‘O wondrous gift indeed! / the poor and lowly may / upon their Lord and Master feed.’ Sunday Reflections, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Pope Benedict elevating the Body of Christ

[Wikipedia; photo]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Matthew 22:1-14 For the shorter form (22:1-10), omit the text in Brackets.] (English Standard Version Anglicised, India)

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

[“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”]

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Panis angelicus

Words by St Thomas Aquinas, music by César Franck

Sung by Patricia Janečková (18 June 1998 - 1 October 2023) with The Janáček Chamber Orchestra

Latin of St Thomas Aquinas

Panis angelicus
fit panis hominum;
Dat panis cœlicus
figuris terminum:
O res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum
pauper, servus et humilis.

English translation by John David Chambers

Thus Angels' Bread is made
the Bread of man today:
the Living Bread from heaven
with figures dost away:
O wondrous gift indeed!
the poor and lowly may
upon their Lord and Master feed.

The First Reading, the Responsorial Psalm and the Gospel can be understood in a  Eucharistic sense. The Prophet Isaiah's words can be seen as a description of the heavenly banquet to which we are all invited.

The words of St Thomas Aquinas set to music by César Franck remind us that in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ to nourish us on our journey through life, whether that journey be long or short. In Psalm 22 [23] we pray, you have prepared a banquet for me. In the Mass we are invited to participate in that banquet  where Manducat Dominum pauper et humilis - The poor and lowly may upon their Lord and Master feed.

The words of the hymn, figuris terminum, translated above as with figures dost away,  mean that what we receive in Holy Communion is not a symbol but the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And to receive such a precious Gift we need to prepare, with God's grace, to be as worthy as possible.

In the last part of the Gospel, the section that may be omitted, Jesus speaks very harshly about those who choose to turn up at the banquet unprepared by choice. St Paul deals with this in the context of celebrating the Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 11:27-30: Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

Jesus gave a precious gift to the Church to help us to be prepared to receive him in the Eucharist when we have turned our backs on him through mortal sin, which breaks our relationship with God and can have eternal consequences: the sacrament of confession. Nobody is turned away from this, unless priests don't make themselves available.

God extends his invitation to all of us. Like some in the gospel we may ignore it because we are 'busy' with other things; we may reject it violently as some did; we may accept it while showing contempt towards the One who extended the invitation. Or we may accept it by preparing with God's grace to be worthy of the occasion.

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The news this last week has unexpectedly been dominated by the conflict between Israel and Gaza. More than a thousand deaths have been recorded on each side, the majority civilians, many of them children and young adults. Two earthquakes in Afghanistan this month have resulted in many deaths. 

I first posted the video above of Patricia Janečková, the German-born Slovak soprano, singing Panis angelicus on 16 June last year. I added this note: Patricia Janečková was born on 18 June 1998 and was 19 when the video above was made. Last February she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Please pray for her full recovery. Sadly, Patricia died on 1 October. Last June she married actor Vlastimil Burda.

It is always difficult to come to terms with the death of someone who is young, whether the cause of death is war, an accident or illness. Jesus wept at the death of the young Lazarus. Part of the pain of loss iw what might have been in the future.

Yet our Christian faith gives us the hope of sharing in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today's readings point towards the heavenly banquet and the Eucharistic Banquet where we receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus as our nourishment on our journey through this life.

We pray for the dead, those we have known personally, those we have known through their public lives, and those who have no one to pray for them by name. May the video below of Patricia Janečková singing Andrew Lloyd Webber's Pie Jesu be a prayer for her soul, for the souls of those who have died in the Gaza-Israel war and in other conflicts, for those who have died in recent natural calamities, for those who have nobody to pray for them by name and for those like Patricia who have died young.

At the same time may we thank God for the gift that each of those has been to those who knew and loved them and for the gift of Patricia who continues through her recorded voice to be an expression of God's beauty.

May we all sit down together at the heavenly banquet.

Pie Jesu

Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Sung by Patricia Janečková with the Kühn Children’s Choir and the Czech Army Central Band.

Subtitles in Latin and English

Traditional Latin Mass

Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 10-15-2023 if necessary).

Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-21. Gospel: John 4:46-53.

Christ Healing the Sick

István Dorffmeister [Web Gallery of Art]

Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way (John 4:50; Gospel). 

The door of the confessional is the door to the heart of Jesus. Sunday Reflections, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Woman Holding a Balance

Johannes Vermeer [Web Gallery of Art]

Because the whole world before you is like a speck that tips the scales (Wisdom 11:22; First Reading).

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Luke 19:1-10 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge 

Zacchaeus

Niels Larsen Stevns [Wikipedia; photo]

Fr James Moynihan was a Columban from New Zealand who died in the Philippines in 1992 at the age of 68. During World War II he served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Army. What Jesus said about Nathanael, could be said about Father Jim: he truly was a person in whom is no guile! (John 1:47). In his latter years he spent many hours each day in the confessional in Cagayan de Oro Cathedral. Many came from far and near to confess to him and receive absolution from God himself through Father Jim's priesthood.

In those days the main means of rapid communication in the Philippines was the telegram. Someone who knew Father Jim was filing a telegram with a message of condolence to the Columbans. The clerk, a young man with a ponytail, asked, 'Is that the priest who was always hearing confessions in the cathedral?' When told that it was he asked where the wake was. As soon as the transaction was finished he left the office and went on his motorcycle to pay his respects. Clearly, he had experienced God's forgiveness through the ministry of this priest from New Zealand in the convessional.

Fr James Moynihan

Two other Columbans continued Father Jim's work in the confessional in the cathedral of Cagayan de Oro. One was Fr Frank Chapman, an Australian, who heard confessions in the cathedral for hours almost every day up to a few weeks before his death in 2004 at the age of 91. The other was Fr John Meaney from Ireland who died in 2006 at the age of 86 after having spent 58 years in Mindanao. These three priests are buried in Cagayan de Oro.

People came from all over to confess their sins to these priests who made themselves so available to bring to them the mercy that Jesus showed to Zacchaeus.

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel are the first words of Jesus in St Mark's Gospel (1:15). The sacrament of confession, sometimes referred to as penance and the sacrament of reconciliation. Whatever name we give it, it is the beautiful means that Jesus left the Church to enable us to be in full Communion with Our Lord and with his Church when we cut ourselves off from him through mortal sin, that is sin involving grave matter of which we are fully aware and to which we give full consent. But regular confession is also a great help when we struggle with venial sins, which don't cut us off from God. But even when we deliberately cut ourselves off from God's love he is still watching for ways to bring us back to him, as Jesus was when he spotted Zacchaeus in the tree, as the father was constantly watching out for his son who had abandoned him for a life of sin in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Jesus wants to say to each of us what he said to Zacchaeus: Today salvation has come to this house . . . For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

When we acknowledge our sins we open the door to Jesus and to his merciful forgiveness. And the door of the confessional is the door to the heart of Jesus.

Traditional Latin Mass

Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 10-30-2022 if necessary).

Epistle: Colossians 1:12-20. Gospel: John 18:33-37.

Christ Before Pilate

Mihály Munkácsy [Web Gallery of Art]

'Let us restore to the centre the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a true space of the Spirit . . .' Sunday Reflections, 5th Sunday of Lent, Year C

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery 

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

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

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 8:1-11 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)  

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

The Gospel in Filipino Sign Language

In the summer of 1982 I did a number of brief supplies in parishes in one of the western states in the USA. In one parish, where I stayed only from Saturday till Monday morning, the Sunday gospel was one showing the mercy of Jesus. I forget which one, but know it wasn't today's. In my homily I emphasised God's love for us as sinners and how he wants to welcome us back when we turn away from him, partly or fully, by sinning.

The following morning I found an anonymous note that had been shoved under the front door of the priest's house. The style was that of a teenage girl. But the message was one for which I thanked God.

The writer said that for years she had hated God, thinking that God hated her. But whatever was in the gospel that Sunday and whatever I said in my homily had touched her deeply, making her aware of God's unconditional love for her precisely as a sinner, a love that led her to let go of the hatred she had been carrying.

