'Fortunately for us, God never fails in his faithfulness' (Benedict XVI). Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday of Lent, Year C

 

The Return of the Prodigal Son

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,)

Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, India, Scotland) 

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 15:1-3, 11- 32 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

At that time: The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’

So he told them this parable: ‘There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.” And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in 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 into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

‘But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise 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 as one of your hired servants.’ ”

‘And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And 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 servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” And they began to celebrate.

‘Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.” But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!” And he said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” ’

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

The Return of the Prodigal Son (detail)

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

About ten years ago while still in the Philippines I met a woman from a Western country who told me that the first lie her parents told her was that Santa Claus existed. Had I been alert enough at the time I would have asked her, So Jesus lied to us about the Prodigal Son, about the Good Samaritan? They never 'existed'.

As Pope Benedict XVI said in his Angelus Talk on today's gospel on 14 March 20: This passage of St Luke constitutes one of the peaks of spirituality and literature of all time. Indeed, what would our culture, art and more generally our civilization be without this revelation of a God the Father so full of mercy?

We would never have had Rembrandt's powerful and deeply moving painting above.

Here is the full text of Pope Bendict's talk that day with my emphases added. (I find it difficult to add emphases to anything by Pope Benedict since I find his talks so deep, so clear and so uplifting.)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On this Fourth Sunday of Lent, the Gospel of the father and the two sons better known as the Parable of the ‘Prodigal Son’ (Lk 15:11-32) is proclaimed. This passage of St Luke constitutes one of the peaks of spirituality and literature of all time. Indeed, what would our culture, art and more generally our civilization be without this revelation of a God the Father so full of mercy? It never fails to move us and every time we hear or read it, it can suggest to us ever new meanings. Above all, this Gospel text has the power of speaking to us of God, of enabling us to know his Face and, better still, his Heart. After Jesus has told us of the merciful Father, things are no longer as they were before.

We now know God; he is our Father who out of love created us to be free and endowed us with a conscience, who suffers when we get lost and rejoices when we return. For this reason, our relationship with him is built up through events, just as it happens for every child with his parents: at first he depends on them, then he asserts his autonomy; and, in the end if he develops well he reaches a mature relationship based on gratitude and authentic love.

In these stages we can also identify moments along man's journey in his relationship with God. There can be a phase that resembles childhood: religion prompted by need, by dependence. As man grows up and becomes emancipated, he wants to liberate himself from this submission and become free and adult, able to organize himself and make his own decisions, even thinking he can do without God. Precisely this stage is delicate and can lead to atheism, yet even this frequently conceals the need to discover God's true Face. Fortunately for us, God never fails in his faithfulness and even if we distance ourselves and get lost he continues to follow us with his love, forgiving our errors and speaking to our conscience from within in order to call us back to him.

In this parable the sons behave in opposite ways: the younger son leaves home and sinks ever lower whereas the elder son stays at home, but he too has an immature relationship with the Father. In fact, when his brother comes back, the elder brother does not rejoice like the Father; on the contrary he becomes angry and refuses to enter the house. The two sons represent two immature ways of relating to God: rebellion and childish obedience. Both these forms are surmounted through the experience of mercy. Only by experiencing forgiveness, by recognizing one is loved with a freely given love a love greater than our wretchedness but also than our own merit do we at last enter into a truly filial and free relationship with God.

Dear friends, let us meditate on this parable. Let us compare ourselves to the two sons and, especially, contemplate the Heart of the Father. Let us throw ourselves into his arms and be regenerated by his merciful love. May the Virgin Mary, Mater Misericordiae, help us to do this.

The Return of the Prodigal Son (detail)

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

Some thoughts of my own

Part of the genius of this parable of Jesus is that it doesn't have an ending, but an invitation. We don't know whether or not the older, dutiful son joined the celebration after his father spoke with him. He can  only see at that moment the wasted life of his younger brother. Did he come to see the immense suffering this had brought to their father, suffering that Rembrandt captures so movingly? 

