'This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!' Sunday Reflections, 2nd Sunday of Lent

 

Transfiguration of Christ

Paolo Veronese [Web Gallery of Art]

And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah (Luke 9:30; Gospel).

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 9:28-36 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

At that time: Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah’ — not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

         

Fr Edward Allen

1906 - 2001

The line in today's Gospel, as [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of his face was altered reminded me of an incident late in 1988 or early in 1989 in the Philippines involving two Columban priests in their late 80s, Fr Edward Allen and Fr Aedan McGrath. They were both born in Dublin in 1906, Father Aedan early in the year and Father Eddie, as he was known to us, later in the year. Father Aedan was ordained in December 1929 and Father Eddie twelve months later. Each had two brother who were priests. Father Aedan's were both Columbans. One of Father Eddie's was a priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin, the other a Vincentian. Another, a Discalced Carmelite, died not long before he was to be ordained priest. Both these two great friends were small in stature and both, in different ways, were what we Irish call 'mighty men'. 

Father Aedan had spent most of the early years of his priesthood in China where the Cofounder of the Columbans, Bishop Edward Galvin, asked him to get involved with the Legion of Mary which had been introduced there by another Columban from Dublin, Fr Joseph Hogan, ordained in 1925. Archbishop (Later Cardinal) Antonio Riberi, then the Apostolic Nuncio to China, asked Father Aedan in the late 194os to spread the Legion of Mary throughout the country. The Chinese Communist government put him in prison in 1951 and he spent nearly three years there, mostly in solitary confinement in a tiny cell. I remember his homecoming to Ireland in 1953 when the President, the Prime Minister and thousands of people were at Dublin Airport to greet him. He once told me that when he saw the crowds from the plane he said to himself, There must be somebody important on board. He had no idea that he was the somebody important. He became a household name in Ireland and was one of God's signposts pointing me towards being a Columban priest..

Father Aedan spent the rest of his life working for the Legion of Mary, in his latter years based in Manila but travelling to most of the countries in the Pacific Rim and the Pacific island nations. He died suddenly on Christmas Day 2000 at a family gathering. I've written about his funeral in A Heavenly Farewell. (Video form of the article here).

Fr Aedan McGrath with Pope St John Paul

I am all yours, my Queen, my Mother, and all that I have is yours.

Totus Tuus

The late Fr Niall O'Brien, who was imprisoned in the Philippines in the 1980s on a trumped-up charge of murder, wrote an article about Father Eddie after the latter's death in 2001: He Taught Us How to Love.

Father Niall wrote: There is a little mystery about Father Eddie. He never learned to drive or at least he never drove here in the Philippines; he never built any churches or organized schools; he lived a quiet life in the convento (presbytery / rectory), going out when called. But he was never into initiating any evangelizing projects or social projects. Yet, he was the most popular and sought-after Columban priest in Negros. I don’t think the word 'popular' is the right word. He was not interested in popularity; maybe I should say 'loved', the most loved Columban priest.

Father Niall gives an example of this: As an old priest in Himamaylan he was blessing a vehicle for someone; after the blessing he said to the woman who had requested it, 'And how are you yourself?' She responded by sitting down with him and pouring out her problems for a long time. And she became one of his special friends, just like that.

We read in Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. This to me means, among other things, that it is possible to see something of God in another person, just as Peter, James and John caught a glimpse of the reality that Jesus was God when as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered. 

Late in 1998 Father Eddie had a major stroke in the Columban house in Batang, Himamaylan City, where both of us were living at the time. This affected his speech and he also had to be fed through a tube. This was a great deprivation for him. Though small and wiry, he had the appetite of a teenager. However, his mind was still as clear as a bell.

He didn't know that Father Aedan was coming down from Manila to see him. I met Father Aedan at Bacolod Airport, about 90 minutes away by car. We arrived at nightfall and went straight to Father Eddie's room. When he saw his friend of more than 75 years his face lit up like the rising sun - and I caught a glimpse of the joy that only God can give. My experience was similar to that of Peter, James and John on Mount Tabor.

