'Even amid the ravages of terrorism and war, we can see, with the eyes of faith, the triumph of life over death.' Sunday Reflections, 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

 

First Steps (after Millet)

Vincent van Gogh [Web Gallery of Art]

Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,

and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me. (Mark 30:37; today's gospel).

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Mark 9:30-37 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

Jesus and his disciples went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Bishop Joseph N. Perry on Men and Mass

Bishop Perry is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

In most parts of the world since March 2020 people have not been able to take part in Mass in church on Sunday or on weekdays. Parish priests have been celebrating Mass in empty churches. Funeral Masses here in Ireland were open only to the immediate families of the deceased during the strict lockdown periods. As I write this, churches in the Republic of Ireland may now be filled to 50 per cent of their capacity. More recently, under 'less restrictive' regulations, fifty persons were allowed to attend religious services, no matter how large or small the building was.

Many have become used to online Masses. These have been a great comfort to people. But have we come to see this as a normal way of participating in the Holy Sacrifice?

Families have been communicating by Zoom, Facebook and the like, and these have been truly a blessing in the situation we have all been going through. But this is not the same as meeting in person.

In the video above Bishop Perry is talking about Sunday Mass in the context of the family. A number of times he says husbands and fathers or husband and father emphasising that in God's plan a man is meant to be a husband before he becomes a father. The same holds for a woman. She is meant to be a wife before she becomes a mother. Marriage is the primary vocation of a couple. They are first called by God to be spouses. As spouses they are then, in most cases, called to be parents. The Church honours St Joseph above all as the Husband of Mary. It was as such that in a very real sense he fulfilled the role of being a father to Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary.

Bishop Perry speaks of the importance of the husband/father leading the family by taking part in Sunday Mass. Though I have memories of my mother taking me to Mass when I was a young child, my abiding memories are of my father taking me to Sunday Mass and seeing him attend Mass every weekday morning before preparing my mother's breakfast and then going off to work.

Archbishop of Mosul celebrates First Mass in freed Qaraqosh, Iraq, 30 October 2016

We want to be Christ's witnesses here. Words of Archbishop Youhanna Boutros Moshe of Mosul. He belongs to the Syrian Catholic Church, one of the Eastern churches in full communion with Rome.

Mass had been celebrated in Qaraqosh without break since the early days of Christianity until ISIS drove out its Christians - the majority in the town - in 2014. ISIS gave Christians three coptions: pay a tax, convert to Islam or be executed. 

When churches were closed because of the pandemic none of us were faced with those choices.

Pope Francis visited Qaraqosh this year on 7 March. Here is part of his address to the people there in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Our gathering here today shows that terrorism and death never have the last word. The last word belongs to God and to his Son, the conqueror of sin and death. Even amid the ravages of terrorism and war, we can see, with the eyes of faith, the triumph of life over death. You have before you the example of your fathers and mothers in faith, who worshipped and praised God in this place. They persevered with unwavering hope along their earthly journey, trusting in God who never disappoints and who constantly sustains us by his grace.

As we slowly return to a form of normality, maybe we can reflect on what it means to us to take part in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, particularly in Sunday Mass, whether we attend it on Saturday evening or on Sunday itself. We have before us the example of our fathers and mothers in faith. In the words of Bishop Perry, Sunday is the day when husbands and fathers can lead their families to the Lord.

Visit of Pope Francis to Iraq, 5-8 March 2021

 Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 9-19-2021 if necessary).

Epistle: Ephesian 4:1-6 .  Gospel: Matthew 22:34-46.

Complaining Pharisee

Matthias Grünewald [Web Gallery of Art]

But the Pharisees hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, came together: And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him: Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? (Matthew 22:34-36).

Authentic Beauty

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

Kyrie from 'Mass in E flat'

Composed by Josef Rheinberger

Sung by Voces8

'O God, be merciful to me a sinner'. 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C, 24 October 2010

The Pharisee and the Publican, Gustav Dore

Readings


New American Bible (Philippines, USA)

Gospel (Luke 18:9-14, NAB)

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. "Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.

The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’

But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'

I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

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I have often thought that this parable could be read another way: instead of having the pharisee saying 'O God, I thank you that I am not . . . not like this tax collector' we could apply it to ourselves as saying 'O God, I thank you that I am not . . . like this pharisee'. One of the flimsiest excuses that I have heard so often from persons who don't go to Mass anymore is that the church is full of hypocrites and pharisees. We have no idea what goes on in the heart of another, of the inner struggles of another. The Church is for sinners, as the tax collector in the parable realized.