From The Gospel of John (2003) directed by Philip Saville

Today's gospel shows so clearly the profound, merciful love that Jesus has for the sinner. We tend to focus on his mercy for the woman taken in adultery. She is indeed the main focal point. But we also see the merciful love of Jesus for those who had accused her. Jesus often spoke harshly to and about hypocrites. But on this occasion he brings the men who had wanted to execute the woman to reflect on their own sinfulness. Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. 

And the men did respond. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the older ones.

Today's gospel reflects that of last Sunday, the parable of the Prodigal Son. The older son couldn't see beyond the great sins of his younger brother and failed even to see his father's love shown each day. But the father gently points out, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

The men in the gospel could see only the sin of the woman. And she had committed a grave sin. Adultery is never a peccadillo, a 'little sin'. It is among other things a sin of injustice and causes grief to the other spouse and to their children, as I know only too well from listening to young people on retreats over the years.

We live in a time when it is considered a 'grave sin' to be 'judgmental'. The 'grave sin' is not against God but against current 'thinking' and 'feeling'. Yet certain persons are called by their very professions to be 'judgmental': judges, referees and umpires, for example. And Canon Law No 978 tells us: In hearing confessions the priest is to remember that he is equally a judge and a physician and has been established by God as a minister of divine justice and mercy, so that he has regard for the divine honour and the salvation of souls.

And Jesus in this instance is both judge and physician. He first asks the woman, Has no one condemned you? He then goes on to say, Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.

Jesus judges the woman - but doesn't condemn her. He acknowledges her sin - but sends her away forgiven.

Jesus has given us through the Church a powerful way of experiencing what the woman in today's gospel did. It is the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession/Penance. We're not usually dragged to the confessional by people condemning us. But we acknowledge our sins while acknowledging God's mercy.

Among other things, 'The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.' Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation 'is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation.' Indeed the sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true 'spiritual resurrection,' restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No 1468).  

Confession, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Lviv

[Wikipedia; photo]

Pope Francis on Confession

Let us restore to the center – and not only in this Jubilee Year – the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a true space of the Spirit in which all, confessors and penitents, are able to experience the only definitive and faithful love, that of God for each one of His children, a love that never disappoints. St Leopold Mandic reiterated that God's mercy outstrips all our expectations. He used to say to those who suffered, 'We have in Heaven the heart of a mother. The Virgin, our Mother, who at the foot of the Cross experienced all the suffering possible for a human creature, understands our hardships and consoles us'. May Mary, refuge of sinners and Mother of Mercy, always guide and sustain the fundamental ministry of Reconciliation. (Pope Francis, 4 March 2016.)

Traditional Latin Mass

Passion Sunday

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 4-3-2022 if necessary).

Epistle: Hebrews 9:11-15.  Gospel: John 8:46-59.

Christ with a Cross

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

Deaths of Two Columban Priests

Please pray for the repose of the souls of Fr Patrick Dooher and Fr Richard O'Sullivan who died last weekend.

I have posted about them here.

'I baptize you with water for repentance.' Sunday Reflections, 2nd Sunday of Advent, Year A

Linaioli Tabernacle: St John the Baptist

Blessed Fra Angelico [Web Gallery of Art]

The Second Sunday of Advent takes precedence over the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, which is transferred this year to Monday 9 December.

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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

Gospel Matthew 3:1-12 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)  

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’  This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight.”’

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Matthew 3:10-12 in Filipino Sign Language

Confession

Giuseppe Maria Crespi [Web Gallery of Art]

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near is the stark message of St John the Baptist. He says of his ministry, I baptize you with water for repentance. The response to the Responsorial Psalm is Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

Repentance, justice and peace go together - with God's mercy. Pope Francis has spoken many times about that. In that context he has also reminded us, especially priests, of the importance of the sacrament of confession/penance/reconciliation.

Jesus speaks to us through his Church this Sunday reminding us of the importance of repenting in order to welcome him into our lives. In Advent we prepare to celebrate his birth and also for his Second coming, whenever that will be. And we also prepare for his daily coming into our lives.

