'Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country.' Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday of Advent, Year C

Visitation

Luca della Robbio [Web Gallery of Art]

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

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 1:39-45 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)  

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

The Visitation

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

I never fail to be moved, delighted and inspired by this 'Dance of Life' between St Elizabeth pregnant with John the Baptist and Mary pregnant with Jesus.

About seventeen years ago I celebrated Mass on the Feast of the Visitation in a home for girls where most come from a background of abuse. One girl of 16, whom I'll call 'Gloria', was pregnant. She was from another part of the Philippines and had been working in a restaurant and said that one of her co-workers was responsible. Gloria was very angry and would not accept the baby she was carrying who was by this time around six months, as I recall. I invited her at the end of the Mass to come forward for a blessing for herself and her child. She agreed. With her permission I placed my hand gently on her stomach, as Elizabeth and Mary do with each other in the painting below, while I prayed. 

Visitation

Rogier van der Weyden [Web Gallery of Art]

'Gloria' told me afterwards that she could feel the baby moving as I blessed them both - and she had a smile on her face. She was able to go home to her own place some time later where she gave birth. Perhaps you could say a prayer for her and for her child, now aged about 17.

Rogier van der Weyden captures the sacredness of the lives of the unborn Jesus and John the Baptist. El Greco captures the swirl of a dance of life, the flowing blue robes suggesting the joy of the two pregnant mothers, Mary and Elizabeth. Luca della Robbia's sculpture shows the sacred intimacy of the moment that Mary and Elizabeth met, each carrying a precious life, Mary's child the Son of God, God-become-Man.

Today's gospel has particular relevance in the context of on-going public debates in a number of countries about abortion, including Ireland and the USA. When I used this material three years ago the Republic of Ireland was about to introduce abortion on demand up to twelve weeks, the new law to come into effect on New Year’s Day 2019, the Solemnity of the Motherhood of Mary. 6,666 legal abortions took place in that year and 6,577 the following year. In 2023  there were 10,033.

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  

+++

One of a number of ministries to both women and men who have been directly affected by abortion is Rachel's Vineyard. I have connections with Rachel's Vineyard, Ireland, which has brought its healing retreat to such places as the Faroe Islands, Hungary, South Korea and Lebanon.

Del Verbo Divino

San Juan de la Cruz

Del Verbo divino

la Virgen preñada

viene de camino:

¡ si les dais posada !

Concerning the Divine Word

St John of the Cross

Translation by Roy Campbell

With the divinest Word, the Virgin

Made pregnant, down the road

Comes walking, if you'll grant her

A room in your abode. 

Posada is a Spanish word meaning 'lodging' or 'accommodation' or 'inn'. In many Spanish-speaking countries and communities Las Posadas is a novena in preparation for Christmas. This tradition is a 'cousin' to that in the Philippines known as Simbang Gabi.

Traditional Latin Mass 

Fourth Sunday of Advent

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 12-22-2024 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5.  Gospel: Luke 3:1-6.

Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight (Luke 3:4; Gospel).

'God chose what is low and despised in the world . . .' Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

 

Jesus gives the Beatitudes

from The Chosen

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Matthew 5:1-12a [or 4:12-17] (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)  

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge 

 

The Beatitudes

L’Arche, Bognor Regis, England

Down Syndrome Abortion Rate

A study of abortions in the United States from 1995-2011 found that 67% of women who were told their baby would have Down syndrome decided to abort. This number is much higher in other countries. BBC reports that 90% of women in England whose babies are diagnosed with Down syndrome choose to abort . . . We see that trend in other countries as well. For instance, the Life Institute reports that in Iceland, nearly 100% of babies with Down syndrome are aborted. And in Germany, more than 90% of babies with Down syndrome are aborted.

Pope Francis

Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties? “If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of the new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away” (Laudato Si’, No 120).

Lala with Jordan

L'Arche, Cainta, near Manila. I have known both for many years.

Second Reading. 1Corinthians 1:26-31

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Lala and Hachiko, each looking more content than the other!

Sadly, this beautiful dog died not long afterwards, choking on a chicken bone.

Traditional Latin Mass

Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 1-29-2023 if necessary).

Epistle: Romans 13:8-10. Gospel: Matthew 8:23-27.

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

Del Verbo Divino . . . Concerning the Divine Word (St John of the Cross). Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday of Advent, Year C

Visitation

Luca della Robbio [Web Gallery of Art]

 

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 1:39-45 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

The Visitation

El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]

I never fail to be moved, delighted and inspired by this 'Dance of Life' between St Elizabeth pregnant with John the Baptist and Mary pregnant with Jesus.

