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).
This hymn, very popular in Ireland particularly in May, was written by Mary E. Walsh in the late 1800s. The words are here. It was sung by the late Irish tenor Frank Patterson at the Faith of Our Fathers concert in Dublin in 1997. Frank was a deeply committed Catholic and died in 2000 at the age of 61. May he rest in peace.
This Gregorian chant setting of the Mass is sung on Solemnities and Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is sung here by the Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis, Milan.
Virgin and Child in a Stone Niche, Surrounded by Garland of Flowers
GospelJohn 15:9-17(English Standard Version, Anglicised)
Jesus said to his disciples:
As the
Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my
Father's commandments and abide in his love.These
things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your
joy may be full.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as
I have loved you.Greater love
has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.You are my friends if you do what I
command you.No
longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his
master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard
from my Father I have made known to you.You did not choose me, but I chose you
and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit
should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give
it to you.These
things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
If ye love
me, keep my commandments,
and I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another comforter,
that he may 'bide with you forever,
e'en the spirit of truth. (John 14:15-17)
This is a
setting by Thomas Tallis (c.1505 - 1585) of today's Communion Antiphon, with
the first part of John 14:17 added.
Communion
Antiphon Antiphona ad communionem (Jn 14:15-16)
Si diligitis me, mandata mea servate, dicit
Dominus. Et ego rogabo Patrem, et alium Paraclitum dabit vobis, ut maneat
vobiscum in aeternum, alleluia.
If you love me, keep my commandments, says the
Lord,and I will ask the Father and he
will send you another Paraclete, to abide with you for ever, alleluia.
In May 2015 I gave a retreat to the Missionary
Sisters of the Catechism in Lipa City, south of Manila. The Sisters have a
house dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe where they take care of elderly and
sick women whom they refer to as the lolas, the 'grandmas'. In
another part of the compound they had at the time a group of orphans, five
young boys and six young girls. (If my memory is correct the Sisters were
planning to build an orphanage). Four of the boys served Mass every morning,
including 'Zacchaeus', as the Sisters called him, the youngest of the boys and
small, proudly wearing his white cassock like the others. 'Zacchaeus' wasn't
yet old enough to make his First Holy Communion or First Confession. His role
as a server was to hold up the small white towel - and he really had to stretch
to do so - when the priest washed his hands during the Offertory.
The youngest of the girls was Chiara, aged four or
five at the time. The children were present at lunch on the last day of the
retreat, which had a celebratory air to it. I noticed after I had said Grace
Before Meals that Chiara was somewhat tearful. Then I discovered that on such
occasions she led the community in a Hail Mary as part of Grace. So the Sisters
encouraged her to do so even though this visiting priest had pre-empted
her. After a little hesitation and the drying of her tears she prayerfully led
us all in the Hail Mary and then invoked the protectors of the Congregation -
Mother of Good Counsel, St Joseph, St Veronica Giuliani, St Gemma Galgani and
St Bernadette Soubirous.
During the retreat I told a number of stories of
seemingly insignificant events where God had revealed himself to me through the
actions of children and of older persons without their being aware of it. Then
on the way back to Manila after the retreat Sister Evelyn Cortes SMC, whose
family I have I have known since she was in high school in Tangub City, Misamis
Occidental, and Sister Eppie Resano SMC told me a story about Chiara where she
showed an understanding of what this Sunday's Second Reading is all about,
without being aware of it.
Beloved, let
us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born
of God and knows God.Anyone who does not love does not know God,
because God is love.In this the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through
him.In this is love, not that we have loved
God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins (1 John 4:7-10).
Some time before I gave the retreat a missionary
priest visited the Sisters and celebrated Mass for them. Little Chiara saw him
as being very severe in his demeanour. After Mass she tugged on his cassock and
asked him, Father, are you angry with God? It seems that the
following morning he wasn't quite as severe looking!
Some may be angry with God. I don't think that God
is too perturbed about that when he knows that the source of our anger may be
bewilderment over tragedies in our lives, for example, just as we allow those
whom we love to vent their anger on us because basically they trust us and we
have some idea of the source of their anger.
Perhaps a more common experience, especially among
persons who are serious about following Jesus faithfully but who try to live as
if God's love had to be earned, as if it could be earned, is the idea that
God is angry with us.
St John tells us so beautifully what the situation
really is: In this is
love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Most of the Gospel readings on the Sundays and
weekdays of Easter are taken from John 13-17, the Last Supper Discourse in
which Jesus speaks to each of us with intense love about the intimacy into
which he calls each of us through our baptism. In today's Gospel Jesus says to
each of us, speaking from his heart to ours - Cor ad cor loquiter,
'Heart speaks to heart', as St John Henry Cardinal Newman emphasised on his
coat-of-arms - As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide
in my love . . . This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have
loved you . . . You are my friends . . . You did not choose me, but I chose you
. . . The initiative comes from God. Love comes from God and our loving
response to that love is itself a gift from God. We do not and cannot earn
God's love. God who is love gives us himself as pure gift.
How can such a God be angry with us and how can we be angry - choosing to
remain angry as distinct from a spontaneous feeling - with such a God? In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10).
For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the poor with salvation (Psalm 149:4, Grail translation).
Bring flowers of the rarest bring blossoms the fairest, from garden and woodland and hillside and dale; our full hearts are swelling, our glad voices telling the praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!
Refrain: O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today! Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May. O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Their lady they name thee, Their mistress proclaim thee, Oh, grant that thy children on earth be as true as long as the bowers are radiant with flowers, as long as the azure shall keep its bright hue
Refrain
Sing gaily in chorus; the bright angels o'er us re-echo the strains we begin upon earth; their harps are repeating the notes of our greeting, for Mary herself is the cause of our mirth.