We frequently fail Jesus by our sins. But he doesn't leave us in despair. He doesn't turn his back on us.

In his Wednesday General Audience on 20 November 2013 Pope Francis spoke about the remission of sins. As he often does, he used three points. The first was that the principal agent in the forgiveness of sins is the Holy Spirit. I'll print the rest of his talk and highlight parts of it. I'll also add some (comments).

Pope Francis:

And we come to the second element: Jesus gave the Apostles the power to forgive sins. It is a little difficult to understand how a man can forgive sins, but Jesus gives this power. The Church is the depository of the power of the keys, of opening or closing to forgiveness. God forgives every man in his sovereign mercy, but he himself willed that those who belong to Christ and to the Church receive forgiveness by means of the ministers of the community. (This means that the sacrament of confession is an explicit expression of God's will and that God forgives us through the ministry of the priest.) Through the apostolic ministry the mercy of God reaches me, my faults are forgiven and joy is bestowed on me. (God's mercy and the joy that comes from this, two realities that Pope Francis has spoken about again and again.) In this way Jesus calls us to live out reconciliation in the ecclesial, the community, dimension as well. And this is very beautiful. The Church, which is holy and at the same time in need of penitence, accompanies us on the journey of conversion throughout our life. The Church is not mistress of the power of the keys, but a servant of the ministry of mercy and rejoices every time she can offer this divine gift.

Perhaps many do not understand the ecclesial dimension of forgiveness, because individualism, subjectivism, always dominates, and even we Christians are affected by this. Certainly, God forgives every penitent sinner, personally, but the Christian is tied to Christ, and Christ is united to the Church. For us Christians there is a further gift, there is also a further duty: to pass humbly through the ecclesial community. (Through baptism we are related to Jesus Christ and to one another through the Church. It can never be a matter simply of 'Jesus and I', though he calls each of us into an intimate relationship with him, but never apart from his and our relationship with others.) We have to appreciate it; it is a gift, a cure, a protection as well as the assurance that God has forgiven me. I go to my brother priest and I say: 'Father, I did this...'. And he responds: 'But I forgive you; God forgives you'. At that moment, I am sure that God has forgiven me! 

And this is beautiful, this is having the surety that God forgives us always, he never tires of forgiving us. And we must never tire of going to ask for forgiveness. You may feel ashamed to tell your sins, but as our mothers and our grandmothers used to say, it is better to be red once than yellow a thousand times. We blush once but then our sins are forgiven and we go forward.

Pope Francis goes to confession

The service that the priest assumes a ministry, on behalf of God, to forgive sins is very delicate and requires that his heart be at peace, that the priest have peace in his heart; that he not mistreat the faithful, but that he be gentle, benevolent and merciful; that he know how to plant hope in hearts and, above all, that he be aware that the brother or sister who approaches the Sacrament of Reconciliation seeking forgiveness does so just as many people approached Jesus to be healed. The priest who is not of this disposition of mind had better not administer this sacrament until he has addressed it. The penitent faithful have the right, all faithful have the right, to find in priests servants of the forgiveness of God. (While Pope Francis doesn't call priests a 'brood of vipers', as St John the Baptist calls some of the Sadducees and Pharisees in today's gospel, he implies that those who are not 'gentle, benevolent and merciful' in the confessional are such.)

Dear brothers, as members of the Church are we conscious of the beauty of this gift that God himself offers us? Do we feel the joy of this cure, of this motherly attention that the Church has for us? Do we know how to appreciate it with simplicity and diligence? Let us not forget that God never tires of forgiving us; through the ministry of priests he holds us close in a new embrace and regenerates us and allows us to rise again and resume the journey. For this is our life: to rise again continuously and to resume our journey.

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[This is the form of absolution given by the priest. The highlighted words are essential for the validity of the sacrament.

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.]

Adoramus Te, Christe

Setting by Claudio Monteverdi, Sung by Voces8

Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi, Quia per sanguinem tuum pretiosum redemisti mundum, miserere nobis.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because through your precious blood you have redeemed the world. Have mercy on us.