Since we are travellers and pilgrims in the world, let us ever ponder on the end of the road, that is of our life, for the end of our roadway is our home (St Columban, 8th sermon).
GospelLuke 9:28-36 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on
the mountain to pray.And as he was praying, the appearance of his face
was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.And behold, two men were talking with him,
Moses and Elijah,who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which
he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy
with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the
two men who stood with him.And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to
Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one
for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.As he was saying these things, a cloud
came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.And a voice came out of the cloud,
saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was
found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything
of what they had seen.
[The Lord]
brought [Abram] outside and said, “Look towards heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he
said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5; First Reading).
+++
I am preparing this under the shadow of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. That shadow covers the whole world. Today's gospel tells us: As [Peter] was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. But there are breaks in that dark cloud where we can catch a glimpse of God's loving presence such as the story of Hassan Al-Khalaf, the 11-year-old boy who travelled on his own on a journey of 1,000 kms to safety in Slovakia where he was welcomed warmly. Another glimpse of God's loving presence is the wedding of a young couple in the middle of the invasion,Yaryna and Sviatoslavtrusting in God with hope for the future. These two events are for me 'Transfiguration moments', two of many that we can glimpse in this war.
Another such 'Transfiguration moment' is the story below. I have used it before because it reveals for me God's presence in the midst of so much that could lead us to despair.
+++
By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
The deacon or priest says these words quietly as he pours wine and a little water into the chalice during the Offertory of the Mass. In today's gospel Jesus, who humbled himself to share in our humanity, allowed Peter, James and John to get a glimpse of his divinity. Moses and Elijah spoke of what Jesus was to accomplish at Jerusalem. That was not only his death but his Resurrection and glorification.
Jesus calls us to share in his Resurrection and glorification, to share in the divinity that is his.
We don't share in the Resurrection, glorification and divinity of Jesus Christ only after death but also, as Peter, James and John did in the Transfiguration, in this life when we experience the gift of God's love in events that can transform us here and now.
My Australian fellow Columban, Fr Warren Kinne, who worked in Mindanao, Philippines, for a long time before spending many years in China, tells the story of Xiao Ai, who was in her early days a 'non-person'. But through the love and care of strangers, Chinese and foreign, she now has possibilities open to her that she never could have imagined. And Father Warren, who has some Chinese ancestry, sees her story as encapsulating in some ways the meaning of Lent and Easter. Here's how he tells it. It's taken from the January-February 2013 issue of MISYONonline.com, the Columban online magazine I used to edit in the Philippines. It is also on the website of the Columbans in Australia and New Zealand.
Before the great Feast of Easter when we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Church goes through a period of preparation by prayer and fasting. We call this Lent. In the northern hemisphere, where Christianity started, it was celebrated in spring and slowly, throughout that time, the dead of winter burst forth into the luxuriance of new growth, signifying life and the resurrection.
Xiao Ai is a young friend of mine. She was left at the steps of a convent about 2004 or 2005 in a remote village of Shan Xi Province, China. She was born with clubbed feet and abandoned. Xiao was brought to Shanghai where a group of foreigners provided money and logistical support for multiple operations.
During that period she was taken in by a family who took great care of her and eventually wanted to adopt her as their own. However there were many hurdles to be overcome. Xiao Ai did not have any identification as the convent was not a registered orphanage and so was not in a position to register her. Indeed people could only guess at her actual birth date. She was really a ‘non-person’.
After years of effort Xiao Ai has had all her paperwork completed and she now has a Chinese passport that will allow her to travel with her adopted family to Singapore. What happiness followed the long and anxious wait where a wonderful outcome was hoped for rather than expected.
Xiao Ai and Fr Warren Kinne
For the Lord takes delight in his people (Psalm 149:4, Grail translation)
Xiao’s struggle to me is a Lenten story that has become an Easter story; a fast that turned into a feast; a long journey in a desert that ended in freedom; a near death that heralded a resurrection, a new life.
Shanghai is a city of tinsel and glitter. Most people recognize the image of its iconic buildings and towering structures along the Huang Pu River. There are myriad neon signs and a ‘yuppie’ lifestyle for many expatriates who ride the wave of economic frenzy. But it has its under-belly.
