'The Church's mission is to offer the Word: a word that heals, liberates and reconciles.' Sunday Reflections, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

From The Bible, a TV miniseries

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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

Gospel Luke 18:9-14 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)  

Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Luke 18:9-14 in Filipino Sign Language

The Pharisee and the Publican

Ottobeuren Abbey, Germany [Wikipedia]

I remember when I was around 14 one of my father's fellow foremen on a building (construction) site came to visit us one evening. I'll call him Tom. My father went to Mass every morning, something he did until the day he died. At the time I was trying to emulate him. During the course of the evening Tom mentioned that he 'religiously received Holy Communion twice a year, at Christmas and at Easter'. 

Some days later I remarked somewhat disapprovingly to my parents that Tom went to Holy Communion only twice a year. Both of them spoke to me very sharply and I realised that I was out of line, something like the Pharisee in today's gospel. And I did indeed feel a chastening sense of shame, something I still feel whenever I recall that moment.

Tom was an honest, hardworking family man, a man of faith who was still following the custom that prevailed until St Pius X (1903-1914) encouraged frequent Holy Communion. St Thérèse of Lisieux, who died six years before the election of that pope, wrote with gratitude in her Story of a Soul about the occasions when her confessor allowed her to go to Holy Communion. She understood what a great gift receiving the Lord in Holy Communion was. I wonder if most of us today have that same understanding. Indeed, surveys indicate that many Catholics don't believe that they are receiving the 'Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity' of the Risen Lord, as people of my generation learned from the catechism.

What blocked the Pharisee from receiving God's blessing, from going down to his home justified wasn't his telling God the good things he had done - St Paul doesn't hesitate to say to Timothy in today's Second Reading,  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2Timothy 4:7) - but his self-righteous contempt for others whose inner struggles he seemed to be totally unaware of.

However, from my early days as a priest I have often thought that this parable should be slightly changed, with the tax-collector saying, God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this Pharisee. I don't think I've ever heard anyone condemning a sinner who has acknowledged his sins. But many times I've heard or read about individuals giving as an excuse for not going to Mass or even leaving the Church that there are 'too many hypocrites' there. 

Ntrama Church Sanctuary, Rwanda [Wikipedia]

Over 5,000 people seeking refuge here were killed by grenade, machete, rifle, or burnt alive during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.

A religious sister from Rwanda, Sr Genevieve Umawariya, speaking during the Synod on Africa held in Rome in 2009, the theme of which was The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace, spoke of an incident that parallels today's gospel. Here is what she said:

I am a survivor of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda 1994.

A large part of my family was killed while in our parish church. The sight of this building used to fill me with horror and turned my stomach, just like the encounter with the prisoners filled me with disgust and rage.

It is in this mental state that something happened that would change my life and my relationships.

On August 27th 1997 at 1 p.m., a group from the Catholic association of the 'Ladies of Divine Mercy' led me to two prisons in the region of Kibuye, my birthplace. They went to prepare the prisoners for the Jubilee of 2000. They said: 'If you have killed, you commit yourself to ask for forgiveness from the surviving victim, that way you can help him free himself of the burden/weight of vengeance, hatred and rancor. If you are a victim, you commit yourself to offer forgiveness to those who harmed you and thus you free them from the weight of their crime and the evil that is in them'.

This message had an unexpected effect for me and in me . . .

After that, one of the prisoners rose in tears, fell to his knees before me, loudly begging: 'Mercy'. I was petrified in recognizing a family friend who had grown up and shared everything with us.

He admitted having killed my father and told me the details of the death of my family. A feeling of pity and compassion invaded me: I picked him up, embraced him and told him in a tearful voice: 'You are and always will be my brother'.

Then I felt a huge weight lift away from me . . . I had found internal peace and I thanked the person I was holding in my arms.

To my great surprise, I heard him cry out: 'Justice can do its work and condemn me to death, now I am free!'

I also wanted to cry out to who wanted to hear: 'Come see what freed me, you too can find internal peace'.

From that moment on, my mission was to travel kilometers to bring mail to the prisoners asking for forgiveness from the survivors. Thus 500 letters were distributed; and I brought back mail with the answers of the survivors to the prisoners who had become my friends and my brothers . . . This allowed for meetings between the executioners and the victims . . .

From this experience, I deduce that reconciliation is not so much wanting to bring together two persons or two groups in conflict. It is rather the re-establishment of each in love and allowing internal healing which leads to mutual liberation.

And here is where the importance of the Church lies in our countries, since her mission is to offer the Word: a word that heals, liberates and reconciles.

Pope Francis echoes this last sentence of Sr Genevieve in his message World Mission Day 2016: Mercy finds its most noble and complete expression in the Incarnate Word. Jesus reveals the face of the Father who is rich in mercy.