I had a similar experience some months later when the nurse on duty in our house called me around midnight and told me that Father Eddie was very ill. I went to his room immediately to give him the Last Rites, something I had done before. He said in a very clear voice, I'm dying. We recited the prayers for the dying, sang some hymns and said our farewells. Then we realised that he wasn't ready to go just yet and I went back to bed, though I expected he would go within a few days.

The following day and for a few days after there was a tangible joy around the house, again a joy that could only come from God. The nurses on duty were even joking with Father Eddie , You were only practising last night, Father! They had a profound love and respect for him and he was giving them strength in their faith through his physical weakness. He lived on until 3 March 2001 when he died peacefully in the Columban house. I was based in Britain by then.

The Transfiguration was a moment when Peter, James and John got a glimpse of true reality, a glimpse of who Jesus really was, a glimpse of heaven to which we are all called. It was a moment that strengthened them when Jesus was crucified, that strengthened Peter and James to be martyred for Christ and John to spend the rest of his long life bringing people to Jesus Christ. It was a moment when they saw Truth in all its beauty - in all His beauty. It was a moment of truth when they knew that the love of God is stronger than any evil force.

In those two experiences with Fr Eddie Allen I experienced the truth of the words of Jesus to the Apostles at the Last Supper: These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11). Today's Gospel tells us: A voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’ The Father's Chosen One reveals himself unexpectedly to us in so many ways. 

Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear (Matthew 13:16).

Bishop Patricio Buzon SDB of Kabankalan blessing statue of St Columban in Batang in 2009

Traditional Latin Mass

Second Sunday in Lent

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 03-16-2025 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7.  Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9. 

Transfiguration

Blessed Fra Angelico [Web Gallery of Art]

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him (Matthew 17:5; Gospel).

Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Sunday Reflections, 1st Sunday of Lent, Year C

 

Baptism and Temptation of Christ

Paolo Veronese [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 4:1-13 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

At that time: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were over, he was hungry.

The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.” ’

And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” ’

And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” ’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’

And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

     

Filling station, Romania

[Wikipedia; photo]

From 1973 till 1976 I was chaplain in the college department of a school run by religious sisters in Mindanao, Philippines. Part of my job was to teach religion, four semesters of which every student had to take. I remember one student in particular, Bernadette (not her real name), who was taking a two-year secretarial course. She was the eldest of a large family and her parents earned just enough money to get by. They were both actively involved in the parish.

When Bernadette graduated she got a job as a bookkeeper in a filling station. Her salary, though small, was a great help to the family. Her employer instructed her to keep two different sets of books. She realised after some time that this was a way of avoiding paying taxes. Her conscience bothered her and she spoke to her parents about it. The three of them saw that Bernadette was being asked to take part in a sinful activity, stealing. So she, still in her late teens, resigned from her job. She had the full support of her parents who knew that the loss of her salary was a sacrifice for the whole family. Man shall not live by bread alone.

On the Thursday after Ash Wednesday the First Reading of the Mass (Deuteronomy 30: 15-20) says, I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days . . .

Jesus, the Word [who] became flesh and dwelt among us, suffered temptation on our behalf in the desert and it is in his strength that we can find the grace to resist temptation in whatever way it may come. We can take to heart the words of Deuteronomy 6:13 that Jesus quotes to Satan in today's gospel: You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. That is what enables us to do what Bernadette and her parents did: choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him . . .

Kyrie eleison

Sung by Kyiv Chamber Choir

Kyrie eleison - Christe eleison - Kyrie eleison

Lord, have mercy - Christ, have mercy - Lord, have mercy

Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Many people try to attend Mass each day during Lent where that is possible. When I was growing up in Dublin our parish church was full every weekday morning at the seven o'clock Mass, with workers and with students at primary and secondary level. Each was there by choice, making a sacrifice by getting up earlier than usual. At Mass we hear the word of God and can receive the Lord Jesus Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in Holy Communion

Lent is a time for repentance. The Lord Jesus left us a beautiful way to experience that: the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession Penance). The Church requires us to go to confession at least once a year and to receive Holy Communion at least once during the Easter period. In some countries the latter may be done between the First Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday. However, this is a bare minimum and not a level of commitment to be recommended no more than joining a family meal only once a year when one is living at home would seem to be recommended.