Refrain
Extraordinary Form of the Mass
Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)
Fifth Sunday after Easter
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 5-9-2021 if necessary).
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.
This hymn, very
popular in Ireland particularly in May, was written by Mary E. Walsh in the
late 1800s. The words are here. It was sung by the late
Irish tenor Frank Patterson at the Faith of Our Fathers concert in Dublin in 1997. Frank was a deeply committed Catholic and died
in 2000 at the age of 61. May he rest in peace
This Gregorian chant setting of the Mass is sung
on Solemnities and Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is sung here by the Schola Gregoriana
Mediolanensis, Milan.
Virgin
and Child in a Stone Niche, Surrounded by Garland of Flowers
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
GospelJohn 15:9-17 (New Revised Standard
Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition)
Jesus
said to his disciples:
‘As the
Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in
you, and that your joy may be complete.
‘This
is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life
for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the
servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you
friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my
Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you
to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you
whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these
commands so that you may love one another.’
If ye love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may 'bide with you forever, e'en the spirit of truth. (John 14:15-17)
This is a setting by Thomas Tallis (c.1505 - 1585) of today's Communion Antiphon, with the first part of John 14:17 added.
Communion Antiphon Antiphona ad communionem (Jn 14:15-16)
If you love me, keep my commandments, says the Lord,
Si diligitis me, mandata mea servate, dicit Dominus.
and I will ask the Father and he will send you another Paraclete,
Et ego rogabo Patrem, et alium Paraclitum dabit vobis,
In May 2015 I gave a retreat to the Missionary Sisters of the Catechism in Lipa City, south of Manila. The Sisters have a house dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe where they take care of elderly and sick women whom they refer to as the lolas, the 'grandmas'. In another part of the compound they had at the time a group of orphans, five young boys and six young girls. (If my memory is correct the Sisters were planning to build an orphanage). Four of the boys served Mass every morning, including 'Zacchaeus', as the Sisters called him, the youngest of the boys and small, proudly wearing his white cassock like the others. 'Zacchaeus' wasn't yet old enough to make his First Holy Communion or First Confession. His role as a server was to hold up the small white towel - and he really has to stretch to do so - when the priest washes his hands during the Offertory.
The youngest of the girls was Chiara, aged four or five at the time. The children were present at lunch on the last day of the retreat, which had a celebratory air to it. I noticed after I had said Grace Before Meals that Chiara was somewhat tearful. Then I discovered that on such occasions she led the community in a Hail Mary as part of Grace. so the Sisters encouraged her to do so today even though the visiting priest had pre-empted her. After a little hesitation and the drying of her tears she prayerfully led us all in the Hail Mary and then invoked the protectors of the Congregation - Mother of Good Counsel, St Joseph, St Veronica Giuliani, St Gemma Galgani and St Bernadette Soubirous.
During the retreat I told a number of stories of seemingly insignificant events where God had revealed himself to me through the actions of children and of older persons without their being aware of it. Then on the way back to Manila after the retreat Sister Evelyn Cortes SMC, whose family I have I have known since she was in high school in Tangub City, Misamis Occidental, and Sister Eppie Resano SMC told me a story about Chiara where she showed an understanding of what this Sunday's Second Reading is all about, without being aware of it.
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:7-10).
Some time before I gave the retreat a missionary priest visited the Sisters and celebrated Mass for them. Little Chiara saw him as being very severe in his demeanour. After Mass she tugged on his cassock and asked him, Father, are you angry with God? It seems that the following morning he wasn't quite as severe looking!
Some may be angry with God. I don't think that God is too perturbed about that when he knows that the source of our anger may be bewilderment over tragedies in our lives, for example, just as we allow those whom we love to vent their anger on us because basically they trust us and we have some idea of the source of their anger.
Perhaps a more common experience, especially among persons who are serious about following Jesus faithfully but who try to live as if God's love had to be earned - as if it could be earned - is the idea that God is angry with us.
St John tells us so beautifully what the situation really is: In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Most of the Gospel readings on the Sundays and weekdays of Easter are taken from John 13-17, the Last Supper Discourse in which Jesus speaks to each of us with intense love about the intimacy into which he calls each of us through our baptism. In today's Gospel Jesus says to each of us, speaking from his heart to ours - Cor ad cor loquiter, 'Heart speaks to heart', as Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman emphasised on his coat-of-arms - As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love . . . this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you . . . you are my friends . . . you did not choose me but I chose you . . .
The initiative comes from God. Love comes from God and our loving response to that love is itself a gift from God. We do not and cannot earn God's love. God who is love gives us himself as pure gift.
How can such a God be angry with us and how can we be angry - choosing to remain angry as distinct from a spontaneous feeling - with such a God? In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10).
For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the poor with salvation (Psalm 149:4, Grail translation).
You may read an article by Eileen Kane on this painting in the May 2018 issue of The Sacred Heart Messengerhere.
O Mary we
crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Bring Flowers of the Rarest (Queen
of the May) Composed by Mary E. Walsh.
Bring flowers of the
rarest bring blossoms the fairest, from garden and woodland and hillside and dale; our full hearts are swelling, our glad voices telling the praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!
Refrain: O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today! Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May. O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Their lady they name thee, Their mistress proclaim thee, Oh, grant that thy children on earth be as true as long as the bowers are radiant with flowers, as long as the azure shall keep its bright hue
Refrain
Sing gaily in chorus; the bright angels o'er us re-echo the strains we begin upon earth; their harps are repeating the notes of our greeting, for Mary herself is the cause of our mirth.