The father doesn't argue with his older son. He is well aware of that son's sense of responsibility. The father also hears his angry and dismissive 'this son of yours'. He gently points out, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.

The father shows his love to each of his sons in their very different situations.

The invitation in the parable is not only to the older son. It is to me. Is the Father inviting me to let go of sins that have separated me from him, a separation that he doesn't want, by asking his pardon, especially in the sacrament of confession? Or is the Father inviting me to let go of my self-righteousness, my lack of humility, my lack of gratitude for daily blessings, even though I am conscientious in doing what is right?

The Father has reserved a place for each of us at the celebration.    

Communion Antiphon sung in Korean and Latin

Schola Gregoriana Abba Caelum, Seoul, Korea

Antiphona ad commuionem Communion Antiphon Luke 15:32

Oportet te, fili, gaudere, quia frater tuus mortuus fuerat, et revixit; perierat, et inventus est.

You must rejoice, my son, for your brother was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.        

Traditional Latin Mass

Fourth Sunday in Lent

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 03-30-2025 if necessary).

Epistle: Galatians 4:22-31.  Gospel: John 6:1-15. 

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Lambert Lombard [Web Gallery of Art]

Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted (John 6:11; Gospel).

'In the hands of Christ my action may have a divine scope.' Sunday Reflections, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Lambert Lombard [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel  John 6:1-15 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)  

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.  Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

San Alberto Hurtado SJ 

(1901 - 1951)

St Alberto Hurtado SJ is a man who took today's gospel very seriously, He established the first Hogar de Cristo, Home of Christ, in Chile in 1944 to care for the many in Santiago who were homeless or had little to eat. There are now many such homes, not only in Chile and in other countries in South America but in the USA. Canonised in 2005 by Pope Benedict, he is still venerated in Chile as he was loved in his lifetime by the simple title of 'Padre Hurtado'.

He can speak to us with authority, as he does in this meditation he gave many years ago. His reference to the Venerable Matt Talbot comes from the time he spent in Dublin learning English.

The Multiplication of the Loaves  

Meditation during a retreat on the gift of self and cooperation.

Indecision, faintheartedness is the great obstacle in the plan of cooperation. We think: 'I’m not worth all that much', and from this comes discouragement: 'It makes no difference whether I act or fail to act. Our powers of action are so limited. Is my unpretentious work worthwhile? Does my abstaining from this have any meaning? If I fail to sacrifice myself nothing changes. No one needs me . . . A mediocre vocation?' How many vocations are lost. It is the advice of the devil that is partly true. The difficulty must be faced.

The solution

Five thousand men along with women and children have been hungry for three days . . . Food? They would need at least 200 denarii to feed them and this is the approximate yearly salary of a labourer.

In the desert! 'Tell them to go!' But Andrew, more observant says: 'There are five loaves and two fish, but what are these among so many?' Here we have our same problem: the disproportion.

And the loaves. Made of barley, hard as rocks (the Jews used wheat). And the fish. They were from the lake, small, rather mushy in texture, carried by a young boy in a sack that had lain on the ground for three days in the heat . . . not much of a solution. 

Did the Lord despise this offering? No, and with his blessing he fed all the hungry and had leftovers. Neither did he despise the leftovers: twelve baskets of the surplus were gathered, fish heads and bones, but even this he valued. 

The young boy consented to give Christ his poor offering, not realizing that he would feed the multitude. He believed that he had lost his small possession but he found instead that there was even a surplus and that he had cooperated for the good of the others. 

And me . . . like those fish (less than those loaves) bruised and perhaps decomposing but in the hands of Christ my action may have a divine scope, a divine reach. 

Remember Ignatius, Augustine, Camillus de Lellis, and Matt Talbot, base sinners whose lives were converted into spiritual nourishment for millions who will continue to feed on their witness. 

My actions and my desires can have a divine scope and can change the face of the earth. I will not know it, the fish did not know it either. I can do a great deal if I remain in Christ; I can accomplish much if I cooperate with Christ . . 