His words perhaps inspired the very ancient prayer known as 'The Jesus Prayer': 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner'. This has come down to us especially through the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church and through the Orthodox Churches. This prayer can be used to draw us into silent prayer, into meditation, saying each phrase as we breathe in and repeating it over and over. I also use it as an Act of Contrition

'What do you want me to do for you?' 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Christ healing the blind, El Greco, 1570s

30th Sunday, Ordinary Time, Year B. 25 October 2009.

Readings

New American Bible (Philippines, USA)

Jerusalem Bible (Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, Scotland)

What do you want me to do for you?

My American Columban colleague, Fr John Burger, now on our General Council in Hong Kong, told a story on a video, which I can't locate now, about a blind man in his parish before in Japan. This man was a member of a prayer group that met once a week to listen to a particular passage from the Gospel, reflect on it, share and pray. This Sunday's gospel was the passage chosen one week and Father John was worried about his blind parishioner: what would he think or have to say?

He needn't have worried. Instead, he was moved by what the blind man said: 'I am quite happy with my life. I have my own place to live. I know where everything is. What strikes me about this passage is that Jesus doesn't presume to know what Bartimaeus wanted but asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" So many people, with good will, think they know what I want or need. Jesus didn't do that.
'
If Jesus were to ask me now what I needed I would tell him about areas of my life where I keep him out.'

Do we ever let Jesus really ask us what we want him to do for us? And do we presume to know what others need, as we try to be kind? I remember on a pilgrimage from Ireland to Lourdes in 1991 sharing a room with two men with different disabilities and a man who, like myself, was able-bodied. We had to help our two companions in some areas but I learned very quickly not to do for the other what he could do for himself. Years ago I saw a movie called 'Cactus Jack' which starred Kirk Douglas. It was a spoof Western, but done in the style of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that featured such characters as Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner and so on. But in this movie the actors were all real. In one scene Kirk Douglas helps an old lady cross the street. She then hits him with her umbrella - because she didn't want to cross the street!
Often enough we can be like that, making choices for others we perceive to be weak, eg, young children, old people, persons with various disabilities. Our actions are well meant but may not be helpful at all.

Father Burger's blind friend saw in Jesus' question to Bartimaeus a sensitivity he didn't always experience with others, even while recognising their good intentions.
But perhaps the most encouraging thing of all is that Jesus is inviting us through this gospel to let him ask what he asked Bartimaeus: 'What do you want me to do for you?'

Healing of the Blind Man, Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308-11

Master, I Want to See!

Biblical Reflection for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, OCT. 21, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Mark's healing stories of the blind man of Bethsaida (8:22-26) and the healing of Bartimaeus, the blind man on the road to Jericho (10:46-52) were undoubtedly popular stories in the early Church and they remain very significant stories for the contemporary Church.

These miracles have always fascinated me because I grew up with my father who was an eye doctor. How frequently we spoke about sight impairments, eye diseases, stigmatisms, cataracts and 20/20 vision! My father was also a member of a charitable society that assisted the blind, and I remember vividly volunteering as a child with my father and his doctor colleagues who hosted memorable Christmas parties for blind people.

Full text here.

A Prayer for Sight
Origen (185-253)

May the Lord Jesus touch our eyes,

As he did those of the blind.

Then we shall begin to see in visible things

Those which are invisible.

May He open our eyes to gaze not on present realities,

But on the blessings to come.

May he open the eyes of our heart to contemplate God in Spirit,

Through Jesus Christ the Lord,

To whom belong power and glory through all eternity. Amen.

[The readings for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time B are Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrew 5:1-6; and Mark 10:46-52]

* * *

Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, chief executive officer of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and Television Network in Canada, is a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. He can be reached at: rosica@saltandlighttv.org .

Heavy feelings over Greek and Latin being introduced in Mass

Manila Cathedral

Below is an email I received the other day from a friend who, with his wife, both now retired, has spent all his working life in the professional service of the Church, particularly in the training of lay leaders in rural communities and among the poor in urban areas.

The names of my friends don’t matter here nor their place, which is in Mindanao. I have included the email as written in Cebuano-Visayan and given an English translation. Cebuano is the most widely-spoken mother-tongue in the Philippines, both in terms of numbers and in terms of area, and is the second or third language of many more in Mindanao. For the past 40 years or so it has been the main liturgical language in the southern Philippines, especially outside of large cities where English is widely used, though not in the parish where my friend lives.

