'If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.' Sunday Reflections, Pentecost.

Pentecost, Sir Anthony van Dyck, 1618-20 [Web Gallery of Art]

Pentecost Sunday, at the Vigil Mass (Saturday evening)

NB The Vigil Mass has its own prayers and readings. Those for the Mass During the Day on Sunday should not be used – though many priests seem to be unaware of this. It is incorrect to refer to the Vigil Mass as an ‘anticipated Mass’. It is a celebration proper to the evening before Pentecost Sunday. The Vigil Mass also fulfills the Sunday obligation.

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) [This link is to the readings for the Vigil Mass and for the Mass on Sunday]

Pentecost Sunday, Mass During the Day

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  [This link is to the readings for the Vigil Mass and for the Mass on Sunday]

Gospel John 20:19-23 (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition)

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 

The Holy Spirit with the Holy Family, Juan Simón Gutiérrez [Web Gallery of Art]

About 20 years ago I was asked to celebrate Mass for a group of girls aged around 14  from a Catholic school in Cebu City in the central Philippines. They were having a recollection day in a retreat house. I made myself available for confession about 30 minutes before Mass. It soon became clear to me that many wanted to go to confession and after half an hour I went to the teacher and suggested we wait a while before starting Mass.

As the girls continued to come, some also sharing problems, I realized that this was their need. I spoke again to the teacher and suggested that we not have Mass that afternoon but that we arrange for one in school a few days later. She readily agreed.

These youngsters were experiencing God's infinite loving mercy and recognised that. Pope Francis has been highlighting this ever since he was elected. One prominent Italian journalist, Andrea Tornielli has even written about what he calls Mercy. The first encyclical of Pope Francis.

In his homily yesterday, Friday, at his Mass in St Martha's, where he lives, Pope Francis spoke again about God's mercy. In his homily he said, Peter was saddened that, for a third time, Jesus asked him, “Do you love me?” This pain, this shame – a great man, this Peter – [and] a sinner, a sinner. The Lord makes him feel that he is a sinner – makes us all feel that we are sinners. The problem is not that we are sinners: the problem is not repenting of sin, not being ashamed of what we have done. That's the problem. [My emphasis.]

Pope Francis added, Peter let himself be shaped by his many encounters with Jesus and this 'is something we all need to do as well, for we are on the same road,' the Holy Father said, stressing that 'Peter is great, not because he is good, but because he has a nobility of heart, which brings him to tears, leads him to this pain, this shame - and also to take up his work of shepherding the flock.' [My emphasis]

Regular confession is an ongoing encounter with the loving Jesus in which he shapes us. Pope Francis notes that 'Peter let himself be shaped'. We make a decision each time we go to confession, a decision that's not always easy to make. But Jesus never spurns us.

On 28 April Pope Francis confirmed a group of young people from different countries. The last of three points he made in his homily was this: And here I come to my last point. It is an invitation which I make to you, young confirmandi, and to all present. Remain steadfast in the journey of faith, with firm hope in the Lord. This is the secret of our journey! He gives us the courage to swim against the tide. Pay attention, my young friends: to go against the current; this is good for the heart, but we need courage to swim against the tide. Jesus gives us this courage! There are no difficulties, trials or misunderstandings to fear, provided we remain united to God as branches to the vine, provided we do not lose our friendship with him, provided we make ever more room for him in our lives. This is especially so whenever we feel poor, weak and sinful, because God grants strength to our weakness, riches to our poverty, conversion and forgiveness to our sinfulness. The Lord is so rich in mercy: every time, if we go to him, he forgives us. Let us trust in God’s work! With him we can do great things; he will give us the joy of being his disciples, his witnesses. Commit yourselves to great ideals, to the most important things. We Christians were not chosen by the Lord for little things; push onwards toward the highest principles. Stake your lives on noble ideals, my dear young people! [Emphases added.]

Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.

Among other things, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost has given us the beautiful expression of God's mercy that is the sacrament of confession/reconciliation/penance.

