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 Theophanes the Cretan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theophanes the Cretan. Show all posts
For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
GospelLuke 10:1-12, 17-20 or 10:1-9 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)
At that time:
The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by
two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to
them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray
earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go
your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry
no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever
house you enter, first say, “Peace be to this house!” And if a son of peace is
there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And
remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the
labourer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter
a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it
and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”
[But whenever you enter a
town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, “Even the dust
of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know
this, that the kingdom of God has come near.” I tell you, it will be more
bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.’
The seventy-two returned
with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!’ And
he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have
given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this,
that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in
heaven.’]
The July 2019 issue of Magnificat, a pocket-sized monthly magazine that is a prayer book and Missal that I highly recommend, has this story of St Justin Martyr who died c.165. He was a philosopher who attached himself to philosophical schools in different places.
One day, while walking along the beach in Ephesus, Justin met an old man who told him of the teachings of the Hebrew prophets and their fufilment in the person of Jesus Christ. 'My spirit was immediately set on fire,' Justin wrote later.
I remember the late Columban Fr Cyril Hally, a New Zealander, pointing out to us in the seminary that when the Apostles went to their different mission fields they found some Christians there before them. Christians who travelled, such as merchants, who spoke about Jesus Christ to those they met and many a spirit was immediately set on fire.
Columban Fr Joseph Hogan from Dublin, where the Legion of Mary was born, introduced the movement to China, where it later produced many martyrs. He died in Shanghai on 6 July 1946. And Columban Fr Seán Savage who died on 7 July 1994 is credited with introducing the Legion to Korea. May they both rest in peace.
During some summer vacations in my seminary years I went onPeregrinatio Pro Christo- Pilgrimage For Christ - with theLegion of Mary. 'PPC', as Legionaries usually call it, was partly inspired by the spirit of Irish monks such as St Columbanus (Columban) and St Columcille (Columba) who left Ireland in the Sixth Century for other countries, Columban to the European mainland and Columba to Iona, Scotland, in the modern Diocese of Argyll and the Isles where I spent two months in parish work during the summer of 2013. I also spent two short periods working there in the summer of 1997 in the Gaelic-speaking islands of Barra and South Uist.
Legionaries go to another country or to another region in their own country for at least a week, usually at the invitation of a particular parish. In 1963 I was in St Anne's Parish, Edge Hill, near the centre of Liverpool, around the time The Beatles, from that city, were becoming world famous. Two years later I was in St Fergus's Parish, Ferguslie, Paisley, very near Glasgow, and in 1966 in Pewsey, a lovely village in rural Wiltshire in England's beautiful West Country. I arrived there on the day England won the World Cup in football against West Germany and watched the game in a cafe in Bristol.
On PPC most of the Legionaries have never met each other before but they establish a close bond very quickly. Instead of a weekly meeting, as they have in their own praesidium, as a branch is called (the Legion takes its terminology from the ancient Roman Legions), they meet daily. Each meeting includes prayers at the beginning, including the Rosary, the middle and the end, a reading from the Handbook, reporting by each member on work done, a short talk or allocutio from the spiritual director, and assignments for the coming week, two hours for senior members.
On PPC this takes place every day, as does the work. And it is usually much longer than two hours. Most of those taking part give up part of their own vacations and pay their own way, though they are usually hosted by local families, just like the 72 in the gospel.
Just like the disciples in today's Gospel, Legionaries work in pairs. They may never work alone. If one doesn't turn up the assigned work can't be done. One of the central works of the Legion of Mary is to visit homes. In Liverpool the parish priest asked us to do a parish census. This served two purposes. It helped the parish update its list but, more importantly, it was an opportunity for personal contact with parishioners, especially with those who had lapsed.
I remember one particular home that I visited with my assigned partner. The parish index card noted that the family who lived there had become quite bitter towards the Church, why, I didn't know. But I felt nervous when I pressed the doorbell. A man opened the door and one of us said that we were from the Legion of Mary and that we were visiting on behalf of the local parish.
Instead of speaking angry words or slamming the door in our faces, the man gave us a big smile and said, 'O, you're from Ireland!' He then told us of vacations that he and his family had spent there and that they had received a warm welcome wherever they went.
I took this as a cue to speak of the hospitality and friendliness of the Irish people as an expression of their Catholic faith. We had a long chat in which the man who had, as I recall, called his wife to meet us, expressed no bitterness at all towards the Church and it was clear when we were leaving that he was very grateful for the visit. As the Gospel today says: Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace be to this house!” And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him.