I would welcome your views on this. I have my own but prefer not to share them yet.

For readers outside the Philippines, 6am is the most popular time for both Sunday and weekday Masses throughout the country. People get up with the sun and it’s not at all the same as 6am in northern Europe or in North America.

Buot lang ko mopadayag sa akong gibati tungod sa paggamit sa (Griego)ug Latin nga mga alawiton sa importaneng bahin sa Misa sa Cathedral. Ambot unsa kaha ang reaction sa Obispo ini. Ania ang content:

Sorry kaayo, Monsignor, nga sukad gibalik ang (Griego) o Latin nga mga kalantahon sa importante kaayong bahin sa alas 6 nga Misa sa Domingo, mopauli ko nga frustrated kaayo. Mobati ko nga dili hingpit ang akong pagdayeg ug pasalamat sa Ginoo. Dili hingpit ang akong pagsaulog, kay dili man kaugalingong natong pinulongan ang gigamit, ug gawas pa, diyotay ra kaayo kog masabtan niini. Ambot kon mao ba usab ni ang gibati sa uban. Para nako nindot man ug balaan ang Misang Latin kon itunong kini sa tinuyo nga oras ug sa espesyal nga grupo. Ang alas 6 nga Misa mao man god sakto kaayo nga panahon alang namong magtiayon. Bug-at kaayo kining akong gabati mao nga nangahas ko pagpadayag ini nimo. Usbon nako, pasayloa lang gyod ko.

I want to share my feelings about the use of (Greek) and Latin in the important sung parts of the Mass in the Cathedral. I don’t know how the bishop will react to this. Here’s the content:

I’m very sorry, Monsignor, but since the return of Greek and Latin singing in the important parts of the 6am Mass on Sundays, I go home very frustrated. I feel that my worship and thanksgiving to the Lord aren’t perfect. My celebration isn’t perfect because the languages being used are not our own. Furthermore, very few understand (them). I don’t know if others feel the same. For me the Latin Mass would be good and sacred if it were celebrated at a specific time for a special group. Mass at 6am is just right for our families. I feel a heaviness and that’s why I wanted to share this with you. I repeat, please forgive me.

23rd Sunday Ordinary Time Year A: some resources

Twenty-third Sunday Ordinary Time Year A, 7 September 2008

‘We cannot live without Sunday’: Martyrs of Abitene, Italy, AD304. 'Without Sunday, without the Eucharist, the Christians in Iraq cannot survive': Fr Ragheed Aziz Ganni, Martyr of Iraq, 3 June 2007. Fr Ragheed is on the left in the photo. He belonged to the Chaldean Rite of the Catholic Church.


New American Bible version (used in Philippines, USA).


Jerusalem Bible version (used in Ireland, England and Wales, Scotland, etc).


Online homily resources from http://www.catholicireland.net/

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Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap, Papal Household preacher.

The Duty of Fraternal Correction

ROME, SEPT. 5, 2008 (Zenit.org).- In the Gospel this Sunday we read: "Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother sins, go and admonish him privately; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.’"Jesus speaks of all sins; he does not restrict the field to sins committed against us. In this latter sort of case, it is hard to know whether what moves us is zeal for truth or our own wounded pride. In any case, it would be more of a self-defense than a fraternal correction. When the sin is against us, the first duty is not correction but forgiveness. Full article here.

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The Debt of Love

Peter H. Harries O.P.

Fr Peter Harries shows that the love of Christ has nothing to do with wishy-washyness.

St Paul tells the early Christians in Rome to avoid getting into debt. Sensible advice we might think in any age, though mortgages and student loans would be difficult to avoid for many young (and not so young) people in Britain today. Full article here.

Fr Peter Harries is chaplain to the University College London Hospitals NHS Trust.

Read homilies from the same source for the same Sunday in previous years: 2005 , 2002 .

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Looking for Trouble!

© Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio
To download and listen to the PodCast of Looking for Trouble, Click here!

I used to think that God’s law was like those dumb rules we have to put up with in grammar school, like "Thou shalt not chew gum in class." They are arbitrary laws that some bureaucrats came up with to keep them happy and the rest of us miserable. The goal of the student is to break such rules whenever they can get away with it. The only bad consequence would be to get caught. Full article here.