Mother of the Word, Kibeho, Rwanda

Jesus speaks of God's mercy. In the video at the top we see a tax collector who understands exactly what Jesus is saying through his parable. Pope Francis has spoken about God's mercy and about the sacrament of confession many times.

The man who killed Sister Genevieve's father experienced God's mercy through her as she did through him. Each was freed of the very different but related burdens that they carried. And the man had no more fear of whatever punishment he might receive for his crime. Like the tax-collector in the gospel, he made no excuses. He simply asked for mercy.

The tax-collector (publican) in the parable, Sr Genevieve Umawariya and the man who had killed her father experienced the truth of the First Beatitude (Matthew 5:3) usually translated into English as Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. For years I never quite understood what this meant until I read the translation in the New English Bible: How blest are those who know their need of God; the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

May each of us, like the publican, like Sr Genevieve, like the man she forgave and who accepted her forgiveness, know our need of God and of his mercy. 

Antiphona ad introitum

Entrance Antiphon    Cf Psalm 104[105]:3-4

Laetetur cor quaerentium Dominum.

Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice;

Querite Dominum et confirmamini, quaerite faciem eius semper.

turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.

Confitemini Domino; et invocate nomen eius; annuntiate inter gentes opera eius.

Give glory to the Lord, and call upon his name: declare his deeds among the Gentiles.

Laetetur cor quaerentium Dominum.
Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice;
Querite Dominum et confirmamini, quaerite faciem eius semper.
turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.

The text in bold is used in the Ordinary Form of the Mass while the longer text is used in the Extraordinary Form, though it may also be used in the Ordinary Form.

'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' Sunday Reflections, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

From The Bible, a TV miniseries

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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

Gospel Luke 18:9-14 (New Revised StandardVersion, Anglicised Catholic Edition) 

Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt:  ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector.  I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.”  But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”  I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

World Mission Day

This Sunday is World Mission Day. The message of Pope Francis for the occasion, with the theme Missionary Church, Witness of Mercy, is here.

The Pharisee and the Publican

Ottobueren Abbey, Germany [Wikipedia]

I remember when I was around 14 one of my father's fellow foremen on a building (construction) site came to visit us one evening. I'll call him Tom. My father went to Mass every morning, something he did until the day he died. At the time I was trying to emulate him. During the course of the evening Tom mentioned that he 'religiously received Holy Communion twice a year, at Christmas and at Easter'. 

Some days later I remarked somewhat disapprovingly to my parents that Tom went to Holy Communion only twice a year. Both of them spoke to me very sharply and I realised that I was out of line, something like the Pharisee in today's gospel. And I did indeed feel a chastening sense of shame, something I still feel whenever I recall that moment.

Tom was an honest, hardworking family man, a man of faith who was still following the custom that prevailed until St Pius X (1903-1914) encouraged frequent Holy Communion. St Thérèse of Lisieux, who died six years before the election of that pope, wrote with gratitude in her Story of a Soul about the occasions when her confessor allowed her to go to Holy Communion. She understood what a great gift receiving the Lord in Holy Communion was. I wonder if most of us today have that same understanding. Indeed, surveys indicate that many Catholics don't believe that they are receiving the 'Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity' of the Risen Lord, as people of my generation learned from the catechism.

What blocked the Pharisee from receiving God's blessing, from going down to his home justified wasn't his telling God the good things he had done - St Paul doesn't hesitate to say to Timothy in today's Second Reading,  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2Timothy 4:7) - but his self-righteous contempt for others whose inner struggles he seemed to be totally unaware of.

However, from my early days as a priest I have often thought that this parable should be slightly changed, with the tax-collector saying, God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this Pharisee. I don't think I've ever heard anyone condemning a sinner who has acknowledged his sins. But many times I've heard or read about individuals giving as an excuse for not going to Mass or even leaving the Church that there are 'too many hypocrites' there. 

Ntarama Catholic Church, Rwanda

Over 5,000 people seeking refuge here were killed by grenade, machete, rifle, or burnt alive during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. [Wikipedia]

A religious sister from Rwanda, Sr Genevieve Umawariya, speaking during the Synod on Africa held in Rome in 2009, the theme of which was The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace, spoke of an incident that parallels today's gospel. Here is what she said:

I am a survivor of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda 1994.

A large part of my family was killed while in our parish church. The sight of this building used to fill me with horror and turned my stomach, just like the encounter with the prisoners filled me with disgust and rage.

It is in this mental state that something happened that would change my life and my relationships.

