'Jesus is the centre of the Christian faith.' Sunday Reflections, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

SHEMA YISRAEL ADONAI ELOHEINU
ADONAI ECHAD [ U'SHEMO ECHAD ]
V'AHAVTA ET HASHEM ELOHEICHA
B'CHOL LEVAVCHA U'VCHOL NAFSHECHA
U'VCHOL MEODECHA

[YAIDA DAI YADA DAI YAIDADAI . . .]

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart (Deuteronomy 6:4-6). [First Reading; quoted by Jesus in the Gospel].

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 12:28b-34 (shorter form: 10:42-45) (English Standard Version, Anglicised)  

One of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Shema Yisrael, Knesset Menorah, Jerusalem 

[Wikipedia; photo by SuperJewderivative work]

The first reading today is one the most important in the whole Bible for people of the Jewish faith. There is only one God. Only the Hebrews in the ancient Mediterranean world believed that. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4-6 in his response to the scribe. These words are at the heart of Jewish prayer and are prayed by or spoken to a Jew when he is dying, reminding him of the most important reality of all, that God is God. The Hebrew for Hear, O Israel is Shema Yisrael, שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל‎in Hebrew. Believing Jews pray or sing the Shema Yisrael, or Shema, just as Christians pray or sing the Our Father, the opening words giving their name to the whole prayer. Jews pray it twice a day and before sleeping.

The setting of the Shema in the video above is modern and joyful. Jesus would have prayed the Shema everyday and perhaps chanted it first as a child when St Joseph took him to the Temple and later when he went there as an adult.

And at the wedding in Cana Jesus would have danced with the other men in a style like that of the man in the video. The Shema is a profoundly joyful proclamation of faith in the one God.

Often enough I've heard people creating a gap between the two great commandments, which are a summary of the Ten Commandments. There is no such gap. You shall love your neighbor as yourself is a consequence of you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . just as in God’s plan being a father or mother is a consequence of being first of all a husband or wife.

In his homily at the opening of the Year of Faith on 11 October 2012 Pope Benedict said, Jesus is the centre of the Christian faith. The Christian believes in God whose face was revealed by Jesus Christ. He is the fulfilment of the Scriptures and their definitive interpreter. 

The testimony of the saints shows us men and women, young and old, even children, whose lives were focused on Jesus the Lord, God who became Man, and because of this gave themselves in the service of others. It is impossible to live the first great commandment without wanting to live the second. It is impossible to live the second without wanting to live the first.

On 21 October 2012 when he canonised seven new saints including St Pedro Calungsod, the young catechist-martyr from the central Philippines and St Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American saint, Pope Benedict underlined the mission of the saints: The tenacious profession of faith of these seven generous disciples of Christ, their configuration to the Son of Man shines out brightly today in the whole Church. He used a term that St John Paul used many times in his apostolic exhortation of 1992, Pastores Dabo Vobis, configuration to the Son of Man.

St John Paul's document was about the ordained priesthood and he reminded priests in it a number of times that they were called to be configured to Christ. But here Pope Benedict is calling all of us to be such, that is to become, with God's grace, so like Jesus Christ that others will see him in us.

Jesus, as he quotes the Shema Yisrael in today's gospel, is not calling us to be 'nice' to others, but to be configured to him. He is calling us to be able to say with St Paul in Philippians 1:18, What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

The Holy Family

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

Four Jews: Jesus, Mary, St Joseph and St Anne

Go in Peace

Written and sung by Jude Nnam

Sir Jude Nnam is currently the National Music Director for National Catholic Liturgical Music Council,  Nigeria.

Traditional Latin Mass 

Resumed Fourth Sunday After Epiphany 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 11-03-2024 if necessary).

Epistle: Romans 13:8-10.  Gospel: Matthew 8: 23-27.

Christ in the Storm on the Sea

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep (Matthew 8:24; Gospel).

'I will bring my gifts in thanksgiving and love.' Sunday Reflections, 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

The Widow's Mite

James Tissot [Wikipedia]

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, [England & Wales], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 12:38-44 or 12:41-44 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

[In his teaching Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the market-places and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretence make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”]

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Head of a Peasant Woman in a Green Shawl

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]  

There are moments that remain a grace from God for a person for the rest of his life, moments when he was simply an observer rather than a participant. One such moment for me happened one night more than 45 years ago in Ozamiz City, Mindanao. It was quite late and I was looking out through an upstairs window in the convent (presbytery/rectory) of the Cathedral. As we say in Ireland, 'there wasn't a sinner to be seen' on the cathedral plaza except for two persons. One was a man, a beggar, maybe in his 30s. The other was Gregoria, known to everyone as 'Guria', a 'simple' woman and very gentle who would often wander in and out of classrooms in schools, doodle on the board and leave without having disturbed anyone. 