One of my greatest joys as a sinner is receiving forgiveness in confession from the priest, who absolves me in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that is with God's full authority. One of my greatest joys as a priest is to welcome a fellow sinner, whether young or old, whether one who comes frequently to confession or is returning after many years, and to assure that sinner of God's mercy and absolving my fellow pilgrim in the name of that merciful God.

Veni, Creator Spiritus (Come, Holy Ghost, Creator)

At the opening of the conclave that elected Pope Francis

Veni Creator Spiritus, 

Mentes tuorum visita, 

Imple superna gratia, 

Quæ tu creasti pectora.

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, come. 

From thy bright heavenly throne!

Come, take possession of our souls.

And make them all Thine Own! 

Qui diceris Paraclitus, 

Altissimi domum Dei, 

Fons vivus, ignis, caritas, 

Et spiritalis unctio.

Thou who art called the Paraclete, 

Best gift of God above,  

The  Living Spring, The Living Fire, 

 Sweet Unction, and True Love! 

Tu septiformis munere, 

Digitus paternæ dexteræ, 

Tu rite promissum Patris, 

Sermone ditans guttura. 

Thou  who are sevenfold in Thy grace, 

Finger of God's right hand, 

His Promise, teaching little ones 

To speak and understand! 

Accende lumen sensibus, 

Infunde amorem cordibus, 

Infirma nostri corporis, 

Virtute firmans perpeti. 

O guide our minds with thy blest light, 

With love our hearts inflame, 

And with thy strength, which ne'er decays, 

Confirm our mortal frame. 

Hostem repellas longius, 

Pacemque dones protinus: 

Ductore sic te prævio 

Vitemus omne noxium. 

Far from us drive our hellish foe, 

True peace unto us bring,  

And through all perils guide us safe 

Beneath thy sacred wing. 

Per te sciamus da Patrem, 

Noscamus atque Filium, 

Teque utriusque Spiritum 

Credamus omni tempore.

Through Thee may we the Father know,  

Through  Thee  the  Eternal Son,  

Thee the Spirit of them both 

Thrice blessed Three in One.

Deo Patri sit gloria, 

Et Filio, qui a mortuis 

Surrexit, ac Paraclito, 

In sæculorum sæcula. Amen. 

All glory to the Father be

With his co-equal Son;

The same to thee, great Paraclete,

While endless ages run.

Pope Francis: 'When you express profound devotion for the Virgin Mary . . .'

Las Manañitas a La Virgen , 12 December 2007, sung in the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Tepeyac, Mexico City, after the early morning Mass on her feast day, 12 December.   Las Mañanitas  is a traditional Mexican birthday song, also known in the Philippines, sung to the celebrant very early in the morning.

In his homily on 5 May during Mass on the occasion of the day of confraternities and popular piety Pope Francis said: When you express profound devotion for the Virgin Mary, you are pointing to the highest realization of the Christian life, the one who by her faith and obedience to God’s will, and by her meditation on the words and deeds of Jesus, is the Lord’s perfect disciple (cf. Lumen Gentium, 53). 

Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, Philippines

In the Philippines we observe the Flores de Mayo, The Flowers of May, every year. It is basically a programme for children, mostly from poor families, led by volunteers throughout the country who teach the youngsters the basics of our Catholic faith. The children also bring flowers which they place before a statue of the Blessed Mother. At the end of each daily session of catechism and prayer the children lay flowers before a statue of the Blessed Virgin.

The popular piety of Filipino Catholics has been greatly influenced by Mexico, since Spain colonized the country from that country. Originally the Philippines was part of the Archdiocese of Mexico. When the Diocese of Manila, covering the whole country, was established in 1579 it was still linked to that archdiocese until it became one itself in 1595 and three other dioceses were established in the Philippines.

There is an exuberance in the piety of Filipinos but I think that the piety of Mexicans is even more exuberant, as shown in the video above. Renowned singers and musicians, along with the congregation, give a concert in honour of our Blessed Mother.

