let go of the hatred she had been carrying.
Today's gospel shows so clearly the profound, merciful love that Jesus has for the sinner. We tend to focus on his mercy for the woman taken in adultery. She is indeed the main focal point. But we also see the merciful love of Jesus for those who had accused her. Jesus often spoke harshly to and about hypocrites. But on this occasion he brings the men who had wanted to execute the woman to reflect on their own sinfulness.Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And the men did respond:But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones.
Today's gospel reflects that of last Sunday, the parable of the Prodigal Son. The older son couldn't see beyond the great sins of his younger brother and failed even to see his father's love shown to himself each day. But the father gently points out,Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
The men in the gospel could see only the sin of the woman. And she had committed a grave sin. Adultery is never a 'peccadillo', a 'little sin'. It is among other things a grave sin of injustice and causes grief to the other spouse and to their children, as I know only too well from listening to individuals over more than 57 years as a priest. One person I knew, in her late teens attempted suicide because of her father's adultery. Fortunately, she discovered through the care they took to help her to recover that her parents truly loved her, despite the sin of her father.
We live in a time when it is considered a 'grave sin' to be 'judgmental'. The 'grave sin' is not against God but against current 'thinking' and 'feeling'. Yet certain persons are called by their very professions to be judgmental: judges, teachers, doctors, referees and umpires, for example.
And Jesus in this instance is judgmental in that sense. He first asks the woman, Has no one condemned you? He then goes on to say, Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.
Jesus judges the woman - but doesn't condemn her. He acknowledges her sin - but sends her away forgiven. By this he calls her to conversion as he does to each of us and to the whole Church through this gospel and through the season of Lent Jesus has given us through the Church a powerful way of experiencing what the woman in today's gospel did: the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession/Penance. We're not usually dragged to the confessional by people condemning us. But we acknowledge there our sins while acknowledging God's mercy and its power that is greater than the power of sin. Among other things, 'The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.' Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation 'is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation.' Indeed the sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true 'spiritual resurrection,' restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No 1468).
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel Matthew 18:21-35 (English
Standard Version Anglicised)
Then
Peter came up and said to Jesus, “Lord, how often will my brother sin
against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
“Therefore
the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle
accounts with his servants.When he began to settle, one was brought
to him who owed him ten thousand talents.And since he
could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife
and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.So the servant fell on his knees,
imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him
and forgave him the debt.But when that same
servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a
hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay
what you owe.’So his fellow servant fell down and
pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the
debt.When his fellow servants saw what had taken
place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master
all that had taken place.Then his master summoned
him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because
you pleaded with me.And should not you have had
mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,until
he should pay all his debt.So also my heavenly
Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your
brother from your heart.”
The Misa Criolla, by Argentinian composer Ariel
Ramírez (1921-2010), is a Mass for tenor, chorus and orchestra, is
based on folk genres such as chacarera, carnavalito and estilo pampeano,
with Andean influences and instruments. It is also one of the first Masses to
be composed in a modern language. Ramírez wrote the piece in 1963-1964. 'Kyrie
eleison', is translated into Spanish here as 'Señor, ten piedad de nosotros', 'Lord, have mercy
on us'. Here it
is sung in St Peter's Basilica during a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 12 December 2014.
Today's gospel
brings us in touch with what is perhaps its most difficult demand: to
forgive. El Greco's painting shows us St Peter praying with hope and trust in
God's merciful and forgiving love. The setting by Ariel Ramírez of the Kyrie expresses the same thing.
Two examples come to mind. One is
that of Fr Werenfried van Straaten OPraem (1913-2003), about whom I posted on
6 June 2011. A Dutchman, he appealed to his fellow Dutch citizens who had
suffered greatly from the Germans during World War II to help German refugees
after the war by supplying food and other necessities. He was also deeply
concerned about the spiritual welfare of the refugees. His request,
especially to those who had family members killed by German soldiers, pushed
some of his listeners to the limit. But they acted according to today's gospel
and found hatred and anger replaced by pity and love.
Another is an extract from a letter
of Fr William Doyle SJ, an Irish priest who died in August 1917 while serving
as a chaplain in the British Army in World War I. The extract is taken
from a post in a wonderful blog called Remembering Fr Willie Doyle SJ.
Father Doyle writes to his father in
Dublin about events of 5 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme:
In the bottom of one hole lay a British
and a German soldier, locked in a deadly embrace, neither had any weapon, but
they had fought on to the bitter end. Another
couple seemed to have realised that the horrible struggle was none of their
making, and that they were both children of the same God; they had died
hand-in-hand praying for and forgiving one another. A third face caught my eye,
a tall, strikingly handsome young German, not more, I should say, than
eighteen. He lay there calm and peaceful, with a smile of happiness on his
face, as if he had had a glimpse of Heaven before he died. Ah, if only his poor
mother could have seen her boy it would have soothed the pain of her broken
heart.