The construction of this city has been done on the backs of migrant workers - currently seven million - who have travelled to the city to find work. They left their villages and often their families in order to make a little money on construction sites and in restaurants and factories.
These people do not have residency permits in Shanghai and so they cannot settle down where they work. Often they leave their children back in the village in the care of grandparents and may only get home once a year – during the Chinese New Year – to see how the family is going.
Children can resent their absence and may not appreciate the sacrifice of the parent or parents in order to better the whole family economically.
In the cities where they work they do not have equal access to medical and educational opportunities that are open to the local population.
Their sacrifice is a sort of ‘Lent’ lived in the hope of a better future for their family. Like Xiao Ai’s adopting parents or the migrant parents, they in fact live the admonition of God in Isaiah 58: 6-7: Is not this the fast that I choose: to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him. [Editor's note: This is what is happening in Ukraine's neighbouring countries right no especialy in Poland.]
God brought the slaves out of the land of Egypt where they had made bricks for the ostentatious buildings of the Pharaohs. This same God made a covenant with them and subsequently with us that we might treat each other differently because in one way or another we have all been freed. The worship of the market and the God of money has caused many to suffer. May we all have the courage to live a Lent that will usher in true life for the world.
Xiao Ai in 2016
Just the other day Fr Kinne told me in an email that Xiao Ai is doing well in Singapore. He had been speaking to her mother the day before.
About
two-thirds of Ukraine's population of more than 41 million (pre-invasion) are
Orthodox Christians. Eleven per cent of the people are Catholics, most of them
members of the Greek Ukrainian Catholic Church, in full communion Rome. Most of
the Catholics live in the west of the country and Lviv is a predominantly Catholic
city.
A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into
Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation,
great, mighty, and populous (Deuteronomy
16:5; First Reading).
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
GospelLuke 4:1-13 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
Jesus, full of the Holy
Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the
wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And
he ate nothing during those days. And when they were over, he was hungry. The
devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to
become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man
shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To
you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered
to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it
will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you
serve.’”
And he took him to Jerusalem
and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the
Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you’,
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot
against a stone.’”
And Jesus answered
him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the
test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from
him until an opportune time.
From 1973 till 1976 I was chaplain in the college department of a school run by religious sisters in Mindanao, Philippines. Part of my job was to teach religion, four semesters of which every student had to take. I remember one student in particular, whom I will call Bernadette (not her real name) who was taking a two-year secretarial course. She came from a large family and her parents earned just enough money to get by. They were both actively involved in the parish.
When Bernadette graduated she got a job as a bookkeeper in a filling station. Her salary, though small, was a great help to the family. She was asked by her employer to keep two different sets of books. She realised after some time that this was a way of avoiding paying taxes. Her conscience bothered her and she spoke to her parents about it. The three of them saw that Bernadette was being asked to take part in a sinful activity. So she, still in her late teens, resigned from her job. She had the full support of her parents who knew that the loss of Bernadette's salary was a sacrifice for the whole family. Man shall not live by bread alone.
I am preparing this on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday where the First Reading of the Mass (Deuteronomy 30: 15-20) says, I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days . . .
Jesus,the Word [who] became flesh and dwelt among us, suffered temptation on our behalf in the desert and it is in his strength that we can find the grace to resist temptation in whatever way it may come. We can take to heart the words of Deuteronomy 6:13 that Jesus quotes to Satan in today's gospel: You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. That is what enables us to do what Bernadette and her parents did: choose life, that you and your offspring may live,loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him . . .
Kyrie eleison
Sung by Kyiv Chamber Choir
Kyrie eleison - Christe eleison - Kyrie eleison
Lord, have mercy - Christ, have mercy - Lord, have mercy
Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Many people try to attend Mass each day during Lent where that is possible. When I was growing up in Dublin our parish church was full every weekday morning at the seven o'clock Mass, with workers and with students at primary and secondary level. Each was there by choice, making a sacrifice by getting up earlier. At Mass we hear the word of God and can receive the Lord Jesus Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in Holy Communion
Lent is a time for repentance. The Lord Jesus left us a beautiful way to experience that: the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession Penance). The Church requires us to go to confession at least once a year and to receive Holy Communion at least once during the Easter period. In some countries the latter may be done between the First Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday. However, this is a bare minimum and not a level of commitment to be recommended no more than joining a family meal only once a year when one is living at home would seem to be recommended.