I don't know if he and his family went back to the Church but he had experienced a welcoming Church through our visit. In a very real way we had done what Jesus had asked the 72 (or 70) to do: Cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you' The sickness in question wasn't a physical one but a spiritual one.
Our faith is a precious gift from God that must be shared. Otherwise it will die. In the gospel the 72 are given a specific mission. That is what happens on PPC. But we're on mission all the time and we may never know how we lead others to the faith.
The young future martyr Justin learned of Jesus Christ from an old man he met while walking on a beach.
Whether we're 'on duty' as missionaries, as the 72 were and as I was on PPC, or 'off duty' the lives we lead can truly remind others that the kingdom of God has come near to you. The people that the Liverpool family met in Ireland, bus drivers and conductors, waiters, waitresses, newspaper vendors, so many others, probably weren't aware that they were gentle reminders of God's love to them. When we honestly try to follow Jesus despite our sinfulness and weakness we can take heart in the words he spoke to the 72 as they reported what had happened during their mission, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv, leads Greek Catholic pilgrims from Ukraine in singing the Our Father in St Peter's on 28 June.
Traditional Latin Mass
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 07-06-2025 if necessary).
The Ascension is celebrated on
Ascension Thursday, 13 May, in England & Wales and in Scotland. In the USA it is
celebrated on Ascension Thursday in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Boston,
Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, Philadelphia, elsewhere on Sunday 2 June. In
all of these areas Ascension Thursday is a Holyday of Obligation.
The Ascension is
observed on Sunday, 16 May, in Aotearoa-New Zealand, Australia, Canada,
Ireland, Philippines.
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)
Gospel Mark 16:15-20(English Standard Version, Anglicised)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Go into all the world
and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and
is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will
be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who
believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new
tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink
any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their
hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
So then the Lord
Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven
and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached
everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by
accompanying signs.
Gospel John 17:11b-19(English Standard Version, Anglicised)
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven
and said:
Holy
Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that
they may be one, even as we are one.While I was with them, I kept them in your
name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of
them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture
might be fulfilled.But now I am coming to you, and these things I
speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.I have given them your word, and the
world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am
not of the world.I do not ask that you take them out of the
world, but that you keep them from the evil one.They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.Sanctify them[ in
the truth; your word is truth.As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into
the world.And for their sake I consecrate myself, that
they also may be sanctified in truth.
Fr Giuseppe Raviolo SJ (1923 - 1998) was a Pope St John XXIII-like
figure, physically and spiritually, from Italy who spent most of his priestly
life in Mindanao, Philippines, where I came to know him. He was the first
rector of St John Vianney Major Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City. But he also
spent nine years in Vietnam and was rector of the major seminary in Saigon, now
Ho Chi Minh City, during the Vietnam War. He once told me an extraordinary
story from that period.
The North Vietnamese Army was advancing on Saigon. The
soldiers were divided into groups of three. The standing order was that if one
tried to surrender the other two were to shoot him. One particular group found
themselves surrounded by American soldiers and one of them surrendered. The
other two did not shoot their companion and were captured along with him. Later
they asked their companion why he had taken such a risk. He answered, I
knew you were Christians and that you would not shoot me. The two were in
fact Catholics and had discussed the matter and had decided that, as
Christians, they could not shoot their companion if that particular situation
arose.
These were soldiers in the army of a Communist country, an
army without any chaplains, and their companion, who was not a Christian, took
it for granted that they would not take his life because he knew that they were
Christians.
In the First Reading today, the opening verses of the Acts of
the Apostles, Jesus says to his disciples, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the
earth.
Those two Catholic soldiers in the North Vietnamese
army were powerful witnesses of Jesus to their companion. They chose to live
their faith in Jesus. And he entrusted his life to them because he knew they were Christians.
How many strangers would entrust their life to us simply because they knew we were Christians?
Rejoice always,pray without ceasing,give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
This is really a postscript. The other day I came across the following quotation in This Tremendous Lover by Dom Eugene Boylan OCSO. It made me smile and it also highlighted for me that prayer is essentially being in a relationship with God, knowing that God loves us.
A saint should be a very easy person to live with. Unfortunately, those who try to be saints are often the opposite. Might we refer them to the example of St Jane Frances de Chantal? While she was still living in the world, St Francis de Sales became her director. The result of his influence may be gathered from the comment of one of her servants. 'The first director that Madame had made her pray three times a day. and we were all put out; but the Monsignor of Geneva (St Francis de Sales) makes her pray all day long and no one is troubled.'