To Father Doyle no German soldier was
an enemy. Indeed, one of the remarkable things in the literature that came out
of the Great War is that soldiers didn't seem to have hatred for the official
'enemy'. It was more often against their own generals and bullying corporals.
Photos and videos from the war show prisoners of war, especially wounded ones,
being treated with the same kindness and consideration as others.
Father Doyle's
description of the British and German soldiers holding hands in death
illustrates poignantly and powerfully what Jesus asks of us.
Amazing Grace
Words by John Newton
This song came out of John Newton's experience of God's mercy when shipwrecked off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, in 1748. He was involved in the Atlantic slave trade at the time and continued to be for some more years when he began to work for the abolition of slavery and became an Anglican priest. And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
This Sunday, 13 September, is the Fifteenth Sunday
After Pentecost in the calendar that uses the TLM. The complete Mass in Latin
and English is here.
(Adjust the date at the top of that page to 9-13-2020, if necessary).
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel Matthew 10:26-33 (New
Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition)
Jesus said to the Twelve:
‘So have no
fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing
secret that will not become known. What I say to you in
the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the
housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.Are
not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground
unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of
your head are all counted. So do not be afraid;
you are of more value than many sparrows.
‘Everyone
therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my
Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny
before my Father in heaven.’
I think it was during the summer of 1968, a few months after my ordination, that my parents and I visited the motherhouse of the Columban Sisters in Magheramore, County Wicklow, on the east coast of Ireland. We were deeply struck by the extraordinary gentle warmth of Sister Joan Sawyer from Country Antrim, Northern Ireland, who showed us around.
In December 1983 when I was giving a retreat to Columban Sisters in their convent in San Juan, Metro Manila, we got the shocking news of her violent death in Lima, Peru.
Joan Sawyer was a Columban Sister who was shot dead in Lima, Peru, in December 1983. She used to go to the Lurigancho Prison in Lima three or four days a week to visit the prisoners there. The prison held over 5,000 men. Conditions were bad. Out of 5,000 prisoners only 1,000 were sentenced. The rest were pending sentence or perhaps innocent. Joan used try to bring them some relief - medicines for some, a kind word for others, news about how she was progressing with their legal papers in the ministry for Justice, etc.
The large majority of prisoners came, in her own words, 'from the poor sectors of Lima where they never had enough to eat, didn't finish school and couldn't find decent work'. On the morning of 14 December 1983 a group of prisoners decided that at all costs they were going to escape. They took as hostages Joan Sawyer, three Marist Sisters and social workers. After all-day negotiations with the prison authorities it was agreed that the prisoners and their hostages would be allowed leave the prison in the evening in an ambulance, the most inconspicuous mode of travel for getting out unnoticed.
They were no sooner outside the prison gate than waiting police riddled the ambulance with bullets from all sides. Four bullets struck Joan, one through the back of the neck, two through her leg and one through her finger. When removed from the ambulance she was dead. Joan Sawyer was born in Donegore, County Antrim, in 1932. She entered the Columban Sisters in 1949 having previously worked as a secretary in Belfast. Subsequently she took her BA degree in Mundelein College, Chicago. She went to Peru in 1977 and was 51 years old at the time of her death.
Hilary Cross, Sr Joan's niece, visited Lima for the 30th anniversary of the death of her Aunty Joan. In an article in the English newspaper The Guardian she tells of the two great sacrifices made her grandfather, George Sawyer, Sister Joan's father. George was a Protestant who married a Catholic, Brigid Deegan, in the 1920s in the newly independent Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland. They had a mixed marriage in the 1920s, and it was hard to find their place in a free state that wasn't really so free. So they moved north; my grandfather, George, the eldest son, losing his family farm for love of a sweet girl, Brigid, from 'the other side'. They settled in Donegore, near Antrim, where George's love of the land led him to labour on another man's farm.
The article continues: Joan was the youngest of seven. Although all were much loved, it was said that 'wee Joan' held a special place in her father's heart. Gentle, slight, spirited and with a deep faith, she left at the age of 17 to join a convent in the remote west of Ireland. That day George retreated to the land, unable to say goodbye. A man of great faith himself, he must have struggled to reconcile whose sacrifice this was, his love of a Catholic girl had lost him more than just his farm.
Hilary Cross at her Aunty Joan's grave
The Story of Sister Joan Sawyer on the website of her native parish in Northern Ireland quotes from a letter written by a prisoner named Julio in Lurigancho Prison: Minutes before Sister Juanita [as she was known in Peru] was taken hostage I was speaking to her when she came with a packet sent in with her by my mother. I can still see her eyes which reached to eternity. Her love, pure and gentle, which reflected her great love for people. Her spirit of kindness and sacrifice towards us prisoners will be my most precious memory.
Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
You may read more about Sister Joan on the website of the Columban Sistershere,here, hereandhere. The website is also the source of the photos above.
Ariel Ramírez, an Argentinian, composed La Misa Criolla, one of the first Mass settings in Spanish,shortly after Vatican II. Part of his inspiration for writing it was meeting two German sisters, Elisabeth and Regina Brückner, who had fed prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp and to whom he dedicated the work.
The video was recorded in St Peter's Basilica on 12 December 2014 when Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas and Minor Patroness of the Philippines. Under that title Our Blessed Mother is also Patroness of the Pro-life movement. The conductor was Facundo Ramírez, son of the composer.
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
GospelLuke 15:1-32 [or 15:1-10] (New
Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)
Now all the
tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the
Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes
sinners and eats with them.’
So he told
them this parable: ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing
one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the
one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on
his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his
friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my
sheep that was lost.” Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who
need no repentance.
‘Or what
woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a
lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she
has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, “Rejoice
with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” Just so, I tell you,
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’
[Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The
younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property
that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. A few
days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant
country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he
had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and
he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the
citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He
would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating;
and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, “How
many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am
dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy
to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” So he set
off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him
and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed
him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and
before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”But the
father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it
on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted
calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was
dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to
celebrate.
‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and
approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the
slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, “Your brother has come,
and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe
and sound.” Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out
and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, “Listen! For all
these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never
disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I
might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who
has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for
him!” Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and
all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because
this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been
found.”’]
This week I'm going to borrow from
others. The late Fr Paul Andrews SJ was a regular contributor toTheSacred Heart Messenger,
a monthly publication of the Irish Jesuits. The general title of his column was One Page Wisdom and the specific title of his column in the
September 2016 issue is Messy Families. I'm quoting it in full.
We know about families. We have all
survived them, more or less. You remember the Gospel parable about the father
of the prodigal son - and here Jesus is talking about God. the boy made a fool
of him by squandering the family fortune and reputation. His older son was so
envious of the kid brother that he would not attend the homecoming party.
God knows about troubled families.
They are nothing out of the ordinary. In that lovely parable, the father enjoys
the being of
his son even when he is in every way a thorn in the father's heart. Scanning
the horizon from his window he sees a forlorn, debauched figure slouching
towards home, and runs out to meet him, speechless with joy.
We may dream of an ideal family with lively, intelligent, obedient children - who line up with their parents for Church on Sunday, pass their exams, compete in community sports, and visit their granny.
Move away from such rosy pictures. There is no such thing as perfect parents, or perfect children. God is not the presenter of prizes at a high-powered graduation, but the one who helps us clean up the mess or live with it, and then approach the future as a friend, without a wardrobe (closet) of excuses.
Fr Andrews writes: His older son was so envious of the kid brother that he would not attend the homecoming party.I would not totally agree with him on that. Part of the genius of this parable is that it's open-ended. We don't know if the older son reflected on the matter and decided to join the celebration. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. But the story that Jesus told invites each of us to ask ourselves a number of questions. In what way do I resemble the father? Which of the two sons am I more like? If there's more of the older brother in me do I rejoice when my younger brother comes home? Do I thank God for his daily blessings? If there's more of the younger brother in me do I trust in God's mercy and decide to come home?
My other 'guest' this week is the late Swiss theologian Fr Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905 - 1988). Here is part of his reflection on the Sunday readings from his bookLight of the Word, published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco, USA.
In the third parable the father does not wait at home for the lost son, rather, he hurries to meet him and throws his arms around his neck. God's search for the lost does not mean that he does not know where the lost one is. Instead, it tells us that he searches to find which paths will be effective, which paths will permit the sinner to find his way back. This is God's 'exertion', which expresses itself in the culminating risk of giving his Son for the lost world. If the Son descends into the most profound abandonment of sin, to the point of losing the Father, then this is God exerting himself to the uttermost in his search for the lost. 'when we were still sinners, God had mercy on us through the sacrifice of his Son' (Romans 5:8).
Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defence of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded. She was committed to defending life, ceaselessly proclaiming that 'the unborn are the weakest, the smallest, the most vulnerable'. She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity; she made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crime – the crimes! – of poverty they created. For Mother Teresa, mercy was the 'salt' which gave flavour to her work, it was the 'light' which shone in the darkness of the many who no longer had tears to shed for their poverty and suffering. [Pope Francis, homily at canonisation of St Mother Teresa of Kolkata, 4 September 2016].
Misa Criolla, Kyrie
Señor ten piedad de nosotros. Lord, have mercy on us.
Cristo ten piedad de nosotros. Christ, have mercy on us.
Señor ten piedad de nosotros. Lord, have mercy on us.
A setting in Spanish of the Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy) from Misa Criolla by Argentinian composerAriel Ramírez (1921 - 2010).