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe

The May-June 2013 issue of Misyon, the online magazine of the Columbans in the Philippines, has an article by Vissia Hernandez, a Filipina who visited Guadalupe, A Visit to Tepeyac.

I added the following video to the article. Marco Antonio Solís is a Mexican singer known throughout the Spanish-speaking Americas.

Himno a la Humildad, sung by Marco Antonio Solís

Con que gusto venimos con gran emoción
a decirte lo que hay en nuestro corazón;
hoy es dia de fiesta hasta en el mas pequeño rincon;
hoy se muere el rancor y florece el perdon.

How we love to come with great feeling
to tell you what is in our heart;
today is a festive day even in the most remote corner;
today hatred dies and forgiveness blossoms.

Virgencita . . . milagrosa,
eres tú la estrella mas hermosa de la creación.

Beloved Virgin . . . miraculous,
you are the most beautiful star in all creation.

Virgen morena, Reyna de la esperanza,
hoy te cantamos el himno a la humildad.
Eres la tierra donde la fe sembramos
y cosechamos siempre de tu bondad.

Dark Virgin, Queen of hope,
Today we sing to you a hymn to humility.
You are the soil where we sow faith
and always harvest from your kindness.

(Hablado) Aqui venimos, madrecita, con nuestros cuerpos mas cansados que la ultima ocasión, 
pero con un amor tan grande para ti que no nos cabe en el corazon, 
por que eres consuelo divino, luz de todos los caminos. 
Gracias por quedarte siempre con tus fieles peregrines.

(Spoken) We come here, beloved Mother, with our bodies more tired that the last time,
but with a great love for you that our hearts can’t contain,
for you are the divine consolation, the light of all roads.
Thank you for always being with your faithful pilgrims.

Virgencita adorada, no me puedo ir
sin decirte mil gracias, tu sabes por que,
y teniendo el momento, te quiero pedir
por los que por justicia se mueren de sed.

Dear Blessed Virgin, I cannot leave
without thanking you a thousand times, you know what for,
and taking this opportunity, I want to petition you
on behalf of those who have given their lives in the cause of justice.

Virgen morena, Reyna de la speeranza,
hoy te cantamos el himno a la humildad;
eres la tierra donde la fe sembramos
y cosechamos siempre de tu bondad.

Dark Virgin, Queen of hope,
Today we sing to you a hymn to humility.
You are the soil where we sow faith
and always harvest from your kindness.

[Thanks to Fr Jovito Dales for help with the translation.]

One think that is striking about these videos is that the singers, musicians and people face the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe when they sing to and play for her. The concert is in her honour. Nobody would say that Marco Antonio Solís was singing 'with his back to the people'. Can we learn, or re-learn, something about the celebration of the Mass from this?

'You are witnesses of these things.' Sunday Reflections, The Ascension

The Ascension, Theophanes the Cretan, 1546 [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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

Gospel Luke 24:46-53 (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition)

Jesus said to his disciples, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high."  Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Readings for Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year C

[In countries that observe Ascension Thursday]

Readings  (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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

Antiphona ad introitum, Ac 1:11

Viri Galilaei, quid admirámini aspiciéntes in caelum? 

Quemádmodum vidístis eum ascendéntem in caelum,

ita véniet, alléluia.

Entrance antiphon, Acts 1:11

Men of Galilee, why gaze in wonder at the heavens?

This Jesus whom you say ascending into heaven

will return as you saw him go, alleluia.

+++

When I came home to Ireland on vacation from the Philippines in 1994 before beginning six years as vocation director I took a short course for missionaries in the use of computers given by a religious sister who had worked in an African country for many years. She wasn't the best teacher I've ever had in teaching the 'mechanical' basics of her subject but she was a wonderful motivator. Although the internet was still in its infancy she told us stories of how it had helped save lives in the country where she worked.

Some years ago when checking my email in the Philippines I found myself 'chatting' with a friend, a Filipina married to a Westerner and living in her husband's country. I'll call her Maria. It was clear to me very quickly that she was going through a crisis and thinking of doing the worst to herself. At the time she 'hated' everyone except me and 'didn't believe' in God anymore.