Fr Patrick Egan

Fr Patrick Egan, a Columban who spent most of his life as a priest in Chile died unexpectedly on 17 July at the age of 88. At his funeral Mass Fr Alo Connaughton, who had also worked in Chile, told a story in his homily that illustrated how Father Pat lived the Gospel, a story that San Alberto Hurtado would appreciate. Father Pat was a man who, if he saw a need, would respond to it, as Jesus did to the hungry crowd in this Sunday's Gospel. In one parish where he served he found a man who was not only homeless but nameless as well. And the man didn't know where he was from. Father Pat, who was one of 14 children who grew up on a small farm in County Mayo in the west of Ireland, made a room for the man in the parish house.

Then with the help of a couple of women in the parish he went about getting the man an official and legal identity. Inspired by the story of Zechariah naming his son John, they chose Juan as his name and took 24 June, the feast of the Birth of John the Baptist, as his date of birth, going back 40 years, the age they reckoned he was.

They then had to find a family name for him. The man often walked around carrying rags, though kind people gave him clothes, and one of the women suggested jokingly that they choose the name 'Falabella'. This is the name of an up-market department store, comparable to Arnotts in Dublin, Harrods in London, Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City and Rustans in Manila. Father Pat then went with the man now named Juan Falabella to a government office to register him. The person dealing with them was very kind and understanding and Juan now was entitled to various government benefits.

Father Pat grew up about 15 kms from where the poet Antoine Ó Raifteirí was born in 1779. The poet, like Father Pat, understood this Sunday's Gospel. And Father Pat understood and lived the words of San Alberto Hurtado, in the hands of Christ my action may have a divine scope, a divine reach. 

Ó Aithrí an Reachtaraigh / from Raftery’s Repentance

Le / by Antoine Raiftearaí

A Rí na Glóire atá lán de ghrása, / is tú a rinne beoir is fíon den uisce; / le beagán aráin do riar Tú and sló; / Och! Freastail fóir agus slánaigh mise.

O King of Glory full of grace, / You made beer and wine from water; / With a little bread you provided for the multitude; / Oh! Attend to, help and save me.

Raiftearaí (1779 – 1835) was one of the last of the wandering Irish bards. He was the youngest of nine children. Some time between 1785 and 1788 all except Antoine died at the same time from smallpox and he became blind. His poetry was in Irish, though not written down when composed. The poem from which the stanza above is taken shows a knowledge of Scripture, including a familiarity with today's Gospel, along with a deep faith in God's mercy and that of our Blessed Mother and an awareness that his life was drawing to a close. He died on Christmas Day 1835. His surname, which has a number of variations in Irish, is usually Anglicised as 'Raftery'.

Antoine Raiftearaí

Craughwell, County Galway, Ireland [Wikipedia]

Traditional Latin Mass 

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 07-28-2022 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:2-11.  Gospel: Luke 18:9-14.

Church Interior with the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican

Dirck van Delen [Web Gallery of Art]

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ (Luke 18:13)

To see the world with the eyes of Jesus as He saw the man born blind. Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday of Lent, Year A

 

Blind Pensioner with a Stick

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 9:1-41 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)  

[For the shorter form (9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38) omit the text in brackets.]

 As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. [ And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”] Having said these things,] he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” [So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”]

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

[The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ] They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”, and he worshipped him. Jesus said, “For judgement I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see’, your guilt remains."

Léachtaí i nGaeilge 

Servant of God Jérôme Lejeune

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”, and he worshipped him. 

The blind man met Jesus, heard him and believed.

Our Christian faith is a gift that can be lost by an individual and by a whole community. The Church flourished in North Africa and in the Middle East before Islam came into being but the vast majority lost the gift of our faith. In our own lifetime the faith has been rapidly disappearing from places such as Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Quebec. Sixty years ago these places were still sending missionaries to every part of the world and their seminaries were full. Now most of those seminaries have been closed. Just over 100 years ago CICM brothers and priests (Scheut Missionaries, Missionhurst) and ICM Sisters went to the mountains of northern Luzon in the Philippines from a part of Europe that is as flat as a billiard table, most of Belgium and the Netherlands. In February 2014 Belgium made it legal for sick children to be killed, to be put down like sick animals. There was little international reaction to this, though there was to the putting down of a healthy giraffe in a zoo in Denmark a few days earlier.