It is up to us priests to make it possible for people to confess their sins so that they can receive absolution with the words I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The priest is not forgiving us in his own name but in the Name of the Holy Trinity. The priest, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, is acting in persona Christi, to use the Church's traditional Latin expression, 'In the Person of Christ'.

Fasting can take many forms: eating less, reducing our time on the internet, abstaining from alcoholic drinks. etc. None of this is for show but to share in the forty days of fasting of the Lord Jesus in the desert before he began his public ministry. And it does bring life to others.

There are endless needs to be met by almsgiving. 

Queen of Peace, pray for us.

 

Our Lady of Banneux / Our Lady of the Poor / Queen of Nations

[Wikipedia; photo]

Traditional Latin Mass

First Sunday in Lent

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 03-09-2025 if necessary).

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10.  Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11.

The Temptation of  Christ,

Juan de Flandes [Web Gallery of Art]

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him (Matthew 4:11; Gospel).

'Be fruitful and multiply.' Sunday Reflections, 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

John 2:1-11 from The Gospel of John

Directed by Philip Saville

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

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 2:1-11 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)  

At that time: There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding seventy or one hundred litres. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.’ So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.’

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Marriage at Cana

Tintoretto [Web Gallery of Art]

Back in the 1960s when I was in the seminary here in St Columban's, Dalgan Park, now the residence of about 70 retired Columbans, I contacted Molly and Jimmy who lived about ten minutes by car from here. I knew that Molly was related to me through my maternal grandmother and I remembered attending the funeral of her mother, known to my mother as Aunt Jane of Tara, in 1950 when I was seven. As far as I know Jane was a first cousin of my grandmother Annie Dowd, who married William Patrick Collins, my maternal grandfather. When my mother was young she would spend part of the summer with her Aunt Jane and her husband Owen. It was great for a child form the inner city in Dublin to be out in the countryside of County Meath. She often spoke of those days and would always smile when she mentioned her Uncle Owen. Jane was the stricter one and Owen was the 'softie'. But she loved both of them.

When I wrote to Molly and Jimmy I got an immediate response and they invited me to their home for Sunday dinner. Over the next few years I enjoyed many Sunday dinners with them. Molly's unmarried sister Maggie lived with them in a cottage near Tara, where the High Kings of Ireland once lived and which can be seen from the front of St Columban's.

Molly had been in very poor health since the birth of her second child Mary, known as Mae. Her first was William, known as Billy. He died in December 2017. Molly had spent three years on her back from some time after the birth of Mae. She never enjoyed robust health and in her latter days, when she lived in a nursing home, she had become blind.

What I remember most from visiting Molly and Jimmy was the warmth of their welcome and Molly's radiant smile. Jimmy worked for the Irish Land Commission, as I recall, and his salary was a modest, though adequate one. I remember him saying to me one time that he was happier in his cottage than Lord Dunsany was in his home, the nearby Dunsany Castle. The family name of the Lords Dunsany is Plunkett and they are related by ancestry to St Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, executed at Tyburn, London, in 1681, the last Catholic to be martyred in England.

For most of their married life Jimmy and Molly lived  the sickness part of their vow in sickness and in health. As I get older more and more do I see couples living that vow to the full. Such couples to me are radiating God's love for us. The Sacrament of Matrimony is a reflection of the love of Christ as the Bridegroom for his Bride, the Church. The First Reading of the Mass, from Isaiah, tells us, as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. 

The response to the Responsorial Psalm is, Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples. That is what Jimmy and Molly were doing for me, without being aware of it. That is the vocation of every couple who have bestowed the Sacrament of Matrimony on each other. It is the bride and groom who do that, not the priest. He, as an official witness of the Church, does indeed bless the couple during the ceremony with the Nuptial Blessing but it is they who give Jesus Christ to each other as the foundation of their marriage, till death do us part.

The Marriage at Cana (detail)

Paolo Veronese [Web Gallery of Art]

In recent decades in the formerly predominantly Christian Western world both marriage and family have been undermined and even ridiculed. Marriage is the foundation of the family. Marriage is between man and woman. In the first chapter of the Bible we read, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ (Genesis 1: 27-28). The next chapter tells us, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Jesus repeats this teaching in Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:8 as does St Paul in Ephesians 5:31.

