A 'spirited' young Massgoer!



I came across this on Facebook. We'll have to wait in the Philippines, in Hong Kong and, I think, New Zealand, until next Advent for this.

Liturgy: What can we learn from Queen Elizabeth II and President Mary McAleese?



Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britan and Northern Ireland was in the Republic of Ireland on a state visit from 17 to 20 May, the first time a British monarch has visited that part of Ireland since it became independent in 1922 and known then as The Irish Free State. Ireland and Britain have a tangled history and yet there are no two countries in the world that have closer practical ties. You don't need a passport to travel from one to the other. Irish citizens living in the UK have full voting rights there and British subjects - technically they aren't citizens but subjects of the reigning monarch - living in the Irish Republic have full voting rights there. 

On the first day of her visit Queen Elizabeth visited the Garden of Remembrance in the centre of Dublin to lay a wreath in honour of those who had fought for the independence of Ireland. These had all fought against the British authorities. There were no speeches but by bowing after laying the wreath Queen Elizabeth spoke eloquently to most Irish people. For the majority it was a moment of healing, of reconciliation.



On the second day of the visit Queen Elizabeth laid a wreath at the Irish National War Memorial in Islandbridge, Dublin, dedicated to the 49,400 Irishmen who died in the Great War (1914-18) in the forces of the United Kingdom, which included the whole of Ireland at the time. The wreath was made of poppies, the symbol of the loss of life in Belgium and France. President Mary McAleese laid a laurel wreath.

Again, there were no speeches but the symbols spoke to Irish people. For decades the Irish involvement in World War I was airbrushed out of Irish history. Many Irishmen who joined the UK forces did so that Ireland and other countries might be free.

I'm in Dublin at the moment on a family visit. I am struck once again by the power of symbols in the context of rituals. At a time when the celebration of Mass and other liturgies is so often banal I think we can learn from ceremonies such as those at the Garden of Remembrance and at the Irish National War Memorial.

 

'Today I must stay at your house'. Reflections for 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

Zacchaeus by Niels Larsen Stevns (1864-1941)

I've posted some reflections here on Misyononline.com, the magazine I edit for the Columbans in the Philippines, for tomorrow's Mass.

A boy rests at the base of an ancient sycamore tree in the West Bank city of Jericho. Tradition says it is the same tree featured in the biblical tale of Jesus and the tax collector. (Majdi Mohammed, Associated Press / October 1, 2010)

'Your faith has saved you': 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C, 10 October 2010

Christ healing a leper, sketch by Rembrandt, drawn c. 1657-1660.

Readings


New American Bible (Philippines, USA)

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

Gospel (Luke 17:11-19, NAB)

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"

And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests."

As they were going they were cleansed.

And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.

Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"

Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."

St Damien de Veuster (1840-1889)



When I was in kindergarten in Dublin one of the first holy persons I learned about was Father Damien of Molokai, now St Damien. Sister Stanislaus, the Irish Sister of Charity who was the principal of the boy's kindergarten and who prepared us for our First Holy Communion in 1950, was forever telling us about this great priest.


A few months after my First Holy Communion Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity were formally established. She had spent a few months in Dublin, 1928-29, as a postulant with the Loreto Sisters and it was they who sent her to India where she was a member of that congregation till she got permission to found the Missionaries of Charity.

Both St Damien and Blessed Mother Teresa exemplified very powerfully the mission of Jesus to those who are on the margins of or outside society. Both gave themselves at great cost. For St Damien it was isolation and then finding that he had acquired leprosy. For Blessed Mother Teresa, as we know now, there was deep spiritual anguish. Part of the cost to Jesus himself in today's gospel was the lack of gratitude of nine of the ten whom he had healed and enabled to be fully part of society again.

The Church continues to bring the healing power of Jesus to people who have nothing or who are ostracised.

The gospel too evokes the words of St Paul: 'Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you' (1Thess 5:17) and 'always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father' (Eph 5:20). I remember an incident outside a retreat house in Cebu in the morning of Holy Thursday 1990. A woman and her daughter, aged about 13, asked me for money. I made an excuse that I was only visiting. Later I saw them sitting on the steps of the retreat house, the daughter, clearly tired, with her head on her mother's shoulder. When I was leaving I gave them enough to buy a meal. The girl looked at me with the most beautiful smile I have ever seen and said in Visayan 'Salamat sa Ginoo!' 'Thanks to the Lord!' she wasn't thanking me but inviting me to thank the Lord with her and her mother. This young girl had the same deep sense of gratitude as the Samaritan leper had.