I noticed Guria, who was perhaps in her 40s, approach the man. She had two small pieces of bread, what is called pandesal in the Philippines. She gave one to the beggar, just like St Martin of Tours who, when still a  soldier, cut his ample cloak in two and giving one half to a beggar. (St Martin's feast day is 11 November.)

St Martin and the Beggar

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

What Guria did was pure, unselfish love. And yet she was probably unaware of this and certainly totally unaware of the fact that someone was observing her. She did not have a strong gift of reflection whereas God has given this to me and to most of us. But we don't always use that gift.

St Mark tells us, Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the people putting money into the offering box. And he saw 'Guria' there. Perhaps the widow in the gospel looked like the peasant woman in Van Gogh's painting above. But it would seem that his disciples hadn't observed her until Jesus drew their attention to her.

It is said that St Martin, after he had shared his cloak with the beggar, saw Jesus in a dream wearing that half-cloak. The reality is that Jesus Christ the Risen Lord shows himself frequently to us, if we have eyes to see, as he showed himself to me through Guria more than 45 years ago, and on many other similar occasions down the years.

A Bronze Mite

[Wikipedia]

In Thanksgiving and Love

by Jude Nnam and the CACA Choir

(Catholic Archdiocesan Choir Abuja)

Abuja is the capital of Nigeria.

'Let us go in the peace of Christ to serve God in man for the love of God.' Sunday Reflections, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

SHEMA YISRAEL ADONAI ELOHEINU
ADONAI ECHAD [ U'SHEMO ECHAD ]
V'AHAVTA ET HASHEM ELOHEICHA
B'CHOL LEVAVCHA U'VCHOL NAFSHECHA
U'VCHOL MEODECHA

[YAIDA DAI YADA DAI YAIDADAI . . .]

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart (Deuteronomy 6:4-6). [First Reading; quoted by Jesus in the Gospel].

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, [England & Wales], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 12:28-34 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

One of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Solemnity of All Saints [England and Wales]

This year the Solemnity of All Saints is observed in England and Wales on Sunday. Elsewhere it is observed on Monday on its traditional date, the First of November.

Readings for England and Wales. 

The readings for All Saints's Day are the same every year. Last Year's Sunday Reflections for the solemnity are here.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Shema Yisrael, Knesset Menorah, Jerusalem 

[Wikipedia; photo by SuperJewderivative work]

The first reading today is one the most important in the whole Bible for people of the Jewish faith. There is only one God. Only the Hebrews in the ancient Mediterranean world believed that. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4-6 in his response to the scribe. These words are at the heart of Jewish prayer and are prayed by or spoken to a Jew when he is dying, reminding him of the most important reality of all, that God is God. The Hebrew for Hear, O Israel is Shema Yisrael, שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל‎in Hebrew. Believing Jews pray or sing the Shema Yisrael, or Shema, just as Christians pray or sing the Our Father, the opening words giving their name to the whole prayer. Jews pray it twice a day and before sleeping.

The setting of the Shema in the video above is modern and joyful. Jesus would have prayed the Shema everyday and perhaps chanted it first as a child when St Joseph took him to the Temple and later when he went there as an adult.

And at the wedding in Cana Jesus would have danced with the other men in a style like that of the man in the video. The Shema is a profoundly joyful proclamation of faith in the one God.

Often enough I've heard people creating a gap between the two great commandments, which are a summary of the Ten Commandments. There is no such gap. You shall love your neighbor as yourself is a consequence of you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . just as in God’s plan being a father or mother is a consequence of being first of all a husband or wife.

In his homily at the opening of the Year of Faith on 11 October 2012 Pope Benedict said, Jesus is the centre of the Christian faith. The Christian believes in God whose face was revealed by Jesus Christ. He is the fulfilment of the Scriptures and their definitive interpreter. 

The testimony of the saints shows us men and women, young and old, even children, whose lives were focused on Jesus the Lord, God who became Man, and because of this gave themselves in the service of others. It is impossible to live the first great commandment without wanting to live the second. It is impossible to live the second without wanting to live the first.

On 21 October 2012 when he canonised seven new saints including St Pedro Calungsod, the young catechist-martyr from the central Philippines and St Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American saint, Pope Benedict underlined the mission of the saints: The tenacious profession of faith of these seven generous disciples of Christ, their configuration to the Son of Man shines out brightly today in the whole Church. He used a term that St John Paul used many times in his apostolic exhortation of 1992, Pastores Dabo vobis, configuration to the Son of Man.

St John Paul's document was about the ordained priesthood and he reminded priests in it a number of times that they were called to be configured to Christ. But here Pope Benedict is calling all of us to be such, that is to become, with God's grace, so like Jesus Christ that others will see him in us.

