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).
Jesus left
Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a
Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David,
take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not
a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’
they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’ He said in reply, ‘I was sent
only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’ But the woman had come up and
was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not
fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ She retorted,
‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their
master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let
your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again.
My late mother, whose name was Mary, loved to bargain when buying clothes and when buying fruit and vegetables. She usually bought the latter at the store of a woman named Chrissie Caffrey, whose sister Maggie had a similar store across the road in Stoneybatter, then just a short street but now the name of the district in Dublin where I grew up. There were usually a few cats around Chrissie's store but the vegetables and fruit on sale were fresh. Sometimes as a child, listening to my mother, I would think that she was insulting Chrissie the way she spoke to her. But they both would end up happy, my mother having got a bargain - or thinking that she had - and Chrissie having got a sale.
What my mother and Chrissie did a couple of times a week was a form of banter with a serious purpose. My mother wasn't insulting Chrissie; she was simply looking for a good price. Chrissie didn't take any offence at my mother's words, gave as good as she got - and sold her produce.
One commentary I read on this gospel suggests that Jesus and the Canaanite woman were engaged in something similar to Chrissie and my mother, a form of banter, but with a serious purpose. The words of Jesus comparing the Canaanites, non-Jews, to dogs were insulting at their face value. But the woman didn't take offence, She wanted her daughter healed and that's all that mattered to her. She probably hadn't been among those who heard Jesus' Sermon on the Mount when he said, among many other things, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you (Mt 7:7). But clearly she had heard something about Jesus, of his love for the poor, for the sick, for the tormented. Because she persisted, giving as good as she got: Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table. She then heard the astounding words of Jesus, Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.
It wasn't the first time Jesus responded to a non-Jew and remarked on that person's faith. Before we receive Holy Communion we pray the words of the Roman centurion who had come to Jesus with a similar plea to that of the Canaanite woman, not on behalf of his daughter but of his servant: 'Lord, I am not worthy . . .'
For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened(Mt 7:8).
There is something very down-to-earth about the meeting of Jesus and the Canaanite woman. The Assumption (celebrated on the 15th in most countries) too is a down-to-earth celebration. Pope Benedict reminds us: The Solemnity of the Assumption, so dear to popular tradition, serves as a useful occasion for all believers to meditate on the true sense and value of human existence in view of eternity.
Dear brothers and sisters, Heaven is our final dwelling place; from there, Mary encourages us by her example to welcome God's will, so as not to allow ourselves to be seduced by the deceptive attraction to what is transitory and fleeting, and not to give in to the temptations of selfishness and evil which extinguish the joy of life in the heart.
In the Nicene Creed, which we pray at Mass on Sundays and Solemnities, we say, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. The equivalent in the Apostles' Creed is, I believe in . . . the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
Part of the humanity of Jesus, God who became Man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and of Mary herself is their Jewishness. They remain Jewish for all eternity.
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine (Luke 10:33-34; Gospel)).
After the crowd had eaten and
were satisfied: Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go
before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had
dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When
evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from
the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth
watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples
saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ and
they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take
heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’ And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you,
command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of
the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind,
he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus
immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of
little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind
ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of
God.’
I first learned about Father Willie during my kindergarten in Stanhope Street, Dublin (1947-51). Sr Margaret Stanislaus, a member of the Irish Sisters of Charity, now known as the Religious Sisters of Charity, was the principal of the boys' kindergarten. She prepared our class for our First Holy Communion on 20 May 1950 and was for ever talking about two holy priests. One was Fr Damian of Molokai, a Belgian, who chose to liver with lepers on that Hawaiian island and who died among them in 1889 aged 49, a leper himself. Pope Benedict XVI canonised him in 2009.
The other priest Sister Stanislaus spoke about very often was Fr Willie Doyle SJ, killed in Belgium on 16 August 1917 while trying to save two wounded soldiers who happened to be Protestants from what is now Northern Ireland in the Third Battle of Ypres/Ieper, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele. His story became very widely known through the biography written by Alfred O’Rahilly and published in 1922.
Bishop Thomas Deenihan of Meath lauuched the process for the canonisation of Fr Willie Doyle on 22 November 2022
. Father Willie did his Jesuit novitiate in Tullabeg, which is in the Diocese of Meath. There is a wealth of information about him and of his writings on Father Willie Doyle Association.
The following is Father Willie's reflection on this Sunday's Gospel.
About the fourth watch of the night he cometh to them
Christ did not show himself until the fourth watch of the night. How often is this same history repeated in our own case! There is no encouragement, no comfort. We are wearied waiting. There is no sign of approaching help. Why not give up! Surely we never bargained for this. We never believed things would come to such a pass! Oh, the anguish of these moments, when in the midst of struggle, depression and loneliness Christ withholds his sensible presence.
Christ delays to come. But he is watching all the time; he would only test us. Let him not be disappointed. This is a moment of tremendous grace. If we are stout of heart and bear our trial manfully, we will emerge from the crucible with well-nigh herculean strength. These are moments that disentangle us from many of the trappings that weaken and weigh us down. After they have passed, invariably we find our vision clearer and our appreciation of the value of things truer.