On August 27th 1997 at 1 p.m., a group from the Catholic association of the 'Ladies of Divine Mercy' led me to two prisons in the region of Kibuye, my birthplace. They went to prepare the prisoners for the Jubilee of 2000. They said: 'If you have killed, you commit yourself to ask for forgiveness from the surviving victim, that way you can help him free himself of the burden/weight of vengeance, hatred and rancor. If you are a victim, you commit yourself to offer forgiveness to those who harmed you and thus you free them from the weight of their crime and the evil that is in them'.

This message had an unexpected effect for me and in me . . .

After that, one of the prisoners rose in tears, fell to his knees before me, loudly begging: 'Mercy'. I was petrified in recognizing a family friend who had grown up and shared everything with us.

He admitted having killed my father and told me the details of the death of my family. A feeling of pity and compassion invaded me: I picked him up, embraced him and told him in a tearful voice: “You are and always will be my brother”.

Then I felt a huge weight lift away from me . . . I had found internal peace and I thanked the person I was holding in my arms.

To my great surprise, I heard him cry out: 'Justice can do its work and condemn me to death, now I am free!'

I also wanted to cry out to who wanted to hear: 'Come see what freed me, you too can find internal peace'.

From that moment on, my mission was to travel kilometers to bring mail to the prisoners asking for forgiveness from the survivors. Thus 500 letters were distributed; and I brought back mail with the answers of the survivors to the prisoners who had become my friends and my brothers . . . This allowed for meetings between the executioners and the victims . . .

From this experience, I deduce that reconciliation is not so much wanting to bring together two persons or two groups in conflict. It is rather the re-establishment of each in love and allowing internal healing which leads to mutual liberation.

And here is where the importance of the Church lies in our countries, since her mission is to offer the Word: a word that heals, liberates and reconciles.

Pope Francis echoes this last sentence of Sr Genevieve in his message for this year's World Mission Day: Mercy finds its most noble and complete expression in the Incarnate Word. Jesus reveals the face of the Father who is rich in mercy.

Mother of the Word, Kibeho, Rwanda

Jesus speaks of God's mercy. In the video at the top we see a tax collector who understands exactly what Jesus is saying through his parable. Pope Francis has spoken about God's mercy and about the sacrament of confession many times.

The man who killed the father of Sister Genevieve experienced God's mercy through her as she did through him. Each was freed of the very different but related burdens that they carried. And the man had no more fear of whatever punishment he might receive for his crime. Like the tax-collector in the gospel, he made no excuses. He simply asked for mercy.

The tax-collector (publican) in the parable, Sr Genevieve Umawariya and the man who had killed her father experienced the truth of the First Beatitude (Matthew 5:3) usually translated into English as Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. For years I never quite understood what this meant until I read the translation in the New English Bible: How blest are those who know their need of God; the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

May each of us, like the publican, like Sr Genevieve, like the man she forgave and who accepted her forgiveness, know our need of God and of his mercy.

Antiphona ad introitum

Entrance Antiphon    Cf Psalm 104[105]:3-4

Laetetur cor quaerentium Dominum.

Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice;

Querite Dominum et confirmamini, quaerite faciem eius semper.

turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.

Confitemini Domino; et invocate nomen eius; annuntiate inter gentes opera eius.

Give glory to the Lord, and call upon his name: declare his deeds among the Gentiles.

Laetetur cor quaerentium Dominum.
Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice;
Querite Dominum et confirmamini, quaerite faciem eius semper.
turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.

The text in bold is used in the Ordinary Form of the Mass while the longer text is used in the Extraordinary Form, though it may also be used in the Ordinary Form.

'But we had to celebrate and rejoice . . .' Sunday Reflections, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt, c.1669

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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

Gospel Luke 15:1-32 (or 1-10)  (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada) 

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. 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 neighbors, 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 persons 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 neighbors, 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 traveled 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.’”]

The Return of the Prodigal Son (detail)

This week I'm going to borrow from others. Fr Paul Andrews SJ is a regular contributor to The Sacred Heart Messenger, a monthly publication of the Irish Jesuits. The general title of his column is 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. 

The Return of the Prodigal Son (detail)

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.

The Return of the Prodigal Son (detail)

Rembrandt's painting is in The Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia [Web Gallery of Art]

Fr Andrews writes: His older son was so envious of the kid brother that he would not attend the homecoming party. I would disagree 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. 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?

Christ on the Cross, Rembrandt, 1631

Collégial Saint Vincent, Le Mas d'Agenais, France [Web Gallery of Art]

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 book Light 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).

Descent from the Cross, Rembrandt, 1634

The Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia [Web Gallery of Art]

St Mother Teresa of Kolkata [Wikipedia]

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 composer Ariel Ramírez (1921 - 2010).