Antiphona ad introitum Entrance Antiphon Acts 1:11
Viri Galilaei
Setting
by William Byrd
Sung
by Cardinall’s Musick
Viri Galilaei, quid admiramini aspicientes in
caelum? Men of Galilee, why gaze in wonder at the heavens?Quemadmodum vidisti eum ascendentem in caelum, ita
veniet, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.This Jesus whom you saw ascending into heaven will return as you saw him go, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Omnes gentes plaudit manibusL iubilate Deo in voce
exultationis.
Clap your hands all peoples! Shout
to God with loud sounds of joy!
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, sicut
erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the
Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall
be, world without end. Amen.
Viri Galilaei, quid admiramini
aspicientes in caelum? Men of Galilee, why gaze in wonder at the heavens?Quemadmodum vidisti eum
ascendentem in caelum, ita veniet, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
This Jesus whom you saw ascending into heaven will return as you saw him go, alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia.
In the Extraordinary Form of the Mass the whole text above is sung or recited. In the Ordinary Form the text in bold is recited or sung unless it is replaced by a suitable hymn.
Extraordinary Form of the Mass
Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)
Ascension Thursday
The complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 5-13-2021 if necessary).
Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.
The Solemnity of the
Ascension is celebrated on Ascension Thursday in England and Wales, in Scotland
and in parts of the USA. In these regions the Ascenson
is a holy day of obligation. In other countries, including Australia, Ireland,
Philippines and parts of the USA, the solemnity is observed on the Sunday after
Ascension Thursday.
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
GospelMark 16:15-20 (New Revised Standard
Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition)
Jesus said
to his disciples, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the
whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the
one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will
accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they
will speak in new tongues; they will pick up
snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not
hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was
taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that
accompanied it.
Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year B
These readings are used in
countries/jurisdictions that observe the solemnity on Ascension Thursday.
Fr Giuseppe Raviolo SJ (1923 - 1998) was a Pope St John XXIII-like figure, physically and spiritually, from Italy who spent most of his priestly life in Mindanao, Philippines, where I came to know him. He was the first rector of St John Vianney Major Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City. But he also spent nine years in Vietnam and was rector of the major seminary in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, during the Vietnam War. He once told me an extraordinary story from that period. The North Vietnamese Army was advancing on Saigon. The soldiers were divided into groups of three. The standing order was that if one tried to surrender the other two were to shoot him. One particular group found themselves surrounded by American soldiers and one of them surrendered. The other two did not shoot their companion and were captured along with him. Later they asked their companion why he had taken such a risk. He answered, I knew you were Christians and that you would not shoot me. The two were in fact Catholics and had discussed the matter and had decided that, as Christians, they could not shoot their companion if that particular situation arose. These were soldiers in the army of a Communist country, an army without any chaplains, and their companion, who was not a Christian, took it for granted that they would not take his life because he knew that they were Christians. In the First Reading today, the opening verses of the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus says to his disciples, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Those two Catholic soldiers in the North Vietnamese army were powerful witnesses of Jesus to their companion. They chose to live their faith in Jesus. In the Republic of Ireland citizens will be voting on 25 May on whether to retain a provision in the Constitution that protects both the life of an unborn child and that of its mother or to replace it with a provision that will allow the parliament to legislate for abortion. The current government has stated that if the Constitution is changed they will introduce legislation that would allow abortion up to twelve weeks for no reason whatever. Please pray that we in Ireland will have the same respect for human life that the two soldiers in Vietnam had and that we will exercise our responsibility as citizens by being witnesses of Jesus not only in Ireland but to the ends of the earth.
Sts Nereus and Achilleus, whose feast is observed on 12 May, were Roman soldiers who were martyred for being Christians.
Entrance Antiphon Acts 1:11 Antiphona ad introitum
Men of Galilee, why gaze in wonder at the heavens?
Viri Galilaei, quid admiramini aspicientes in caelum? This Jesus whom you saw ascending into heaven Quemadmodum vidisti eum ascendentem in caelum, will return as you saw him go, alleluia. ita veniet, alleluia.
Palestrina's setting uses a slightly different Latin translation along with a verse that is not in the Entrance Antiphon in the current Roman Missal: Viri Galilaei, quid statis aspicientes in coelum?
Hic Jesus, qui assumptus est a vobis in coelum,
sic veniet, quemadmodum vidistis eum euntem in coelum. Alleluia.
Ascendit Deus in jubilatione, et Dominus in voce tubae. Alleluia.
Dominus in coelo paravit sedem suam. Alleluia.
Madonna and Child