About fourteen years ago I celebrated Mass on the Feast of the Visitation in a home for girls where most come from a background of abuse. One girl of 16, whom I'll call 'Gloria', was pregnant. She was from another part of the Philippines and had been working in a restaurant and said that one of her co-workers was responsible. Gloria was very angry and would not accept the baby she was carrying who was by this time around six months, as I recall. I invited her at the end of the Mass to come forward for a blessing for herself and her child. She agreed. With her permission I placed my hand gently on her stomach, as Elizabeth and Mary do in the painting below, while I prayed. 

Visitation

Rogier van der Weyden [Web Gallery of Art]

'Gloria' told me afterwards that she could feel the baby moving as I blessed them both - and she had a smile on her face. She was able to go home to her own place some time later where she gave birth. Perhaps you could say a prayer for her and for her child, now aged about 14.

Rogier van der Weyden captures the sacredness of the lives of the unborn Jesus and John the Baptist. El Greco captures the swirl of a dance of life, the flowing blue robes suggesting the joy of the two pregnant mothers, Mary and Elizabeth. Luca della Robbia's sculpture shows the sacred intimacy of the moment that Mary and Elizabeth met, each carrying a precious life, Mary's child the Son of God, God-become-Man.

Today's gospel has particular relevance in the context of on-going public debates in a number of countries about abortion, including Ireland and the USA. When I used this material three years ago the Republic of Ireland was about to introduce abortion on demand up to twelve weeks, the new law to come into effect on New Year’s Day 2019, the Solemnity of the Motherhood of Mary. 6,666 legal abortions took place in that year and 6,577 the following year.

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  

+++

 One of a number of ministries to both women and men who have been directly affected by abortion is Rachel's Vineyard. I have connections with Rachel's Vineyard, Ireland, which has brought its healing retreat to such places as the Faroe Islands, Hungary, South Korea and Lebanon.

Del Verbo Divino

San Juan de la Cruz

Del Verbo divino

la Virgen preñada

viene de camino:

¡ si les dais posada !

Concerning the Divine Word

St John of the Cross

Translation by Roy Campbell

With the divinest Word, the Virgin

Made pregnant, down the road

Comes walking, if you'll grant her

A room in your abode. 

Posada is a Spanish word meaning 'lodging' or 'accommodation'. In many Spanish-speaking countries and communities Las Posadas is a novena in preparation for Christmas. This tradition is a 'cousin' to that in the Philippines known as Simbang Gabi.

Nesciens Mater

Setting by Jean Mouton (+1522)

Sung by Voces8

Latin text (early 16th century):  Nesciens mater virgo virum peperit sine dolore salvatorem saeculorum. Ipsum regem angelorum sola virgo lactabat, ubere de caelo pleno.

Translation:  Knowing no man, the Virgin mother bore, without pain, the Saviour of the world. Him, the king of angels, only the Virgin suckled, breasts filled by heaven.

'Is it right to hire a hitman to solve a problem?' asks Pope Francis; post-abortion healiing

 

Pope Francis on 15 September 2021

From the official English translation of the Pope’s words in Italian [emphases added in quotations below]:

Abortion is more than a problem, abortion is a murder.  Abortion... without mincing words: whoever has an abortion, kills. Take any book on embryology, from those who study students at Faculties of Medicine and see that, in the third week of pregnancy – in the third week, and often before the mother is aware of it – the fetus already has all the organs; all, even the DNA. And wouldn't it be a person? It's a human life… period! And this human life must be respected. This principle is so clear… To those who cannot understand it, I would ask two questions: Is it fair to kill a human life to solve a problem? Scientifically, it's a human life. Second question: Is it fair to hire a hit man to solve a problem?

The first sentence above in the original Italian reads:

Il problema dell’aborto. L’aborto è più di un problema, l’aborto è un omicidio.

The Italian word omicidio means both ‘murder’ and ‘homicide’, the latter a legal term used in some English-using jurisdictions.

Laudato si’

120. Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties? ‘If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of the new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away’.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

The Catechism deals with the question of abortion from No 2270 to No 2275.

Healing for persons affected by abortion

Rachel's Vineyard

Rachel’s Vineyard is a healing ministry to persons affected by abortion, women and men. It offers healing weekend retreats in many places. It is a Catholic initiative but open to persons of all faiths or of none who are seeking healing in this area.

I have been involved in some of the retreats in Ireland and know how powerful they are.

From the website of Rachel's Vineyard, Ireland:

These weekends offer a supportive, confidential, and emotionally safe environment where women and men can express, release and reconcile painful post-abortion emotions and begin the process of restoration, renewal and healing.

Married couples, mothers, fathers, grand-parents, and anyone affected by abortion have come to Rachel’s Vineyard in search of peace and inner healing.

The weekend is a lot of work, but those who are willing to journey through their grief, will experience the power of resurrection in their own lives. They will find meaning in what has happened, and allow God to transform the experience into something that gives hope, liberation and peace.

Rachel's Vineyard retreats are held at private locations.