Jesus, as he quotes the Shema Yisrael in today's gospel, is not calling us to be 'nice' to others, but to be configured to him. He is calling us to be able to say with St Paul in Philippians 1:18, What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

\

The Holy Family

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

Four Jews: Jesus, Mary, St Joseph and St Anne

Go in Peace

Written and sung by Jude Nnam

This song from Nigeria echoes the words of the Shema in today's First Reading and quoted by Jesus in today's Gospel: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

 

 

'We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard.' Sunday Reflections, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

Christ Healing the Blind (detail)

Lucas van Leyden [Web Gallery of Art]

Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind . . .  (Jeremiah 31:8; First Reading).

World Mission Sunday

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 10:46-52 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Christ Healing the Blind

Nicolas Colombel [Web Gallery of Art]

World Mission Sunday is observed on the second-last Sunday in October. This year's theme is We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20).

Bartimaeus, the blind beggar in today's gospel, is an example of someone who cannot but speak about what he has heard, though not seen. He proclaims to the crowd who Jesus is: And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 

Clearly, Bartimaeus had heard from others about Jesus, individuals who lived by the words yet to be writtine in the Actos of the Apostles, We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard. Bartimaeus was a person on the fringes of society but with a determined streak in him. Though initially rebuffed by some who were following Jesus, he was encouraged by others when Jesus said Call him. They encouraged him: Take heart. Get up; he is calling you. Then Jesus showed Bartimaeus the exquisite courtesy of asking him, What do you want me to do for you? Jesus didn't say, I will restore your sight. He invited the blind man to articulate his need.

This tells us something about prayer of petition. God invites us to express our need, even though He knows what it is. And, as in a number of other healing stories where someone approached him Jesus said to Bartimaeus, Go your way; your faith has made you well. But St Mark indicates that he didn't 'go his way'. Rather, he followed him on the way.

In this incident Bartimaeus, without being aware of it, is a missionary. Having heard about Jesus from other 'anonymous missionaries', he cannot but speak about what he has seen and heard.

In 2005 I had an experience something like this, not from a blind beggar but from a 14-year-old girl whom I will call 'Gloria' - not her real name - who was the daughter of a blind beggar. I met her in a home for girls in Metro Manila run by the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family. Most of the 25 or 30 girls there had been living on the streets with their families.

I knew from the Sisters that Gloria suffered from asthma and that her family had been living on the streets. Later, after my conversation with her, they told me that her father was a blind beggar, like Bartimaeus. 

I was totally unprepared for the question Gloria asked me expressing her need: How can I offer my life to God? It is a question that still stuns me more than 16 years later. Not the question itself but the fact that it came from a young girl with absolutely nothing in life.

I tried to tell her that in time God would show her what He wanted her to do with her whole life but that right now He was asking her to do everything she did out of love for others. When she was cleaning or setting the table or washing the dishes or sweeping the floor she could do this with love for the other girls and the Sisters. I was trying to share with her the 'Little Way' of St Thérèse of Lisieux as I understood it. These were ways in which she could offer her life to God right now.

I also told Gloria that by taking care of herself, of her body, she would be doing what God wanted her to do right now. 'Even in the bathroom?' she asked. 'Even in the bathroom', I responded.

I have told the story of Gloria in places as far from each other as the Cathedral of Mary Immaculate Parish in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, to parishes in Melbourne, Australia, and Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Canada. God granted me the grace to experience His presence in Gloria and in her question. The words We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard were spoken by St Peter and St John when they were brought before the religious authorities for healing a lame beggar in the name of Jesus at the gate of the Temple. Acts 4:13 shows how the religious authorities perceived the two apostles: Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

These men were hostile to the apostles but they saw the truth, though they rejected it. I too saw the reality of Gloria's background of utter poverty. And in my astonishment at her question I recognized that she had been with Jesus. Through her question she was sharing with me her faith in Jesus. And I, in trying to respond, was sharing my faith in Jesus with her.

I've no idea where Gloria is now. I know that a year or two after our conversation she went to live with relatives in one of the provinces near Manila. She is about 30 now. I often pray for her and invite you to do the same.

Fr Sean Brazil, a Columban who died on 8 October at the age of 89, tells a lovely story from his time in Korea starting at 2:43 in the video here.

Father Sean started fundraising for a new church. The first donation he received was a piggy-bank from a girl of about ten. He asked her why she had brought this gift for the new church. She answered, When I'm a grandmother and we walk by that church with my grandchildren, I can say I put the first brick in that church.

Each of us can make the same request of Jesus that Bartimaeus did: Rabbi, let me recover my sight - and we might add 'my hearing'. I mean the grace to see and hear God's presence in the fabric of our daily life. This is the life that Jesus lived for thirty years before beginning his public mission. So many around us, like Gloria and the little girl in Korea, without being aware of it, are living the words of the Acts of the Apostles and the theme of this year's World Mission Sunday, We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard.

African Credo - I Believe

Composed by Jude Nnam

Catholic Television Nigeria

Thanks again to The Catholic Thing for drawing this to my attention to this video filled with the joy of our faith.