There still are people in these places and others like them who are living the Christian life faithfully, often heroically. Martyrs such as Fr Ragheed Ganni of Iraq and politician Shahbaz Bhatti of Pakistan are outstanding examples. Another is the late Professor Jérôme Lejeune, doctor and researcher, who in 1958 discovered the cause of Down Syndrome (trisomy 21).

In so many places in the gospel we find Jesus going out to those considered unimportant such as the blind man in today's gospel. In what is now largely a post-Christian Western world the opposite is happening. Children in the womb who are considered 'defective' in one way or another are aborted. Because of pre-natal testing the number of children being born with Down Syndrome has gone down considerably - because they have been killed in the womb. (See here.)

At the recent Oscar awards ceremony a short movie from Northern Ireland, An Irish Goodbye, won an Oscar. Its star, James Martin was celebrating his 31st birthday the same day. He is the first person with Down Syndrome to share in an Oscar award.

Dr Lejeune cared passionately for the lives of persons with Down Syndrome and feared that society would see them as worthless, not worthy of being born. He said, The real danger is in mankind; in the increasingly worrisome imbalance between its power, which grows daily, and its wisdom, which sometimes seems to regress.

Some of the people around the blind man in today's were the ones who were truly blind, who could not see what was truly real. They could not see God's love for the man born blind. They saw the blind man as being punished for his sins and Jesus as a sinner for breaking the sabbath laws. Jesus overturned their very narrow world.

The video below invites us to overturn our own world, as the Gospel invites us to do, and to see it as Jérôme Lejeune did, with the eyes of Jesus as He saw the man born blind. And may we always treasure the gift of our Christian faith that gives us that sight.

Solemnity of St Joseph

This year the Solemnity of St Joseph is moved to Monday 20 March. The Sundays of Lent take precedence over solemnities.

Hymn to St Joseph

Produced by Fundación Canto Católico, Santiago, Chile

Traditional Latin Mass

Fourth Sunday in Lent

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 03-19-2023 if necessary).

Epistle: Galatians 4:22-31. Gospel: John 6:1-15.

Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Lambert Lombard [Web Gallery of Art]

Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted (John 6:11; Gospel).

'With a little bread you provided for the multitude.' Sunday Reflections, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Lambert Lombard [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 6:1-15 (English Standard Version, Anglicised: India)

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place.

So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.  Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

 

San Alberto Hurtado SJ 

(1901 - 1951)

St Alberto Hurtado SJ is a man who took today's gospel very seriously, He established the first Hogar de Cristo, Home of Christ, in Chile in 1944 to care for the many in Santiago who were homeless or had little to eat. There are now many such homes, not only in Chile and in other countries in South America but in the USA. Canonised in 2005 by Pope Benedict, he is still venerated in Chile as he was loved in his lifetime by the simple title of 'Padre Hurtado'.

He can speak to us with authority, as he does in this meditation he gave many years ago. His reference to the Venerable Matt Talbot comes from the time he spent in Dublin learning English.

The Multiplication of the Loaves  

Meditation during a retreat on the gift of self and cooperation.

Indecision, faintheartedness is the great obstacle in the plan of cooperation. We think: 'I’m not worth all that much', and from this comes discouragement: 'It makes no difference whether I act or fail to act. Our powers of action are so limited. Is my unpretentious work worthwhile? Does my abstaining from this have any meaning? If I fail to sacrifice myself nothing changes. No one needs me . . . A mediocre vocation?' How many vocations are lost. It is the advice of the devil that is partly true. The difficulty must be faced.