Blessed Mother Teresa (1910-1997)



Fr Thomas Rosica CSB writes: 'Thankfulness is much more than saying "Thank you" because we have to. It is a way to experience the world, to perceive and to be surprised. Thankfulness is having open eyes and a short distance between the eyes and the heart. What are the signs of grateful people? Tears are always wiped away from the eyes of those who are thankful. The courage to thank, to see the gifts and experiences of this world all together as a gift, changes not only the person who gains this insight. It also changes the environment, the world, and those who surround that person. Grateful hearts are the hallmark of authentic Christians. Those who possess the virtue of gratitude are truly rich. They not only know how richly they have been blessed, but they continuously remember that all good things come from God.'


You can read the full text of his reflections on the readings for this Sunday here.

Liturgical postscript to St Casimir: 'Dives and Lazarus' worship and liturgy

Dives and Lazarus, Bonifacio Veronese, 1540s

Today's gospel, that of Dives and Lazarus, was appropriate for the commemoration of St Casimir, a prince noted for his strong sense of justice and love for the poor.

I was struck by the contrast in the English translations of the Collect or Opening Prayer for Thursday of the Second Week of Lent, that of ICEL and that in the breviary produced under the direction of the bishops of Australia, England & Wales, Ireland and Scotland, that I use.

ICEL

God of love,

bring us back to you.

Send your Spirit to make us strong in faith

and active in good works.

Grant this, etc

My Breviary

Lord God,

you love innocence of heart,

and when it is lost you alone can restore it.

Turn then our hearts to you,

and kindle in them the fire of your Spirit,

so that we may be steadfast in faith

and unwearied in good works.

We make this, etc.

I can't find the original Latin but the ICEL translation looks like a 'Lazarus' one in that it seems to be very undernourished English-wise.

St Casimir Church, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Chapel in Hinsley Hall, Leeds, England, owned by the Catholic Diocese of Leeds

I can't help but notice a 'Dives and Lazarus' contrast here also. Which of these two places of worship is more likely to nourish the worshipper? 

Should 'commentators' at Mass get the death penalty?

Though I sometimes have a quick temper, most people find me reasonably gentle. Since childhood I’ve been strongly opposed to the use of the death penalty. However, I’m sometimes tempted to make an exception – for ‘commentators’ at Mass. I don’t know if other countries are as plagued with them as we are here in the Philippines. Before I go any further, I have to say that some of my best friends are and have been ‘commentators’.

During the funeral Mass of the late President Cory Aquino in Manila Cathedral I could hear a commentator – they usually seem to be women – telling people when to sit and when to stand. The vast majority of those present were adults and Catholics, many of them holding some of the highest positions in the land. One prominent Protestant, closely associated with Cory, was there, former President Fidel Ramos, who frequently attends Mass on such occasions and who, as president, was a most gracious host to Pope John Paul II in January 1995 when World Youth Day was held in Manila.


Commentators are normally kind and committed Catholics but, without being aware of it, they show disrespect to people by treating them as if they were pre-schoolers. We have had the new Mass for 40 years now, for goodness sake. I have often enough been upset by officious commentators who, before the priest can say ‘Let us proclaim the mystery of faith’, tell people to stand. (Here in the Philippines we stand after the Consecration. I would much prefer if everyone remained kneeling until the end of the Eucharistic Prayer.) I find that particularly ill-mannered, though ‘commentators’ are never intentionally so.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) clearly defines the role of the commentator at Mass (105, b): The commentator, who provides the faithful, when appropriate, with brief explanations and commentaries with the purpose of introducing them to the celebration and preparing them to understand it better. The commentator's remarks must be meticulously prepared and clear though brief. In performing this function the commentator stands in an appropriate place facing the faithful, but not at the ambo.

No mention of telling people when to sit and stand nor is the presence of a commentator a requirement.

I’m not in charge of a parish and sometimes find myself celebrating Mass in a church or chapel where I am a visitor and have to live with things that really irritate me. One frequent introduction by commentators – again well-intentioned – is ‘Let us stand to welcome our celebrant Father Sean Coyle’. We don’t assemble to welcome the priest but to worship God by celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

I often hear them say, or worse still, hear the reader say ‘Let us stand to honour the Gospel’. Again, well meant and pious but not a part of the Mass and not the role of either the commentator or reader to say.