I was able to help Maria see that the issue wasn't any of the things she mentioned but was within herself. I also got her to agree to meet a priest in her own area, someone I had never met and still haven't. But I was able to contact him through email, having got his address from someone else whom I have never met in person. 

I learned later that that meeting with the priest was to be a turning point for my Maria. She was able to face the world again with hope and hasn't looked back since.

At the time this happened I had come to know a 16-year-old girl in the Philippines who had been made pregnant by her boyfriend. I'll call her Ana. I'm not sure to what degree she had consented to the activity that led to her carrying a baby. She was from another part of the country but was welcomed by religious sisters who run a home for girls, most of whom have had pretty bad experiences. Ana was was very angry and part of that anger was directed at the baby she was carrying.

I told Maria about Ana. One of the ironies was that Maria couldn't have a child, a great sorrow to her and her husband. Despite her 'not believing' in God I asked her to pray for Ana, something she readily agreed to do, and told her that I would ask Ana to pray for her. When I met Ana a day or two later she too readily accepted her mission of prayer.

Shortly after that we celebrated the feast of the Visitation. After Mass I asked Ana if she would like me to bless her and the baby in her womb. She was happy with this and later told me that she had felt the baby moving for the first time. More importantly, her anger had disappeared. Some time later she was able to go home to her own family and delivered her baby there.

This incident opened my eyes to the truth of what the Sister who gave us classes on the use of computers and the internet had told us. Here was I at my computer in the Philippines when 'by chance', the 'chance' being undoubtedly the Holy Spirit, giving crisis counselling to a friend on another continent and helping her to meet someone I had never met who could listen to her in person.

Pope Benedict XVI (2011)

Pope Benedict, a few weeks before his announcement that he was stepping down as Bishop of  Rome, issued his message for this year's World Communications Day, which is observed each year on Ascension Sunday. The Pope's message is issued each year on the feast of St Francis de Sales, patron of journalists, 24 January.

The theme of this year's message is Social Networks: portals of truth and faith; new spaces for evangelization. I found myself 'chatting' on what was a fledgling social network. In his last few messages for World Communications Day Pope Benedict has been emphasising the importance of what he called 'this digital continent', which is a place where perhaps most young people have a sense of belonging.

In this years' message Pope Benedict wrote [emphases added]: The challenge facing social networks is how to be truly inclusive: thus they will benefit from the full participation of believers who desire to share the message of Jesus and the values of human dignity which his teaching promotes. Believers are increasingly aware that, unless the Good News is made known also in the digital world, it may be absent in the experience of many people for whom this existential space is important. The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the young. Social networks are the result of human interaction, but for their part they also reshape the dynamics of communication which builds relationships: a considered understanding of this environment is therefore the prerequisite for a significant presence there.

In so many scenes in the gospels Jesus seems to meet individuals in distress 'by accident', lepers, blind persons, deaf persons, someone whose young daughter is dying, sinners. Jesus always responded to these, healing them, forgiving them, giving his full attention to them. His response to each of these persons was the Good News for them.

My response to Maria was the Good News for her when we 'accidentally' met on a developing social network.

Jesus tells us in the gospel today: Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

Preaching repentance and forgiveness are expressions of God's limitless mercy, which Pope Francis has been emphasising so strongly. And whether or not we live in 'this digital continent' - I've read that Pope Francis didn't even use email when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires - all of us are called to be witnesses of these things. That day the Holy Spirit led me to open my email I was one of the witnesses of these things to Maria and she encountered the merciful Risen Lord, not in Jerusalem but in 'this digital continent'.

Pope Benedict's 'Digital Continent' [Wikipedia]

An Emmaus experience in Dublin

The Supper at Emmaus, Velázquez, c.1690 [Web Gallery of Art]

This morning after Mass two men, both in their 60s, came to see me in the sacristy. I'll call them Luke and Mark. Luke knows my brother and introduced himself as such before introducing me to Mark, who had once been a professional footballer. Luke told me that they had come to know each other through their common widowerhood.