The solution

Five thousand men along with women and children have been hungry for three days . . . Food? They would need at least 200 denarii to feed them and this is the approximate yearly salary of a labourer.

In the desert! 'Tell them to go!' But Andrew, more observant says: 'There are five loaves and two fish, but what are these among so many?' Here we have our same problem: the disproportion.

And the loaves. Made of barley, hard as rocks (the Jews used wheat). And the fish. They were from the lake, small, rather mushy in texture, carried by a young boy in a sack that had lain on the ground for three days in the heat . . . not much of a solution. 

Did the Lord despise this offering? No, and with his blessing he fed all the hungry and had leftovers. Neither did he despise the leftovers: twelve baskets of the surplus were gathered, fish heads and bones, but even this he valued. 

The young boy consented to give Christ his poor offering, not realizing that he would feed the multitude. He believed that he had lost his small possession but he found instead that there was even a surplus and that he had cooperated for the good of the others. 

And me . . . like those fish (less than those loaves) bruised and perhaps decomposing but in the hands of Christ my action may have a divine scope a divine reach. 

Remember Ignatius, Augustine, Camillus de Lellis, and Matt Talbot, base sinners whose lives were converted into spiritual nourishment for millions who will continue to feed on their witness. 

My actions and my desires can have a divine scope and can change the face of the earth. I will not know it, the fish did not know it either. I can do a great deal if I remain in Christ; I can accomplish much if I cooperate with Christ . . 

A Workman's Meal-Break

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

Ó Aithrí an Reachtaraigh / from Raftery’s Repentance

Le / by Antoine Raiftearaí

A Rí na Glóire atá lán de ghrása,

is tú a rinne beoir is fíon den uisce;

le beagán aráin do riar Tú and sló;

Och! Freastail fóir agus slánaigh mise.

 

O King of Glory full of grace,

You made beer and wine from water;

With a little bread you provided for the multitude;

Oh! Attend to, help and save me.

Raiftearaí (1779 – 1835) was one of the last of the wandering Irish bards. He was the youngest of nine children. Some time between 1786 and 1786 all except Antaine died at the same time from smallpox and he became blind. His poetry was in Irish, though not written down when composed. The poem from which the stanza above is taken shows a knowledge of Scripture, including a familiarity with today's Gospel, along with a deep faith in God's mercy and that of our Blessed Mother and an awareness that his life was drawing to a close. He died on Christmas Day 1835. His surname, which has a number of variations in Irish, is usually Anglicised as 'Raftery'.

Ave, Regina caelorum

Setting by Palestrina, sung by Chanticleer

Ave, Regina caelorum, / Ave, Domine Angelorum: / Salve, radix, salve, porta, / Ex qua mundo lux est orta.

Gaude, [Virgo] gloriosa, / super omnes speciosa, / vale, [o] vale decora, / et pro nobis Christum exora.

Hail, Queen of Heaven, / hail, mistress of the Angels, / root of Jesse; hail, the gate / through which the LIght rose over the earth. 

Rejoice, [Virgin] most renowned  / and of unsurpassed beauty. / Farewell, [Lady] most comely. Prevail upon Christ to pity us.

This is Palestrina's setting of this antiphon to the Blessed Virgin, traditionally sung at the end of Compline (Night Prayer) from 2 February till Wednesday of Holy Week. It is also sung on other occasions.

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 7-25-2021 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:6-13.  Gospel: Luke 19:41-47.

 

Authentic Beauty

Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.

Blue Skies

Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin

Arranged by Joseph Jennings, sung by Chanticleer

As I prepare this we are getting plenty of blue skies here in Ireland and temperatures in the high 20Cs and even over 30C. The song includes the line Nothing but blue skies from now on. That's very unlikely in Ireland at any time of year but we are grateful for blue skies we're having at the moment. 

I saw Chanticleer in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in December 2018. They have an extensive and varied repertoire as they show in Ave, Regina coelorum and Blue Skies. In Joseph Jennings's arrangement of the latter there are musical allusions to Johann Sebastian Bach, to Christmas and to weddings.