It is up to us priests to make it possible for people to confess their sins so that they can receive absolution with the words I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The priest is not forgiving us in his own name but in the Name of the Holy Trinity. The priest, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, is acting in persona Christi, to use the Church's traditional Latin expression, 'In the Person of Christ'.
Fasting can take many forms: eating less, reducing our time on the internet, abstaining from alcoholic drinks. etc. None of this is for show but to share in the forty days of fasting of the Lord Jesus in the desert before he began his public ministry. And it does bring life to others.
There are endless needs to be met by almsgiving. As I write this I'm conscious of how the authorities and ordinary people in Poland and in other countries are welcoming refugees from Ukraine. More than a million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have fled their country in one week. Most of these have made their way to Poland. Some have relatives there while others are heading for other countries. The local authorities and volunteers in Ukraine's neighbouring countries have been welcoming these refugees. And the same is happening in far too many other parts of the world.
Queen of Peace, pray for us.
Traditional Latin Mass
First Sunday in Lent
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 03-06-2022 if necessary).
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10. Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11.
Gospel Luke 6:39-45 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
Jesus
told a parable to his disciples:
“Can a
blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?A disciple is not
above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his
teacher.Why do you
see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log
that is in your own eye?How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out
the speck that is in your eye’, when you yourself do not see the log that is in
your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then
you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad
tree bear good fruit,for each tree is known by its own fruit.
For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a
bramble bush.The
good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil
person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the
abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
I have used this story before on Sunday Reflections. I heard it from the late Fr Giuseppe Raviolo SJ, an Italian Jesuit who worked in Mindanao, Philippines, for many years and was one of the founders, in 1985, of St John Vianney Theological Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City there. More than 40 years ago he and I and some other priests were on a team together giving a directed retreat to seminarians. We stayed in a dormitory that was far from being 'Five Star'. He reminded me very much of St Pope John XXIII in girth and in personality and was always a delight to be with. I feel a great sense of gratitude to God for having known this wonderful man who lived his priesthood so joyfully.
During the Vietnam War Father Joe, as we called him, had been rector of the major seminary in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, when it was capital of the then South Vietnam. When the North Vietnamese army moved into Saigon the soldiers were divided into groups of three with a standing order that if any of the three tried to surrender the others were to kill him. One particular group of three found themselves surrounded by soldiers either of the American army or the army of South Vietnam, I forget which. One of them ran forward and surrendered and his two comrades did not shoot him. They two were captured.
Later the other two asked the soldier who had surrendered why he had taken such a risk. He told them that he knew they were Christians and would not shoot. This man was a Buddhist and his two companions were Catholics. These two had discussed the order to kill and had decided that it would be wrong to do so. As Catholic Christians they saw that as murder. These were soldiers of a Communist army, without any chaplains.
Clearly they had been well formed as followers of Jesus despite living under a Communist regime that restricted the activities of the Church. Vietnam has a long history of persecution with figures of between 100,000 and 300,000 martyrs being given. The second-century theologian Tertullian wrote, The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church. Jesus says to us in today's gospel, No good tree bears bad fruit.The two Catholic Vietnamese soldiers were the fruit of the tree produced by the seed that was the countless martyrs among their ancestors.
And their Buddhist companion showed that he understood Jesus who said, The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good. He put his life in the hands of his two companions because he knew they were Christians. Would anyone do the same with me simply because I am a Christian?
I see some of the words of Pope Benedict XVI in his Angelus reflection in 2007 on last Sunday's gospel being lived out in the incident involving the three North Vietnamese soldiers: One then understands that for Christians, non-violence is not merely tactical behaviour but a person's way of being, the attitude of one who is so convinced of God's love and power that he is not afraid to tackle evil with the weapons of love and truth alone.
The way of being of those two Catholic soldiers as followers of Jesus was evident to their Buddhist comrade. Is my way of being as a follower of Jesus evident to those around me?