Walking upon the sea
Thus does he come to us also walking upon the sea with these words upon his lips. 'Have a good heart, fear not. It is I.' And we whisper to ourselves, 'It is the Lord.' Yes, then we understand. Then everything goes easy and we wonder that we should ever have doubted. Then we are ashamed of our wavering. What a beautiful tribute to Christ our trust would have been. So we determine next time we will understand. We decide that when next the tide of our life runs high, when our heart-boat is lashed by a rugged sea, we will understand that Christ is near, watching us and we fight fearlessly and cheerfully. Thus, little by little, troubles and crosses will serve to clamp the trust in Christ that will steady our hearts and like St Peter will will cry out: 'Lord if it be thou, bid me come to thee across the waters.' O the joy of our hearts as the master says 'Come.' And we go. We really walk upon the sea. We do wonders until some tremendous sorrow-wave dashes up between us and Christ, and for a moment we lose heart and cry out 'Lord save me'.
Immediately he spoke with them
Immediately - that word is full of love - stretching forth his hand he takes hold of me. And when He has come into my heart-boat the wind ceased. But it is only after Christ has been given full control of our heart-boat that the winds cease. This is the struggle of our life - to let Christ rule.
So long as he must come over the waters to us there will be many a lonely struggle. But when through great generosity on our part we have emptied our lives of everything likely to raise a tempest in the heart, then Christ will sit at the helm and the waves may toss, the winds may roll and blow about the boat. We are calm. We have no cause to fear. Christ sits at the helm and rules.
The reflection above was taken from pages 182-184 of To Raise the Fallen, compiled and edited by Patrick Kenny and published by Veritas. He also maintains Father Willie Doyle Associationthe official site for the canonisation cause of the Servant of God Fr Willie Doyle SJ and which has a wealth of information on Fr Doyle and many extracts from his writings, a new post each day.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God (1 Cor 15:8-9; Epistle).
At that time: When Jesus heard
of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a desolate place by
himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the
towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them
and healed their sick.
Now when it was evening, the
disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now
over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for
themselves.’ But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to
eat.’ They said to him, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish.’ And he
said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the
grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and
said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and
the disciples gave them to the crowds.
And they all ate and were
satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Stamp issued in Chile for the beatification of Fr Alberto Hurtado SJ, 16 October 1994
The late Fr John Griffin, a Columban colleague from
New Zealand, who after many years in the Philippines went to work in
Chile, wrote an article for our Columban magazines about a great saint of our times, San Alberto Hurtado SJ (1901-1952), a native of that country.
One story in the article is a perfect expression of what happened in
today's gospel. But first a little background to it:
Overall, Fr Hurtado is best known and remembered
throughout Chile for his Hogar de Cristo (Christ’s Home) Foundation. The seed for
this was sown late one night when he was on his way home to San Ignacio. He met
a man who was in poor health, had eaten nothing all day and had nowhere to go.
This was the priest’s first encounter with such
poverty and it moved him greatly. He did what he could for the man and then
asked: ‘What are our Catholics doing for those who have no roof over their
heads?’ He began asking this question during his retreats and so was born the
idea of ‘Hogar de Cristo’. He formed a board of directors from people eager to
help – six men and 30 women. Land was available alongside the Jesuit parish of
Jesus the Worker and the first night-shelters were built and an appeal for
funds began. By 1945 there were five shelters that had been able to house
12,000 poor men. Now it was time to do something for the numerous ‘street kids’
who spent their nights under the many bridges over the Mapocho River which runs
for miles through Santiago. These youngsters needed educations as well as
shelter and land was donated for this purpose a few miles to the north of the
city near Colina railway station and a children’s home was built.
Today's gospel tells us: But Jesus said, 'They need not go away; you give them something to eat.'
Fr Griffin continues about San Alberto:
Providence was always on his side. At a meeting one night his board of directors was unwilling, for lack of funds, to approve a new project. In the midst of discussions there was an unexpected call for Fr Hurtado to attend to someone at his front door. He had a brief conversation with the caller who said she wanted to leave a gift to help the great work he was doing.
He gratefully put her envelope in his pocket, wished her a good evening and returned to his meeting. He looked at the contents of the envelope as he sat down. Then he tossed a cheque onto the table saying, ‘There you are, you of little faith!’ It was for one million pesos – worth about US$30,000 at that time.
The directors on the board of Hogar de Cristo were being prudent, as they were supposed to be and, in being so, following what Jesus teaches us elsewhere in the gospels. But Father Alberto was listening to what Jesus said to the Apostles today: They need not go away; you give them something to eat.
I'm sure that when Father Alberto threw the check on the table and said 'There you are, you of little faith' he did so with a smile that expressed both irony and gratitude and that the board members saw the irony and felt the same sense of gratitude.