Photos taken in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, 19 July 2008, when Pope Benedict consecrated the new altar and celebrated Mass with the bishops of Australia with seminarians and novices participating.

'Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?'

The Gulf Stream, Winslow Homer (1899)

Last year Ateneo de Manila Press published a book by my friend Simeon Dumdum, Jr, Ah, Wilderness! Jun, whose day-job is that of a Regional Trial Court judge in Cebu City is a distinguished poet and his prose reflects that.

The subtitle of Ah, Wilderness! is A Journey Through Sacred Time. The short essays, which I think first appeared in the Cebu Daily News, are reflections linked to the different seasons of the Church’s liturgical year. In his introduction the author writes, ‘I move in a sacred world because God fills every space. Every journey – because in the en it s return to God – is a journey through sacred time.’ (Jun is expressing something similar to the quote from my patron St Columban on the masthead of my 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’).

I happened to read Jun’s essay Gulf Stream this morning in which he reflects on a painting by American painter Winslow Homer, The Gulf Stream. He writes: ‘One can look at Winslow Homer’s painting as an allegory of faith. The fuming waves and hungry sharks represent evil, and the boat the raft of faith that, though the fits of doubt have broken its mast, keeps one safely afloat. The painting calls up a scene from Mark. There, while Jesus and the apostles were crossing the lake a squall arose, terrifying everyone, except Jesus who was sleeping at the back of the boat. They woke him up, complaining that he did not care that they were about to die. But Jesus soot up and commanded the wind and the waves to be still, and they obeyed, and Jesus chided the apostles for their lack of faith’.

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jan Brueghel the Elder, c.1596

This story, from Mark 4:35-41, is the gospel for tomorrow, the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. Below is the RSV translation.

On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?" And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?"

Do we take oaths too easily?

I learned just now from Catholic Culture that St Pancras, whom the Church honours today, is the patron saint of fidelity to oaths. he was martryred in Rome in 304 at the age of 14.

Here in the Philippines oaths are taken very lightly. A regular photo in newspapers is that of a politician or group of politicians being sworn in as members of their latest party. At school sports festivals children take an 'oath of amateurism'. Years ago, when I was a chaplain in a Catholic school I was asked to celebrate Mass for the opening of the games. I did so on condition that there would be no oath of amateuris. These were high school kids. The teacher in charge promised me that there wouldn't be an oath. hardly was the Mass finished than this same teacher led the students in their 'oath of amateurism'.

I was also a member of the committee of the diocesan directors of vocations and no less than than the bishop swore us in. I just remained silent as I didn't see it as proper.

I've been at countless graduation ceremonies in both public and Catholic schools here where the graduates, even at elementary level, swear their allegiance to the alumni association.

When my Columban colleagues, Fr Niall O'Brien and Fr Brian Gore, were on trial for trumped-up murder charges along with Fr Vicente Dangan of the Diocese of Bacolod, and six laymen, Church workers, lies were told freely in the court. Perjury meant nothing.

I see an oath or a vow as being made only on such solemn occasions as a wedding, a religious profession or on receiving the sacrament of holy orders, as well as when you give testimony in court or become president of your country. But not when you join an alumni association or your next political party. (Here in the Philippines political parties as understood in the West simply don't exist. They are temporary alliances of convenience).

Catholic Culture carries an excerpt from the writings of the late Fr Pius Parsch on St Pancras:

St Pancras or Pancratius was the descendant of a noble Phrygian family. As a youth of fourteen, he came to Rome while Diocletian and Maximian were in power (about 304). He was baptized by the Pope and given instructions in the Christian religion. Arrested for his action, he steadfastly refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods and was condemned to death. With manly courage, he bared his neck for the sword and received the martyr's crown. During the night his body was removed by the pious matron Octavilla, anointed with sweet smelling balsam and interred on the Via Aurelia.

Pancratius is the patron saint of fidelity to oaths. The basilica that Pope Symmachus erected over his remains about the year 500 later became a station church (since 1798 his relics have been lost). On the first Sunday after Easter the saint exhorted the catechumens gathered at his station church to remain loyal to their baptismal vows. The saint warns us to proceed slowly and prudently before taking an oath or vow. But once our word is given we must remain true to our pledge, true unto death itself, whether it concerns baptismal vows, ordination vows, profession vows, or marriage vows.

— Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.

I had the full set of The Church's Year of Grace in my seminary years and it nourished me liturgically. It followed the calendar that was changed after Vatican II.