The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good.
The Sorrowful Mother,
Страдальна Мати
Ukrainian
Lenten Hymn
Lent
Lent begins on Wednesday 2 March. For the people of Ukraine it has already begun in a very real sense. Pope Francis has asked us to make Ash Wednesday a day of prayer and fasting for Ukraine.
It is a day of fasting and abstinence every year. The Pope has asked us to focus through that on the urgency of the situation in Ukraine where the majority of people are Christian, mostly Orthodox. About ten per cent are Catholics, most of them members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
You will find the rules for fasting and abstinence here. The rule about abstinence on Fridays during Lent may vary from one country to another.
These rules are not an expression of legalism but a call to generosity and to share in the fasting and abstinence of Jesus himself during his forty days in the desert.
Traditional Latin Mass
Quinquagesima Sunday
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 02-27-2022 if necessary).
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Gospel: Luke 18:31-43.
Gospel Luke 6:27-38 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
Jesus
said to his disciples:
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good
to those who hate you,bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and
from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.Give to everyone who begs from
you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For
even sinners love those who love them.And if you do good to those who
do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive,
what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same
amount.But love your enemies, and do good,
and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great,
and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the
ungrateful and the evil.Be merciful, even
as your Father is merciful.
Love your enemies, Jesus tells us twice in today's Gospel, which concludes with his words Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. These words of Jesus are perhaps the most difficult of all to follow.
Nearly 50 years ago I was chaplain in a third-level school in the Philippines run by religious sisters. One day the Directress asked me to go to the station of the Philippine Constabulary (PC) in the city. One of the male students was filing a case against another. The two had been close friends but had had a serious disagreement. I went to the station with some reluctance. It was during the early years of martial law in the Philippines and the PC was deeply involved in this. They were the national police force at the time and part of the military. I saw the PC as part of 'the enemy of the people'.
I was pleasantly surprised when I met the officer on duty, a major as far as I can recall. He was speaking to the young man filing the charge when I arrived and was trying unsuccessfully to persuade him not to go ahead with this move. The other student was also present.
The officer gave me a warm and courteous welcome. When I told him why I was there he suggested that I speak to the student filing the charge and brought us to a room where we could have some privacy.
As it happened, this young man had attended a weekend retreat for male students in the college that I had given only a week or two before in the local seminary. I had remembered how well he had participated and told him that. We spoke about the retreat and how it had challenged all of us. And I reminded him that all the participants had availed of the chance to go to confession.
I could see that he was reflecting on all of this as I brought up the question of his filing a charge against a man who had been his best friend. I gently encouraged him to drop the case. I could see in his physical behaviour the inner struggle he was going through. His whole body had tightened up. The tension within him was great and very obvious. After a long struggle he agreed to withdraw the charge.
We went back to the officer on duty and the student told him that he was dropping the charge. The other student was there and very relieved to hear this. The officer encouraged them to shake hands, which they did, though the student dropping the charge didn't do so with great enthusiasm.
However, he had done something very difficult: he had decided to forgive the man who had been his friend. He still had strong painful feelings. But forgiveness is a decision, not a feeling. It is a decision made with God's grace. In some situations it can be like major surgery. The surgery heals but physical pain still remains and takes time to disappear naturally. A scar that usually doesn't bother us may remain. In some instances there may be a permanent mark such as lameness after an operation on the back, for example. But healing has taken place.
And our feelings in a situation like this need time to subside, depending on the gravity of the situation.
For my own part, I was very grateful for the kindness, thoughtfulness and wisdom of the PC officer. He had acted entirely as a friend in this situation, not as an 'enemy of the people'. I had to take that on board and not condemn everyone in the PC out of hand.
I do not know if the former friendship between the two young men in the story was rekindled. Perhaps I should have followed up. I was then a young, inexperienced priest.
The ongoing grace for me from that incident iss the awareness that forgiveness can be very difficult but, with God's grace, not impossible. The young man who withdrew his charge against his friend was the bearer of that grace from God for me, just as the PC officer and I were the bearers of God's grace to him enabling him to make the decision to forgive.
Starry
Night 
Transfiguration of Christ