The science of biology tells us that each of us is either male or female and that it is impossible for anyone to change their sex.

It is only a man and a woman who can be fruitful and multiply. In recent decades many countries have rejected the truth of this reality, lived since we humans first emerged, and proclaimed as a 'right' that two persons of the same sex can marry. Such a relationship is intrinsically sterile and, objectively, is an affront to God the Creator who made us male and female. But our consciences have been dulled and corrupted by the powerful international lobby that promotes and celebrates this dangerous nonsense.

The profoundly intimate act of love that enables a couple to express their commitment to be one till death do us part and that enables them to be fruitful and multiply belongs only within marriage. In God's plan a couple marry before they have children. In God's plan if they are still of fertile age they pledge, at least in Catholic weddings, to be open to new life.

It has to be acknowledged that in most of the Western world it has become more and more difficult for a couple to welcome and raise children because of the prohibitive cost of housing. Decisions about house-building by national and local authorities are a moral issue, not a utilitarian one. And in many places dues to poverty and/or war living conditions are dire, making it impossible for families to live decently.

Jesus' miracle of changing the water into wine is a sign of God's unbounded generosity. The six stone water jars each held a large amount of water, as the video above correctly shows. The good wine that Jesus produced amounted to the equivalent of more than 400 bottles of wine according to Scripture scholars.

The gospel passage ends with, This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. St John uses the word 'sign' for miracle'.

Jesus did this to manifest his glory, that is, to enable people to see who he really was so that they would believe in him as God who became Man and so that each of us would have eternal life. Every married couple is called to manifest the glory of Jesus by the way they live their marriage, founded on the love of Jesus Christ whom they gave to each other on their wedding day. The Lord delights in such a couple and rejoices over them, as Isaiah tells us today. I know that God delights in couples like Jimmy and Molly because I saw in them their delight in one another as husband and wife. That grace remains with me to this day.

For Me and My Gal

Gene Kelly and Judy Garland

This song, written in 1917, was used in the 1942 movie with the same title. For me it reflects how most Western people a hundred years ago saw weddings and marriage. A wedding normally took place in a church: The parson's waiting for me and my gal. A couple was open to having children: We're gonna' build a little home for two or three or more. It involved the community: For weeks they've been sewing, every Susie and Sal.

These were the aspirations and hopes of most people then. They no longer are. We are all the poorer because of that. But the Alleluia verse gives us a clear direction: God called us through the gospel, so that we may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Santo Niño de Cebú

[Wikipedia; photo]

Feast of the Santo Niño, Philippines

On the third Sunday of January the Church in the Philippines celebrates the Feast of the Santo Niño, the Holy Child. You will find Sunday Reflections for that Feast here. 

Traditional Latin Mass

Second Sunday After the Epiphany

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 01-19-2025 if necessary).

Epistle: Romans 12:6-16. Gospel: John 2:1-11.

This Sunday the Mass in both forms uses the same Gospel.

    

In

'Give her something to eat.' Sunday Reflections, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Montmartre, Paris

[Wikipedia; photo]

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

June is the month of the

Sacred Heart of Jesus

 

Raising of the Daughter of Jairus

Paolo Veronese [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 5:21-43 [or 5:21-24, 35b-43] (English Standard Version)

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” And he went with him.

[And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”]

While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

The Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital, May 1889

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

Lyn was someone I met when she was about 15. Three years later, when she was only halfway through her four-year college course, she quit to marry Roberto. (I’m not using their real names). Lyn was madly in love with Roberto, who had a good job and came from a relatively wealthy family.  Lyn’s family could not be described as poor either. I celebrated their wedding Mass and attended the reception in a classy hotel. In the Philippines traditionally it’s the groom’s father who pays for the reception. The young couple went to live in Manila, where Roberto was from. About a year later a daughter, whom I’ll call Gloria, was born. She had a learning disability. Another daughter, ‘Gabriela’, arrived a year or two later.