Flight into Egypt

Blessed Fra Angelico [Web Gallery of Art]

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).

'You do not leave a child at a time like this' (Janusz Korczak). Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday of Easter, Year B

 

The Good Shepherd

Early Italian Christian Painter [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel  John 19:11-18  (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

Jesus said:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Janusz Korczak

(22 July 1878 or 1879 – 7 August 1942)

 

When St John Paul II canonised St Maximilian Kolbe OFMConv on 10 October 1982 he cited Janusz Korczak, a Jewish writer and teacher, who went to his death with a group of orphans in his charge although he had been offered the chance to be spared. He was also a paediatrician.

There were similarities between the sacrifice of of Fr Kolbe and Dr Korczak, both Polish. Fr Kolbe offered his life in exchange for that of Franciszek Gajowniczek,  a young Polish soldier interned in Auschwitz who was to be executed with nine others chosen at random because three of their companions had escaped. The Franciscan friar heard the young soldier cry 'My wife and my children'. His offer was accepted and he and the other nine were put in a cell and left without food or water. After two weeks the Franciscan priest was the only one still alive and was given a lethal injection on 14 August 1941.

Almost a year later Janusz Korczak was to die in Treblinka extermination camp along with nearly 200 Jewish orphans who had been living in the orphanage that he had set up in Warsaw in 1911-12. However, when the Nazis took over Warsaw they forced the orphanage to move to the Ghetto that they created in a district of the Polish capital in late 1940.

German soldiers came on 5 or 6 August 1942 to collect the orphans and about 12 staff members to take them to Treblinka. Dr Korczak had already turned down offers of sanctuary for himself before this and turned down an offer at this point.

A witness described the scene: Janusz Korczak was marching, his head bent forward, holding the hand of a child, without a hat, a leather belt around his waist, and wearing high boots. A few nurses were followed by two hundred children, dressed in clean and meticulously cared for clothes, as they were being carried to the altar.

At the point of departure for Treblinka an SS officer recognised Dr Korczak as the author of a book that was a favourite of his children and offered him a means of escape. Once again this remarkable man turned down this offer and went with the children to the camp where their lives were soon to end in the gas chambers.

Janusz Korczak could not save the lives of the children under his care but he made sure that they left the orphanage with dignity, wearing their best clothes and each bringing an item that was special to him or her. He chose not to leave them but to die with them.

St Maximilan Kolbe chose to give his life for someone he did not know because that man had a family and he hadn't.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

Cell where St Maximilian Kolbe died, 14 August 1941

[Wikipedia, source of photo]

[The hired hand] flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep (John 10:13-15).

Monument to Janusz Korczak, Warsaw

[Wikipedia, source of photo]

Three years ago on this Sunday I told the story of Janusz Korczak in my homily at a Mass in a parish in Dublin. It was a few weeks before a referendum in the Republic of Ireland to change an article in the Constitution so that abortion on demand could be legalised. I hoped that the congregation would make the connection between the sacrifice of Janusz Korczak and what we would be voting on. Some certainly did, because they told me so after Mass. Rightly or wrongly, I had decided to speak on the matter of the right to life of the unborn child in the form of a 'parable', even though this story really happened. But I sometimes ask myself if during those days - I addressed the matter similarly in other Sunday homilies at that time - I was somewhat cowardly.

Sadly, two-thirds of those who voted wanted change. The legislation that followed, allowing for abortion on demand up to 12 weeks, but with restrictions thereafter, came into effect on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, 1 January 2019. That year 6,666 human beings were legally aborted in the Republic of Ireland. There are no figures yet for 2020. 

The nearly 200 Jewish orphans, their nurses and Janusz Korczak were also 'legally' killed as were St Maximilain Kolbe and his nine companions.

Surrexit Pastor Bonus

Setting by Orlando di Lasso

Sung by Vox AngelorumChoir, MBK, Jakarta

At St Paul’s Within theWalls, Rome

Antiphona ad communionem

Communion Antiphon

 

Surrexit Pastor Bonus, 

The Good Shepherd has risen,

qui animam suam posuit pro ovibus suis,

who laid down his life for his sheep

et pro grege suo mori dignatus est, alleluia.

Extraordinary Form of the Mass

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

Third Sunday after Easter 

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 4-25-2021 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Peter 2:11-19.  Gospel: John 16:16-22.

 

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.

Pope Benedict XVI meeting with artists in the Sistine Chapel, 21 November 2009.

Never Again: A Song to Remember The Holocaust

Words and music by Stephen Melzack

The words ‘B’YomHaShoah yikatevun’ in the song mean ‘On Holocaust Day it is Written’. 

In memory of Dr Janusz Korczak, the twelve nurses from his orphanage and the nearly 200 orphans murdered in Treblinka for the sole reason that, like Jesus, Mary and Joseph, they were Jewish.