Once again we find the presence of Jesus in the needs of others - and in one who joyfully lives the Gospel.
This is a meditation on the gift of self and cooperation given by San Alberto during a retreat. Some of the details here are found in St John’s Gospel.
Indecision,
faintheartedness is the great obstacle in the plan of
cooperation. We think: I’m not worth all that much, and
from this comes discouragement: It makes no difference whether I act or
fail to act. Our powers of action are so limited. Is my
unpretentious work worthwhile? Does my abstaining from this have any meaning?
If I fail to sacrifice myself nothing changes. No one needs me . . .
A mediocre vocation? How many vocations are lost. It is the
advice of the devil that is partly true. The difficulty must be
faced.
The solution
5,000 men along with women and children have
been hungry for three days… Food? They would need at least 200 denarii to
feed them and this is the approximate yearly salary of a labourer.
In the desert! Tell them to go! But
Andrew, more observant says: There are 5 loaves and 2 fish, but what are
these among so many! Here we have our same problem: the disproportion.
And the loaves. Made of barley, hard as
rocks (the Jews used wheat). And the fish. They were from
the lake, small, rather mushy in texture, carried by a young boy in a sack that
had lain on the ground for three days in the heat . . . not much of a solution.
Did the Lord despise this offering? No, and with
his blessing he fed all the hungry and had leftovers. Neither did he despise
the leftovers: 12 baskets of the surplus were gathered, fish heads and bones,
but even this he valued.
The young boy consented to give Christ his poor
offering, not realizing that he would feed the multitude. He
believed that he had lost his small possession but he found instead that there
was even a surplus and that he had cooperated for the good of the others.
And me . . . like those fish (less than those
loaves) bruised and perhaps decomposing but in the hands of Christ my action
may have a divine scope a divine reach.
Remember Ignatius, Augustine, Camillus de Lellis,
and Matt Talbot, base sinners whose lives were converted into spiritual
nourishment for millions who will continue to feed on their witness.
My actions and my desires can have a divine scope
and can change the face of the earth. I will not know it, the fish
did not know it either. I can do a great deal if I remain in Christ; I can
accomplish much if I cooperate with Christ . . .
A Hymn to Alberto Hurtado SJ
Written by Pablo Coloma for the beatification of Blessed Alberto on 16 October 1994, Sung by Pablo Coloma and Ximena Concha
Alberto, hoy resuena tu nombre
Se escucha tu palabra encendida
Tu rostro hoy recorre las calles
Tu huella marca un nuevo camino
Profeta que anunciaste el Reino
Supiste denunciar el dolor
Reíste con un canto a la vida
Mostraste un camino mejor.
Alberto, your name resounds today,
your enlightening word is heard,
your face is seen today on the streets,
your footprints mark a new path.
A prophet who proclaimed the Kingdom,
who knew about pain,
who laughed with a song to life,
who showed a better way.
Alberto contemplé tu figura
incendiando las calles de una oscura ciudad.
Y vi que mil rostros reían
y otros más comprendían que era el paso de Dios.
Alberto has tocado nuestra alma
y ya siento que enciende ese fuego de Dios.
Tu vida fue un regalo divino,
una historia que hizo de este Chile un hogar.
Alberto, I watched you
lighting up the streets of a dark city.
And I saw a thousand faces laughing
and others who understood that that was the way of God.
Alberto, you have touched our soul
and I feel that I am lit by the fire of God.
Your life was a divine gift,
a story that made this Chile a home.
Maestro que enseñaste a vivir
la vida como lo hizo Jesús,
mirando en los hombres que sufren
su cuerpo castigado en la cruz.
A teacher who taught how to live
as Jesus did,
looking at those who suffer,
his body punished on the cross.
Apóstol, compañero de pobres,
viviste en tu carne el dolor
de tantos que viván despreciados,
tus manos fueron pan y un hogar.
Apostle, companion of the poor,
you lived in your flesh the pain
of the many who are despised,
your hands were bread and a home.
Alberto contemplé tu figura
incendiando las calles de una oscura ciudad.
Y vi que mil rostros reían
y otros más comprendían que era el paso de Dios.
Alberto has tocado nuestra alma
y ya siento que enciende ese fuego de Dios.
Tu vida derramada en las calles
se alsa inmensa hasta el cielo en las manos de todos.
Alberto, I watched you
lighting up the streets of a dark city.
And I saw a thousand faces laughing and others who understood
that that was the way of God.
Alberto, you have touched our soul
and I feel that I am lit by the fire of God.
Your life poured out on the streets
is infinitely raised to heaven in the hands of all.
Just as St Teresa of Kolkata is known to everyone simply as 'Mother Teresa' and St Pius of Pietrelcina as 'Padre Pio', San Alberto Hurtado is known to Chileans still as 'Padré Hurtado'.
Traditional Latin Mass
Tenth Sunday After Pentecost
The Complete Mass in Latin and English ishere. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 08-02-2026 if necessary).
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ (Luke 18:13; Gospel)