Luke also told me that he had been away from the Church for more than 20 years but decided to go to Mass on Ash Wednesday this year. Afterwards Mark said to him, 'Welcome back!' Luke didn't quite understand at first that Mark was aware that he'd been away from the sacraments for a long time and he was welcoming him back to the Catholic Christian community.

Since then Luke has been going to Mass every day, as does Mark, and his joy was evident.

It was through welcoming Jesus to join them on the road to Emmaus and later to supper when they arrived there that the two disciples came to recognise the Risen Lord. I don't know what prompted Luke to go to Mass on Ash Wednesday but the welcome he received from Mark has led him to throw in his lot again with the Church.

I've been home in Dublin only a few days. There are many things in contemporary Ireland that discourage me but the Road to Emmaus is still there and individuals walking on it are still helping others to discover or re-discover the Lord by the simple act of welcoming them.

'We will come to him and make our home with him.' Sunday Reflections, Sixth Sunday of Easter Year C

The Holy Trinity, Unknown Russian Icon Painter, 1690-17-10 [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

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

Gospel John 14:23-29 (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition)

Jesus said to his disciples, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

"These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. 

The late Bishop Bienvenido S. Tudtud of Marawi, Philippines, (above) visited my Dad (below) in Dublin some time in the early 1980s. As it happened, Dad was about to leave for the wedding of a cousin of mine but he was able to entertain his unexpected guest for a while. Later on he told my brother, 'The bishop made me feel at home'. My brother laughed and said to him, 'You were the one supposed to make him feel at home!' But my Dad was always himself no matter whose company he was in and so was Bishop Tudtud, whose Christian name is the Spanish for 'Welcome'. They were both to die suddenly in 1987, Bishop Tudtod in a plane crash in the Philippines on 26 June and Dad at home on 11 August, from a heart attack. He had been at Mass that morning, as he had been every day of his adult life. The photo below was taken the week before his death.

My father hadn't expected Bishop Tudtud. But he made him feel welcome. The bishop felt free to just turn up because I had worked with him and had asked him to drop by my Dad if he had time. I have found over the years that there are friends' homes to which I need no invitation. These are friends with whom I truly feel at home and who feel at home with me.

Sometimes we feel fully at home with someone whom we have just met. Sometimes that being at ease with each other comes after being together many times, maybe through working together.

In the gospel of this Sunday's Mass Jesus makes the extraordinary statement, If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

The Father and Jesus are not only coming for a visit but to make their home with us. And the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Counselor/Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will come and will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 

Fr Anselm Moynihan OP, an Irish Dominican friar who died in 1998, wrote a short book in 1948 about the Blessed Trinity living in our hearts, The Presence of God. Here is an extract: Awareness of God, whether it come to us thus by a dazzling rending of the heavens or through the gentle whisper of his voice in our conscience, is at the beginning and end of our spiritual life, at the beginning and end of all religion.  It is the root of what is truly the most radical division of mankind, one to which Holy Scripture constantly reverts, that between the 'wise' who keep God before their eyes and the 'fools' who ignore him.  The first awakening of the soul to God's reality brings with it that fear of the Lord which is the 'beginning of wisdom'; the end of life should bring with it the 'wisdom of the perfect,' the fruit of charity, whereby a man will experience God's living presence within himself and be filled with longing for that full awareness of God which is the vision of his face in heaven.

Supper at Emmaus, Hendrick Terbrugghen, c.1621 [Web Gallery of Art]

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus invited Jesus to join them and they pressed him to have supper with them at the inn, as it was getting dark. It was through their welcoming him that they discovered who their unknown companion was, the Risen Lord. And in the intimacy of the breaking of the bread when they recognised him and he disappeared from their sight, they felt his presence even more strongly, even more intimately. He was now dwelling in their hearts, just as he dwells in ours, with the Father and the Holy Spirit.