Then tragedy struck. Roberto discovered that his kidneys weren’t functioning properly and that he needed dialysis. Over the next couple of years Roberto and Lyn spent practically all they had on this and it ended in Roberto’s death. Meanwhile, Lyn’s parents both had serious illnesses and had to spend most of their resources on treatment.

Lyn returned to her own city with her two young daughters. She couldn’t find a job and had no qualifications since she hadn’t finished in college. With much embarrassment she came to see me and asked if I could give her a monthly ‘allowance’. She was able to survive the next few years with help from her siblings and friends and eventually remarried.

I’ve met so many ‘Lyns’ in the Philippines who are like the woman in today’s gospel, who have spent all their resources on doctors and medicine and are still sick. I’ve met families who have pawned their little bit of land in order to enable an aged parent to have surgery that ultimately leaves the whole family impoverished and the person on whom  they had spent the money, out of a perhaps misplaced love, ending up in the cemetery.

Most Filipinos have little access to good health care. Even those who have government health insurance have to come up with ready cash if they go to hospital, unlike in Ireland or the United Kingdom. They are eventually reimbursed but have to pay interest on money they have borrowed in the meantime. (I don't know if that system has changed in any way since I left the Philippines in 2017). I’ve heard people in Ireland and in the UK complain about poor health services. Some complaints are indeed justified but my own family’s experiences during the last few years has shown me how outstanding medical and social services in Ireland are. I have also heard many unsolicited words of praise for nurses from the Philippines working in hospitals in the UK and Ireland. 

But the sad reality is that most of these nurses, if they were still in the Philippines, would not have access to the kind of care they provide in Ireland and the UK. They would be like the woman in the gospel.

I met a Filipina in Reykjavík in 2000 who told me that she had had a kidney transplant in Denmark, paid for by the taxpayers of Iceland, a country of only 400,000 people or so. Had she been at home she would probably have ended up like Roberto.

Thirty-one years ago in a parish in Mindanao I buried Eileen, like the daughter of Jairus,  a 12-year-old. Again, poverty was a significant factor in her illness and death, despite the efforts of the doctors and nurses in the small government hospital where she died.

So the two stories interwoven by St Mark are stories that many have lived or are living, and not only in the Philippines.

But sometimes persons do experience healing in unexpected ways. I once gave a recollection day to a group of 11- and 12-year old children in a Catholic school in Cebu City. We reflected on the story of Jesus staying behind in the Temple when he was 12 and that of the daughter of Jairus, also 12. Before the afternoon session a group of the boys and girls came to tell me that Maria, one of their classmates, had a bad toothache and asked if we could pray with her. Maybe Jesus would heal her as he had healed ‘Talitha’, which they thought was the name of the daughter of Jairus. We prayed with Maria – and her toothache disappeared. The children were delighted.

St Mark gives us illustrations of the humanity of Jesus more than do St Matthew and St Luke when they recount the same stories. Scholars tell us that St Mark’s was the first gospel to be written and that the other two drew on his in writing theirs. St Matthew omits the detail of Jesus perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him. This shows us that Jesus wasn’t a ‘magician’. When he healed a sick person he gave of himself.

St Matthew leaves out another beautiful detail about the humanity of our Saviour. Jesus says to the people in the house, Give her something to eat. I can imagine the joy of everyone, including Jesus. I picture him with a smile on his face, a smile that reflects his joy – and his awareness that the girl’s family had forgotten the very practical detail that she was starving, as is anyone who has come through a serious illness. This detail of St Mark brings home to me the great reality that St John expressed in his gospel and that we pray in the Angelus, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

Dios de Amores

Ecuadorian hymn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Text: Aurelio Espinosa Polit SJ; Music: Belisario Peña; Sung by Harpa Dei.

Ecuador was the first country to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart. This hymn was written in the context of an increase in crime in the country. One can pray for one's own country while listening to the hymn, which has subtitles in English. The singers are siblings.

Traditional Latin Mass

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 06-30-2024 if necessary).

Epistle: Romans 6:3-11. Gospel: Mark 8:1-9.

A Workman's Meal-break

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

And they ate, and were satisfied (Mark 8:8; Gospel)