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).
Showing posts with label Sir John Beaumont. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sir John Beaumont. Show all posts
And this
will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths
and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12;
Gospel).
The Solemnity of the
Nativity of the Lord has
four different Mass formularies, each with its own prayers and readings. Any of
the four fulfils our obligation to attend Mass. These are:
Vigil Mass, celebrated 'either before or after
First Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the Nativity'; that means starting between
5pm and 7pm.
Mass During the Night, known before as 'Midnight Mass'.
Mass at Dawn.
Mass During the Day.
The readings from the
Jerusalem Bible for the four Masses are all on one page but with links to each
individual Mass. When you click on 'Readings' below from the New American Bible
you will find links to the readings for each of the four Masses.
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales,
Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel(Mass During the Night) Luke 2:1-14 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
In those days a decree went out from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be registered.This was the
first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.And all went to be registered, each to his own town.And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth,
to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he
was of the house and lineage of David,to be
registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in
swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for
them in the inn.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.And an angel of the
Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were filled with fear.And the angel said
to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be
for all the people.For unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the
Lord.And this will be a sign for you: you
will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among
those with whom he is pleased!”
And
Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea,
to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of
the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his
betrothed, who was with child
(Luke 2:4-5; Gospel).
Linus quotes Luke 2:8-14 (Authorized [King James] Version):
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Charlie Brown finds satisfaction in Linus’ answer. He is made joyful. So why is this television special so enduring? Linus’ answer is the perfect Advent message for Christians awaiting the birth of Christ during a time taken over by commercialism [emphasis added]. That’s what Christians who watch this special take away from it.
The above is a quotation from an article by Clemente Lisi, Why 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' Remains Beloved by both Christians and Non-believers - an article well worth reading. A very perceptive comment on the article reads: I watched the original airing of the show in 1965 as an 8-year-old. Many, many times since then. It just occurred to me as I read your story that one of the main reasons for the profundity of Linus' speech is the silence before and after he quotes Luke. No piano, no laughter, no groaning. Just silence. It sets in our minds the importance of what is about to be said and subsequently what was said[emphasis added].
Notice how Linus drops his security blanket at the angel's words Fear not.
In his book Jesus of Nazareth, The Infancy Narratives, Pope Benedict XVI writes on pages 66-67 as follows [emphases added].
'And while they were there [Bethlehem], the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:6-7, RSV).
'Let us begin our exegesis with the concluding words of this passage: there was no room for them in the inn. Prayerful reflection over these words has highlighted an inner parallel between this saying and the profoundly moving verse from St John's Prologue (read in the Mass During the Day): He came to his own home, and his own people received him not (1:11). For the Saviour of the World, for him in whom all things were created (cf Col 1:16), there was no room. Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head (Mt 8:20). He who was crucified outside the city (cf Heb 13:12) also came into the world outside the city.
'This should cause us to reflect - it points toward the reversal of values found in the figure of Jesus Christ and his message. From the moment of his birth, he belongs outside the realms of what is important and powerful in worldly terms. Yet it is this unimportant and powerless child that proves to be the truly powerful one, the one on whom ultimately everything depends. So one aspect of becoming a Christian is having to leave behind what everyone else thinks and wants, the prevailing standards, in order to enter the light of the truth of our being, and aided by that light to find the right path.'
+++
Both Rembrandt's painting above and Murillo's at the top beautifully show this unimportant and powerless child to be truly the light of the truth of our being.
2022 has been another dark year for many throughout the world, most of us feeling powerless at times in varying degrees. May the words of St John's Gospel be a beacon of hope for all of us:
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it(John 1:5).
Agus tá an solas ag taitneamh sa dorchadas, ach níorghabh an dorchadas é (Eoin 1:5).
Extraordinary Form of the Mass
Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)
Christmas Day.
The complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 12-25-2022, if necessary). Click on the circle in front of 'Missa prima', 'Missa secunda' or 'Missa tertia' for the specific Mass texts.
The Solemnity of the
Assumption, 15 August, is a Holy Day of Obligation in Aotearoa New Zealand,
England & Wales, Ireland, Scotland, USA. However, this year it is not a
Holy Day of Obligation in the USA. In Aotearoa New Zealand, in England & Wales and in Scotland when 15 August falls on Saturday or Monday the Assumption
is celebrated on Sunday, this year 16 August.
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
GospelMatthew 15:21-28 (English
Standard Version Anglicised)
Jesus left that
place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that
region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my
daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples
came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He
answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she
came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered,
‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said,
‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’
table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.
My late mother, whose name was Mary, loved to bargain, when
buying clothes and when buying fruit and vegetables. She usually bought
the latter at the store of a woman named Chrissie Caffrey, whose
sister Maggie had a similar store across the road in Stoneybatter, then just a short street but now the name of the district in Dublin where I grew up. There were usually a few
cats around but the vegetables and fruit on sale were fresh. Sometimes as a
child, listening to my mother, I would think that she was insulting
Chrissie the way she spoke to her. But they both would end up happy, my mother
having got a bargain - or thinking that she had - and Chrissie having got a sale.
What my mother and Chrissie did a couple of times a week
was a form of banter with a serious purpose. My mother wasn't insulting
Chrissie; she was simply looking for a good price. Chrissie didn't take any
offence at my mother's words, gave as good as she got - and sold her produce.
One commentary I read on this gospel suggests that Jesus and
the Canaanite woman were engaged in something similar to Chrissie and my
mother, a form of banter, but with a serious purpose. The words of Jesus
comparing the Canaanites, non-Jews, to dogs were insulting at their face value.
But the woman didn't take offence, She wanted her daughter healed and that's
all that mattered to her. She probably hadn't been among those who heard Jesus'
Sermon on the Mount when he said, among many other things, Ask, and
it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be
opened for you (Mt 7:7). But clearly she had heard something about Jesus, of his
love for the poor, for the sick, for the tormented. Because she persisted,
giving as good as she got: Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their
masters' tables. She then heard the astounding words of Jesus, Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.
It wasn't the first time Jesus responded to
a non-Jew and remarked on that person's faith. Before we receive Holy Communion
we pray the words of the Roman centurion who had come to Jesus with a similar
plea to that of the Canaanite woman, not on behalf of his daughter but of his
servant, 'Lord, I am not worthy . . .'
For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who
searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened(Mt 7:8).
There is something very down-to-earth about the meeting of Jesus and the Canaanite woman. The Assumption too is a down-to-earth celebration. Pope Benedict reminds us: The Solemnity of the Assumption, so dear to popular tradition, serves as a useful occasion for all believers to meditate on the true sense and value of human existence in view of eternity.
Dear brothers and sisters, Heaven is our final dwelling place; from there, Mary encourages us by her example to welcome God's will, so as not to allow ourselves to be seduced by the deceptive attraction to what is transitory and fleeting, and not to give in to the temptations of selfishness and evil which extinguish the joy of life in the heart.
In the Nicene Creed, which pray at Mass on Sundays and Solemnities, we say, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. The equivalent in the Apostles' Creed is, I believe in . . . the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Part of the humanity of Jesus, God who became Man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and of Mary herself is their Jewishness. They remain Jewish for all eternity.
Theme from Schindler's List
Composed by John Williams
Violin soloist: Csongor Korossy-Khayll
Budapest 2017 in the largest synagogue in Europe This video can be played only on the YouTube website. Click here.
Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist, and his wife Emilie saved the lives of more than a thousand Jewish refugees, most of them from Poland, from the Holocaust during World War II when the Nazis tried to eliminate the people from whom Jesus and Mary sprung. Each face in this beautiful video is an image of God and a reminder of the dignity of our humanity and of God's desire for us, expressed in the words at the top of this blog: 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).
Readings[Mass of the Day] (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Readings[Vigil Mass and Mass of the Day](Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England &
Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South
Africa)
Gospel[Mass of the Day] Luke 1:39-56 (English
Standard Version Anglicised)
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in
the hill country, where she entered the house of
Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When
Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed
with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your
womb. And why has this happened to me,
that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For
as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for
joy.And blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in
God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will
call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts
of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for
ever.’
And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.
From the Angelus address of Pope Benedict in Castel Gandolfo, 15 August 2008:
Mary assumed into Heaven points out to us the
final destination of our earthly pilgrimage. She reminds us that our whole
being - spirit, soul and body - is destined for fullness of life; that those
who live and die in love of God and of their neighbour will be transfigured in
the image of the glorious Body of the Risen Christ; that the Lord will cast
down the proud and exalt the humble (cf. Lk 1: 51-52). With the mystery of her
Assumption Our Lady proclaims this eternally. May you be praised for ever, O Virgin
Mary! Pray the Lord for us.
Adoration of the Shepherds
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Adoration of the Shepherds (London)
